Prodigal Son returns after 21 months Need Technical Advice

[koviatt]

Some of you may have read the post about my lost P2. Here is the damage report:

1. New battery powers up and I hear all four motors beep the scroll up sound, then the four beeps like a normal startup. There seems to be a slight delay on one motor (as far as the tones are concerned).
2. All four arms blink at least once immediately following the power up.
3. Then only two arms continue to strobe green slow consistent green...green...green.
4. The other two arms have no lights after that brief pulse on powering up the battery
5. The gimbal responds to the thumb control on the RC. But the gimbal keeps going through a cycle of violent rattling and then reset.
6. I attempt to fire up the motors with no success the green lights stop strobing for a second but no motor action.
7. The green strobing changes sequence if I switch between gps and atti modes. Still only green lights, though. No yellow or red EVER.

8. I just replaced the main board. I have exactly the same results..

9. I am just about ready to replace all the ESCs plus the GPS module...I fear the Naza...but I will wait to see what you all advise...

10. One more thing. I cannot get the unit to connect to Phantom 2 Assistant. The computer does not recognize that the quad is plugged in...the mini USB connector on the quad might be corroded...not sure about that however.

thanks for your help...

 

[jason]

Some of you may have read the post about my lost P2. Here is the damage report:

1. New battery powers up and I hear all four motors beep the scroll up sound, then the four beeps like a normal startup. There seems to be a slight delay on one motor (as far as the tones are concerned).
2. All four arms blink at least once immediately following the power up.
3. Then only two arms continue to strobe green slow consistent green...green...green.
4. The other two arms have no lights after that brief pulse on powering up the battery
5. The gimbal responds to the thumb control on the RC. But the gimbal keeps going through a cycle of violent rattling and then reset.
6. I attempt to fire up the motors with no success the green lights stop strobing for a second but no motor action.
7. The green strobing changes sequence if I switch between gps and atti modes. Still only green lights, though. No yellow or red EVER.

8. I just replaced the main board. I have exactly the same results..

9. I am just about ready to replace all the ESCs plus the GPS module...I fear the Naza...but I will wait to see what you all advise...

10. One more thing. I cannot get the unit to connect to Phantom 2 Assistant. The computer does not recognize that the quad is plugged in...the mini USB connector on the quad might be corroded...not sure about that however.

thanks for your help...

4. The other two arms have no lights after that brief pulse on powering up the battery
A. That is normal as the front LED's will lit once the motors are powered up

5. The gimbal responds to the thumb control on the RC. But the gimbal keeps going through a cycle of violent rattling and then reset.
Q Is the camera mounted on the gimbal when you are powering up the P2? Should be.

7. The green strobing changes sequence if I switch between gps and atti modes. Still only green lights, though. No yellow or red EVER.
A. If the P2 is in phantom mode there is no atti in the center position of the switch S1. Only when in the naza mode is there ATTI.

8. I just replaced the main board. I have exactly the same results..
Q. did you pair the the controller after changing the main board? Also was the GPS module plugged into the main board? Motors will not start unless it is.

Also make sure the two spring loaded info pins under the battery terminals are making contact with battery or the motors will not startup. So those two items GPS plug and info pins will cause the motors not to startup.

 

[koviatt]

Bind/Pair: Yes Redid it just to be sure.
Camera, yes, I have the HeroPro installed.
I just attempted a calibration. Toggling s1 5+ times results in solid green lights. Should they not be solid yellow?

Thanks for the quick response, Jason.

 

[jason]

Bind/Pair: Yes Redid it just to be sure.
Camera, yes, I have the HeroPro installed.
I just attempted a calibration. Toggling s1 5+ times results in solid green lights. Should they not be solid yellow?

Thanks for the quick response, Jason.

If it were in the naza mode and you switched from GPS to ATTI the LED's would turn yellow but in phantom mode switching to ATTI on S1 they would still be green. That is some thing that really isn't mentioned in the manual.

 

[koviatt]

If it were in the naza mode and you switched from GPS to ATTI the LED's would turn yellow but in phantom mode switching to ATTI on S1 they would still be green. That is some thing that really isn't mentioned in the manual.

What I meant to say was that I toggled the S1 several times and the leds turned solid green. At that point I attempted to do the calibration dance and the results were unexpected as far as lights. At least they were not as described in the manual.

 

[jason]

I was just clarifying about ATTI you made in question # 7 and unless you haven't switch from phantom (BASIC) mode to naza (IOC) there is no ATTI mode. I know that on the controller S1 is marked GPS< ATTI and ATTI and the manual does not mention the difference.

 

[koviatt]

I was just clarifying about ATTI you made in question # 7 and unless you haven't switch from phantom (BASIC) mode to naza (IOC) there is no ATTI mode. I know that on the controller S1 is marked GPS< ATTI and ATTI and the manual does not mention the difference.

I see what you mean. Since I cannot connect the P2 to the Naza assistant I cannot tell if I am in Naza Mode or in Phantom mode.

Incidentally, I checked the battery spring terminals and I assume they are working . I cleaned them and they operate correctly.

 

[jason]

I see what you mean. Since I cannot connect the P2 to the Naza assistant I cannot tell if I am in Naza Mode or in Phantom mode.

Incidentally, I checked the battery spring terminals and I assume they are working . I cleaned them and they operate correctly.

No you connect the P2 to its assistant software and change the mode. Where the circle in red is where you change from one mode to another in the software.

 

[koviatt]

Thanks Jason. So do you have any other thoughts about the whole thing? The quad was sitting upside down in the weather for 21 months. The water collected in the top shell. This is where the GPS module was all that time. You could see that the dirt/ rain and snow water settled there. I don't suppose there is any way to test the GPS. I see they are still pretty expensive online.

I have already ordered a brand new p2 set up. The p2 has a special sentiment for me. So now I have the p1, p2, and the p3p. But I'd still like to see if I can get this p2 working. I'd never trust it to fly far without replacing every piece of electronics. But if I did that, I'd spend more that a brand new quad. So...

Anyway, back to the task at hand. I ordered a usb connector. Hopefully that will allow me to connect to the Assistant. If not, then I'd probably suspect a bad naza. Is this logical thinking?

 

[jason]

All the boards had a coating over all the electronic components including the GPS module But it wouldn't hurt to clean the GPS module with distilled water and tooth brush to remove any chemical residue and dry it with a hairdryer.

Make sure the spring loaded info pins are functional and making contact with the battery if they are not the P2 software will tell you that.

Then with the GPS module plugged into its socket and without props see if the motors will spin up.

 

[koviatt]

Thanks. Since I cannot connect to the software I don't know a few things that the Assistant could tell me. When I get a connection to the USB port working, I'll test this.

 

[jason]

Either the naza module is defective or the USB cable is from the weather. Not knowing where you live try goggle or amazon or this part the cable is the same for all the P2 product line.

• Genuine DJI Phantom 2 Vision + Plus USB Interface Cable Pack Part 13

Genuine DJI Phantom 2 Vision + Plus USB Interface Cable Pack Part 13

 

[koviatt]

Either the naza module is defective or the USB cable is from the weather. Not knowing where you live try goggle or amazon or this part the cable is the same for all the P2 product line.

• Genuine DJI Phantom 2 Vision + Plus USB Interface Cable Pack Part 13

Genuine DJI Phantom 2 Vision + Plus USB Interface Cable Pack Part 13

Thank you for this affirmation. I have ordered the connector/cable that plugs directly into the Naza. Here's hoping.

 

[koviatt]

UPDATE:
I installed the USB connector and it now connects to the Assistant. Is there a way for me to determine in the Assistance if the GPS is working?

Also I used a new battery from my new p2 and I do not get a battery error. So the info pins are working.

So far I still cannot get the motors to start.

I have gone ahead and ordered a $69 GPS module off Ebay. Hopefully this will be the last piece of the puzzle. Will report back.

 

[jason]

UPDATE:
I installed the USB connector and it now connects to the Assistant. Is there a way for me to determine in the Assistance if the GPS is working?

Also I used a new battery from my new p2 and I do not get a battery error. So the info pins are working.

So far I still cannot get the motors to start.

I have gone ahead and ordered a $69 GPS module off Ebay. Hopefully this will be the last piece of the puzzle. Will report back.

Well if the GPS was plugged in and it still would not start then you will just have wait till the new module comes in. Hopefully it's the correct module you ordered as they cost $115 usd and $69 was a good price.

 

[koviatt]

UPDATE. Just installed the new GPS module. Then the motors fired right up! They are quiet and smooth. I reassembled everything and took it outside.

It has been SO long since I flew the P2 I cannot remember the lighting sequence. But anyway. I had green lights. So I hovered it a while. It was breezy 5-7 mph but the quad did fairly well at holding its position. I was gentle and careful.

Now. Here's a question: I tried calibrating the compass. Toggled the s1 6+ times. The lights did not change. They stayed green. So for some reason it won't go into calibration mode. Any idea what I may be doing wrong?


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[KyleMaxxUAV]

Maybe wrong side of transmitter toggle switch ?? ie. Left toggle instead of right ?



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[koviatt]

I toggled the GPS atti switch. The right one, not the left, Correct?


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[koviatt]

Yes. The neighbors found it and returned it after all this time. It crashed about one mile from my home. I had talked with them 21 months ago about the loss. So they remembered and brought it back.


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[KyleMaxxUAV]

Yeah I think it's S1 ... Long time since I had my p2V+ I forget lol


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