DJI Phantom 3 ESC Status Error and Main Board Replacement

I wanted to share the process of replacing the ESC main board of a Phantom 3 Advanced. A friend of mine had an ESC burn out and unfortunately it's not easily possible to replace just one ESC since they are all contained on a single PCB. You can find the part here:
amzn.to/2ppFCcT
My buddy John had a dead Phantom 3 Pro so I was able to pull the board out and use it on the Phantom 3 Advanced. This was my first time to crack open a Phantom and replace the main board.

[@martinredman9402]

The plastic tools used for car door card removal are very good for splitting the top and bottom shells apart. Lolly sticks can be used to keep the parts apart as you loosen the shells all the way around. They don't damage the body shells like metal screwdrivers will.

[@nicksmith5919]

He isn't kidding about the splitn the drone. What a shell. Reminds me what i heard about taking an xbox apart. Thanks to the people with the know how.

[@JoeSircy]

Good repair job Dennis. I have had my Phantom 3 shell open a few times, doing a whole shell replacement now. I can say it gets easier with practice!

[@dennisbaldwin]

Thanks for sharing that info. Good luck with your shell replacement. Not sure I'd be up for that ;)

[@TheDronzDr]

Jack, After you swap the boards and finish all the soldering. Did you do a firmware update? I have heard people updating to the this newest firmware, and after updating they started get ESC erro. I wonder if this firmware is causing some of this problem. Do you think Dji might be having a bad firmware to forcing people to have to buy a new board? Who knows.

[@BigRichEHhthang100]

I replaced my board recently and now I can link RC but I still get a transmission image error no image displays on go app and motor don’t start up

[@rond4912]

I bought a used DJI Phantom 3 Advanced and i flew it once and then i got the ESC Error the next time i tried to fly. How do you know if you need to replace the motherboard or if you need to replace a engine? I did not crash the DJI or anything so i'm just trying to figure out what went wrong?

[@dennisbaldwin]

Good question. Since I could see black marks on the board I knew it was the board. Or maybe I just got lucky. I know how to isolate the problem with a DIY build....you'd basically solder the ESC to a different motor to determine if it's an ESC or motor problem. Not quite sure what to do in the case of DJI Phantoms. I'll dig around and see if I can learn anything. Please let us know if you figure anything out. Thanks.

[@axemanarbor]

You got ripped off . when the board goes sometimes it will fly sometimes it won't. Sounds like you bought one that was on its way out sorry mate.

[@jim1maes119]

Dennis I know this is a old youtube but I have a question. On the Phantom 3 Advanced I noticed that the square block by the side of the Data Module is back and the Professional, the same bock is silver. On another site it said that if you use a different block (I beleive its a part 33 board versus a part 96 board) that the motors will not work with the older board (part 33). When you swapped boards, did you have an issue with the motors not working on the advanced. In the process of ordering a board with motors because of this and wanted your input on your fix. Thanks

[@grmusicnyc]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to make this ! great video!! Would you say that replacing the main board is the only option after the ESC error messages starts appearing? Mine started showing up after I mistakenly initiated take off during aircraft warm up for the second time.... Or is there a chance that the issue could be firmware related? I’m just trying to exhaust every possibility before I open the bird and try your solution. Thanks for your input!

[@zytechnology]

Hi GBR :) I am working on making a diagnostics tool by reverse engineering the Phantom chipset... Do you still have the defective board ? Kind regards Frank

[@grmusicnyc]

@@zytechnology Hi Frank! very weirdly(and luckily), the error message stopped showing when I took it out for a test a couple months ago. It just took off like nothing ever happened...

[@zytechnology]

@@grmusicnyc That is interesting. Sounds like a capacitor / thermal stress / micro crack....or electrostatic electricity kidnapping a mosfet gate ... It helps me ... Thank you ! :)

[@abodesayar8203]

i have the issue in the imu ph3 adv i nok with screwdriver on the imu middelin the board but nothing happens

[@jacksohachevsky6178]

You didn't need to swap both the flight controls Both the main boards are exactly the same The only difference from the phantom 3 advanced and the phantom 3 professional Is the camera and if you want to put the Dji phantom 3 professional camera on the Dji phantom 3 advanced This software on the camera would tell the Dji go app it is a dji phantom 3 professional

[@dennisbaldwin]

Thanks Jack. That's great advice. I'm upvoting your comment so others see it. Appreciate the feedback.

[@MrGgdan1]

Hi great video .I also have a esc error on my P3Pro and i was asking if i can use a p3 standard just like you did with the p3 pro board to fix my issue? thanks

[@ronsen9974]

Subscribed & a nice Video. Dennis, i have a Phantom 3 SE that flys for a minute and falls to the ground after the motors stops suddenly. Camera was damaged a while ago so i removed it and the gimble is stil connected to the drone properly secured and wired. Is there a fix for this or is this a common problem or is it because the the camera is detached. Any help from anyone would be appreciated.

[@alsomonanjelious3919]

hello sir,phantom 3 pro main board can fit to phantom 3 advanced?

[@Truckarmartin]

Maybe will work but then it says Phantom 3 Pro istead of advanced + the cameras are diffrent so on

[@philipperichier5640]

Hi Dennis...i apreciate yours videos and i have a question about follow me mode with Pixhawk.....i turn on my Taranis then Droidplanner 2 on my tablet....Loiter is on with my Taranis also with my tablet.....i connect my drone with Droidplanner then i take off with Taranis about 20 meters . And when i want to change from Loiter to Guide ...i can't...! i choose Follow me...icon light is on ( blue ) but nothing happened....i think is due to no '" Guide" possible but i don't understand why...? Did you have an idea....?

[@dennisbaldwin]

Very strange, Philippe. I haven't seen this behavior before. If I get some time in next few weeks I'll give this a test. I'm heads down with work a couple of projects right now. If you beat me to it please share what you learn. Thanks for the comment.

[@carlosadvisorinternational]

Hi, I hope you are doing well, I have been watching your instructions very well amigo. I am from Nicaragua, I had an accident with my phantom3 pro 4K, I had to replace the mainboard to one #33 and the camera to a new one 2k, at the beginning the motors responded well but not flying yet, next day, I assumed it was fine but just like that the phantom3 flipped and went down. It said on my screen update the firmware and error esc now the engines don't respond and don't get any satélite, sorry for such long email, need help! Thank you.

[@dennisbaldwin]

Hi Carlos, sorry to hear about your crash. I'm not sure what to do about this. Let me think about it and see if I can come up with anything.

[@zytechnology]

Hello Carlos ,,, Did you ever fix it ? :)

[@carlosadvisorinternational]

Hello, it worked. Thank you for asking...take care..

[@zytechnology]

Hi Dennis :) I am reverse engineering the chipset in a DIJ Phantom 3 Pro drone to find ways to get rid of the esc error. Do you still have a defective board ? Kind regards Frank

[@dennisbaldwin]

Hi Frank, I still have the one from the video but can't recall it's current state: www.dropbox.com/s/olb5kunem90dots/20200418_125145.jpg?dl=0

[@zytechnology]

@@dennisbaldwin Hi Dennis , put it on Ebay. :) And let me have the link. I am reverse engineering the chip-set to help everyone with this issue... Kind regards Frank

[@dennisbaldwin]

@@zytechnology email me: db at droneblocks dot io and we can work out price/shipping details. Something like $20 plus shipping. Ping me and we'll sort it out. Thanks.

[@peterdahlmann6648]

Frank, Have you made any progress with your reverse engineering project? I have (at least one) defective board if you still need one. I'd love to learn about how to utilize all the testing pads on the board to help diagnose and troubleshoot issues, but don't have the skills.

[@zytechnology]

@@peterdahlmann6648 Hi Peter , sorry I just saw your message. My Email is [e-mail] ... Yes I made progress .. but still an ongoing project. Is your board another ESC Error ? .... We are reaching the end of this journey soon...

[@PITTS-yp9gs]

Would a phantom 3 standard main board work in my phantom 3 advanced

[@dennisbaldwin]

Good question. Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure about this but I do think it's a different board. From my understanding P3A and P3P are very close given it's only the camera quality differs. P3S is older technology and I'm led to believe a different board. Maybe someone can help us confirm.

[@paulwilliamson5783]

Really useful, thanks Dennis. I'd expected more vibration dampening to be in there...

[@dennisbaldwin]

Hey Paul. Great to hear from you and hope all is well. I know....it's very surprising to see how little dampening is inside. I would expect a lot of vibrations given that Phantom owners are not likely ones to balancer their props.

[@RogerDiotte]

Man I'd love to get my P3Pro back up there...sat for years now with after 3 crashes (Esc Errors, Sudden Opti Mode taking my bird erratically streaking across the sky and hurling into the ground full tilt).

[@carlosadvisorinternational]

Hi, thank you for getting back to me. I still have not found any solution. Still when I turn on the phantom3 pro the camera r spooned and the lights works fine, but that's all, I hope you could help me. Saludos desde Nicaragua.

[@dennisbaldwin]

I wish I could help but I'm not sure how to solve this, Carlos. Sorry and if I do come up with anything I will let you know. Take care.

[@user-un8jk9fd1z]

انا سوف اساعدك هذي نفس المشكله كانت معي ثم حدثت الطايره الى المستوى v1.11.30 Now my plane flies ok

[@ALLINGREENBERG]

Great vid. Thanks so much

[@dennisbaldwin]

No problem. Glad it helped and thanks for the feedback.

[@mr_sheen_asg]

Pull it all out and put a pixhawk in it 😃

[@dennisbaldwin]

Ha! If it were mine I'd be willing to give that a go :)

[@mr_sheen_asg]

Did you try to research if it is possible to replace mos fet transistors in the esc? That's what's usualy gone. Check this out www.phantompilots.com/threads/esc-fet-data-sheet.33636/

[@dennisbaldwin]

I did end up watching a video of a guy that replaces a couple of surface mount components to get his board functional again. I don't have enough experience to pull that off but may look into it in the near future. Thanks for sharing.