DJI Inspire 1 repair tutorials

bunyan · Apr 14, 2015

supasympa said:
The casing comes apart in two pieces and the actual copper coil comes out from inside. You need to remove a locking pin from the bottom of the motor.

Is the pin that U-shaped thing?

Any ideas on what tools to use to remove it?

Also, the jacks connecting the wires to the motor are under the black insulation, right? Did you cut it to unplug the motor? Or just hold the black thing and pull the motor?

Thanks for your posts and pictures, they're very helpful. I got some sand in two of my motors and I wanted to try opening and cleaning them before I get the spare motors from the dealer (installing which will also be tricky, I believe).

skylabimaging · Apr 14, 2015

You can use some needle nose pliers to pull the c-clip (u shaped thing) and the motor casing will come apart, you'll have to pull it since it's magnetic but yeah, have you tried using some of that dust off to blow out the sand grains?

gwhiz2k · Apr 14, 2015

Anyone taken apart the remote yet?

Steve is Inspired! · Apr 14, 2015

Hi Rob, thank you for this posting. I will keep flying it and see if it improved as you recommend and will let you know my success. Also I am awaiting to see if DJI posts a newer version of FW based on the bugs already reported to them since .17 drop.

Best regards,
Steve

bunyan · Apr 14, 2015

skylabimaging said:
You can use some needle nose pliers to pull the c-clip (u shaped thing) and the motor casing will come apart, you'll have to pull it since it's magnetic but yeah, have you tried using some of that dust off to blow out the sand grains?

I tried the dust blower from the camera cleaning set but with no effect. Gas duster could be more helpful and I ordered a couple of cans but they're still on their way.

Anyway, I was able to remove the clip with a tiny minus screwdriver, but the motor does not come apart. The cap lifts but to a certain height and stops there like something else is blocking the way.

skylabimaging · Apr 15, 2015

bunyan said:
I tried the dust blower from the camera cleaning set but with no effect. Gas duster could be more helpful and I ordered a couple of cans but they're still on their way.

Anyway, I was able to remove the clip with a tiny minus screwdriver, but the motor does not come apart. The cap lifts but to a certain height and stops there like something else is blocking the way.

View attachment 1189

I can't really think of anything that would be blocking it's path...Sometimes it takes a little more effort to get it apart than you might think

supasympa · Apr 15, 2015

bunyan said:
Is the pin that U-shaped thing? View attachment 1186
Any ideas on what tools to use to remove it?

Also, the jacks connecting the wires to the motor are under the black insulation, right? Did you cut it to unplug the motor? Or just hold the black thing and pull the motor?

Thanks for your posts and pictures, they're very helpful. I got some sand in two of my motors and I wanted to try opening and cleaning them before I get the spare motors from the dealer (installing which will also be tricky, I believe).

Hi,

I managed to get the motor apart but only after it was disconnected from the aircraft. As far as I remember the pin on the bottom of the motor was the only thing I needed to remove. I couldn't actually get the wires out of the motor and disconnected the ESC from the housing (with the wires still connected to the motor). I think you should just be able to prize it apart.

bunyan · Apr 16, 2015

Guys, thank you so much for your help. Finally I was able to take it apart (yes, just needed to apply a bit more strength - didn't realize the magnets were that strong).

The sand grains inside were stuck at the magnets (maybe they were just small pieces of metal, I don't know) so the canned air wouldn't remove them. Spent some time taking them out with a needle, put the motors back together and they seem to be spinning okay, no grinding sound etc.

Thought I would be flying again soon, and then the firmware update failed, but it's a story for a different thread

Nex Gen 1 Pilot · May 11, 2015

supasympa said:
Hi,

So from the limited dismantling of the frame I did over the weekend, here are a couple of (surprising) things I've learned:

* The carbon fibre arms (legs / booms - whatever) are single pieces of CF with holes in the middle to feed the wires from the CF lever arms that lift them.
* The plastic mounts at the end of the arm are bonded to the carbon fibre with what I'm guessing is epoxy or CA.
* The shock absorbers that are formed as part of the Inspire 1 feet are bonded to the plastic - effectively creating a single sealed part (again I expect that is bonded with CA)

What does this mean? I have a list of spares that DJI are offering for the Inspire 1 and neither the landing gear feet, frame arms or shocks are on that list.

If you have a rough landing, or worse still a crash, and damage any of these things it's going to be VERY difficult to fix this without returning the whole aircraft to DJI or (I'm guessing) an approved dealer. I understand several reasons for this, from a safety perspective but ultimately I think this is a business decision on the part of DJI.

I think that it might be useful for us Inspire Pilots to setup a virtual scrap yard on here so that we might be able to trade parts!

more to follow ...

Hi
I crashed my inspire from 15ft. Upon inspection I noticed the left side t-bar(straight bar with landing gear and motors) is turned in slightly..... I loosened the t-bar clamp, and tried to spin it. Didn't work. Landing gear and rotors are all relative to each other. Looks just like the whole bar turned. Any ideas??? It flies great, but the left side motors have a slightly different pitch. Barley noticeable, but it is different. Any ideas??? What does the black nut on the arm do??

Skyjohn · May 13, 2015

I also broke an arm and successfully replaced it. There is a company in Utah Rock West Composites that will cut and sand the tube to spec. It was very tedious to get glue removed.
My problem now is I1 will not connect to controller as it got wet in fresh water. DJI support replies they will not fix any water damage. When I get back home I'm going to try to rebind it. Has anyone had similar experiences or ideas?

Hercules_One · Jun 29, 2015

Guys, do you think a I1 with 3 broken white dampers can fly? After I repair a few other think in my aircraft.
I understand from blog post (thank you very much supasympa for your work) that they are not essential parts.

Skyjohn · Jun 30, 2015

I got a refurb/ replacement from DJI finally. They really came through for me. They're just a little overloaded I think.
Does anyone have the main board or all the electronics to sell? I would love to see if my rebuild will fly. It appears I just have a shorted MB near where the onboard SD card is.

Petetech · Mar 31, 2016

Controller Disassembly!
https://youtu.be/siWX7oADOTM

Hercules_One · Mar 31, 2016

Petetech said:
Controller Disassembly!
https://youtu.be/siWX7oADOTM

Great vídeo, is it yours?

bsigman · Apr 1, 2016

I think any Inspire 1 disassembly or assembly video would be very much appreciated by most of us owners. There are quite a few Inspire 1 "like New" parts on ebay but not much help in how to begin disassemble or reassemble a unit. YouTube Inspire 1 repair videos are available but don't cover every possibility.

Petetech · Apr 1, 2016

Hercules_One said:
Great vídeo, is it yours?

Yes, I made it. The battery went dead. I want to refurbish the old battery with new cells.

Hercules_One · Apr 1, 2016

Petetech said:
Yes, I made it. The battery went dead. I want to refurbish the old battery with new cells.

Awesome, please keep us updated!
Do you have a theory why the battery died? How did you use the RC, etc?

Petetech · Apr 1, 2016

Hercules_One said:
Awesome, please keep us updated!
Do you have a theory why the battery died? How did you use the RC, etc?

There was no special reason. It was used as the master controller for a year period. I noticed that the controller discharging very fast then simply shut down, drone landed.
I changed it to slave. The controller's battery is very special, you can't simply change it, not even buy another battery. I want to replace the cells inside the battery.