Twister Quattro-X quadcopter - replacing the body

When I ran my poor Twister Quattro-X into yet another tree, I had one of my "how hard can it be" moments and decided to replace the body.

One new body, a few hours of taking apart and putting back together again, 46 screws and 6 yoghurt pots later - the answer is fiddly but not impossible.  Thanks to the ingenious design, there is no soldering or anything like that. I'm a total novice in these matters but I managed it without too many problems and the quad flew correctly on the very first test. The job needed patience and care rather than expertise. I've made these notes in case I need to do it again or someone else finds them useful.

Essentially my method was:

• Set up a "work station" with a big tray to catch anything I drop and a good light.
• Start undoing anything that looked accessible - i.e. go from outside in.
• Produce as many photos, notes and sketches as possible so I could retrace my steps.
• Divide the quad into areas (North West arm, North East arm, centre etc.) each represented by a yoghurt pot.
• Put anything I removed into the appropriate yoghurt pot.

I used compass directions to help me keep track. With the quad the right way up and the front (orange end) away from me, I set "North" as the front end, then used North West etc. to identify each arm.

Here are my notes on putting the quad back together.  If I need to take it apart, I'll just work backwards.

After transferring electronics from old boldy (right) to new (left)

Having detached everything from the old body and gently moved the electronics to the new one, it was time to start reattaching parts.  I tried to work from the inside to the outside.

1. Thread antenna through hole

First, I threaded the antenna back through its hole.

2. Restore camera connections

Screwing down the camera connection.

When I was working with the circuit boards, I put plastic gloves on. I don't know if this is necessary but I didn't want to transfer salts etc. from my hands to the circuit boards.

I started by putting the small camera circuit board back in place.

3. Put the LEDs back.

Plastic window and LED (with red wires attached).

There are two separate parts, the plastic window and the LED itself. Both had to be slotted into the holder. This was very fiddly and they tended to jump out. Eventually I taped them in place with a tiny piece of sellotape.

4. Screw the central 'platform' back

Power Supply System before I moved it into place over the camera connections.

This is the power supply system. I aligned the holes with the legs and put the four screws back in.

5. Replace the circuit boards in the arms

Notice the plastic column behind the screwdriver.

I slotted the long narrow circuit boards over the little plastic columns and screwed them into place. 2 screws each.

6. Put the Circuit Board back in the 'Tower' and Reconnect

Note: I should have done this later, after I had screwed the motors back. Doing at this time meant that I had a 'tether' between the top and bottom part of the body shell, which was unwieldy.

Opening the tower's lid.

On the top half of the new body, I carefully levered the tower's lid off with my thumbnail. I had to be very careful to avoid damaging the tiny posts that keep it in place.

Fixing GPS module in place.

I threaded the wires and connector through the column and fixed the GPS module in place with the four tiny screws.  Then I put the lid back on.

BEWARE that this was difficult to dismantle as the plastic posts had got stuck in the circuit board holes. 

Reattached black/red/white wire leading to "GPS" (3rd slot).

I reconnected the wires to the port that I had removed them from, with the white wire at the top.  While I was there, I checked that all the others connectors were firmly in place.

For future reference.

I took this photo of the labelling for future reference.

7. Screw the Motors back in

Motor back in place.

For each arm I:

• put the bottom half of the body the right way up
• carefully slotted the round "base plate" into the motor hole
• put the motor in - carefully aligning wires, holes etc.
• ended up getting one screw into place (by standing quad on its slide and fiddling until everything lined up) - just enough to "bite"
• flipped the quad on its back so I could see the four screw holes
• slid the motor a little so the other holes lined up
• put the diagonally opposite screw in until it "bit"
• put the other two in
• tightened them as a group.

BEWARE: Aligning the first screw for each motor was one of the fiddliest parts of the whole replacement.

Note that the screws used for the motor are very slightly different to the ones for the recessed holes in the next step.  From the side, the heads are rounder and more tapered.  The ones you use in the next step are more square looking.

8. Put the Top and Bottom Halves together

Assembled arm showing screws: tiny one at end, 4 motor and 3 recessed.

I fitted the top half of the new body over the motors.  Everything just snapped into place. Then I put the screws in - for each arm:

• a tiny one at the end
• 3 slightly larger ones in the 3 recessed holes.

Battery door open so I can insert the last screw.

I also opened the battery door so I could insert the screw on the South side - just under the tower.

9. Restoring Skids etc.

Once I had tightened up all the screws, I put back skids, propeller etc.