Featured

Featured Guide

Difficulty

Difficult

Steps

19

Time Required

                          30 - 45 minutes

Sections

5

  • Battery
  • 3 steps
  • Propeller
  • 4 steps
  • Case Top Shell
  • 5 steps
  • Motor
  • 3 steps
  • Electronic Speed Controller (ESC)
  • 4 steps

Flags

1

This guide has been found to be exceptionally cool by the iFixit staff.

  • BackDJI Phantom

  • Full Screen

  • Options

  • History

  • Save to Favorites

  • Download PDF

  • Edit

  • Translate

  • Get Shareable Link

  • Embed This Guide

  • Notify Me of Changes

  • Stop Notifications

Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Open the Battery Compartment
  • Press down on battery door release tab to flip the battery door open.

Press down on battery door release tab to flip the battery door open.

1024

Step 2

              Remove the Battery
  • Pull out the battery pack.
  • Avoid pulling on the battery wires, excess stress may break the wires, damage the power connectors, or crack the internal solder joints.

Pull out the battery pack.

Avoid pulling on the battery wires, excess stress may break the wires, damage the power connectors, or crack the internal solder joints.

Step 3

              Disconnect the Battery
  • Pull the two halves of the XT60 power connector apart.
  • It’s a tight fit, so be careful not to hit your drone or yank on the cables when it releases!

Pull the two halves of the XT60 power connector apart.

It’s a tight fit, so be careful not to hit your drone or yank on the cables when it releases!

Step 4

              Identifying Silver and Black Collets
  • Silver-topped propeller collets unscrew counter-clockwise
  • Black-topped propeller collets unscrew clockwise

Silver-topped propeller collets unscrew counter-clockwise

Black-topped propeller collets unscrew clockwise

Step 5

              Unscrewing Silver Collets
  • For propellors with silver collets: Use a 12 mm wrench or socket to loosen silver collets in the counter-clockwise direction.
  • Once free, unscrew and remove the collet.

For propellors with silver collets: Use a 12 mm wrench or socket to loosen silver collets in the counter-clockwise direction.

Once free, unscrew and remove the collet.

Step 6

              Unscrewing Black Collets
  • For propellors with black collets: Use a 12 mm wrench or socket to loosen black collets in the clockwise direction.
  • Once free, unscrew and remove the collet.

For propellors with black collets: Use a 12 mm wrench or socket to loosen black collets in the clockwise direction.

Step 7

              Remove the Propeller
  • Gently press down the motor shaft and lift the propeller up to remove it.

Gently press down the motor shaft and lift the propeller up to remove it.

Step 8

              Remove Case Screws
  • After removing all four propellors, flip the drone over.
  • Remove the following screws from the underside of the drone:
  • Twelve 2.0 mm hex screws
  • Four Phillips #0 screws

After removing all four propellors, flip the drone over.

Remove the following screws from the underside of the drone:

Twelve 2.0 mm hex screws

Four Phillips #0 screws

Step 9

              Unplug Magnetometer
  • Loosen the cable from the plastic landing gear.
  • Unplug the magnetometer molex connector.

Loosen the cable from the plastic landing gear.

Unplug the magnetometer molex connector.

Step 10

              Remove the Top Shell
  • Lift up on the top portion of the shell and set it on its side.
  • Do not attempt to fully remove the case. The GPS and Magnetometer cables connect the top shell to the rest of the Phantom, be careful not to stress or break these cables.

Lift up on the top portion of the shell and set it on its side.

Do not attempt to fully remove the case. The GPS and Magnetometer cables connect the top shell to the rest of the Phantom, be careful not to stress or break these cables.

Step 11

              Disconnect GPS Cable
  • Lift the GPS cable molex connector up out of its socket on the main board.

Lift the GPS cable molex connector up out of its socket on the main board.

Step 12

              Loosen Magnetometer Cable
  • Gently pull the slack of the magnetometer cable through the case bottom shell.
  • The case top shell should now have enough slack to work on the interior of the Phantom.

Gently pull the slack of the magnetometer cable through the case bottom shell.

The case top shell should now have enough slack to work on the interior of the Phantom.

Step 13

              Motor
  • Desolder all three motors wires from the speed controller board.
  • Follow our soldering guide to learn how, or just to brush-up on your skills.
  • Be careful not to melt the plastic case bottom shell with your soldering iron or damage any electronic components.
  • When you’re reassembling, solder the motor leads back in their original order. This may be different from the picture. Motors on arms across from each other have the same color order, so check the opposite arm for reference.

Desolder all three motors wires from the speed controller board.

Follow our soldering guide to learn how, or just to brush-up on your skills.

Be careful not to melt the plastic case bottom shell with your soldering iron or damage any electronic components.

When you’re reassembling, solder the motor leads back in their original order. This may be different from the picture. Motors on arms across from each other have the same color order, so check the opposite arm for reference.

Step 14

              Unmount the Motor
  • Unscrew the four 2 mm motor hex bolts from the case bottom shell.

Unscrew the four 2 mm motor hex bolts from the case bottom shell.

Step 15

  • Remove the motor from the Phantom.

Remove the motor from the Phantom.

Step 16

              Unsolder the ESC
  • Disconnect the ESC from the mainboard by desoldering the ground and voltage wires.
  • Be careful not to melt the plastic case bottom shell with your soldering iron or damage any electronic components.

Disconnect the ESC from the mainboard by desoldering the ground and voltage wires.

Step 17

              Disconnect the ESC from the Flight Controller
  • Unplug the ESC signal cable from the flight controller.
  • You may need to remove other ESC signal cables next to your desired ESC’s cable. Be sure to note which socket these cables go back into.

Unplug the ESC signal cable from the flight controller.

You may need to remove other ESC signal cables next to your desired ESC’s cable. Be sure to note which socket these cables go back into.

Step 18

              Unscrew the ESC
  • Remove the two Phillips #0 screws securing the ESC.
  • The clear plastic LED light cover may fall off after removing these screws. If it doesn’t, remove it so you don’t lose it.

Remove the two Phillips #0 screws securing the ESC.

The clear plastic LED light cover may fall off after removing these screws. If it doesn’t, remove it so you don’t lose it.

Step 19

              Remove the ESC
  • Remove the ESC from the Phantom.

Remove the ESC from the Phantom.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Cancel: I did not complete this guide.

                                                                                      13 other people completed this guide.

Author

                                      with 2 other contributors 


                    David Hoyt

Member since: 04/09/2010

3,921 Reputation

                                      43 Guides authored                  



                       Badges:
                       28







                                                        +25 more badges

Team

                       Cal Poly, Team 25-89, Amido Spring 2010                        

                                                  Member of Cal Poly, Team 25-89, Amido Spring 2010 



                    CPSU-AMIDO-S10S25G89                     


                                            4 Members                     


                                            63 Guides authored

C schultz - Nov 24, 2017

Reply

Know where I can find a Phantom 1 replacement ESC? DJI says they don’t service them anymore, and I am having a hard time finding them online.

claudiohagra - May 11, 2018

Reply

No, I don´t know!