Help needed: Identify this part please?

[Glo]

So, some of you know I have this Flying 3D X8 that Gearbest sent to me with problems. It's looking like I am stuck with this so now I need to figure out what direction to go. I'd rather keep and build something with this if practical, but I will part it out if it makes more sense.

The first issue right now is figuring out what this board is that is the problem. Searching parts online has been no help as none of the parts available for this quad look like this at all. Also one site (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2217137) that has a ton of info on this quad has a totally different looking board.

If I can find something to replace this board with for a decent price I will, then get a frame and start my build. Otherwise I'll just sell the other parts that are good. (FC, ESC's, Motors, Receiver with telemetry, Transmitter, GPS module)


This is the bottom of the board I cannot identify



Here is the other side. The white box below is of course the FC. You can see 2 of the 4 plugs for side LED's on the corners. The larger wires coming in at the top are from the battery. The little yellow soldered wire close to the top goes to the main rear LED (the main LED has 3 more wires going to a plug into the FC.) The 8 wires soldered in close to my fingers go to the ESC's. There are 3 wires going to a plug for the USB port at the front. All remaining wires go to plugs going into the FC.

I wanted to believe that this is simply a power distribution board, but I cannot find anything out there with this many connections. I found one that has a single connection for LED, but not 4 (or 5). I also could not find any that I was sure had a spot for the USB. With the USB port giving access to the FC, why does it go through this board?


I have tried searching this number along with the words "power module"; "power board"; "flying 3d" and many other variations, but still cannot find anything.


Thanks in advance for any help. I hope someone can point me in the right direction for a solution so I don't have to part it out.

 

[HDtallrider]

It sure looks like a power dist. board to me. It even says so. Is all that residue from the board from shorting out or is it just dirt? If parts of the board are bad maybe you could just hardwire around the burned out parts.

 

[Glo]

It sure looks like a power dist. board to me. It even says so. Is all that residue from the board from shorting out or is it just dirt? If parts of the board are bad maybe you could just hardwire around the burned out parts.

I believe it is residue from the shorting out. It had this residue when it first arrived from Gearbest. They want me to pay another $120 for a replacement which is not going to happen...
When I first got it most things worked fine. This stuff was packed in tight and taped in place so I didn't pull it out enough to see if the burned spot on the board was there yet or not, but the residue was there and I inspected the best I could without pulling the board out. 2 out of my 4 flights went a little crazy. It has 2 different ways to go into GPS lock with the transmitter. I found out the hard way that 1 of these 2 ways was changed in the firmware to make it fly in a large (60-80m) circle at full speed. Both times resulted in crashes, the 2nd crash I took it all apart and found the burned spot on this board. Now it does everything except link to any satellites. I'm guessing if this short just happened, maybe it has to do with the GPS. The GPS module goes to a plug that goes into the FC.

If it is just a power distribution board, any ideas where can I look for one that will work as a replacement? I'm not sure where to begin to straight wire past this since the GPS mod plugs into the FC.

 

[HDtallrider]

I bet if you sent it and a case of beer to @Mike H. he would fix it for you!
I'll search on the net as well. Someone is bound to have run into this before.

 

[Glo]

I bet if you sent it and a case of beer to @Mike H. he would fix it for you!
I'll search on the net as well. Someone is bound to have run into this before.

Thanks a lot, much appreciated!

Yeah, Mike has helped me before, not like this, but with advice. If he's interested I'll send it to him, or meet him on my next pass through WV.

 

[HDtallrider]

Hey Glo, do you know what version you have? I was just reading some reviews and if you have V1.2 or V1.3 then the usb port is useless because there are no upgrades available. If it is a later version then it does have some value. Other than the mini USB(which is for the camera) and the led's it appears to be a pretty straight forward PDB. It looks like the main USB connector is wired to the FCB anyway. I don't see why you couldn't use everything in a different frame using a standard PDB or a PD harness. Many frames have a built in PDB. Look for one of those you like. Switching to 9" props would probably allow you to expand the number of frame sizes available. With no camera and a light battery you could probably go up to 450mm.

 

[Glo]

I'm am not positive on the version. I was able to update it (to V1.48 I believe) and get into the advanced settings with the s8 assistant from Big Shark. That's when I finally found in the settings that 1 of the 2 ways to go to GPS lock had been changed to "fly in circle". This was of course after the crashes.

I've looked around at frames. Most people have pointed me towards 450. But I definitely want a cam. I'm not worried about speed, just want a stable camera platform. The frame I like the best I am worried is too big. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015FM78UM?psc=1). It is a 500 I think. I mostly like the angled arms, so if I can find a smaller one with a similar design I'll be happy.
From what I've read and it seems to make sense to me, having the angle helps stability. I've noticed a lot of the higher end drones have an angle either up, or down. In any case, it's not a requirement, but it is something that peaked my interest.

The Flying 3D X8 comes with either a 2200mAh battery, or for a little more the 5000mAh battery. I have the 2200mAh. With this 2200, legs on and everything it is weighing in at 850 grams without cam. I haven't put a cam on it yet because I want to make sure it's working properly first. But without a cam this thing is very fast and the pitch was very extreme, nearly flipping when you pull it all the way, but in the advanced settings I found all sensitivities were set to 200%. Now I moved them all to 90%, but haven't done any test flights like that yet. (Been raining solid for 3 days here.)

So you don't think it can handle a cam with a 450 frame? If not I'll have to look smaller, or just part it out. I have a SJ4000 so it's not the lightest cam.

 

[HDtallrider]

I really don't know if it would,or would not, be able to lift a cam and a 450 frame. The Emax motors are not known for being powerhouses. There are so many frame choices out there you could go blind researching them. Your's was a 320, so maybe just look at frames from 320 to 400. That should get it a bit more manageable.
Carbon fiber is the lightest and the most expensive.Plastic is everywhere. Have you considered wood frames? There are some great examples out there, particularly the "I" design. Possibly the most camera friendly shape out there. I use wood all the time to try out ideas and just for fun flying. Basswood and spruce are very light and incredibly strong. Much stronger than aluminum for example. Cheap too. If you break an arm it will take you just minutes to replace and cost about $.50. Anyway, lots of choices out there.

 

[Mike H.]

Im not very familiar with the x8 3d but i did some looking around and based on some information i found, the firmware upgrade was intended for the cheerson cx20 and down loading that very well may have been what burned up your electronics...Also numerous reports of other failures with that model are surfaced..Its going to end up being a money pit...The only things salvageable is the motors and esc's as well as props and batteries.....The gps board you might can sell..they run about $50.00 new...The transmitters are around $40.00 new and body shells are cheap..you might recover $75.00 from it parting it out.


One issue is, without the repair of the stock component , you dont get to keep all the functions like the gps and fpv (unless adaptable to a different fcb) nor would you have a the same protocol you could use with your transmitter on a custom build......I would create a ticket on it from where you bought it as a lemon and, try to recover as much money as possible with a refund of sorts.

Spending another $120.00 on it puts it near $400.00 and its not worth it in my opinion.

 

[Glo]

Im not very familiar with the x8 3d but i did some looking around and based on some information i found, the firmware upgrade was intended for the cheerson cx20 and down loading that very well may have been what burned up your electronics...Also numerous reports of other failures with that models..Its going to end up being a money pit.

One issue is, without the repair of the stock component you dont get to keep all the functions like the gps and fpv nor would you have a protocol you could use with a custom build...I would create a ticket on it as a lemon and try to recover as much money as possible.

Spending another $120.00 on it puts it near $400.00 and its not worth it.

I'm not giving them another penny. I spent $195 for a working new drone and got a used damaged pile of junk I cannot even find the replacement part I need for it. I've been fighting with tickets with them for weeks and getting no where. The quad arrived with the body cracked and the residue all over the inside, but they won't do anything. Just offer to give me $60 to spend of their site for more junk, or ask me to pay $120 for a replacement..

The following is a tad off subject so I'm going to keep it short...

After my experience with this, and the time before when Gearbest fought me for nearly 2 weeks about giving me a refund on a quad they never even shipped, I highly recommend everyone avoid them and Everbuy as EB is the same exact people with a different name. So far the only website I have dealt with in regards to quadcopters and have been treated right is Amazon. These China stores don't seem to care. They don't have laws to protect consumers there. They also pay for the good reviews about them. They offered to pay me for good reviews. Look for the ones with an order number mentioned because they ask you to include that in the review.


Back on topic...

So you are telling me, if I cannot find this replacement board then I will loose GPS? I don't care much about FPV at this time. GPS is important to me as I want a stable camera platform that I can keep in relatively 1 spot to get stable video. I also really really loved the return to home feature. When things were working, this thing would go up above all trees and land beautifully on it's own within 5 feet or so from where it took off.

So it's looking more like I will be parting this thing out... Such a disappointment. I'll make the final decision in the next few days and if I do part it out I'll post everything in the for sale section and provide a link in here.
If that's the case I guess I'll just save up for a Phantom or something. I just heard about some issues with them and if I'm going to spend that much money, I want it to work right, period. I for sure don't want to spend that much and end up with something I have to keep tossing money at like this Fy 3D x8.

Maybe I'm just spoiled because my first quad (the Syma x8c) is everything I hoped it would be and much more. Not sure if I mentioned it to anyone on here, but on Thanksgiving I was showing off the Syma x8c to family and hit the top of a huge tree maybe 40+ feet up. It crashed upside-down on asphalt and still fly's like a champ. The plastic body got a little off track, but was easily fixed. If I could only have brushless motors and GPS on it, I would be living the dream lol.

 

[Mike H.]

The gps may can be wired somehow to another fcb but i cant confirm that...you still have an issue with using the stock controller with an aftermarket fcb and whatever protocols it might be compatible with...It could possibly be a common protocol that can be programmed into a new FCB but then again it might not which means the cost of a new transmitter as well...The hobby grade of radios arent exactly all that cheap compared to toy grade..Your stock radio looks like a flysky 6 clone but i cant confirm actual protocol with it.

 

[Glo]

Many online have said it is a flysky 6 with Flying 3d x8 branding.

I know you are not trying to discourage me from attempting to salvage this thing, but you are lol.

I went to Flying 3d's website.. Can't read half of what's on there and the only contact info I found is a phone number in China. I was going to reach out to them hoping they could help me with a new board or something, but I don't want to rack up international calling charges just to get nowhere. I can just see it now, spending 15min + on hold just to get someone, then another 15min + waiting for someone who can speak English then be told they can't help. In all reality I could end up with another $30 on my phone bill and still get no where. I feel like I'm going to go on strike when it comes to things made in China.

 

[Mike H.]

Im discouraging you from wasting your money on parts that have problems..Youre more than welcome to spend your hard earned money as you wish..Im just giving you my opinion with it all...For the money already spent you couldve built a much nicer quad..You CAN save some money with using salvageable parts but im unsure with you being able to use the gps and fpv function without ALL the working parts of the design of which your radio may be part of as well.

 

[Glo]

Im discouraging you from wasting your money on parts that have problems..Youre more than welcome to spend your hard earned money as you wish..Im just giving you my opinion with it all...For the money already spent you couldve built a much nicer quad..You CAN save some money with using salvageable parts but im unsure with you being able to use the gps and fpv function without ALL the working parts of the design of which your radio may be part of as well.

Oh I get ya, I'm just trying to give both options equal consideration since it is very likely I might not be able sell all of the parts. So I likely will be still at a loss that way too.

A new radio I could deal with because it might be useful on other projects in the future.

I'm trying to wrap my head around all of this, but can you help me understand one thing? It has the Big Shark X4 which apparently some people like to use for custom builds that have GPS and/or FPV. How are they building these? Wouldn't whatever pd board they use be an option?

I'm just thinking hypothetically, if I had bought a frame, these motors, ESC's, this Big Shark X4 flight controller and compatible GPS module etc etc, what pd board would I need to work with all this?
If I still need a new transmitter than that is not too horrible if I can buy one that will potentially work with some of my future builds.

Also, not sure if it makes any difference, but there are no wires going directly from the receiver to the board in question. There are six wires plugging into the FC, 1 wire going to the external plug on the bottom of the quad I am guessing is for controlling a gimbal. Other than that all it has is 2 antenna wires, I assume one for receiving signal from the transmitter and the other for transmitting telemetry information?

By the way, thanks for your help Mike!

 

[Mike H.]

Its possible you could use any power distribution board if thats all that burned out on you. Of course with the correct number of hook ups needed to power everything.. Pd boards are actually quite cheap.

I have to get ready for work so, im gone for a bit till i get home tonight...look up some pd boards...hobby king has them and so do other hobby grade supply venues.

 

[Glo]

Its possible you could use any power distribution board if thats all that burned out on you. Of course with the correct number of hook ups needed to power everything.. Pd boards are actually quite cheap.

I have to get ready for work so, im gone for a bit till i get home tonight...look up some pd boards...hobby king has them and so do other hobby grade supply venues.

Thanks buddy, talk to ya later

 

[Jackson]

May you can salvage that Flysky FS-i6 with a firmware update and use it for various scratch builds. It's missing 2 switches, but that's not a big deal.

Kinda hard to track down, translate or hit the 2nd white rectangle on top. The one that says (26M).
http://pan.baidu.com/share/link?shareid=3980429426&uk=1279997460&fid=298496136022337

You can get the fancy, long range PPM RXs here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Flysky-2-4G...054596?hash=item3ab7d15d44:g:LIQAAOSw7FRWW-X6

 

[Glo]

May you can salvage that Flysky FS-i6 with a firmware update and use it for various scratch builds. It's missing 2 switches, but that's not a big deal.

Kinda hard to track down, translate or hit the 2nd white rectangle on top. The one that says (26M).
http://pan.baidu.com/share/link?shareid=3980429426&uk=1279997460&fid=298496136022337

You can get the fancy, long range PPM RXs here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Flysky-2-4G...054596?hash=item3ab7d15d44:g:LIQAAOSw7FRWW-X6

Okay, I have some new info.. I noticed Big Shark has updated their website and now clearly show the different software versions for each quad. I hooked my quad back up to the s8 assistant and got the right software on it now (V2). I took it outside and what do you know, it connected to 11 satellites. So, now I know it not finding satellites was the software and not the board in question. It seems to be acting normal, motors power on but I cannot say for sure until I fly it. It's still somewhat in pieces right now. I'll try to get around to putting it back together and test flying it tomorrow maybe. I still worry about the body itself as it is becoming more glue and less plastic after all the repairs.

When I do test it, I have a little GPS tracker now so I'll put that on there in case it gets lost.

 

[Mike H.]

I was under the impression something burned out on it more so than just after a reprogramming, it didnt work...Good news then as you can just move all of it to a different frame and be done with it or get another body...Glad to hear its ok.

 

[Glo]

I was under the impression something burned out on it more so than just after a reprogramming, it didnt work...Good news then as you can just move all of it to a different frame and be done with it or get another body...Glad to hear its ok.

Well me too kind of. After the 2nd crash, I found the burn. It was raining and/or bad windy for days during that time so I ended up updating it before testing it after the crash. I finally tested it after the update, but couldn't get any satellites so I thought it was the burn. After you pointed out the firmware being for the CX-20, I went back to the website and that's when I noticed they organized the different software versions since I was last there and I found the right version. Now it gets satellites.

Honestly since it already had the residue when it first arrived, I do believe the burn was already there. I suspect that GB got it returned to them, they did something to bypass the short maybe and sold it again to me. Since they know for a fact it is bad, that is probably why they have no interest in getting it back.

They only offer me a partial refund of $60 and I keep it, or I pay them another $120 for a new one and I still keep the old one. Either way they do not want it back at all. I kept offering to send it back to NY where they shipped it from, for a replacement, but they ignore me for days when I ask that, then finally come back with the same partial refund, or pay for replacement offer.

Considering the body cost $25 for the top and $25 for the bottom and is horribly flimsy, I think I'll get a new frame for less that will look better and hopefully be more durable.