Crashed. Please help assess the Damage Pics

Tyzing · Sep 8, 2015

My parents live on a hill which is made for flying. Tons of open space with all of the visibility you could ask for. It was a little more gusty than I care for, but it wasn't awful. I have a P1.1.1 w/ P2V blades.

First few flights went well, but on the last battery I ascended and lost visibility. I threw it in HL and started to bring it back to me. It was really bright, and I couldn't find it. I likely panicked a bit too soon but that's 20/20 at this point. I then had flashbacks of all of the youtube videos and forum posts about fly aways, and with the wind a little more than normal I feared the worst. I flipped the switch on the transmitter anticipating for it to come back like always. This time was different. I never descended straight down (watched that on youtube as well).

After about 20 minutes the search party began and I found it in the field below. Everything is in once piece, but it's clear it fell from quite a bit of altitude. Something else that stood out to me was how every prop was bent severely down (towards gear). I doubt the pic will do them justice since I've been messing with them since the crash. Each of the screws for the motor pulled through the case, and some of them at a severe angle, which results in the motor unable to spin freely.

I wish I put my Xiaomi on it to be able to watch what happened but sadly that didn't take place. Ironically my DJI was tough enough to take a swim underwater for 30 seconds, and after drying out it was as good as ever. Really speaks to the build quality DJI had out of the gate.

What are my options here?

Test? What should I test?
Repair body?
- If unable to repair that then should I get the 450 or something else?
New motors?
- If so should I stay stock or upgrade them or go aftermarket? If so which ones?
Scrap the whole thing?

I don't want to put more than $200 into this thing since I'm looking for every excuse in the world to get the new Phantom. However, money isn't growing on trees so I can't justify doing that when it would only take $100 or so to get this flying again. However if it's over $200 then it wouldn't make sense when for $500 or so more and I'll have brand new technology with FPV and other things that I'd like to have.

I'm relatively new to this hobby (5 months or so), but I'm a tech head, and it's been the best hobby I've picked up. LOVE IT. Wish it wasn't so expensive sometimes

I'm a pretty decent pilot, and have been reading as much as I possibly can....still a ton more to learn though. Who knows why what happened today did..could have been the wind, props, hardware, or me! I'm not trying to suggest it's a hardware failure, or pilot error for that matter. Just want to know how to fly my bird again.

Any suggestions or insight along with part numbers would be great. Thank you guys for the help, and making an event like this a little more painless.

Here's the carnage!

Can't figure out the gallery embed so I'll just post the link to the images: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=bVg5Yi1RRGVoYUJIcmdXWUtpU1lwTlVPblF5RzJB

BTW shoutout to the forum creator & mods...hands down the best forum UI I've ever used. Well done!

Tyzing · Sep 8, 2015

Any help?

Unicyclejunkie · Sep 9, 2015

Genuine DJI Phantom Part P1-08 Body shell for Phantom 1 -US dealer

New shell and new props and you might be good to go as long as none of the insides got destroyed.

Tyzing · Sep 9, 2015

Unicyclejunkie said:
Genuine DJI Phantom Part P1-08 Body shell for Phantom 1 -US dealer

New shell and new props and you might be good to go as long as none of the insides got destroyed.

Thank you! Would you recommend upgrading to the 450 shell?

Unicyclejunkie · Sep 9, 2015

If it were mine, I would just get the original shell. It's up to you. I guess what would really matter would be price. If the 450 shell was cheaper I'd probably attempt that just because i'm trying not to put anymore money into my p1... because i'm dying for a p3p

JKDSensei · Sep 9, 2015

You know what it "looks" like to me?
Heat damage???

Like all the motors got really hot and the case started melting. Wierd.

If you ran the battery down too low that could cause the motors to get really hot. But then this could have nothing to do with it. It's just the appearance is all.

As the battery voltage drops, the current increases to compensate. If you go too far past the current capacity of the motor, the heat can be significant. Enough to cause the damage shown. Melted props and shell. It's important not to run the Phantom much past the safe battery levels.

V(V) = I(A) × R(Ω)
P(W) = V(V) × I(A)

Just remember....as the battery voltage drops...the motor temps will increase as it struggles to make the same power on increased current due to lower voltage.

Not saying this is what happened here.

Unicyclejunkie · Sep 9, 2015

JKDSensei said:
You know what it "looks" like to me?
Heat damage???

Like all the motors got really hot and the case started melting. Wierd.

If you ran the battery down too low that could cause the motors to get really hot. But then this could have nothing to do with it. It's just the appearance is all.

That's interesting. I honestly was wondering myself why the shell had those "lips" or whatever around the screws.

JKDSensei · Sep 9, 2015

Unicyclejunkie said:
That's interesting. I honestly was wondering myself why the shell had those "lips" or whatever around the screws.

Yeah, my best guess would be that you inadvertently ran the battery down too far, the motors all got really hot and voila.

Again, this could have nothing to do what happened....but it sure looks it.

I set my battery cut off levels a bit higher than many people for this very reason. Not only does it stress the motors, but it also stresses the battery. People do it to extend flight time but for me, the trade off just isn't worth the extra minute or two.

Tyzing · Sep 10, 2015

JKDSensei said:
Yeah, my best guess would be that you inadvertently ran the battery down too far, the motors all got really hot and voila.

Again, this could have nothing to do what happened....but it sure looks it.

I set my battery cut off levels a bit higher than many people for this very reason. Not only does it stress the motors, but it also stresses the battery. People do it to extend flight time but for me, the trade off just isn't worth the extra minute or two.

This wouldn't be covered under warranty would it? (wishful thinking but worth the question!)

JKDSensei · Sep 10, 2015

Tyzing said:
This wouldn't be covered under warranty would it? (wishful thinking but worth the question!)

I have a feeling that running the battery too low won't be covered. (If that's what happened).
You can try for warranty coverage anyway. Keep us posted. Considering the wait and the hassle, I would just buy a shell and the necessary parts and fix it myself.

Tyzing · Sep 10, 2015

JKDSensei said:
I have a feeling that running the battery too low won't be covered. (If that's what happened).
You can try for warranty coverage anyway. Keep us posted. Considering the wait and the hassle, I would just buy a shell and the necessary parts and fix it myself.

Last question. Is there a way to pull the logs to get a better idea as to what happened? I'm guessing not on a P1 but wasn't sure.

JKDSensei · Sep 10, 2015

Tyzing said:
Last question. Is there a way to pull the logs to get a better idea as to what happened? I'm guessing not on a P1 but wasn't sure.

negative on the P1

Tyzing · Sep 18, 2015

Update - Just spent the night transferring everything over to the new body. Plugged it in and two of the motors had a very slight twitch when I did the motor test and the other two did nothing. I tried to film it for you guys and then this happened....
Just my luck. Anyways...what does this sound like to you? Other than having to def buy a ESC