There is an ESC warning error ... and broken electronic components

[KyNhongLangThang]

Hi all,

1>>> I bought the old P3 pro from my friend. And it crashed and displayed ESC warning.
I want to fix it.
I followed the situations sugestion and got ESC_2 status damage.
So i check my board...uh umh...some components broken somewhere in ESC_2.
Please see below.
Is this the culprit?
Please tell me what its name is, I want to replace it.

2>>> Somewhere and Some other components are also broken also. OMG
Where is the real problem?

3>>> One more question.
I don't sure my board is original or not.
Because i can't see the label on 4 MCU integrated chip.
So, Have they been replaced before?

# This is my first aircraft. I want to control it and make it fly...
Thank all #

 

[WV. Rootman]

You seem to really tear into things.
DJI doesn't give out that information. If board is bad, replace the board.

 

[Oso]

Hard to tell, but does it look like that board has been in water?

 

[KyNhongLangThang]

You seem to really tear into things.
DJI doesn't give out that information. If board is bad, replace the board.

Thank,
You know, i bought the old phantom, i don’t have much money. about 200$ is so big for me. I just want to know where is the fault, which component can be replace by myself

 

[KyNhongLangThang]

Hard to tell, but does it look like that board has been in water?

No it isn’t. I don't know the difference with normal board but i think it is a normal covered surface

 

[quaddamage]

Hi all,

1>>> I bought the old P3 pro from my friend. And it crashed and displayed ESC warning.
I want to fix it.
I followed the situations sugestion and got ESC_2 status damage.
So i check my board...uh umh...some components broken somewhere in ESC_2.
Please see below.
Is this the culprit?
Please tell me what its name is, I want to replace it.

View attachment 119410

If I look at that, I see a row of components, from left to right:
- crystal osc
- small cap x2
- bigger cap
- huge resistor
- small cap, plus footprint of small smd component
- bigger footprint of smd component
- huge resistor
- small cap x2
- bigger cap

Just looking at this list, a pattern emerges, right?
You can figure out what capacitors are missing by desoldering and measuring caps which are either before or after the missing ones. They're identical, a copy for each of 3 phases sent to motors.

2>>> Somewhere and Some other components are also broken also. OMG
Where is the real problem?


View attachment 119411

View attachment 119412

For these, may be worth checking the wiki from which we're getting most of the HW info:
O-Gs wiki: DJI-Hardware: Phantom 3 pro/adv

3>>> One more question.
I don't sure my board is original or not.
Because i can't see the label on 4 MCU integrated chip.
So, Have they been replaced before?

View attachment 119413

I don't get your way of thinking. How are markings related to originality?
Anyway, there are no knock-offs of the ESC Center Boards from Ph3s.

Putting resin on chips is DJIs way of protecting their intellectual property. That chip is a Texas Instruments uC. This specific chip has an unchangeable ROM written during production, so it can't be replaced. And even if it could, how does replacing a chip makes something a knock-off?


Anyway, for such issues, it is usually cheaper (considering that your time also costs) to buy a new ESC Center Board than to try repairing this one. Unless you have more boards which could serve as part donors - then just replacing parts until it works makes sense.

 

[David_Cambridge]

If you go the replace parts route, practice microsoldering techniques on a scrap surface mount board.

 

[Ken from Canada]

I had a problem once with my P4 years ago. I called the nearest DJI repair to me. They said send the entire unit to us plus transmitter. I did and they sent back an email as to what it would cost to repair. They also said they had a new P4 but it was black and all they had to do was mate it with my transmitter and that would be the cheapest way to fix the problem, about $150 bucks instead of a little over two hundred. I got it all back a week later and all worked perfect. Hope it all works out for you. Ken

 

[cheddarman]

I am a retired RN electronics engineer and there is no way I would attempt to change out any components on the mother board. These things are manufactured by computer, not someone with a soldering iron.
Also, you have no idea what's what on there and you have no way of testing individual circuits or components.
to identify faults.

To established what caused the crash (other than human error) we would need to see the .txt file to start with, and then more information is in the .DAT files stored on the PCB.

 

[quaddamage]

I am a retired RN electronics engineer and there is no way I would attempt to change out any components on the mother board. These things are manufactured by computer, not someone with a soldering iron.

You should watch people on YouTube to learn current soldering techniques. It requires a lot more focus (and being relaxed in the first place) than older components, but soldering these is completely normal.

Automatic manufacturing was used in the old times as well. The machines for bending pins and populating components on a board were expensive and crude - so that was often done by humans. But actual soldering was being done using Wave Soldering, automatically, even 40 years ago.

Also, you have no idea what's what on there and you have no way of testing individual circuits or components.
to identify faults.

That's why I proposed donor board. If you use it, you don't have to care what you're replacing.

 

[cheddarman]

No it isn’t. I don't know the difference with normal board but i think it is a normal covered surface

Not sure where you are but you can pick up main boards on Ebay for £40........... Here's one.......

 

[KyNhongLangThang]

Not sure where you are but you can pick up main boards on Ebay for £40........... Here's one.......

You know, I come from a country with a low standard of living. About £40 is 1.164.093 vnd with not shipping charge. I bought my Ph3 from friend with low cost. My way now is to replace components...

 

[KyNhongLangThang]

If I look at that, I see a row of components, from left to right:
- crystal osc
- small cap x2
- bigger cap
- huge resistor
- small cap, plus footprint of small smd component
- bigger footprint of smd component
- huge resistor
- small cap x2
- bigger cap

Just looking at this list, a pattern emerges, right?
You can figure out what capacitors are missing by desoldering and measuring caps which are either before or after the missing ones. They're identical, a copy for each of 3 phases sent to motors.

Thank you in advanced.
Yes, they are the same of components in row.
I found the schematic below.
Because my Kicad soft not show correct the layout PCB.
Could you teach me where are they?

Putting resin on chips is DJIs way of protecting their intellectual property. That chip is a Texas Instruments uC. This specific chip has an unchangeable ROM written during production, so it can't be replaced. And even if it could, how does replacing a chip makes something a knock-off?

If DJI protects their intellectual property I will not worry.
I see pictures of the same main board on web. I don't see them erased. I feel different from my mainboard.
Because my Ph3 is old. I'm not the first owner

<<<<Sorry for my bad english>>>>

 

[KyNhongLangThang]

I had a problem once with my P4 years ago. I called the nearest DJI repair to me. They said send the entire unit to us plus transmitter. I did and they sent back an email as to what it would cost to repair. They also said they had a new P4 but it was black and all they had to do was mate it with my transmitter and that would be the cheapest way to fix the problem, about $150 bucks instead of a little over two hundred. I got it all back a week later and all worked perfect. Hope it all works out for you. Ken

Thank, I chose to repair it, because my P3 is out of warranty and the repair service is so far from me

 

[quaddamage]

Could you teach me where are they?

I don't really know. I see which caps on the schematic are per-phase, near the MOSFETs - they're definitely those. but which is which - don't know. The one which is bigger has higher capacitance - so maybe it's the 2.2uF one? Or maybe it's 100nF, and the sibling two are connected together for the current sense capacitance?

You'd have to check where they are connected (using multimieter in diode mode) to know for sure which is which. Also, the capacitance values on the schematic are probably unproven.

I see pictures of the same main board on web. I don't see them erased. I feel different from my mainboard.
Because my Ph3 is old. I'm not the first owner

I see. For the pictures - some have the resin scraped off, some come from production branches which didn't had it at all.
I even scraped one of these myself - I contributed a few photos to that wiki.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Your English is very understandable. You do quite well. I admire your resourcefulness. I also have great respect for quaddamage knowledge.

 

[gppms]

i suggest you to replace all the board, it is not very expensive , you can find it 70 usd on ebay.

 

[cheddarman]

AS he said earlier, he hasn't got that sort of money, plus postage..........I know the feeling as a UK pensioner ?