Ever since the V2, the Caddx Turtle has quickly become the favourite split HD FPV camera in one units to use. And in general this camera works great but the most common fault with them is that they get stuck on the yellow/black screen during power-up. This guide will show you some of the common solutions to solve this.
Common Causes and Solutions
Before we get onto the common causes and solutions. If the camera is still in warranty, you should be able to get it repaired/replaced from the shop you purchased it from. But it will help if you double check the coax cable connection as this is the most common cause of the camera not booting up.
Just a word of warning, if you are not comfortable troubleshooting the camera yourself, contact the shop first as if you damage it by accident the warranty will be void.
1 – Damaged coax cable, or bad connection
This is the most common cause and is also the easiest to fix. Simple disconnect and reconnect the camera coax cable on both the camera and the main PCB. While is it undone you can also visually check it for damage (as in the photo below).
If the connection itself looks good and it is still not working, then the fault may be with the cable itself, or with the camera sensor. To check the cable, with the unit powered on wiggle the cable in several places to see if it gets past the yellow screen. If it does then its likely a faulty cable that needs to be replaced. If not then its likely the sensor that needs replacing (see section 2).
Buy a replacement Coax cable:
2 – Damaged Camera Sensor Module
If step 1 does not work, then the next thing to replace is the camera sensor module. Fortunately the sensor modules are fairly cheap at around $13. The sensor boards are also fairly easy to replace by undoing a few screws on the back of the camera. Happymodel has released a quick video showing how to do this below:
Buy a replacement Turtle V2 sensor module:
3 – Components damaged in a crash
If your camera stops working after a crash, the first thing to test is the coax cable connections, and secondly check if any components have fallen off the main board. The tiny capacitors next to the mounting holes are the ones that are most likely to fall off during a crash as shown below:
If this happens, this is not covered under warranty since your crashed it. But you can re-solder new capacitors into place with some patience and a steady soldering iron. The exact value does not matter and failing that, depending on the exact capacitor you could get away with just bridging the two sides with some solder. Basically this is a last resort effort to get your turtle working again, but its probably best to at this point buy a new one.
4 – Reflow the main board
In a crash, maybe one of the main chips could become slightly dislodged which would prevent the turtle from boot-up up correctly. There have been a few succesfull examples on youtube of people re-flowing their main board to fix the yellow screen issue. To do this, remove any cables from the turtle main board and pop it into your oven at 180°C for 7 minutes. This heating process will melt the solder points and re-seat the components, hopefully fixing any issue. Just like in step 3, this is a last resort effort to get your turtle working.
5 – Firmware Flash Failed
Another common issue that prevents the turtle from starting up (usually with a black screen) is a failed firmware flash. Fortunately there is a helpful guide on how to unbrick your turtle over on RCgroups – https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=40436285&postcount=455
Thanks for reading and hopefully this article was helpful in getting your turtle up and running again. If it does we would love to hear over on our friendly dronetrest forums.
