Drone Engineer Trainee at HYPSTUMA
Diagnosed a complete electrical failure on a 450 mm quadcopter to reverse polarity through three sequential elimination checks, identifying burnt MOSFETs from absent reverse current protection.
I built a 450mm quadcopter from a kit, and burnt it myself.
Figuring out how I'd done it mattered more than the fix. I worked through three checks in sequence, each one eliminating a layer: the battery via multimeter, the PCB via USB-C, then MOSFET continuity. Some of these I ran myself, others with guidance from programme experts. That last check found burnt MOSFETs.
The real failure was mine: I plugged the battery in with reverse polarity. The board had no reverse-current protection built in, so that mistake was enough to burn the MOSFETs straight away.
Working methodically through each layer is what led me to find the burnt component and the error I made.