hi guys,

I have been flying dji quadcopters for the past year starting from FC40, P2 and now P3A.

The P2 was totaled last week from a mid air malfunction of probably a motor. At least the gopro was saved.

My problem is that i am afraid to go beyond 300-350m or when i lose LOS. I see all these people making stunning videos going so far but im just afraid that i will crash it again and lose it or even worse injure someone.

The question is how much should i trust the phantom? What are the chances for a motor or ESC failing? The answer here should be a lot or not a lot i am not looking for percentages.

I would really like to fly for at least 1km or more.

i trust mine 100 %. i dont treat it as a toy but an aircraft and therefore chk everyrthing on it everyday. i will change motors after 100 hours.
malfunctions can happen at anytime, so distance is not a factor for me.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-6 20:21
i trust mine 100 %. i dont treat it as a toy but an aircraft and therefore chk everyrthing on it eve ...

Thank you for the motors tip. I will follow your advice on that. What about the ESCs?

Can you elaborate more on what you mean by checking everything?

For me is to make sure i have good satellite signals, do the compass calibration and thats about it honestly.

We should put down a best practises manual based on what people experienced in terms of crashes or non crashes.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-6 13:21
i trust mine 100 %. i dont treat it as a toy but an aircraft and therefore chk everyrthing on it eve ...

Ray - two questions for you - maybe you know... I have been thinking of getting replacement motors as well, either as spares or scheduled changeout. Your scheduled changeout makes a lot of sense (rather than waiting for a failure and crash).  I wonder if there is a way to detect a possible impending failure - heat perhaps, or reduction in no load RPMs? I'm thinking that, while running before takeoff, a questionable motor may have a lot lower "resting rpm" than would the other healthy motors.  IF that makes any sense, here is a low cost digital tachometer on Amazon that may work: http://goo.gl/QvKDcU . Both the App Store and Play have apps to do this too - do not know which is best.

In my experience with other electric RC aircraft, it seems  (seems, as in I don't know for sure) that the ESC's are equally subject to the faults of time and wear.

The questions are -
(1) Are P3 ESC's equally as vulnerable as the motors (I am not sure if these can be changed-out anyway)?
(2) As for motors, is it better to order the original 2312 motors, or will the new 2312E be the wiser choice?

If anyone else here knows, please also chime in. Thanks!

I have another question too regarding this, WHAT makes an ESC fail ? is it after the magnets on the motor get cooked from over heating loose there toque power when electricity flows thru them and that starts tasking the ESC ?  and does that make hover RPM faster for that motor ?

Here is a starting point :

yianni.ioannide Posted at 2015-9-7 01:33
Thank you for the motors tip. I will follow your advice on that. What about the ESCs?

Can you ela ...

here is what i had on another thread:


285 Flights
55 hours 50mins.
360Miles
4 batteries, all at 100% life
mountainous area, flat lands, beach.
90 degree farenheit, %hell humidity, strongest wind 20mph
present P3P = no shell cracks, no screw well cracks, 100% solid.
1 drop from 30' due to inadvertently doing a CSC. busted gimbal, landing gear, shell screw cracks.
painted this one black, repaired and flies rock solid. now passed on to my 11 year old kid.
2nd p3= 1 crash at 20mph, low flying, ground came up and i didnt. no damage, but replaced props. 2nd crash at 3' into a tree @ less than 5mph. no damage, but replaced props.

routine daily checks:
motors
all screws
every inch of shell is checked
battery housing and clips are checked
props under a microscope and the threads
motor threads
all visible ribbon cables and wires
battery life, cell variations

chks b4 flights:
chk compass mod values, i do not calibrate compass. ive calibrated it once after fw update and have travelled 1000 miles to the beach and flew without compass calibration but i religiously double check p3 compass bearing using a manual compass.
battery and cells
10+ satellites b4 take off
home point b4 take off
wind speed and direction
tallest object in flight path
cell and radio towers around flight paths
electrical, telephone lines that are difficult to see
where to drop it if in an emergency
hover at 30' for  a few minutes while testing all stick movements at 100%

i am sure ive forgotten to write down a few more
it sounds like a lot preflight but it doesnt take but it takes less than 5 minutes.

AerialLens Posted at 2015-9-7 02:22
Ray - two questions for you - maybe you know... I have been thinking of getting replacement motors  ...

i have been (may sound silly) feeling the motors from day one that i opened the box, i feel for anything out of the ordinary and listen to the sounds of the motors. since everything has a life span, i just decided to change mine after 100 hours. it may be an over kill but since i dont know what dji says as far the life span of these motors, i have to go by what i think.
once the top shell is open,you may have seen my thread where i took the whole thing apart to see what is involved in doing any inside work, it is a question of unsoldering the motor wires and resoldering. as far as esc, i am looking into that too, if something easy and at a fair price, i will change those too.
two min sets here:
1- its a toy, so i ll play with it till it breaks, no regular maintenance or daily check ups. which in my opinion is all these crashes, and unfortunately when it happens in public it just looks bad for the industry as a whole!

2- it is a small aircraft and therefore needs to be treated as such!!!

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-6 13:50
i have been (may sound silly) feeling the motors from day one that i opened the box, i feel for an ...

Like any RC AC if you fly it, it will eventually crash. You just need to be the best pilot you can be, enjoy it and deal with it when it crashes.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-6 12:50
i have been (may sound silly) feeling the motors from day one that i opened the box, i feel for an ...

Not really too much out there on how to repair esc's on the P3. Since they're part of the MC, you can't just swap them out like on the P2's. And there doesn't even seem to be any method (that I've found) to even test them individually. All that comes up on the GO app is "ESC error". If that happens you either buy a new MC, which are hard to come by, or buy a new complete body (minus gimbal and camera) from DJI. With the cost of an MC hovering in the 350 dollar US plus range, plus the work entailed to swap it in, I opted for a complete new body from DJI. If you find out any info on the ESC's, Ray, please post it. I'd love to see it.

headkumquat Posted at 2015-9-7 06:52
Not really too much out there on how to repair esc's on the P3. Since they're part of the MC, you  ...

it looks like you are correct in what u say, because when i took mine all apart to paint, i did not see esc being a separate unit. so, as previously mentioned, u fly it till it cant anymore!!, meanwhile you do the best maintenance that is possible with what we are given

There should not be any issue with the ESCs requiring replacement after a period of time as there is nothing in them to wear. As they are not separate items anyway, it is a moot point.

And brushless motors should only require lubrication of the bearings, and perhaps periodic replacement of the bearings, more frequently if you don't balance your props. On the other hand, it is probably easier to replace the entire motor than it is to disassemble it and change the bearings.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-6 18:59
it looks like you are correct in what u say, because when i took mine all apart to paint, i did no ...

Unfortunately, the direction DJI has taken seems to be pretty much the direction the industry is taking as a whole - i.e., instead of discrete components - flight control board, ESCs, motors, etc., they're manufacturing a "unit" that's difficult to replace without replacing completely.

If you build something from a frame kit you might likely end up with something more durable, easier to repair and have recognizable components - and, if you built it yourself, you'll be very familiar with what's inside.

Even as far back as the Blade 350 series (already discontinued) you could purchase separate ESCs, but it still isn't quite as straightforward as it could have been.

I have to agree with one of the posters in this thread - our Phantoms won't last forever and eventually something we can't control will fail and the thing will fall out of the air. Unlike *real* aircraft systems, where periodic maintenance is required and records must be maintained, there is virtually *no* true data that will tell us what failed, why it failed, how to prevent that failure in the future, etc. Ray's approach with the motors is about the best one can expect. Eventually, of course, the source for the exact motor fit will dry up as well. Then, the more experienced/savvy owners can find/build substitutes, but, of course, the question then arises - is it feasible from a cost perspective?

As one of the webmaster (Droneflyers.com?) said not too long ago - these things are essentially disposable. They will die, crash, break, burn, technology will produce something we like better (and it will work even better!), etc.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-6 14:50
i have been (may sound silly) feeling the motors from day one that i opened the box, i feel for an ...

Ray, in a perfect world DJI would have a recommended replacement schedule for just about every component on the DJI3.  I don't think they will ever publish one because everyone is going to buy the DJI4, 5, 6 and so on while their DJI3 sits in the closet collecting dust like the first iPhones and iPads..

I believe replacing your motors at 100 hours might not be the best thing to do.  DJI motors, in my opinion,  have a long life span, little or no maintenance, and high efficiency. You might be playing with fire when you connect the new motors to the ESC.

Although my ceiling fan motors are not as sophisticated as my DJI3 motors they have been running for years and thousands of hours along with other appliances powered by small electric motors that just never quit.

Just my thoughts and please publish your results when you change your motors.  

Now if we could just get that Tahoe guy to participate and post DJI statistics on motor life!
Forgot to add....what about replacing other components for perventative maintenance?  Compass, GPS, etc., and so on.  I think every componet will last for the life of your DJI3, as long as you don't crash it, or use it as a submarine, or a tree trimmer, because you will probably buy a new DJI4 long before your DJI3 components fail.

Joe Blow Posted at 2015-9-7 07:38
Ray, in a perfect world DJI would have a recommended replacement schedule for just about every comp ...

what you say makes sense, changing motor at 100 hours actually seems a bit too drastic, it is going to mean at the rate iuse the p3, every 2 months. and then what is there to say i am not replacing perfectly good, tested a nd proven items with 4 motors that potentially could fail because of manufacturing defects!! put that with the fact that as u say p4 will be out within the year, the best course of action seems to be use it, maintain it the best you can.!!! for me the weakest link in the chain is anything that moves, hence i mentioned the motors. but i think i better rethink my strategy.
thanks for your input, it does make sense

Please, consider your flight enviroment before flying that far. you can trust your phantom 100% once you fly in opened space . I wouldn't do that in the city with a lot of building and interference.

DJI-Tim Posted at 2015-9-7 06:05
Please, consider your flight enviroment before flying that far. you can trust your phantom 100% once ...

Hello,

I live in a city with not many tall buildings and sometimes fly over at about 70-100m height.  Would that be considered bad practice in terms of interference? Even if i fly at the beach there are still buildings along the beach.

I would think that in a city if you fly over 50m you should be good. Nonetheless i avoid doing that in case i do have a fail i dont injure someone but city fly overs look amazing

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-6 19:54
what you say makes sense, changing motor at 100 hours actually seems a bit too drastic, it is goin ...

Awesome as always Ray.  Best procedure is a per-flight and post-flight check/review before and after each flight.

Now where is that new update on the firmware and DJI Go?

Wow, Nice update!  Thanks DJI.