80 to 90% battery level takeoff is triggering outrage

I am foreseeing that they are implementing Geo Fencing heavily and would like every one to upgrade to FW 1.6. They released DJI GO App 2.50 which implements Geo Fencing in association with FW 1.6. Thats the catch (TRAP) now.

That would appear to be the case. It would seem that in order for them to enforce GEO Fencing and device disablement, the firmware needs to be flashed onto the UAV.

Running the latest RC firmware and Go App on 1.30.20 only gives the usual NFZ warning message, nothing else.
 
Last edited:
OT: (sort of)
Why do you think the FW version numbers are like this:
On the site: Listed as 1.6
Upon download: zip file is 1.06
On computer: files are 1.06

thots?
 
OT: (sort of)
Why do you think the FW version numbers are like this:
On the site: Listed as 1.6
Upon download: zip file is 1.06
On computer: files are 1.06

thots?
I think DJI secretly knows we are all OCD. They do it just to mess with us.
 
If FW 1.5 is faulty, DJI should immediately take it off their web site. I see DJI has removed FW 1.4, and not 1.5 for the reasons best known to them.
It is very odd that they removed 1.4, but left 1.3 and the now known to be bad 1.5.

I just checked and just like always they still have the FW versions available directly (including 1.4) even if they all no longer appear on the download page.

July 14, 2017 Update:
DJI recently removed hackable firmware versions off their servers to make hacks less accessible. It is now hit or miss which firmware versions are still downloadable from DJI.

Advanced

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3S_FW_V01.06.0040.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3S_FW_V01.05.0030.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.4.0010__en.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.3.20__en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.2.8_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.2.7_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.1.9_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.1.8_en.zip


Pro

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3X_FW_V01.06.0040.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3X_FW_V01.05.0030.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.4.0010__en.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.3.20__en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com...Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.2.6_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com...Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.1.9_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com...Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.1.8_en.zip
 
Last edited:
Yesterday I took off with 98% battery to demo the quad to a group of 40 people. I landed at 3 bars. Today, I figured I needed to run down the battery and flew it to 48% with no problem. I've done this a few times and charged again to 100% and flown with no problems.

Same. I do that all the time.

A battery is a battery. How the software handles the battery.... I'd blame that issue on the engineers!
 
I think DJI secretly knows we are all OCD. They do it just to mess with us.

LOL
Just to clarify....
1.06 and 1.6 mean the same thing... (or am I missing something....)(P3P)
 
It is very odd that they removed 1.4, but left 1.3 and the now known to be bad 1.5.

I just checked and just like always they still have the FW versions available directly (including 1.4) even if they all no longer appear on the download page.

Advanced

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3S_FW_V01.06.0040.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3S_FW_V01.05.0030.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.4.0010__en.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.3.20__en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.2.8_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.2.7_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.1.9_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Firmware_v1.1.8_en.zip


Pro

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3X_FW_V01.06.0040.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/P3X_FW_V01.05.0030.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.4.0010__en.zip

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.3.20__en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com...Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.2.6_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com...Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.1.9_en.zip

http://download.dji-innovations.com...Phantom_3_Professional_Firmware_v1.1.8_en.zip


Do they have them for the Standard as well?
 
I see way to may posts of Phantoms and Inpires just droping out of the sky. I posted this last year here and it looks like tha Admin removed my post.
I put a claim in with DJI and they were only going to give me a discount on a "new" unit, I didn't take them up on there offer.

DJI Phantom 3 Pro Catastrophic Battery Failure
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I posted this last year here and it looks like tha Admin removed my post.
All would have probably been just fine if you would have got on the stick a little sooner. You can hold the throttle up to make the Phantom hover at its current altitude when the auto landing kicks in. That does not explain the auto landing, but you could have saved your Phantom had you known what was happening -- and, if you knew how to counteract it. Hindsight is 20/20 though.
 
There was no way to save this Phantom. I new what was happening thus turned the Phantom around in order to get it back and there was no way to keep altitude when it was in auto landing. The Phantom was just to far away from the dock.

This is a flaw in DJI's battery management. This shouldn't have happened period and I've seen way to many units doing the same thing.
 
There was no way to save this Phantom. I new what was happening thus turned the Phantom around in order to get it back and there was no way to keep altitude when it was in auto landing.
If you watch your video, your Phantom was about half way to its doom before you touched the throttle. And, you only gave it about 50% throttle right before it touched down. You'd need to give it 100% if you want to stop it from descending.

I'm just commenting on what I see in the video though. I cannot speak to the possible malfunction that caused the auto landing. In many cases though, there are ways to get out of tricky situations like this.
 
Either way 100% or 50% DJI needs to fix these issue. The quad is gone and it is what it is.
 
FWIW, and perhaps it was just luck on my part, I had my P3 start auto-landing while on v1.5--twice (coincidentally I flew my most scenic flights over rough terrain on this firmware version--so I'm feeling lucky I still have it). In both cases I pressed the return home button on the RC and it cancelled the auto land. I immediately flew it home and landed without further incident. I believe the low voltage warning was triggered by my high acceleration inputs and perhaps I was able to cancel the auto land because the low voltage warning was triggered momentarily and the voltage "recovered" from lower power settings during auto land.

Anyway, just something to consider should your P3 enter auto land--you may be able to cancel it. Then again simply updating your firmware should save you from this specific problem anyway.
 
My understanding is that if you fly a battery from 100% to 60% or whatever, you're safe to use it again[provided you monitor voltage - ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS monitor voltage] provided you use it again WITHIN 24 hours.

Another reason they drop when not fully charged [in my opinion] is due to cold weather and/or someone jamming the throttle to full up which sucks power down below 3.3volts, which causes the battery to auto-shutdown. Full throttle isn't a problem with 4volts, but when you're at 3.7v already, that full throttle could be the kiss of death.

DISCLAIMER: these are my opinions and theories, not necessarily facts.
I believe DJI even addressed the cold weather flights and rapid throttle changes causing the battery to auto shutdown to protect itself.
 
I think there is more old timers on here bloating the subject more so because it's something to talk about vs reality. It's very easy to remember a common issue but not the details tied to those common issue. No one has that capacity to remember/plot that data in their head.

Before I joined this forum I had NO IDEA I could see the average voltage of my battery. I've done close to 80 flights and only the last 3 I watched the voltage on my display. I've done MANY flights where I've taken off at 90,80.70,60,50,40%.


It's forums like this that cause more panic than what's really there. People come online onto forums to COMPLAIN & REPORT BAD EXPERIENCES. Sure there are a couple posts here and there bragging about how awesome their flight was today but 9 out of 10 threads regarding flight = bad situations.

I'll personally keep doing my thing and flying with half used batteries or batteries that were 100% 7 days ago but may sit on my shelf at 90%. That's not to say I'm not going to get more eye on the data I can display so I can maintain a safe flight but I sure won't let the panic of the forums get to me!

End of the day it's all a learning experience. Take what you read from all the sources, be an adult and make your own plan of action. Don't let fear take control. Otherwise you're not going to enjoy the hobby!
I think there is more old timers on here bloating the subject more so because it's something to talk about vs reality. It's very easy to remember a common issue but not the details tied to those common issue. No one has that capacity to remember/plot that data in their head.

Before I joined this forum I had NO IDEA I could see the average voltage of my battery. I've done close to 80 flights and only the last 3 I watched the voltage on my display. I've done MANY flights where I've taken off at 90,80.70,60,50,40%.


It's forums like this that cause more panic than what's really there. People come online onto forums to COMPLAIN & REPORT BAD EXPERIENCES. Sure there are a couple posts here and there bragging about how awesome their flight was today but 9 out of 10 threads regarding flight = bad situations.

I'll personally keep doing my thing and flying with half used batteries or batteries that were 100% 7 days ago but may sit on my shelf at 90%. That's not to say I'm not going to get more eye on the data I can display so I can maintain a safe flight but I sure won't let the panic of the forums get to me!

End of the day it's all a learning experience. Take what you read from all the sources, be an adult and make your own plan of action. Don't let fear take control. Otherwise you're not going to enjoy the hobby!
You wrote: "I think there is more old timers on here bloating the subject more so because it's something to talk about vs reality." Being what you would refer to as an 'old timer' I take exception to what you wrote. You're a pompous horse's patoot and don't say that what you meant by "old timer" was referring to guys who have posted here in the past... we know what you meant, junior. Forums exist NOT to discuss how wonderful things are, forums have ALWAY existed (since dinosaurs flew when I was a young man) to offer solutions to perceived or real (re: reality) problems and to discuss how to solve them... not to toot one's horn and say how much sunshine, unicorns, and skittle rainbows can be blown up your *** when flying these expensive machines. Get over yourself. If you don't like reading these forums, leave and never come back again. I in particular appreciate people voicing their problems and other people offering solutions in forums like this. Dealing with quad manufacturers and trying to get them to reveal the Great Oz behind that curtain, and revealing why their quads inexplicably fail is like pulling teeth out of a hen's beak (re: impossible) so get over yourself. I now step off my soapbox.
 
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g`day all ,,,, sorry to jump in but does this happen to just the P3 as i have a P2v+and have never had any dramas at all . have logged more than 450 flights some with very low take off voltage of 40%
I am thinking of upgrading to the P3 but not real happy about all the falling out the sky type posts ?

ps after 450 flights im still on my first set of props ,,, never crashed

am i doing something wrong ?
 
Hi,

I'm a bit confused.There are literally dozens of posts on this forum about never taking off with less than a 100% battery charge. People with other kinds of malfunctions are blamed for taking off with 3 bars instead of 4, or with 91% or 88% battery power. Is this really a legit objection? Why can't someone takeoff and get a good 8 to 10 minutes of safe flying from an 88% battery charge? And yet several posts seem to indicate this is a wildly unsafe and crazy thing to do.

While I understand that a 100% explanations. When you fly with a fully charged battery it ttery charge is "ideal", I am often in the field with batteries charging on two car chargers, and lots of great photographic opportunities happening. I will, on occasion, fly before my battery has fully charged and I have not had issues. I won't do it at 2 bars or 50%, but why is it so awfully unadvisable to fly at 3 bars or when my reading is well above 80% if I just monitor my flight time closely?
It's a way for experts to legitimize crashes without explanations. OK. You take off with a fully charged battery. It discharges as you fly.Therefore until the flight ends it's never fully charged again. Cmon. If it was a case of crashes being caused by a less than fully charged battery, these things would be dropping like flies. Does the machine intuitively know the battery is less than 100%? As long as the voltage levels are maintained , I really don't understand what the problem is. Conclusion? It's not the problem. If your car battery is less than 100%, does it still start? It's gettin' ridiculous.
 
You wrote: "I think there is more old timers on here bloating the subject more so because it's something to talk about vs reality." Being what you would refer to as an 'old timer' I take exception to what you wrote. You're a pompous horse's patoot and don't say that what you meant by "old timer" was referring to guys who have posted here in the past... we know what you meant, junior. Forums exist NOT to discuss how wonderful things are, forums have ALWAY existed (since dinosaurs flew when I was a young man) to offer solutions to perceived or real (re: reality) problems and to discuss how to solve them... not to toot one's horn and say how much sunshine, unicorns, and skittle rainbows can be blown up your *** when flying these expensive machines. Get over yourself. If you don't like reading these forums, leave and never come back again. I in particular appreciate people voicing their problems and other people offering solutions in forums like this. Dealing with quad manufacturers and trying to get them to reveal the Great Oz behind that curtain, and revealing why their quads inexplicably fail is like pulling teeth out of a hen's beak (re: impossible) so get over yourself. I now step off my soapbox.
 

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