No. 4 Esc motor error and broken winding

[Rhouli]

Today I launched my Mavic pro of a landing pad in a sandy area. The Mavic took off then almost immediately came crashing down from two feet up. No damage seemed to be done and I cleaned out all the sand from it's landing.

I tried launching the drone again only to review a No. 4 Esc motor error. This prompted me to check the back right motor where I found one of the windings on the motor has broke. Probably from a piece of sand getting in their on take off. I attached a photo which shows this damage.

Unfortunately, I am in the middle of nowhere africa (Namibia/Botswana) for the next 2.5 months so ordering a new motor is difficult. Although I do have access to basic electronics shops and repair places in Namibia. Of course I would like to continue to use my drone out here.

Would my best bet be to see if I can get the coil rewound or does anyone have a better solution?Worst case I might be able to make it to cape Town for a day or 2 where it might be easier to get this fixed.

 

[jaysrmc]

Check with @Thunderdrones he might be able to give you some pointers or get you a replacement part sent to cape town via DHL

 

[Former Member]

Thank you for mentioning me @jaysrmc

OP, is there anywhere you can buy an arm where you are or online? If not I would be happy to ship you one, but it might take a couple of weeks to get to you.

Installing a new arm is alot cheaper than rewinding a motor.

While you're at it, try spinning each of your motors to see if sand got into any of them.

 

[jaysrmc]

Today I launched my Mavic pro of a landing pad in a sandy area. The Mavic took off then almost immediately came crashing down from two feet up. No damage seemed to be done and I cleaned out all the sand from it's landing.

I tried launching the drone again only to review a No. 4 Esc motor error. This prompted me to check the back right motor where I found one of the windings on the motor has broke. Probably from a piece of sand getting in their on take off. I attached a photo which shows this damage.

Unfortunately, I am in the middle of nowhere africa (Namibia/Botswana) for the next 2.5 months so ordering a new motor is difficult. Although I do have access to basic electronics shops and repair places in Namibia. Of course I would like to continue to use my drone out here.

Would my best bet be to see if I can get the coil rewound or does anyone have a better solution?Worst case I might be able to make it to cape Town for a day or 2 where it might be easier to get this fixed.

Don't know if this helps but I found this site...

Dji Spares Ads | Gumtree Classifieds South Africa

 

[Rhouli]

Thanks for the help @jaysrmc and @Thunderdrones.

My issue is I will only be in a relatively large town with a known address till Saturday. I do have someone that can mail me a new arm here but coordinating that may prove to be pretty difficult due to lack of known address as I will be mostly in the wilderness the next few months.

I think I will ask around and see if anyone can rewind the motor. If that doesn't pan out I will order a new arm to capetown and pick it up in 4 weeks time.

Unfortunate to have a drone break on the start of a trip through such beautiful countries!

 

[drw52jc]

Sorry about your drone. Once you get it fixed you may wanna invest in a helipad. Bout $17, folds up fast and super convenient.

 

[brilock1]

Today I launched my Mavic pro of a landing pad in a sandy area. The Mavic took off then almost immediately came crashing down from two feet up. No damage seemed to be done and I cleaned out all the sand from it's landing.

I tried launching the drone again only to review a No. 4 Esc motor error. This prompted me to check the back right motor where I found one of the windings on the motor has broke. Probably from a piece of sand getting in their on take off. I attached a photo which shows this damage.

Unfortunately, I am in the middle of nowhere africa (Namibia/Botswana) for the next 2.5 months so ordering a new motor is difficult. Although I do have access to basic electronics shops and repair places in Namibia. Of course I would like to continue to use my drone out here.

Would my best bet be to see if I can get the coil rewound or does anyone have a better solution?Worst case I might be able to make it to cape Town for a day or 2 where it might be easier to get this fixed.

Sorry about your drone. Once you get it fixed you may wanna invest in a helipad. Bout $17, folds up fast and super convenient.

As you are truly stuck and whilst the safest and best option is to replace the motor I would try to find a watchmaker/repairer who have the skill to put a light drop of solder on the break. It looks like its not under stress and it might work as a temporary fix. But its risky. Its worked for me on larger model engines over the years, but they ran on the ground!

 

[Rhouli]

As you are truly stuck and whilst the safest and best option is to replace the motor I would try to find a watchmaker/repairer who have the skill to put a light drop of solder on the break. It looks like its not under stress and it might work as a temporary fix. But its risky. Its worked for me on larger model engines over the years, but they ran on the ground!

Good idea. I might try this out as a temporary handicap to do some light flying until I can get a new motor in hand. Thanks for the advice.

 

[FWD]

I'd like to know how this will work out.

 

[Rhouli]

I'd like to know how this will work out.

Will update either route I end up going. Will be
back in a "city" in two days and will explore the soldering/rewinding option.

 

[forsythem]

Have you tried talking to any of the locals? It's Africa... rewinding motors is nearly an essential skill there. Granted, it's normally washing machine motors and other things a bit larger, but I would be surprised if you couldn't get somebody to rewind it for you.

 

[Zoidsfan77]

I hope you have repaired your drone by now, but for others here is what I would attempt.

If you were able to get a small length of similar gauge wire from some other equipment (scavanged applience or otherwise), perhaps a single strand from a stranded wire. Cut it to be just ever so slightly longer than the distance your trying to bridge, and tin the ends. Bend it so if you placed it in the correct spot, the ends would like up.
With the iron just touch it at the joint hardest to reach, just long enough to melt the solder as you really don't want to do the insulation any harm. Repeat for the easier joint. I would gently prod at it with some plastic (not metal, to avoid scratching the insulation), to see if it relatively sturdy. I would try flying around over a soft surface at low altitude to see if the repair is OK. It could fail at any time, but with the stationary windings it has a chance.
You'll want to fly really easy, as your repair will be relatively high resistance, and will heat faster than the rest of the motor. To hot and it may melt the solder.
Of course you want to turn it by hand after reassembling to ensure there is no interference beforing firing up.

Hopefully you didn't have the attempt something like this, but if you did I would be curious to hear about it!