Inspire 1 motor locked, How to unlock?

Topeomot · Nov 9, 2016

Apologies, the inspire 1 crashed and the the liquid in the legs flowed out in 3 of the 4 legs. So i bought new ones and changed them, still using the old motors. 2 of the motors are locked. When I connect the DJI Go App, it says I should unlock them.

How do I unlock the motors?

The Editor · Nov 9, 2016

Topeomot said:
2 of the inspire 1 motor is locked. When I plug it into the Go App, it tells me to unlock them.
How do I unlock the motors?

A little more background would be useful.
Firmware versions, when did this start happening, which motors are locked?
Has this happened immediately after a FW upgrade?
Oh, and please and thank you go long way on this forum.

Topeomot · Nov 9, 2016

Apologies, the inspire 1 crashed and the the liquid in the legs flowed out in 3 of the 4 legs. So i bought new ones and changed them, still using the old motors. 2 of the motors are locked. When I connect the DJI Go App, it says I should unlock them.

Kilrah · Nov 9, 2016

Can you turn the motors manually?

Did you change the ESCs? They're probably dead if they were immersed in water.

The Editor · Nov 9, 2016

Topeomot said:
Apologies, the inspire 1 crashed and the the liquid in the legs flowed out in 3 of the 4 legs. So i bought new ones and changed them, still using the old motors. 2 of the motors are locked. When I connect the DJI Go App, it says I should unlock them.

Ah, OK, that sheds some light on the problem.
As Kilrah mentions above, did you swap out the esc's as these may well be fried as well.
The flight controller may well not be getting any feedback from the esc's and interpreting this as locked motors.
If the Inspire crashed and the motors were obstructed it probably drew too much current through the esc's

The Editor · Nov 9, 2016

Kilrah said:
Can you turn the motors manually?

Did you change the ESCs? They're probably dead if they were immersed in water.

I think the OP means the liquid in the leg dampers rather than the Inspire took a swim.

SanCap · Nov 9, 2016

I had no idea there was fluid in the legs, I thought they were springs only.

The Editor · Nov 9, 2016

SanCap said:
I had no idea there was fluid in the legs, I thought they were springs only.

There's a little bit of Alien blood in there......I mean damping oil.

Topeomot · Nov 9, 2016

I cannot turn the motors manually.

SanCap · Nov 9, 2016

Topeomot said:
I cannot turn the motors manually.

It sounds like the motors need to be replaced.

The Editor · Nov 9, 2016

Topeomot said:
I cannot turn the motors manually.

There's your answer then. The motors should turn freely (although you will feel some resistance from the magnets while you turn them by hand.)
Either strip down the motors and check the bearings or replace the motors.

Tubbyengineer · Nov 12, 2016

As The Editor says you have faulty motors, the "Motor Locked" message is not a request to unlock them but an Error Message telling you that a motor is not rotating, you could strip the motors but from the sound of it your AC hit the ground really hard, new motors are the safest option, I'd also check all the Carbon Fibre and the joints at the landing gear worm screw and landing gear arms very closely for damage...

Topeomot · Nov 13, 2016

Tubbyengineer said:
As The Editor says you have faulty motors, the "Motor Locked" message is not a request to unlock them but an Error Message telling you that a motor is not rotating, you could strip the motors but from the sound of it your AC hit the ground really hard, new motors are the safest option, I'd also check all the Carbon Fibre and the joints at the landing gear worm screw and landing gear arms very closely for damage...

I get another message which says "Restart your drone to unlock the motor". This message comes on when I exit simulator mode. But when I restart. it still remains locked All the other parts are fine, only 2 of the 4 motors are locked.

1. Can someone tell me how to strip the motors.
2. Where can I purchase one CW and CCW motor on the east coast specifically around New York.

SanCap · Nov 13, 2016

Topeomot said:
I get another message which says "Restart your drone to unlock the motor". This message comes on when I exit simulator mode. But when I restart. it still remains locked All the other parts are fine, only 2 of the 4 motors are locked.

1. Can someone tell me how to strip the motors.
2. Where can I purchase one CW and CCW motor on the east coast specifically around New York.

It sounds like you might need some professional help. There may be more hidden damage that might cause it to crash again even if you replaced the motors or bearings. Respectfully, the questions you are asking lead me to believe you don't have a lot of experience with repair of RC aircraft. You may want to send it somewhere for a proper evaluation.

The Editor · Nov 13, 2016

Topeomot said:
I get another message which says "Restart your drone to unlock the motor". This message comes on when I exit simulator mode. But when I restart. it still remains locked All the other parts are fine, only 2 of the 4 motors are locked.

1. Can someone tell me how to strip the motors.
2. Where can I purchase one CW and CCW motor on the east coast specifically around New York.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with SanCap above.
The locked motor message can actually be a symptom of corrupt esc firmware which would require re-flashing.
A long time ago when DJI completely altered the drive characteristics of the esc's together with how they reacted to back emf from the motors the firmware locked up the motors until a restart unlocked them. This possibly could be the cause but I would take it to a reputable DJI repair facility who will be able to properly diagnose the issue for you.