Upgrading a toy-grade drone.

Chuck

Chuck

Well-Known Member
I have a JJRC H25G (rebranded as Ai Freedom II) that I've been thinking of using as the basis for building my first drone with coreless motors and fixed hovering capability. My thoughts are to completely rewire for a new receiver board and controller, recycling the body. Is this possible and practical? If so, what are reasonable costs for such a first time project? Also, are the navigational lights a requirement? These come on most factory-complete drones, but I rarely engage in night flying.
 
What's the difference from building one from a open frame instead of using the toy-grade body? At least reusing the body cuts out the cost of the frame. Plus it encloses otherwise exposed delicate components.
 
You asked if it was possible or practical. My answer is possible yes, practical no. First and most basic reason is the fact that a toy-grade body will just self-destruct with the extra weight and power of a brushless system
 
Shows how we all think different. My thought was to build around the toy FC. I'm just gonna start from scratch. GL either way:)
 
Nothings impossible I guess. Start by mounting the motors, that'll be the most challenging part. Keep us updated on your progress.
 
First, I think you meant brushless, not coreless.

If your idea is to build a brushless quadcopter in a JJRC H25 body instead of on a purpose-built CF frame, why not just buy H25 replacement upper and lower body halves? That's all you'd end up using anyway is the shell, and total cost is under $10. That way you don't have to take apart a perfectly good quad, just to scavenge a $10 body. Plus you can get different colors.

Whether the components you're going to select will fit, or whether that $10 body shell can handle the power, is another matter. This is not generally the direction people go when building their first quad. CF frames are cheap enough that you really don't need to recycle a $10 toy-grade body that probably won't work very well anyway.
 
So including all components to build my own from the ground up of the same size as the JJRC H25 or a Syma X8 (not including a controller), what am I looking at in terms of costs involved? I like the Yuneec Typhoon G quads in terms of appearance, but I'm not yet ready to commit to a $700.00-plus RTF quad. Particularly one that I have to out into the desert in West Texas or New Mexico to get around the "no fly" software that will ground it near any airport or military base.
 
As for the JJRC H25. Although they're a generally good quad, the FCB in them don't hold up well under rough landings. Which they're prone to due to a hair-trigger throttle that will abruptly shut off all power as you try to land it. Causing them to drop like a stone.
 
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