Mobula7 Walkthrough Upgrade: The best Frame for your Mobula 7

The Mobula7 v3 frame (same as the Eachine trashcan frame)

Introduction and why I like the Mobula7 better.
It's been a few months since I reviewed the HappyModel Mobula 7 (here) and have more recently reviewed the Eachine Trashcan here. Since reviewing the Trashcan I've been flying the Mobula 7 more and find I actually prefer it. Why? Even thought the image quality is better I can't get used to the narrow vertical field of view on the traschan's EOS2 16:9 camera and I find the 0803 motors on the trashcan draw too much power on without delivering a whole lot more speed. The Mobula7's major downside is the frame which breaks easily even though the v2 frame is an improvement and e6000 glue (as tested here) is great for repairs.

For this reason I've written an article for newcomers on how to upgrade to the V3 (trashcan) frame which completely addresses the strength issues.

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This is the first article in my series of HappyModel Mobula7 upgrades, many of which can be used for the Trashcan too. Also to come are:

• installing a better battery connector,
• tuning betaflight filters more specifically for brushless whoops,
• converting to run 'props out'
• propeller upgrades.
• receiver range improvement
• modding your 1s battery to be a proper 2s

All links will be updated here when completed. Many of these I've completed the work and am testing at present - it's starting to feel like a more complete little quad now.

Instead of just writing about it, please see the steps below with captions. Click on the picture to embiggen

1. Remove all of the motor plugs from main wires. You can just pull the wires but I'd recommed small needle-nosed pliers to pull on the plugs instead

2. Shown here with all 4 motor wires removed.

3. Use the included Phillips head screwdriver to remove the 3 screws that secure the canopy to the frame. Don't lose them!

4. With the canopy off and the motors unplugged you can now remove the flight controller still attached to the canopy but the cam/vtx

5. You can see here how the flight controller comes away from the rubber mounts on the frame. Take the rubber mounts off too

6. Use those rubber mounts and fit them in the semi circles of the flight controller board

7. Flight controller board now out of the mobula7 ready to mount in the v3/trashcan frame

8. Slide the rubber mounts over the posts on the new frame and take not of orientation! As you can see above I got it backwards and now the slot for the LED board is at the front :p

9. Remove the motor screws using the same Phillips screw driver.

10. One down, three to go!

11. Install the motors in the same location as they were removed for simplicity. I swapped red and black motor location to allow for reverse prop rotation (props out) but will detail this in another walkthrough

12. Plug the motors back in and you're done! 

So as you can see a fairly basic change that takes about 5-20 minutes depending on your level of experience. You don't need to drill, cut, solder or modify anything - it is a direct change. You don't even need to update anything in betaflight.

After spending some time flying this frame it is so much more durable. The first night was very windy and I crashed a LOT. No damage to the frame whatsovever with crashed which would have destroyed the Mobula7 frame. 

A lot of comments have been made that the V3 frame is much heavier, I'm here to debunk that myth as you can see from the first 2 pics below. about 15 packs in I feel no difference in performance to the original frame given the weight is near identical and the ducts are no bigger. I can say my flying has improved though because I now feel more confident the frame will hold up better when crashing from trying more risky moves.

Final note on the battery bay
As you know in order to run 2s on the Mobula7 you needed to use 2 single 1s batteries and the square 39 printed mount so that the batteries could be piggy-backed. The V3/trashcan is different, and more awkward with 2 x 1s batteries where foam tape is used to wedge them in. The reason for this is that the frame is actually designed for a proper 2s battery as you can see below.

GNB Gaoneng 7.6V 300mAh 80C/160C 2S HV 4.35V XT30 Lipo Battery

Turnigy nano-tech 300mah 2S 45~90C Lipo Pack

My next article addresses this by changing the connector and looking at making a proper 2s battery from 2 x 1s batteries.

Parts used in this walkthrough:

​Happymodel Mobula7 Part Upgrade 75mm V3 Brushless Tiny Whoop Frame Kit for RC Drone

Hopefully this article was useful, please feel free to share or like.