Battery Wobble - P4P Refurbished

[peterjse]

I recently purchased a refurbished P4P.
I own also own a P4.

I haven't flown the P4P yet, I have been inspecting it and checking it over.
I have noticed a worrying amount of play in the battery bay. It is the same with the P4's batteries.
The battery has very little play when in my P4.

My main concern is the battery coming loose in flight and crashing. I feel for the money saved on a refurb model is not worth this so I am wondering whether to return and buy a brand new model.

 

[Fly Dawg]

My main concern is the battery coming loose in flight and crashing.

There have been more than a few reports of this on all the P4 models. There is an issue of some sort with the latches. And this includes all the P4's as I said. Except for the newer V2's, which have addressed the issue but yet to be determined if the newer version rectifies the problem.

 

[peterjse]

I know the p4p v2 includes a sensor which gets upset if the battery comes loose. This may prevent some users who haven't secured it properly/ give an extra log item to indicate the cause of a crash.
Now if there was a failsafe internal battery that could land/ return to home if it dumped a battery I would be all over the v2

 

[Former Member]

My main concern is the battery coming loose in flight and crashing.

It very well could. If that is in and locked, I wouldnt fly it, I would send it back if possible.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

I recently purchased a refurbished P4P.
I own also own a P4.

I haven't flown the P4P yet, I have been inspecting it and checking it over.
I have noticed a worrying amount of play in the battery bay. It is the same with the P4's batteries.
The battery has very little play when in my P4.

My main concern is the battery coming loose in flight and crashing. I feel for the money saved on a refurb model is not worth this so I am wondering whether to return and buy a brand new model.

We were one of the Pioneers to really bring this problem to light to DJI and that is because we wanted to fly in the Rain and the battery being loose was one of the biggest problems we faced when designing the Wet Suit for the Drone so we could in fact fly in a torrential Down pour without taking in any water,

You have a couple options : You can get a Phantom Rain Wet Suit and seal the Battery up nice and tight.
We have found that all Phantom 4 have that gap opening on the right hand side of the drone including the New 2.0 version.

You can check out this video of how you can solve this design error. The Phantom 2.0 version did fix this problem of being able to start when the clips are not in , however we have already reported that the Battery gap where water pours in is still noticeable on the 2.0 drones

Phantomrain.org
Approved Vendor

 

[FL_Mike]

I recently purchased a refurbished P4P.
I own also own a P4.

I haven't flown the P4P yet, I have been inspecting it and checking it over.
I have noticed a worrying amount of play in the battery bay. It is the same with the P4's batteries.
The battery has very little play when in my P4.

My main concern is the battery coming loose in flight and crashing. I feel for the money saved on a refurb model is not worth this so I am wondering whether to return and buy a brand new model.

Wow, that is really loose. My P4P seats firmly with no play.

I would send that back.

 

[Fly Dawg]

We were one of the Pioneers to really bring this problem to light to DJI

I beg to differ but I will just say that....and that alone.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

I beg to differ but I will just say that....and that alone.

If you want to be the number one Pioneer for bringing that to light , the trophy is your, but we sent over a dozen videos to DJI Design team when making the Phantom Rain Wet Suit showing how much water gets in from the battery and why it happens so quickly.
and the fact that the 2.0 version still has that gap for water to get in from the battery is not saying much .

 

[umanbean]

and the fact that the 2.0 version still has that gap for water to get in from the battery is not saying much .

Actually that fack fact speaks volumes.

That tells me that DJI didn't design, and never intended for, the Phantom series to be flown in the rain, and has no intention of re-designing the P4 series around that concept.

Personally I would never spend $1-2,000 on P4x then try to fly it in the rain - wetsuit or not... unless your company has an ironclad guarantee that would replace my P4 if your product failed.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

Actually that fack speaks volumes.

That tells me that DJI didn't design, and never intended for, the Phantom series to be flown in the rain, and has no intention of re-designing the P4 series around that concept.

Personally I would never spend $1-2,000 on P4x then try to fly it in the rain - wetsuit or not... unless your company has an ironclad guarantee that would replace my P4 if your product failed.

I agree , we all live in a perfect bubble, no rain ever where I live, basically its like one big sand dune, . Last I herd people were forgetting how to spell the word R E EINE . lol I get it bud, Rain Rain go away. . .

 

[umanbean]

IMO, if you want a discourse on the merits of your product, start your own thread. Flying in the rain has nothing whatsoever to do with the problem the OP has.

 

[Loz]

Bit harsh, imho he was offering a possible solution politely to stated problem and disclosed vested interest upfront, as I would want.

 

[peterjse]

I've only had the drone a few days so I've arranged to return it.
From the logs it had only been used a couple of times before ending up at a DJI repair centre.

The phantom wet suits look interesting, just unfortunate as I am in the UK the site states "Due to recent regulations we do not currently offer our products to European customers".

Update: My new (not refurbished) Phantom 4 Pro's battery does not wiggle and fits as tightly as my P4.

 

[KCadby]

Update: My new (not refurbished) Phantom 4 Pro's battery does not wiggle and fits as tightly as my P4.

Interesting and looks like I need to contact DJI because I bought a BRAND NEW 2.0 and all three of my batteries fit LOOSE
I might start a new thread about it but here's the video of how mine fit and what I did to make them fit better...

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

Interesting and looks like I need to contact DJI because I bought a BRAND NEW 2.0 and all three of my batteries fit LOOSE
I might start a new thread about it but here's the video of how mine fit and what I did to make them fit better...

That is a quick fix , but you are much better off to get the Wet Suit so no matter what battery you put in , you will always get a full water Proof seal all the way around the battery.

Many people have more than 1 battery so that is not the best solution.
You are also putting a wood on top of something that heats up for extended period of time.

The Phantom Rain Wet Suit offer the better solution and with all the other perks ,
Phantomrain.org

Thank you for showing 2.0 video and the problem with the battery.
.

 

[KCadby]

That is a quick fix ,
Thank you for showing 2.0 video and the problem with the battery.
.

Dude I have ZERO desire to fly this drone in anything remotely resembling rain, plus here in the FL Summer Heat the last thing I want to do is put insulation on it.
I already read your entire 'ad' in other reply(s) and been to your site (just out of curiosity) but I'm not interested.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

Dude I have ZERO desire to fly this drone in anything remotely resembling rain, plus here in the FL Summer Heat the last thing I want to do is put insulation on it.
I already read your entire 'ad' in other reply(s) and been to your site (just out of curiosity) but I'm not interested.

No i agree with you, Putting popsicles sticks on your batteries , is well genius But as far as the heat being a problem , we have already tested 100 degree heat on the drone for hours, No issues , partly because the drone flys and also because the of how thin the Neoprene is. Make sure you check out the video of the Total Eclipse we filmed in 115 degrees in TN . It was a once in a lifetime event . :} the residual of heat from the Phantom Wet Suit is minimal at best.

Thank for letting us offer a second solution to a critical problem with the battery that is going to become more apparent over time.

 

[peterjse]

Interesting and looks like I need to contact DJI because I bought a BRAND NEW 2.0 and all three of my batteries fit LOOSE
I might start a new thread about it but here's the video of how mine fit and what I did to make them fit better...

Definitely worth getting the store or DJI to replace it.
My concern was that much play there was a greater chance of a secured battery popping loose during flight.

 

[KCadby]

Make sure you check out the video Phantom Wet Suit
Thank for letting us offer a second solution

I knew you would come back replying trying to Sell your product to me (and others) even though I made it very clear that I'm not interested (because I've seen you do it in other threads)...
One of the main reasons I come to Phantom Pilots is because it's "the best place for good honest educated information" WITHOUT ADS IN POSTS/REPLIES so PLEASE STOP replying to me with your ads (the only thing missing in your posts and replies is actual Links)...

 

[peterjse]

I knew you would come back replying trying to Sell your product to me (and others) even though I made it very clear that I'm not interested (because I've seen you do it in other threads)...
One of the main reasons I come to Phantom Pilots is because it's "the best place for good honest educated information" WITHOUT ADS IN POSTS/REPLIES so PLEASE STOP replying to me with your ads (the only thing missing in your posts and replies is actual Links)...

I can't believe phantompilots allows such blatant aggressive product promotion and spamming of threads.
Ironically when I did try looking at his website but I got a message stating "Due to recent regulations we do not currently offer our products to European customers.".