How to repair drone electronics

adri2524

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Need some guidance on how to find where fault lies.
I shorted a component on PCB board of my drone, housing screw piercing both plus & minus wire feed to one motor. Motor still working, checked via other motor outputs. Any help or advice welcomed. photo showing larger orange circle where wires that had been repaired after damaged by housing screw shorted them and smaller orange circle highlighted where wires attached to PCB board.
Cheers
Ade
 

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Whoops , to start , what drone is it ?
This is the only information from the box "Silver Label 720p Drone / Altitude hold / One key reverse / Headless flying "
you can see photo in below link, don't think actual website stock it!
 
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It looks like your drone has DC motors? If so, the power transistor - one of the black squares on the top of the PCB has probably blown. These are quite difficult to desolder, but with some desoldering flux and a decent iron, not impossible. You will have to try and match the transistor and see if somewhere like RS or CPC has them in stock.
 
It looks like your drone has DC motors? If so, the power transistor - one of the black squares on the top of the PCB has probably blown. These are quite difficult to desolder, but with some desoldering flux and a decent iron, not impossible. You will have to try and match the transistor and see if somewhere like RS or CPC has them in stock.
Hi. Thanks for your advice.
Please can you tell me is there a way to identify which transistor has blown using a multimeter tester, I take it I need to do a continuity test. I'm no electronics engineer. Only know very basic stuff. I'm guessing it's the right transistor black square in my photo where the orange circle is.
 
Is it really worth all the fuss for a £20 drone? Buy another identical drone and you have the first , broken one for spares.
 
Is it really worth all the fuss for a £20 drone? Buy another identical drone and you have the first , broken one for spares.
I would buy another exactly the same but it's no longer available anywhere, anymore. I really loved playing with this drone it's very user friendly and easy to use. Very robust build. Plus if I can fix it it's less landfill and would like the challenge of being able to repair it🤞
 
Looking at the photo, what are the red wire links or loops between the transistors? Are they some sort of fusible link? Might be worth using your meter to see if any of them are open circuit.

If not, measure between each connection on the transformer and see if one of them reads differently. If so, that's the faulty one. Removing it without damaging the board will be the fun part. You may need a proper de-soldering station, as they are a surface mount component and are well attached to the board as it acts as a heat sink.
 
Looking at the photo, what are the red wire links or loops between the transistors? Are they some sort of fusible link? Might be worth using your meter to see if any of them are open circuit.

If not, measure between each connection on the transformer and see if one of them reads differently. If so, that's the faulty one. Removing it without damaging the board will be the fun part. You may need a proper de-soldering station, as they are a surface mount component and are well attached to the board as it acts as a heat sink.
Sorry, what you said is like a foreign language! I only know how to do basic continuity test eg if a wire has a break in it! I will try testing the transistor but I don't really know what I'm doing tbh! But appreciate your advice. Thanks again.👍
 
" I would buy another exactly the same but it's no longer available anywhere, anymore. I really loved playing with this drone it's very user friendly and easy to use. Very robust build. Plus if I can fix it it's less landfill and would like the challenge of being able to repair it "

Fair point, it's a good way of learning about them too.
 

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