two solos, one "bricked", one not. what to do?

[dml931]

i have (what seems to me) a complicated question...

So i recently crashed my solo into a pond that was covered in ice so when it hit, it only partially submerged. The front gimble with GoPro and front props were completely submerged leaving the rear props and rear end of the main body out. It took me about 5 minutes to retrieve it and during that time it eventually fully submerged briefly as i broke the ice getting to it. it was still powered on when i arrived and when i got back to shore, i pulled the batteries out of both the solo and gopro. i took them home and dismantled both to the component level, let them air dry if front (3') of a space heater on low heat for 3-4 days.

In the meantime i picked up another solo and gopro (in the event my efforts were unsuccessful). Yesterday i put everything back together and attempted to power up. gopro is bricked, and the drone appears to be also. when i turn the drone on, the battery does its typical led dance and then when it goes to boot up the drone, i can hear "something" want to start (not a beep tho) and then nothing. almost kinda sounds like a very quick power surge to a motor (that doesn't spin) followed by no activity at all. no leds on solo, or anything. This was performed without a gimble connected fyi.

So here's my complicated question: I now have a working solo (flys great) and a non-working solo. what are the chances of me taking parts off the non-working solo to isolate the faulty components in the working solo WITHOUT causing harm to the "known good" parts in the working solo? I've found a vender in CA that sells solo components separately so i could order the new parts to make the broke drone non-broke again. I just dont want to risk damaging the good drone in the process.

Any thoughts or ideas (besides "buy a new solo") will be very welcomed. I'd like to use the broke drone as a project into either making it better than factory, or at the very least learn how the fine details of it works. Im not new to the RC world as ive had a few RC cars in my day, but this my first venture into the skies with these solo's.

Thanks in advance!
Dave

 

[pyrate]

you could do that

 

[dml931]

you could do that

without risk of damaging the functioning drone?

sorry for the repeat question but i really want to be sure this wont cause any issues.

 

[Frank Foster]

I'd leave the one alone, that works, and keep the other just for parts, when/if needed.

 

[LAK-USA]

i have (what seems to me) a complicated question...

So i recently crashed my solo into a pond that was covered in ice so when it hit, it only partially submerged. The front gimble with GoPro and front props were completely submerged leaving the rear props and rear end of the main body out. It took me about 5 minutes to retrieve it and during that time it eventually fully submerged briefly as i broke the ice getting to it. it was still powered on when i arrived and when i got back to shore, i pulled the batteries out of both the solo and gopro. i took them home and dismantled both to the component level, let them air dry if front (3') of a space heater on low heat for 3-4 days.

In the meantime i picked up another solo and gopro (in the event my efforts were unsuccessful). Yesterday i put everything back together and attempted to power up. gopro is bricked, and the drone appears to be also. when i turn the drone on, the battery does its typical led dance and then when it goes to boot up the drone, i can hear "something" want to start (not a beep tho) and then nothing. almost kinda sounds like a very quick power surge to a motor (that doesn't spin) followed by no activity at all. no leds on solo, or anything. This was performed without a gimble connected fyi.

So here's my complicated question: I now have a working solo (flys great) and a non-working solo. what are the chances of me taking parts off the non-working solo to isolate the faulty components in the working solo WITHOUT causing harm to the "known good" parts in the working solo? I've found a vender in CA that sells solo components separately so i could order the new parts to make the broke drone non-broke again. I just dont want to risk damaging the good drone in the process.

Any thoughts or ideas (besides "buy a new solo") will be very welcomed. I'd like to use the broke drone as a project into either making it better than factory, or at the very least learn how the fine details of it works. Im not new to the RC world as ive had a few RC cars in my day, but this my first venture into the skies with these solo's.

Thanks in advance!
Dave

Dave, I would NOT swap good parts looking for bad ones. You will most likely fry the good parts. When troubleshooting electronics (or most things) it helps to divide major systems up and test them individually (without power initially). This requires a good working knowledge of how all the components work individually as well as together and good test equipment. It also requires a pretty fair amount of time and effort. If you do decide to troubleshoot your drone I would be interested to know what you find!

Personally, I would TS the power supply 1st.

Good luck!

 

[Maddog]

I would not take the working drone apart. The warranty will be voided, and you may damage something in the process.

Submerging Solo while powered up probably shorted out the main board.

You don't mention if Solo 1 is under warranty and if the crash was possibly a malfunction. If not, I would consider using it for parts.

There are many threads here and many YouTube videos from people trying to make Solo better than factory. Changing GPS, WIFI boards and antennas, are the best things to look at as well as upgraded motors.

 

[dml931]

Dave, I would NOT swap good parts looking for bad ones. You will most likely fry the good parts. When troubleshooting electronics (or most things) it helps to divide major systems up and test them individually (without power initially). This requires a good working knowledge of how all the components work individually as well as together and good test equipment. It also requires a pretty fair amount of time and effort. If you do decide to troubleshoot your drone I would be interested to know what you find!

Personally, I would TS the power supply 1st.

Good luck!

Ya thats what i was thinking which is why i asked here before doing anything additional to the drones. I do plan on troubleshooting the drone but only to the component level. I guess i'll start with a new mainboard and go from there.
Regarding the PWR supply (battery in this case) it appears to be working normal after a few days of it acting all wonky. initially (day of) the leds would just stay on and as time passed, the number of leds would diminish until they all shut off. i assumed that the smartboard was displaying the lipo's charge rate until it died. i did plug it into the charger after time passed and it appears to have taken a charge (via the leds) and now when i press the pwr button (not while on solo but independent from anything- charger included) the leds act normal. i have yet to put it into either of my solo's tho. kinda hesitant to do so.

I would not take the working drone apart. The warranty will be voided, and you may damage something in the process.

Submerging Solo while powered up probably shorted out the main board.

You don't mention if Solo 1 is under warranty and if the crash was possibly a malfunction. If not, I would consider using it for parts.

There are many threads here and many YouTube videos from people trying to make Solo better than factory. Changing GPS, WIFI boards and antennas, are the best things to look at as well as upgraded motors.

well a main board replacement is $110 from what i can find so i guess thats step 1 for replacing parts. I saw all those mod videos already and def plan on the GPS upgrade (not the cardboard mod) and considering the wifi card swap too. Solo 1 (broken) was under warranty until i disassembled it. I believe the crash was caused by pilot error but the drone was transitioning in between "fly" and "manual" modes while in this particular flight leading me to believe that GPS lock was struggling. bottom line is i need to increase my skills as a pilot before i attempt to fly around trees and water at low elevations. 15' in this case. i did submit a ticket with the flight logs from the controller to 3DR and so far only received the default response email. im sure i'll hear something from them before weeks end regarding if the drone or myself caused this incident.


thanks to you all for your opinions. i will NOT be swapping parts to troubleshoot and just relying on what information i can acquire here as far as further troubleshooting goes. thanks again!

 

[dml931]

Another question i just thought up...

if im replacing the electrical components (mainboard and wifi daughter board) will i need to reflash the FW on the 2 SD cards or should i be able to reuse the existing cards from the faulty components? I know theres one on the mainboard and one in the pixhawk and one in the controller. I'll upgrade the pixhawk so ill address that when that purchase is made. also going to upgrade to GPS and wifi cards since its kinda of relevant here.

 

[SARDG]

...i took them home and dismantled both to the component level, let them air dry if front (3') of a space heater on low heat for 3-4 days.

Dave

I consider that troubleshooting to the "board" level. Component level addresses the individual components on the boards; ICs, resistors, capacitors, etc. Virtually no one and certainly no company troubleshoots to the component level anymore - especially when entire boards cost a couple of bucks to manufacture in China.

 

[dml931]

I consider that troubleshooting to the "board" level. Component level addresses the individual components on the boards; ICs, resistors, capacitors, etc. Virtually no one and certainly no company troubleshoots to the component level anymore - especially when entire boards cost a couple of bucks to manufacture in China.

ah, i guess i can see that verbatim. in my world components "are" the boards themselves.

 

[SARDG]

ah, i guess i can see that verbatim. in my world components "are" the boards themselves.

I probably come from a world in the past where we actually did troubleshoot to the component level in consumer electronics. Now, it's a disposable world and replacing boards isn't even cost effective.

 

[Maddog]

Another question i just thought up...

if im replacing the electrical components (mainboard and wifi daughter board) will i need to reflash the FW on the 2 SD cards or should i be able to reuse the existing cards from the faulty components? I know theres one on the mainboard and one in the pixhawk and one in the controller. I'll upgrade the pixhawk so ill address that when that purchase is made. also going to upgrade to GPS and wifi cards since its kinda of relevant here.

Hopefully someone like @PdxSteve will chime in with the answer.

 

[dml931]

**UPDATE**
So I was sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing when the urge to troubleshoot the boards "as is" came upon me. So I gutted all the boards and motor pods from the drone, compass sensor too. Hooked up everything except the pods and the system behaved as expected with all the beeps and such. I then hooked up one pod at at time to one channel and 3/4 pods worked fine. The 1 that didn't work caused the initial symptom of "trying to turn on" but nothing really happened. I then tried the good pods on the three remaining pod channels and the system came up fine. Connected to the controller but received a "magnetic interference" message. It's raining outside so I'll perform that test outside once the weather is optimal.

So, as of right now it appears that I only need one ccw pod to get the drone flight worthy again. Super excited that's all that I appear to need at this point. Hopefully my next update will be a flight story!

 

[LAK-USA]

**UPDATE**
So I was sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing when the urge to troubleshoot the boards "as is" came upon me. So I gutted all the boards and motor pods from the drone, compass sensor too. Hooked up everything except the pods and the system behaved as expected with all the beeps and such. I then hooked up one pod at at time to one channel and 3/4 pods worked fine. The 1 that didn't work caused the initial symptom of "trying to turn on" but nothing really happened. I then tried the good pods on the three remaining pod channels and the system came up fine. Connected to the controller but received a "magnetic interference" message. It's raining outside so I'll perform that test outside once the weather is optimal.

So, as of right now it appears that I only need one ccw pod to get the drone flight worthy again. Super excited that's all that I appear to need at this point. Hopefully my next update will be a flight story!

Hey that's GREAT news Dave! Hopefully the rest is good-to-go also.

 

[Diether]

**UPDATE**
So I was sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing when the urge to troubleshoot the boards "as is" came upon me. So I gutted all the boards and motor pods from the drone, compass sensor too. Hooked up everything except the pods and the system behaved as expected with all the beeps and such. I then hooked up one pod at at time to one channel and 3/4 pods worked fine. The 1 that didn't work caused the initial symptom of "trying to turn on" but nothing really happened. I then tried the good pods on the three remaining pod channels and the system came up fine. Connected to the controller but received a "magnetic interference" message. It's raining outside so I'll perform that test outside once the weather is optimal.

So, as of right now it appears that I only need one ccw pod to get the drone flight worthy again. Super excited that's all that I appear to need at this point. Hopefully my next update will be a flight story!

That's wonderful news! Let us know....

 

[dml931]

**UPDATE #2**

So, the replacement pods came in the mail yesterday and last night I was able to replace the defective pod and wouldn't you know, it all powered up. Still had the "magnetic interference" error message on the controller. So I installed al the electronics back into the shell and powered on - no issues besides error message. Installed the new gimbal with new GoPro hero 4 silver - no issues except error message.

I then took the unit outside and performed both calibrations - they both took successful. Let the GPS (rev A) get its lock, started the motors - all still fine. Initiated a take off - it flew fine and hovered at its standard 8' and held the position well. I teste all the controls at that elevation - forward, left, right, back, pan, up, down - all good. Took it to about 150' and flew around my neighborhood for a few minutes then brought it in for a land. Landed fine. Took off again - all good. Landed and powered off.

Then I brought the questionable battery into the mix. It was behaving fine after a few days of drying (now almost 2 weeks) and it behaved fine on the drone as well. I have not yet flown with this battery but it does provide adequate power to the solo as the solo behaves as expected while that battery is in use. So I'm sure it'll be ok to use, but I'll wait for an open field and away from my neighborhood before I put it to the extreme test.

Super stoked that I now have TWO solo's that are flight worthy. My son is even more stoked because now he doesn't have to wait his turn to fly. And I learned so much about the solo and its parts during this whole episode - worth it in my eyes!

Now I just wait for the GPS upgrades to come in the mail. And then I'll be in serious business!

Thanks again for the support! It was much needed and appreciated!

 

[LAK-USA]

**UPDATE #2**

So, the replacement pods came in the mail yesterday and last night I was able to replace the defective pod and wouldn't you know, it all powered up. Still had the "magnetic interference" error message on the controller. So I installed al the electronics back into the shell and powered on - no issues besides error message. Installed the new gimbal with new GoPro hero 4 silver - no issues except error message.

I then took the unit outside and performed both calibrations - they both took successful. Let the GPS (rev A) get its lock, started the motors - all still fine. Initiated a take off - it flew fine and hovered at its standard 8' and held the position well. I teste all the controls at that elevation - forward, left, right, back, pan, up, down - all good. Took it to about 150' and flew around my neighborhood for a few minutes then brought it in for a land. Landed fine. Took off again - all good. Landed and powered off.

Then I brought the questionable battery into the mix. It was behaving fine after a few days of drying (now almost 2 weeks) and it behaved fine on the drone as well. I have not yet flown with this battery but it does provide adequate power to the solo as the solo behaves as expected while that battery is in use. So I'm sure it'll be ok to use, but I'll wait for an open field and away from my neighborhood before I put it to the extreme test.

Super stoked that I now have TWO solo's that are flight worthy. My son is even more stoked because now he doesn't have to wait his turn to fly. And I learned so much about the solo and its parts during this whole episode - worth it in my eyes!

Now I just wait for the GPS upgrades to come in the mail. And then I'll be in serious business!

Thanks again for the support! It was much needed and appreciated!

That's really good news Dave! Pretty much the best case scenario (especially with the dihydrogen monoxide dunking). I believe the steps you took immediately after extracting the drone from the water helped to mitigate any additional issues, so great thinking dude! I also believe you are very lucky, and obviously would not recommend water landings to anyone without gills. Clear Skies!

 

[dml931]

That's really good news Dave! Pretty much the best case scenario (especially with the dihydrogen monoxide dunking). I believe the steps you took immediately after extracting the drone from the water helped to mitigate any additional issues, so great thinking dude! I also believe you are very lucky, and obviously would not recommend water landings to anyone without gills. Clear Skies!

Lucky? Absolutely! I have bricked too many things in my years by means of a dunk that i wasn't all too upset (angry and/or irate) when it did happen. In fact, when it crashed I thought to myself "well that fucking sucks.... I guess I better go get it.... man, this happens way too much to me. Why do I keep playing with electronics around water so frequently?" As I casually walked along the shore to the crash site, took all my clothes (except underwear) off and calmly entered the friged waters to get the solo. When I saw it was still on, my default reaction took over BECAUSE of how many other times I've been in a similar situation so I knew killing any and all power was going to serve the solo best. AND I knew not to rush the drying/cleaning process. Again, these lessons were taught from past failures.

I once lost over 1k of gear because I rolled my kayak. 1 brand new iPhone 6s and a pair of Maui Jims. The phone died because I was stupid and tried to turn it on, and plug it in, and it never said hello again.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[LAK-USA]

Yea, I carried our Nikon DSLR (with 18-300mm lens mounted) & GoPro spelunking this summer. Complete, in the Nikon bag with flash & extra lenses(!). What a PITA that was! Still, we never know what we'll find until we find it and it was a great trip!

Cheers!

 

[dml931]

Oh man, did they survive? I have a Canon DSLR that I just about lost last spring on a canoe trip. The whole trip I had the camera either at my feet or around my neck. On day 3 I decided to keep it in the pelican case I bought to protect it. Within 20 min of paddling, we hit a huge strainer and flipped the boat. Didn't lose a thing.

Hope yours survived.