Phantom 3 Pro crunch time!

Hairycamel · Jan 9, 2021

Hi All, I have the dreaded no video issue after doing the update some months ago on my Phantom 3 Pro. Having done a lot of looking online for fixes, I feel that the 3 obvious choices to me are:

1. Get it repaired by a DJI authorised repair shop

2. Sell all my kit as is with the fault described. (have the hdmi board so that will probably be still desirable )

3. Break it down for parts and sell those.

My thoughts are to cut and run and invest the money made from selling into a new Mavic Pro or similar, or do you think the Phantom 3 has enough life left in it to merit the repair?

My thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Andyfalc · Jan 9, 2021

Hi ,
IMHO it's hard to beat newer usually better tech, eg. Camera, Sensors, Transmission system.
I would try and get what I could for P3 and invest in something newer.

Hairycamel · Jan 9, 2021

Andyfalc said:
Hi ,
IMHO it's hard to beat newer usually better tech, eg. Camera, Sensors, Transmission system.
I would try and get what I could for P3 and invest in something newer.

That's the way I was leaning really.....

cheddarman · Jan 9, 2021

I always ask the question, "Why did you try to update"? Did you have a problem"
By far the largest group on "problems" come from people updating their firmware.
If it ain't broke don't fix it!!!

Hairycamel · Jan 9, 2021

cheddarman said:
I always ask the question, "Why did you try to update"? Did you have a problem"
By far the largest group on "problems" come from people updating their firmware.
If it ain't broke don't fix it!!!

It had not been used for a few months, and was not happy about me using it before I updated it.

cheddarman · Jan 9, 2021

In this weather I guess I may use mine a coupe of times during the winter months. All I do is check and top map the batteries periodically and never had a problem.

To everybody out there thinking like the Hairy Camel, if your drone has been sitting in the cupboard for a few months, charge the batteries, turn it all on and see if it works, and usually it will. The very last resort would be to start doing updates!

KachemakDiver · Jan 9, 2021

Hairycamel said:
Hi All, I have the dreaded no video issue after doing the update some months ago on my Phantom 3 Pro. Having done a lot of looking online for fixes, I feel that the 3 obvious choices to me are:

1. Get it repaired by a DJI authorised repair shop

2. Sell all my kit as is with the fault described. (have the hdmi board so that will probably be still desirable )

3. Break it down for parts and sell those.

My thoughts are to cut and run and invest the money made from selling into a new Mavic Pro or similar, or do you think the Phantom 3 has enough life left in it to merit the repair?

My thanks in advance for your thoughts!

The Phantom 3 Professional is an excellent drone. My personal opinion is get the gimbal board fixed, it would be less expensive. Nothing against the Mavic, it’s a wonderful bird also, but it’s not a Phantom ?

gppms · Jan 9, 2021

KachemakDiver said:
The Phantom 3 Professional is an excellent drone. My personal opinion is get the gimbal board fixed, it would be less expensive. Nothing against the Mavic, it’s a wonderful bird also, but it’s not a Phantom ?

As a mavic pro , mavic 2 pro and mavic mini 2 owner i totally agree with you.

Capt KO · Jan 9, 2021

As stated, updates that are not required often end badly. Overheating during the process is death to the gimble board. Fan required during update. Worth a fix. IMO

SKY-SPY · Jan 10, 2021

Have you tried to restore the previous firmware ?

Hairycamel · Jan 10, 2021

SKY-SPY said:
Have you tried to restore the previous firmware

Hairycamel · Jan 10, 2021

I have not tried this yet as I thought it was a hardware issue. As an experiment last night, I left the P3P in the greenhouse to make sure it was nice and cold, then when I tried it this morning it worked for about 2 minutes before the video feed stopped working again.

KachemakDiver · Jan 10, 2021

Hairycamel said:
I have not tried this yet as I thought it was a hardware issue. As an experiment last night, I left the P3P in the greenhouse to make sure it was nice and cold, then when I tried it this morning it worked for about 2 minutes before the video feed stopped working again.

There is definitely a component on the gimbal board that has bad contact now, most likely caused by overheating of the board during the update. When the board is cool,the subject chip makes enough contact to work properly. It can be challenging to find and perhaps reflow the chip. But given the circumstances it would be worth a try, IMHO.