When I turned on my phantom this morning to fly in new mexico, there was funny white smoke coming from near one of the motors. Smelled electrical. Then when I fired up the motors the motor nearest the smoke doesnt get full power and even sometimes tries turning the wrong way. Upon lift off only 3 motors seem to be rotating correctly at the correct speed and thus no launch. Any suggestions?
Smoke. Smell. Motor not working. New Mexico Mountains.
- Thread starter adamgoodsell46
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What does ESC stand for and what can I do for it?
This thing sure is a mess to take apart, it all comes off as a single unit on the bottom.
Also the cable that goes up the leg and is plugged in, how can I pull that out. I've been trying but I'm afraid I'm going to break it.
What does ESC stand for and what can I do for it?
This thing sure is a mess to take apart, it all comes off as a single unit on the bottom.
Also the cable that goes up the leg and is plugged in, how can I pull that out. I've been trying but I'm afraid I'm going to break it.
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adamgoodsell46 said:
ESC stands for electric speed control. It's present in all electric powered RC craft. Its what regulates the power to the motors. Without it, you motors will fly all haywire.
If you fire up the motors again and a motor doesn't start, it's your ESC. Another way to check is to note if the lights under the ESC lights up. Note the motor that does not spin. It should be that ESC. Go on ebay and find the replacement.
You will need to know basic soldering, if you don't, I would suggest finding someone to do it for you. If you don't it would probably be best to take it in to your hobby shop and let them do it for you. A non spinning motor sounds like an easy fix, again maybe best to take it into your hobby shop and let them fix it.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
Sounds like a bad capacitor on the ESC. Most electronics die as result of bad capacitors. You can typically tell a bad capacitor from a bulge on the top and/or gooey brownish substance on the top and/or bottom.
More info behind it:
The last flight before it stopped working, there was a bad landing and it fell on its side with one of the blades trying to spin but the blade was stuck on the ground. I do not know if that was the same blade that is now not working or not because this incident was a week prior to the next flight.
When looking at the brushless motor it appears that in comparison to all 3 working motors, that on the non working one, the copper coils are not wound as tightly, a few of the copper coils are not as smoothly wound as on the good working motors. Where is the ECM/what am I looking for and where is the light?
Thank You everyone; appreciate the help so much.
The last flight before it stopped working, there was a bad landing and it fell on its side with one of the blades trying to spin but the blade was stuck on the ground. I do not know if that was the same blade that is now not working or not because this incident was a week prior to the next flight.
When looking at the brushless motor it appears that in comparison to all 3 working motors, that on the non working one, the copper coils are not wound as tightly, a few of the copper coils are not as smoothly wound as on the good working motors. Where is the ECM/what am I looking for and where is the light?
Thank You everyone; appreciate the help so much.
The ESC's are the little rectangular circuit boards in each arm that the motors are wired directly to. The LED's in each arm are attached to the bottom of each ESC. Here's an example of a replacement: http://www.dronefly.com/ProductDetails. ... vision-esc
Do you think the off coils in the motor could be it? I will check the emc blue light underneath, but so far there is no gooey stuff anywhere. The motor will spin one way, then the other, even though its only supposed to spin only one way. Also I can stop it from spinning and change its direction by touching it with my finger, which I highly recommend not doing for a fully functioning motor/blade.
Tried looking for the emc light indicators underneath. Couldn't find them. Any indication on where they might be?
Tried looking for the emc light indicators underneath. Couldn't find them. Any indication on where they might be?
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
Doesn't have to be gooey. Could just have a bulge in it like these ones. They should be completely flat on top.
Here is a picture of the board and here is a picture of the motor. Notice how the copper coils are wrapped weird. does it look like the motor or the emc?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Here is a picture of the board and here is a picture of the motor. Notice how the copper coils are wrapped weird. does it look like the motor or the emc?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
Looks like something happened with your ESC. There's a white residue near the primary power connectors and on what I think are the controllers themselves near the three phase wires going to the motor.
Adam, see if you can just upload the pics somewhere (imgur, etc) and just post links to them here instead
EDIT: nevermind, I was able to download them to see the full pics. I'd replace the motor first, but you might have burnt the ESC as well. Just use one of the other motors and connect it to that ESC, see what happens.
EDIT: nevermind, I was able to download them to see the full pics. I'd replace the motor first, but you might have burnt the ESC as well. Just use one of the other motors and connect it to that ESC, see what happens.
Good idea with using one of the other motor. Is there a right and wrong way to remove the old motor from the soder?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
adamgoodsell46 said:
Hey, Adam.
I would assume that what you witnessed was actually your main board frying! :shock:
Unfortunately I have had this dilemma, RIGHT when I got my Phantom 2! I called my dealer
and they had told me they were having similar complaints! They agreed that it seems to be a manufacturing defect.
Send your drone back to your dealer and let them know what's happening. It's unfortunate that they sent these
awesome toys out before fully testing them
The smoke came from under the rear right wing, the only one thats not working. If my main board was fried Id assume that more would be going wrong.nintendrone64 said:adamgoodsell46 said:
Hey, Adam.
I would assume that what you witnessed was actually your main board frying! :shock:
Unfortunately I have had this dilemma, RIGHT when I got my Phantom 2! I called my dealer
and they had told me they were having similar complaints! They agreed that it seems to be a manufacturing defect.
Send your drone back to your dealer and let them know what's happening. It's unfortunate that they sent these
awesome toys out before fully testing them
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
adamgoodsell46 said:
As long as you're using a soldering iron you should be fine, just heat the blob up enough for the wire to come loose and pull it out.
