Fell from the sky??

[Ryan Notman]

Hey, new to this site but in need of help/answers.

First shot at night flying with my P3adv. Set it up but didn't bother with calibration(should of as I haven't been out in a while). Got it set up and took off and hovered in the carpark for around 30seconds to check settings still all ok. Launched in local train station carpark. Took the phantom vertical as no obstructions above. Got to around 20/25m and as I looked up it appeared to loose all power. And started falling from the sky, I was about to try and catch it until half way down power kicked in and props started. As it was already falling very quickly it barely slowed its descent and crashed to the ground. Gimbal snapped, camera dented, landing gear broke.

Question is what actually happened or could have happened?
Camera/gimbal arm that's snapped appear to be the most expensive bits to replace(just about to start dismantling) any advice on good places for spares.

Thanks in advance
Ryan

 

[tcope]

You probable want to either post the log files here or upload them to heathlydrones.com and post a link.

Was it cold at the time? Winter time?

What firmware are you running?

 

[Ryan Notman]

Just been reading through a similar instance that someone else has had, I've noted all the things I need to check. Hopefully get the logs checked etc tomorrow.

And yep, winters evening and around 2deg.

 

[Sinisalo]

Just been reading through a similar instance that someone else has had, I've noted all the things I need to check. Hopefully get the logs checked etc tomorrow.

And yep, winters evening and around 2deg.

If you post the logs here there are some that are experts at reading them that can help you know what happened before you file a case with DJI

 

[bobmyers]

Just been reading through a similar instance that someone else has had, I've noted all the things I need to check. Hopefully get the logs checked etc tomorrow.

And yep, winters evening and around 2deg.

did you prewarm the batteries and were they fully charged/

 

[Sinisalo]

Nobody can help if he doesn't post the logs

 

[jeepjamis]

How do u post logs?


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[jeepjamis]

I crashed last night. Similar situation . I'm so upset. Dunno what to do now.


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[Sinisalo]

How do u post logs?


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How do u post logs?


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follow the instructions on this page to retrieve them, then upload the latest one here.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

 

[jeepjamis]

I registered for healthy drones but my brain isn't good today. How the crap do I get the dji go telemetry data to there?????


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[jeepjamis]

If I need my computer and cannot do this all from iPhone then I will have to wait


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[Ryan Notman]

Right folks, Home now and uploaded my 30second flight to healthy drones, How do I share to here?

Looked at all the tabs and nothing my untrained eye can see that sticks out.

 

[Ryan Notman]

Here is the flight record!

 

[Sinisalo]

Here is the flight record!

You took off with a 46% charged battery. When you ascended I assume your phantom fell because you dropped the voltage too fast and triggered the battery to shut down. With the phantom 3 for some reason the battery will shut down to protect itself if the voltage drops too low (at the cost of your whole quadcopter usually)

You might be able to get a repair from DJI for free, it does state in the manual to only take off with a fully charged battery though. One thing to note, I went on a 3 hour drive the other day with my phantom in the trunk and my 2 extra batteries in the front with me in a backpack with dry heated rice (as per a tip from DJI to keep batteries warm) I topped all 3 batteries off before I left so they were all at 100%. Anyway, I ended up not being able to fly until I got home. I was using the cold battery to calibrate the compass and warm up the imu as I knew not to fly on a cold battery. The cold battery was reporting a 83% charge in the DJI Go app. The warm batteries all reported 100%, I didn't fly on the warm battery but wanted to see if it would report a higher percentage once it warmed up and it did. After warming in the house for a few hours the battery that had previously reported 83% when cold now reported 95% and that was even after doing compass calibration and letting the imu warm up previously.

Get your replacement from DJI, update to the latest firmware, and then ONLY FLY ON FULLY CHARGED BATTERIES!

 

[Sinisalo]

You took off with a 46% charged battery. When you ascended I assume your phantom fell because you dropped the voltage too fast and triggered the battery to shut down. With the phantom 3 for some reason the battery will shut down to protect itself if the voltage drops too low (at the cost of your whole quadcopter usually)

You might be able to get a repair from DJI for free, it does state in the manual to only take off with a fully charged battery though. One thing to note, I went on a 3 hour drive the other day with my phantom in the trunk and my 2 extra batteries in the front with me in a backpack with dry heated rice (as per a tip from DJI to keep batteries warm) I topped all 3 batteries off before I left so they were all at 100%. Anyway, I ended up not being able to fly until I got home. I was using the cold battery to calibrate the compass and warm up the imu as I knew not to fly on a cold battery. The cold battery was reporting a 83% charge in the DJI Go app. The warm batteries all reported 100%, I didn't fly on the warm battery but wanted to see if it would report a higher percentage once it warmed up and it did. After warming in the house for a few hours the battery that had previously reported 83% when cold now reported 95% and that was even after doing compass calibration and letting the imu warm up previously.

Get your replacement from DJI, update to the latest firmware, and then ONLY FLY ON FULLY CHARGED BATTERIES!

And I do see your max battery temp was 51.7 degrees F, that is not warm enough to fly on but is also not cold enough to make the bird think it only had a 46% charge if it really was 100%. I let my batteries warm up in a 3-4 ft hover until they reach at least 24 degrees Celsius or 75 degrees Fahrenheit when flying in cold conditions.

 

[Sunny1975lucky]

I've just done a deep cycle on both my batteries and flew my phantom indoors to drain the batteries. Both were at roughly 50%. When I took off the battery temperature was 18 degrees. A few seconds after take off the voltage dropped into the red. I decided to land straight away and idle for a few minutes to warm the battery up. Took off again and the voltage went into the yellow and not the red. Flew with them today fully charged and cell voltages were spot on. I always fly with a fully charged battery when I'm out with my phantom. I can now see why taking off with a partially charged cold battery can cause problems.

 

[Ryan Notman]

You took off with a 46% charged battery. When you ascended I assume your phantom fell because you dropped the voltage too fast and triggered the battery to shut down. With the phantom 3 for some reason the battery will shut down to protect itself if the voltage drops too low (at the cost of your whole quadcopter usually)

Get your replacement from DJI, update to the latest firmware, and then ONLY FLY ON FULLY CHARGED BATTERIES!

Sinisalo, thanks for the advice. I think that could ring true in that the flight previous to this I only calibrated and brought the copter to a short hover and had to land and leave. I never charged the battery back up to full after that as it used very little power. I was unaware of just how important full batteries made, I never thought to much of it on this fateful flight due to only a short flight to grab a couple of quick pictures. The copter was being stored in the house and it was only a short 3-4minute drive to the location so batteries shouldn't have been too cold, albeit the ambient temp was low

What are DJI after service like. How best do I approach them for a repair?

 

[Sinisalo]

Sinisalo, thanks for the advice. I think that could ring true in that the flight previous to this I only calibrated and brought the copter to a short hover and had to land and leave. I never charged the battery back up to full after that as it used very little power. I was unaware of just how important full batteries made, I never thought to much of it on this fateful flight due to only a short flight to grab a couple of quick pictures. The copter was being stored in the house and it was only a short 3-4minute drive to the location so batteries shouldn't have been too cold, albeit the ambient temp was low

What are DJI after service like. How best do I approach them for a repair?

Also a good reason to always top the batteries off is because when they go into self discharge mode the voltage is incorrectly reported until you place a load on the battery which will make the voltage drop sharply sometimes because it has less power left than it thought but didn't find out until you take off. Topping off the battery will solve the problems caused by self discharge mode.

Here are the service phone numbers, I know you are in the UK so maybe the Germany number would be cheapest to call? I don't know what the service is like but I have been hearing better things lately about turn around times etc.

CHINA

+86 4007000303

Mon-Sat 9:00AM-9:00PM (GMT+8)

UNITED STATES

+1 (818) 235 0789

Mon-Fri 9:00AM - 5:00PM (PST)

GERMANY

+49 (0) 97479304200

Mon-Fri 9:00AM - 3:00PM (GMT+1)

 

[Ryan Notman]

Great thanks,

I may try email first, I find it easier to make sure I have all the facts and maybe attach log file too.

 

[Sinisalo]

Maybe since the holidays are over you might be able to get them by email but I sent an email to DJI about major cell deviations on my brand new battery back on December 3rd 2015 and didn't get a response back from them until January 6th 2016