Holy Stone HS175D: Teardown and Repair

[@SteveGuidi]

Disaster! A disheartening set of events after a successful repair and interesting tear-down: Shortly after performing the final edits for this video, I took the drone out for a proper flight -- and lost it. It responded perfectly to manual controls, but after switching to following waypoints, the drone lost its orientation and flew off-course. The return-to-home feature didn't work, nor did it return after several minutes. This set of events is similar to the cause of the original crash eluded to in the video (loss of control and orientation during auto-pilot -- a fly-away incident), and I've informed the manufacturer.

[@Alex_Valentine]

Uhh, that sux. All that hard work.

[@SteveGuidi]

Drone recovered without any significant damage! Someone found it today on their property and contacted me as my name/email/phone number is on the drone. Looks it landed properly instead of crashing -- its a bit dirty due to the recent rain, but I'm sure I'll get it running soon.

[@Alex_Valentine]

@@SteveGuidi that's great news!

[@johnforeman634]

You do an excellent job describing and explaining what you’re doing. Like a university professor.

[@baront.mckinney9574]

I have this drone. I love it.

[@kmoecub]

The prop that's bend could be straightened, but replacement is better. I have flown said drone with props that were damaged far worse. The key is to use the drift adjustment in order to compensate for the damaged props. It's a short-term solution, but it works. Props to you for buying iFixit tools. They are a great value if you haven't bought such tools before.

[@jmar5481]

i am very interested in upgrading the antenna in the transmitter. This is my first drone and I would love a video on how to do that or your thoughts not even sure how i would attached or where to get and external. Love the video was very helpful after my first big crash.

[@Bamafpv]

module under the top cover is the gps module

[@esanchezp]

So, how would charge the batteries without the charger from the set you get with the drone? Can you please explain? Other than that, an amazing presentation. Straight forward, very educational and very detailed. I cannot believe I watched the whole video. Well done @SteveGuidi

[@SteveGuidi]

You need to disassemble the battery case to get at the + and - terminals of the internal battery first, then use any Li-Ion Lipo charger to charge the battery. Any cell-phone charger should suffice. There is a bit of hacking needed since you need a USB to bare wires adapter. Having a bench power supply for electronics work functions well too 🙂.

[@MaxHedroom]

My transmitter battery 🔋 will not charge from day one , I get the red light when charging but it stays red overnight, battery 🔋 is dead 💀, I love your video , are spare batteries 🔋 available as I could just solder a new one in thank you 🙏🏼 again for your video

[@MaxR52]

Really clear and helpful walkthrough, thank you! I've been thinking about improving the 2.4ghz receiver by adding a little dipole or something. Any tips for how I could make that attempt more successful?

[@SteveGuidi]

Thank you for your feedback! While we can add a slightly better-gain 2.4gHz antenna in the drone itself (most likely in the arm), I think the real win will be replacing the antenna in transmitter/controller. There is so much room to work with there, leading to the option of adding an external antenna. For the receiver, I'm considering using a PCB-based antenna with a 3-5dBi gain. I've seen some for sale online, but I'm not sure if the will fit or if they are even feasible to use. I've also seen projects where a 5dBi PCB antenna from a router was added externally. That's an option too, but I don't like the aesthetics of it.

[@MaxR52]

@@SteveGuidi very interesting. Sounds like I’ve got more to learn about those 2.4ghz antennas!

[@SteveGuidi]

@@MaxR52 Oh, I'm not an expert in this subject by any means -- I could be way off with my idea! My understanding is that the gain of an antenna changes where it focuses or transmits energy. Instead of a circle/sphere (gain = 1), a higher gain may change the shape to an oval (gain = 5). So while you can technically get a boost in range by increasing gain, you only get the boost when both antennas are aligned with one another (so their circles and ovals overlap).

[@heyscuba]

I have a used HS175D, the camera won't scroll down, a very important option,... any idea, what I can try,..??? I pulled it apart couldn't really totally expose the camera,... or can I get a replace ment camera,..!??? Help,...

[@SteveGuidi]

I'm not sure what might cause the camera to not move, but a replacement might be worth a shot. The manufacturer should be able to tell you where to get a replacement module.

[@AnishChaudhary-un2bn]

I have the same drone but issue is that i wont connect with my wifi or my phone. And the camera wont work if it somehow connects. Should i just replace the wifi and camera pcb. Please someone help me. This drone was my forst good gift😢😢

[@Ek3f]

I have the same drone but i cand find any sits to get a new body for it i broke the body peac that holds the witng in

[@Lord_1987]

I have this model .... not visible in the lists of wi fi for connection...gps ok...what could be the reason?

[@dbzilis]

it's your phone I switched to a 5G phone and now it works great. Love the HS175D but you must calibrate and have a full battery.

[@kaitlynriley9901]

Hey Steve I recently acquired one of these hs175D and the D stands for dreamboat drone or Dreamy Drone because they are SOOOOO awesome said this guy never lol... So I was in middle of exactly what you were going through only I have 2 broken posts on same side I'm not sure if I can send you pics I don't think I can or I just don't know how if I can any who I have a question I'm hoping you can answer so with all batteries fully charged I will turn everything on log on and all is well flying up and a min into it all the bells amd whistles goes off and the battery icon flashs showing low battery but on the battery itself shows full so I can't fly it using gps mode so u have any ideas thank you Paul..

[@SteveGuidi]

I'm not sure what might be causing this, but I would try using another battery first. If the same problem occurs, then it is unlikely to be an issue with the battery and rather something with the internal battery connections. Check that there aren't any obvious short-circuits between wires that carry power and ground wires or solder pads. A short across the power terminals will discharge the cell super-fast.

[@ericstahl5788]

Hey @SteveGuidi, Where can I find your high res screenshots of the pcb teardown?

[@SteveGuidi]

I edited them into the video, but if you like, I can post them to a photo-sharing service.

[@SteveGuidi]

Here you go. To get to the full-size image, you can right-click and open each image in a new tab from the browser (chrome-based). ibb.co/dtJpYhr ibb.co/4ZhSdcj ibb.co/NS2Hsn9 ibb.co/80NzCxG ibb.co/GWMGjd1 ibb.co/jbsFs6T ibb.co/Z8QQm38 ibb.co/x5bWtNk ibb.co/1r1dnqk ibb.co/k38MB85 ibb.co/41MKbTN ibb.co/vQ2bPyb ibb.co/DtQ5chK

[@gwyatt5179]

Would you know what charger would be better to use for these drone batteries?

[@SteveGuidi]

I don't know of any charger that will use a lower voltage AND fit the battery interface as-is. That said, you can generally use any Li-Ion battery charger (double-check the charge voltage) and wire directly to the terminals on the battery. An example of such a charger would be one of those 18650 "lipstick" USB power bank kits that lets you replace the battery.