The paragraph below is from another thread I was participating in. It gives the question I am asking without me having to type it again. I crashed my drone and i'm now getting an ESC error. I am going to replace the motor first before I resort to replacing the main board. Just had some questions about parts. Please read below.

Thank you! After doing some research I am definitely going to try to do it myself. After further inspection of the drone I can tell that it landed on the tip of the right front arm, as it had mud marks and the plastic frame (top cover) of the arm is crinkled in, so I can tell it landed there and jammed the arm and motor. Prop was not broken though surprisingly. I will try replacing that motor and see what happens. Everything looks pretty simple once you get inside but I do have a question concerning the motors. According to my research there are two types of motors that work with two different ESC's. New 2312A 800Kv and older 2312 960kV. My question is how do I know for sure which motors mine uses? Similarly if I end up having to buy a new board, how do I know which one (part 96 or 33)? There is not a lot of info out there that I can find on the part numbers and which goes to which. But surely a number on the craft corresponds to something. Any advice there? I bought my P3A used. So no manual or  anything came with it.

Always replace motors with the same style of motor that was removed.  There is the "old" style motor which only works with the old ESC, and the "new" motors that work with the new ESC board.  If you have to replace the main ESC board as well, you will know if it is the old (part 33) or new (part 96) one based on whether the motors are old or new.  Apparently there is little or no difference in performance between the new and old setups.  You will be able to tell new from old as they are visually different.

P.S. there are clockwise and CCW motors in each set so make sure you replace the motor with the same direction.  The threads are either silver or black to differentiate.  The manual for the P3A is available here: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... _en_v1.8_160719.pdf

endotherm Posted at 2017-6-14 04:50
Always replace motors with the same style of motor that was removed.  There is the "old" style motor which only works with the old ESC, and the "new" motors that work with the new ESC board.  If you have to replace the main ESC board as well, you will know if it is the old or new one based on whether the motors are old or new.  Apparently there is little or no difference in performance between the new and old setups.  You will be able to tell new from old as they are visually different.
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Excellent! Thank you! I didn't even realize that they looked different. Mine has the old style motors. Great help thank you!

Last question: Which ESC goes with the 2312 motors?

cbeard93 Posted at 2017-6-14 05:16
Excellent! Thank you! I didn't even realize that they looked different. Mine has the old style motors. Great help thank you!

Last question: Which ESC goes with the 2312 motors?

Part 33.  Go back and re-read the post, I was not finished editing it.  There is a link to the manual as well.

endotherm Posted at 2017-6-14 05:21
Part 33.  Go back and re-read the post, I was not finished editing it.  There is a link to the manual as well.

Great post. Thank you for helping him out.

cbeard93 Posted at 2017-6-14 05:16
Excellent! Thank you! I didn't even realize that they looked different. Mine has the old style motors. Great help thank you!

Last question: Which ESC goes with the 2312 motors?

I have done this repair a couple of times. Just offering some advice here. Many will say to cut the wires and splice them in the middle, as opposed to unsoldering the wires off the main board. I did it the first time by cutting the wires. Only caused me heartache because for one, it was a little difficult for me to tin the wires. The come with a coating and everyone knows this, but after sanding, scraping, etc., I finally did get them soldered, but I still had an ESC error. I found on the motor I suspected to be faulty, that the wire was broken right off the main board after some lengthy investigation. I finally unsoldered the wires at the main board and it was much easier. I installed all new ones on mine and ESC error was gone. I know one of my motors were bad (hard to turn by hand) and  figured $72 for all new motors was good insurance. Just my opinion. Wanted to share with you for what it is worth. And yes, thanks to endotherm for his pic on which motors. It's not hard to figure out, but it is nice to have a heads up on what to buy. Good luck.

endotherm Posted at 2017-6-14 04:50
Always replace motors with the same style of motor that was removed.  There is the "old" style motor which only works with the old ESC, and the "new" motors that work with the new ESC board.  If you have to replace the main ESC board as well, you will know if it is the old (part 33) or new (part 96) one based on whether the motors are old or new.  Apparently there is little or no difference in performance between the new and old setups.  You will be able to tell new from old as they are visually different.

P.S. there are clockwise and CCW motors in each set so make sure you replace the motor with the same direction.  The threads are either silver or black to differentiate.  The manual for the P3A is available here: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... _en_v1.8_160719.pdf

Thank you so much! very great information.

I'm also planning to go ahead and replace the shell while I have it open. I am going to replace the motor first to see if that is the problem, if that fixes it i'll gut it and put it into the new shell. Any advice on this? Just looking for as much knowledge as I can get before cracking her open.

cbeard93 Posted at 2017-6-14 09:30
Thank you so much! very great information.

I'm also planning to go ahead and replace the shell while I have it open. I am going to replace the motor first to see if that is the problem, if that fixes it i'll gut it and put it into the new shell. Any advice on this? Just looking for as much knowledge as I can get before cracking her open.

Just take your time, it is not hard. To swap out the shell, you don't have to unsolder anything! just a bunch of screws, and not the same sizes. Keep track of them and if this is your first time, label where they go. On my first time through I had everything back together and noticed after the fact, that the screws that hold on the visual positioning module underneath the phantom go up into the battery compartment area. I noticed when putting in my battery that one of those screws were protruding through and slightly rubbing the battery. Lucky for me it wasn't a complete teardown to swap out a shorter screw, but it could have been worse. My point is just be careful and watch as you go along to make sure your screw lengths are correct. I have done quite a few since then and it gets easier every time. It is not rocket-science, but plan on a couple hours and a nice big space to do it. You will be fine. Oh yeah, a few pics on your phone might be helpful too. Have fun!

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-6-14 11:50
Just take your time, it is not hard. To swap out the shell, you don't have to unsolder anything! just a bunch of screws, and not the same sizes. Keep track of them and if this is your first time, label where they go. On my first time through I had everything back together and noticed after the fact, that the screws that hold on the visual positioning module underneath the phantom go up into the battery compartment area. I noticed when putting in my battery that one of those screws were protruding through and slightly rubbing the battery. Lucky for me it wasn't a complete teardown to swap out a shorter screw, but it could have been worse. My point is just be careful and watch as you go along to make sure your screw lengths are correct. I have done quite a few since then and it gets easier every time. It is not rocket-science, but plan on a couple hours and a nice big space to do it. You will be fine. Oh yeah, a few pics on your phone might be helpful too. Have fun!

Thank you! I feel pretty confident about it. I
m just worried that when I change the motor, it's going to end up being the whole board that is fried and not just the motor. I really hate that DJI made these things so hard to work on. Especially considering what they cost, you should at least be able to easily do repairs.

cbeard93 Posted at 2017-6-14 11:56
Thank you! I feel pretty confident about it. I
m just worried that when I change the motor, it's going to end up being the whole board that is fried and not just the motor. I really hate that DJI made these things so hard to work on. Especially considering what they cost, you should at least be able to easily do repairs.

I know what you mean! I had chatted with support  and all they would say was it was probably the main board and to send it in. I had just flown the night before and couldn't imagine the board was bad, so I made the decision to buy the motors and after I finally got the motor hooked up, it came to life and I was very pleased I didn't have to spend another $200 on a board. I did find out that your can test these motors somewhat with an ohm meter. On mine it felt rough like I said to turn, so that was convincing enough for me and that is why I continued to keep trying to figure it out. These are 3-phase motors, so you should have continuity between any, and all of the leads. Nothing should go to ground to the case of the motors and all three wires should "ring-out" to the others, if you know what I mean. If any combination of 2-wires don't have continuity, there is a problem with it. That is how I found my problem. Not to repeat, but after I sliced the new motor in, and I still had the error, I decided to check the others and also check them right at the board. I had checked my new motor before I put it in the phantom, but when it wouldn't fire up, I check it at the soldered connection on the main board and it was open between to legs........I knew that wasn't right and after looking closer, one of my wire was broken in two inside of the insulation, I could feel it. The original motor was bad though anyway, and I wondered if the bearings were going out causing a bigger load on the wires and they finally burned into. Just guessing here. Anyway, sorry to bore you with my story again, but thought it was worth sharing how you might check your motors. I found this helpful.

Update****

I cracked her open yesterday and got a look at the board and everything. I think I found the issue. The black wire of the motor that hit the ground has a very tiny cut in it near the soldering point. Also, oddly enough, the white glue is broken right at that point. Further inspection revealed that the frame that held the board in place was broken and the screws weren't holding down the board. I'm wondering if the fall jarred the board so hard that it pulled the wire and caused the break in the connection. I'm no electrician but that sounds pretty logical to me.

Soldering question: I've only done this once before. Does the wire need to be touching the contact point on the board? Or simply in the bubble of solder? Seems like a dumb question but I know solder has conductive properties. Thanks!!!

I just want to say, I am new to this community as this is my very first DJI product and I've only had it for a week. I am very pleased by the helpful and positive feedback from everyone! I am a member of several other forum communities (I have many hobbies) and people can be jerks. Thanks for all of the great help!  

cbeard93 Posted at 2017-6-16 04:51
Update****

I cracked her open yesterday and got a look at the board and everything. I think I found the issue. The black wire of the motor that hit the ground has a very tiny cut in it near the soldering point. Also, oddly enough, the white glue is broken right at that point. Further inspection revealed that the frame that held the board in place was broken and the screws weren't holding down the board. I'm wondering if the fall jarred the board so hard that it pulled the wire and caused the break in the connection. I'm no electrician but that sounds pretty logical to me.

It would probably help if you tried to get the wire as close to the board as possible when you start soldering. It would end up mechanically more stable and less prone to snapping the wire again due to vibrations.  Electrically though, you are right, the solder will conduct the power so it doesn't matter too much if it "floats" a bit above the board.  Make sure the solder is nice and shiny after it is applied and cools (don't move the wire), if it is matt or crinkly it will have a high resistance and restrict the flow of current to the motor and be a source of power loss through heat.  As the motors draw a lot of current, try and make sure you do a good soldering job.

It would be best to try and copy the method used on the other motor wires.  From memory, the wires are attached via through holes in the board.  Normally you would use a solder sucker or wick to clean off the old solder revealing the hole, but you might be able to open it up by heating the old pool of solder and poking a hole in it with a needle, or blowing hard through it.  Then you would be able to poke the new wire through the hole and apply the solder to both sides.  Heat the wire and the copper track simultaneously, then apply some solder to the joint.  Don't move it and inspect the work so it appears shiny, if not just re-melt it and try again.