Hey All,

First time poster and drone owner here, was hoping someone could provide me with some assistance. On the weekend I decided to take my Phantom 2 out for it's second flight, however it did not go to plan. Everything seems fine, GPS lock successful, power-on successful, but when I tried to take off the Phantom 2 fell backwards and the back 2 propellors fell into the dirt. I ran over to pick it up at which point I could see and smell smoke coming out of the back exhaust vents for both rear motors. I powered off and back on again, the back two propellors will not spin up.

Left disappointed after what was an amazing first flight the weekend before I began scratching my head at what my options were. I did not buy directly from DJI, I got it from a local store, who have since told me that the warranty by DJI does not include moving parts (please correct if this is not true).

At this point I would like to know the following;

1. Am I able to claim this as a warranty issue? The drone was on a flat surface and fell backwards, seems very odd...
2. If I am unable to claim this as a warranty issue, can I buy 2 new motors? If so, can I install them myself or do I need to send the drone away to DJI?
3. Is it worth upgrading to a better motor system such as the E600?

Thanks for your help.

A sudden stop of the motors under full power will burnout the electronic speed controllers, and will not be covered by the warranty as its will be classed as a user error or crash.
The good news is that the ESC's are cheap to replace and you will only need the 2 that are connected to the motors that stopped.
The E600 is not designed for the Phantom so you cant use it.
For future reference when taking off give the phantom a burst of full throttle to hop it into the air, then hover at a few feet to check the systems before continuing with the flight.