Help after crash

[Jeff Goodby]

Hi All,

I'm sure there's a thousand of us that have been in this situation but I managed to fly my P3Pro into a big pine tree. Luckily for me despite the fact it was 80ft up it stayed in the tree and I was able to recover it. On inspection there was a broken prop and damage to the shell, the motherboard had also sheered itself of it's mounts.

Anyway a new shell and motherboard mount (plus new props) and she had her test flight today. She's flying fine but there is a noticeable vibration whilst hovering, it's not reproducing itself in the video but it's plain to see when stationary. Equally she whistles now! I've done a full IMU calibration. I'm guessing one of the motor is out of alignment and there's also a difference in the props not lining up across the body.

I'm guessing that when the props tips are next to each other they should be aligned? (i.e.equal heights).

I've checked all the newbie things like screws fitted correctly and motors mounted in their mounts correctly, it all looks fine there. It's hard to see how the motor(s) are damaged but something obviously isn't right for such a vibration.

I've ordered a new CW and CCW motor for the two arms that sustained damage and will fit when they arrive, not a big fan of working inside the P3 as the body is a pain to keep taking off and on!

is there anything else I should check?

Thanks all for any tips/pointers.....

 

[Reed L]

Sounds like a bad motor, check the vibration on each.

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[Jeff Goodby]

thanks, I'm thinking it's that but have ordered a new pair...the video is fab but a lot of work when it will be easier for me to replace the suspecting motor. There is some very minimal damage to the lower grill on the motor that took the impact so I reckon its that. Will try that first. thanks for the reply

 

[Jeff Goodby]

Hi All,

Just wanted to drop a update on my crash and repair in the hope it helps others!

I've replaced the shell, motherboard housing and eventually 3 of the motors, if you're reasonably comfortable with a soldering iron this is a very quick job, getting the housing off and on is far more challenging!

After the first two motors were replaced there was still a high frequency vibration on the skids. I suspected these two motors to be the cause so I was obviously disappointed even thou I had reduced the vibrations. Anyhow replaced a third motor and whilst it reduced the vibration further it was still not fully gone. At the time of testing I had 4 brand new 3rd party props purchased from Amazon, these were very highly rated so I had no reason to suspect them, especially since I brought 4 pairs and swapping them out made no difference.

As a troubleshooting exercise I fitted my old stock props back on, these were well used but still flyable. As soon as the P3P took to the sky she was as steady as a rock and the vibrations had gone. The stock props have a rubber feel around the threads whilst the Amazon ones are more rigid mouldings, these may have been the basic difference. Sometimes it's the basic things that are the root cause.

If you do experience a crash I would seriously suggest a full inspection of the motherboard mount as well as the more obvious repair indicators. Many people have reported it sheering off and whilst your bird maybe airworthy it might be quietly shaking itself to death inside.

 

[Reed L]

Wow, 3rd party props.... I didn't see that one coming... I balance every prop before it ever goes on and then check them periodically. But I have like 5 sets of the DJI yellow tip and 4 of the plain. So many people have had crashes while using the Carbon Fiber props that I took mine off. A lot of the problems are caused by the different hubs. I've never bought an off brand but I've only had one set out of all of them that didn't need to be balanced straight out of the box.