My nano build, mods, tips, and failures thread.

[tchilds]

I broke a servo plug on a board that doesn't bind well anyway. It broke when I crashed on the gym floor, you can see how it just barely sheered off. I'm over these little stock canopies they do not protect the damn board. I'm switching to the walkera ones pictured in my first post.

I called HH and they sent me a new board, since this old one only has a few hours and isn't binding properly since before it was even flown.

Here's my broken servo plug, not a hard fix as long as the trace isn't ripped off with it. Mine broke clean off, probably because it wasn't really soldered that well to begin with. There are two metal tabs that hold your servo plugs on, embedded in the board and the plug. These can just be fixed with thick CA or epoxy, whatever you want to glue the plug back on with.

1.) make sure all the traces are still good w/multimeter or just visually inspect is fine
2.) fabricate jumpers for bad traces, you have to run them to other side of the board on the ones I've repaired with jumpers (only if traces have broken off, mine did not this time)
3.) glue the plug to board, make sure to align the three tabs and that they're pressed down on the pads/traces.
4.) solder, takes a few seconds for each one with my $10 radio shack soldering iron




Pretty soon I'll be purchasing a weller soldering iron and doing these repairs for folks around here upon request, free of charge for minor stuff like this. Notice the little shiny globs of solder on each pin now. Much improved over the cheaply, hastily connected stock setup.

[nicholask1993]

Going to be epoxying all of my servo plugs today along with the canopy posts.

Then it's back to waiting for a spare main motor in the mail and the mild bl combo to be restocked.

[tchilds]

Originally Posted by nicholask1993

Going to be epoxying all of my servo plugs today along with the canopy posts.

Then it's back to waiting for a spare main motor in the mail and the mild bl combo to be restocked.

I would be very careful as if they ever do rip off they'll destroy the board. I might glue mine on with more than a dab of CA but honestly it isn't needed and will only result in catastrophic failures and extra weight. I mean in the event it does break, and it will, its going to rip half the traces and maybe even some components off with it!

If you want to do something worth while to the board, reflow the solder on all the fets and plugs etc, properly. Hard wire your motors, and replace old power wires (upgrade if going brushless).

You do not need to unplug these even to clean the servo's or completely rebuilt the nano. Fortunately you can choose to avoid dealing with these plugs and with a proper canopy they should be plenty strong. In the event you do unplug the servo plugs, the board does not exist, don't even touch it. Make sure your're only putting pressure on the plugs, not the board. If you twist the plug, smash the plug down hard against the board, or pull the plug out while just holding the board, you've damaged a servo plug. Once damaged they're a ticking time bomb.

My friend was soldering on the nano. I noticed his hands were shaking, he was pulling on the plug so hard!!!!! It broke about 10 crashes later... fell right off... He has just as much experience as me with these little plugs but for some reason can't get it through his head that they're weak as heck and just rips on them all day. His particular plugs on his birds, for the most part, hold up just fine too. Go figure.

This is the first nano plug I've broken, even though I broke a lot of MCPX plugs. Trust me, don't glue em on like hard core and don't man handle them. Just avoid them if at all possible. Get a better canopy to protect the main board and until then, cut and glue some packing foam around the edges of the board so that nothing can strike or press on it or the plugs.

Oh and just so you understand, epoxy is going to be like insanely strong and definitely will bond with the board a little too much, Using something weaker or flexible will yield better results. Butyl tape comes to mind, this stuff can be picked up at RV stores. It will remain insanely sticky and flexible for life, but will not contaminate the board's pads and traces with silicone which is nearly impossible to remove. It is also all weather/moisture proof and pretty much lasts years...

Avoid silicone near the traces and stuff that is going to get silicone on it for life. I swear there's no removing that stuff ick. Even when removed with acetone the silicone just keeps breaking down and redepositing its super annoying. I rarely use silicone anymore. It seems great but screws you down the road.

I slather that electrical rubber glue stuff all over everything and have yet to have a problem with it. 100% silicone definitely screws with me though. I wouldn't put that rubber glue/liquid electrical tape (diluted silicone) on any small components though either. Only where I can burn it off or where absolutely necessary.


If you do epoxy them. I would reflow all 9 of the servo connections before you cover them up permanently.

If you break off a plug, you may also consider solder the wires from an old servo harness off a broken servo to the board, creating a pig tail. This would remove the connection and weight of the connection from the board and make the connectors easier to work with. However, with a stock motor there isn't much room to work with. This mod is better suited to brushless. A stock nano could do this too though, just will be more cramped.

[tchilds]

Stumbled across this today.

Someone w/much better camera than me made ya'll a video.

How to repair servo plugs. Ty Megas for this DIY.
https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=490247

This video shows the proper way to fix it. You can also do it my quick and nasty way the first couple times it breaks off but eventually you will need to remove the solder w/braid, flux, etc.