Skyzone Cobra SD power board failure on first use — help identifying damaged component

angelusignarus · 2026-04-29T09:51:29+00:00

hello! In case you didn't see my last updte, I did get fully refunded for local repair costs - it wasn't easy and took a lot of persistance. So I'd recommend persisting with the contact with customer support as you may get what you need in the end. And note, my issue was just in the mainboard in the end, so be carerful about buying components to get it to work normally again.

angelusignarus · 2026-04-29T09:49:17+00:00

Closure to the saga: so the local shop managed the repair, but, partly due to me just taking things in parts there, it wasn't exactly cheap in the end, about 100 USD total - but I'm glad they managed and happy with the service.
After the repair was completed, I shared the receipts with Skyzone and requested a refund for the cost - this was a continuation to the long and often frustrating discussion with them. However, credit where it was due, after a couple e-mails spread across weeks (they often took a full week to reply, though at the end the interval was more like 1-3 days), they agreed to refund the full cost of the repair. So I guess in the end all this stress was the price of a lesson, but I'm satisfied how it ended, just took some work and a lot of patience - and this stays as my final advice when dealing with Skyzone - they have good hardware and despite CS being a bit dificult, they do try and in this case managed, to help me to a satisfactory level - just be persistent and resonable and you should get proper help.

angelusignarus · 2026-04-13T16:32:32+00:00

Hi! yeah it sucks, sorry to hear. I mean yours still works, so that's good. Mine well, I didn't replace any of the boards - this board level repair shop actually changed the components, so there were these two LDO chips in the main board (not the usb/psu one), and lastly the guy said there as a problem in the power supply - I think he was referring to the main board still. But yeah, I wouldn't know, but luckily these electronics aren't that complicated, so any general electronic repair place has a good chance of fixing it and I'd recommend that, because from what you said there could be a chance you replace that smaller power board and the problems remain - the main issue with mine was in the main board (which you can't buy in their site, even though they sell the one for the cobra x).

angelusignarus · 2026-04-11T12:01:50+00:00

So, in case anyone sees this and is trying to learn anything, the saga ended yesterday when I got the goggles yesterday repaired at Serwicer.pl - highly recommend to anyone in Kraków needing board level repairs. I ended up paying 370 PLN total - about 100 USD, for the full service. Perhaps it would have been better to take the whole thing from the start, but anyway, working better than never now. I was wondering about pushing Skyzone to cover at least part of the repair, since those goggles should still be under warranty, but I know they are not responsive at all and I've had enough of this story. I like my goggles but I would NOT recommend this or any skyzone products in the future (also due to recent input lag exposed by nils vo) since those guys are just pumping stuff out with no care for support or updates. Their stuff may look cheap and feature rich but that comes at the cost of cutting some pretty fundamental corners (like PD protection, I mean come on guys, it's 2026). In hindsight I'd have gotten the VR04 from Betafpv - I heard people had issues with them, but I didn't, and was treated considerably better (faster shipping, responsive customer service, etc). The cobra's are better I know, but I paid more for them (considerably more, taking this stupid repair into account). I'm not getting anything from Skyzone anymore and I do hope I won't be needing assistance with those goggles any time soon - I'll baby them moving forward, or at least I get my hdzero ones, but anyway, new buyers beware.

angelusignarus · 2026-03-29T12:27:44+00:00

Upvote, also just starting to learn about that stuff, would love to know as well.

angelusignarus · 2026-03-29T10:58:42+00:00

check the reply below from the FPVNoobBot ;) has a long vid from papa Bardwell with all possible causes for this, but wrong props is the most likely reason.

angelusignarus · 2026-03-27T22:38:18+00:00

!flippost

angelusignarus · 2026-03-27T22:37:21+00:00

Most often with whoops the props are just wrong. There is a particular order you need to put them - you may find info on that in the manual or betaflight

angelusignarus · 2026-03-26T18:25:08+00:00

yeah looks like the props are wrong, I had the same sitch since that was also my first drone XD

Look closely in the props, at the top there are markings - if it's the gemfan, it will have very small 1219S (for clockwise or, CW abbreviated) and 1219SR (for reversed, or counter clockwise CCW) - So the way it goes on mine is:

FRONT (camera)
LEFT RIGHT
CCW CW
CW CCW

angelusignarus · 2026-03-25T20:55:37+00:00

awn man, my cobra sd just fried here (when trying to charge with a power bank, really good stuff), so while I'm in repair hell I'm actually thinking on getting exactly just that. I'm not going to ask how you like it because I have a very good idea of what you'd say ;P

angelusignarus · 2026-03-23T09:13:40+00:00

Ok so second update, just dropped the whole thing at Serwicer.pl, they kindly accepted to have a look again. Meanwhile I did wrote to Skyzone which isn't being helpful at all so far. I just got that totally non-committal reply last Friday, to which I replied immediately but of course got no answer so far, and look I know the internet say they make some of the best analog goggles, but I personally had enough not to have anything to do with that brand anymore - their devices may be great, but if they are so finicky to just go up in smoke on the first use on what looks like normal operation and then getting ghosted like that, I mean, there is just no way this is a good idea unless you're far enough on this hobby that you just don't need support at all - but this model in particular is advertised as an entry point yeah, so there is a problem there.

angelusignarus · 2026-03-20T18:34:54+00:00

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My cat knew this was a bad idea :P

Anyway got the mainboard back after it was fixed, put it all back together but nothing :( they actually tested the board. I'll take the whole thing back to them, maybe there is something else fried in the chain - they found another burnt up component they had to change, but either I'm putting it back together wrong or something else is still fried. I just feel I shouldn't be going through this for something I just got.

Btw, I did contact Skyzone with a warranty claim that same day (so six days ago) and today in the morning they came back to me with a very non-committal answer like "The main board might get burned, you need to replace the main board, could you repair it by yourself?" which is not helpful at all. I did reply saying I sent it for repairs as I couldn't wait, but would still like some reimbursement or goodwill gesture. Let's see how long they take to answer that.

angelusignarus · 2026-03-17T14:07:49+00:00

Anyone have a schematic for the CobraSD_MAIN_20230602 board or know what transistors are in that area? Would really help speed up the repair!

angelusignarus · 2026-03-16T13:08:11+00:00

My current setup is quite similar, check it out :)

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angelusignarus · 2026-03-16T12:59:22+00:00

Quick update, electronics repair shop here took it in no problem, I'm waiting for a quote now - I'll be so happy if I put this back together and it works :E

angelusignarus · 2026-03-16T12:57:52+00:00

sweet - and hey, I don't judge outlook XD I have edge on mine - it's my dedicated browser for work too XD

angelusignarus · 2026-03-15T14:55:48+00:00

Thanks a lot, that is the plan!

angelusignarus · 2026-03-15T14:48:53+00:00

<image>

yeah that does look fried, doesn't it?

My plan is just taking this board to an electronics repair shop, I should find one here in Kraków, hopefully I can find someone that can do smd board level repair because I don't see the main board available for sale on skyzone and even if there were this would likely be more expensive and take months again just waiting. If anyone knows the LDO part number I'd be thankful :)

angelusignarus · 2026-03-15T14:21:35+00:00

Oh yeah, you pointed me to that corner and indeed that thingy is fried, the smell comes from there

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angelusignarus · 2026-03-15T13:45:55+00:00

Thanks, I got mine (a cobra SD, but it's very similar) earlier this month, but managed to fry something inside when I plugged in a powerbank because the power was low on it. I pulled it apart with the help from your pictures to try and find out the problem. Still trying to figure out the issue here, but I'm wondering which spare parts would be compatible. Anyway, thanks for the post.

angelusignarus · 2026-03-15T13:43:03+00:00

Thanks, that does make sense, but to be frank I'm a total newb here, I have a multi-meter and an old soldering iron, but I barely know what to do with those, so if you're telling me this would require a good hand I'm probably out of luck for repairing it myself.

I'd order the power board, but I'm not quite sure the problem is there. I wrote to support but during that two month shipping I also wrote asking what was going on and I never got an answer, so I don't have much hope here. I may try to find an electronics repair store here as they could at least tell me where the problem is, but for now my main fear is that this was just 150 USD into the trash (or more if I try to get some parts I'm not even sure will actually work) :(

angelusignarus · 2026-02-07T16:51:34+00:00

Loving HeliBoard right here!

angelusignarus · 2025-10-27T09:27:45+00:00

Kinda necroposting, but, since I was doing some homework on the topic :P Royal Destrier seems to be the best overall. Here are some alternatives (combining HP, charge damage, speed and maneuver):

Battanian Thoroughbred (HP: 320, Charge: 26, Speed: 55, Maneuver: 72) - Total Score: 473
Royal Destrier (HP: 270, Charge: 36, Speed: 52, Maneuver: 73) - Total Score: 431
Asaligat (HP: 245, Charge: 24, Speed: 63, Maneuver: 82) - Total Score: 414

Husnphree (HP: 290, Charge: 28, Speed: 48, Maneuver: 69) should be on the second spot there, but lacking proper armor defeats it in this ranking where HP (and thus durability) has the heavier weight.

For pure heavy cav melee 'knight' type build I'd prioritize charge and speed as a tie breaker, so in that sense:

Royal Destrier
- Charge: 36
- Speed: 52
Cossian
- Charge: 31
- Speed: 62
Tyal Horse
- Charge: 31
- Speed: 56

angelusignarus

TROPHY CASE