Erratic Behavior After New Battery

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Today, Phantom 4 flying great, no issues... This is a refurb unit, about one week old.

Tonight I purchased a new battery, the battery had never been used, however it must have been older than the original battery, because when I inserted it and turned it on - it asked me to update the battery's firmware.

I updated the firmware, restarted the P4 and tried to get it to hover.

The drone now has issues with the sensors and behaves erratically. If I let it idle on the ground, it automatically increases the RPMs and takes itself off...

Tried re-calibrating the IMU, but not much different. Same with Compass. Thoughts?
 
Today, Phantom 4 flying great, no issues... This is a refurb unit, about one week old.
I updated the firmware, restarted the P4 and tried to get it to hover.
The drone now has issues with the sensors and behaves erratically.
There's very little about a battery that would cause the things you mention.
It just supplies electricity and if it doesn't do that properly, you have bigger problems that hovering issues.
I would wonder about the location you are experiencing difficulty hovering.
The downward facing sensors are not magic and have a lot of limitations.
They can't lock onto the ground unless it has a definite pattern so surfaces like concrete or grass or even poor lighting will make it difficult to hover in position.
How is it if you go up more than 15 metres to get out of VPS range?
Here's what the manual says about sensor limitations:
i-DGwNx9K-L.jpg
 
Ok so maybe found the issue, the distance and elevation numbers are all messed up. At 1 foot off the ground it says I am -3ft... at 10 feet away it says I am 44 feet away...


There's very little about a battery that would cause the things you mention.
It just supplies electricity and if it doesn't do that properly, you have bigger problems that hovering issues.
I would wonder about the location you are experiencing difficulty hovering.
The downward facing sensors are not magic and have a lot of limitations.
They can't lock onto the ground unless it has a definite pattern so surfaces like concrete or grass or even poor lighting will make it difficult to hover in position.
How is it if you go up more than 15 metres to get out of VPS range?
Here's what the manual says about sensor limitations:
i-DGwNx9K-L.jpg
 
Ok so maybe found the issue, the distance and elevation numbers are all messed up. At 1 foot off the ground it says I am -3ft... at 10 feet away it says I am 44 feet away...
A difference in indicated altitude of a few feet is not a problem.
The difference in observed distance is possible but quite unusual - GPS is not usually that inaccurate.Is it consistently out that much or was it a one-off?
 
Just did another IMU calibration and seemed like maybe it worked but with the motors idling on the ground it would show -8 ft elevation and it would automatically try and take off
 
Just did another IMU calibration and seemed like maybe it worked but with the motors idling on the ground it would show -8 ft elevation and it would automatically try and take off

You need to be clearer about what you mean. Are you saying that it tries to take off, after startup, without stick input or an auto takeoff command, or that after it lands and you let the motors idle with sticks centered, it tries to take off again.
 
Lands, then I bring the motors down to idle... then the motors slowly ramp back up automatically and it takes back off by its self.

Almost as if it sees that it's at -7.9 and it's trying to correct.

You need to be clearer about what you mean. Are you saying that it tries to take off, after startup, without stick input or an auto takeoff command, or that after it lands and you let the motors idle with sticks centered, it tries to take off again.
 
DJI told me to uninstall and reinstall the DJI 4 Go App... will see what it does
 
Lands, then I bring the motors down to idle... then the motors slowly ramp back up automatically and it takes back off by its self.

Almost as if it sees that it's at -7.9 and it's trying to correct.

That's not surprising at all. It doesn't know that it has landed, so it is still trying to hold altitude. After landing you are supposed to power down the motors.
 
This is an issue dating back to P2s at least.
Not saying you should be aware but it is not a problem with your a/c but one which is present in all.

No adjustments or re-cals can or will eliminate this 'feature'.

As mentioned by sar104, do not allow idling after landing. Shut off motors or take off again.
 
Understood.

Still is it ok that the height reading on the iPhone says it is at a negative height?
 
It's OK in that the baro is notorious for drift, error, and inaccuracy.
 
I've read some threads about craft trying to adjust altitude (barometer) and drifting around or trying to reposition itself if not landed exactly on same spot < 1 meter (gps).

Certainly on purpose DJI design to keep craft status "in flight", to avoid added complexity and how to be 100% sure he really landed.. But there is some danger as he might tip over or fly away. This is not adressed at all?

Maybe the downfacing cameras and ultrasonic sensors could be of help if not out of range (too close to the ground). I would imagine useful implementing new warning message such as "Landing detected, please shutdown motors as safety precaution".

Found video about this behavior
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Last edited:
I've read some threads about craft trying to adjust altitude (barometer) and drifting around or trying to reposition itself if not landed exactly on same spot < 1 meter (gps).
Just like a real plane, the Phantom doesn't have to land at the place it was launched.
Where you land makes no difference.
 
Agree and there is maybe something more as per below feedback. Maybe sudden GPS coordinate read change causing craft to reposition? Note old post however and don't think has to do with RTH.

ae31eaa3c98c7899f544cf2f5c19eb70.jpg
 

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