Just lost pro 3 in the ocean.

[chazz]

Like I said in post # 20, there is no need to look for any other faults, it's been known in the forum not to ever fly a partially charged battery, always fully charge the battery or batteries before you fly, same day if possible

So if I start flying on 100% charge and land at 60% I shouldn't take off again with the same battery? Is that what your saying?

 

[JasonJett]

I think it has to do with letting the battery sit for more than an hour or so.


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[chazz]

I think it has to do with letting the battery sit for more than an hour or so.


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Okay thanks...I'm curious as to why that would matter...

 

[TheLightSpeedz]

I just flew my p3p out about 200 ft off the deck and over the ocean about 150 ft. It was doing great and then all of a sudden it lost power. It plunged into the ocean like I have never seen before. My heart skipped a beat. I saved and saved for this thing and eventually had to trade a truck to get one. It was too far out to swim for it. My wife is extremely mad and I'm hoping it washes up on shore tonight and I can retrieve it tomorrow. This post was really to let people know...it doesn't matter how much you trust your drone. If you want to keep it..don't go over water.

It's not going to "wash ashore" unless the battery comes out. Too heavy. They sit on the bottom! Like a rock!


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[JasonJett]

From what I'm reading the battery..with intelligent flight isn't exactly intelligent enough to know to stop working. It's assuming it's still plugged in and needing to use juice or maybe it still thinks because it has power it needs to use it. Kind of like a car battery of its sits for long periods of time it looses its power. But works great when comes off a full charge which is essentially what happens every time you drive your car due to the alternator charging it


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[TheLightSpeedz]

So if I start flying on 100% charge and land at 60% I shouldn't take off again with the same battery? Is that what your saying?

Technically you can, I do... But the time my P3A did the same thing and fell from the air, total black out, it was because I took off with a half battery for s short flight, that and they had a software glitch etc.

General rule is take off with a full battery and fly it until it's dead.


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[TheLightSpeedz]

From what I'm reading the battery..with intelligent flight isn't exactly intelligent enough to know to stop working. It's assuming it's still plugged in and needing to use juice or maybe it still thinks because it has power it needs to use it. Kind of like a car battery of its sits for long periods of time it looses its power. But works great when comes off a full charge which is essentially what happens every time you drive your car due to the alternator charging it


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Also the intelligent battery is estimating life... But that's not why it fell to the water.

What FW are you on? Battery, Bird and Controller?


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[bszaronos]

You can get a Phantom 3 off of Amazon and pay for it over 12 months. That equals out to $72 a month for just the drone itself. That takes the sting out a little.

 

[JasonJett]

Also the intelligent battery is estimating life... But that's not why it fell to the water.

What FW are you on? Battery, Bird and Controller?


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Can you tell from the data flight records I posted in the previous post?

 

[JasonJett]

Also the intelligent battery is estimating life... But that's not why it fell to the water.

What FW are you on? Battery, Bird and Controller?


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HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

 

[Phantom751874]

I'm paranoid about this specific issue. If I'm planning to fly the next day I will charge all the batteries I will use to 100%. The next day right before I leave I'll turn each battery on then connect it to the chatter to top it off if it will top off. Sometimes they won't most times they will. I don't rely on the seemingly unreliable DJi setting that lets you set the "days after" to auto discharge the battery.

I fly each battery exactly once whether that means I fly for 2 minutes or the full 18 minutes. I never turn a battery on more than once while in the field.

I know batteries are expensive and time is precious but buy some extra batteries over time. The cheapest I have ever seen true DJi P3 batteries is from B&H at $99 on sale with free shipping.

 

[moswissa]

It really sucks that this "intelligent/expensive/sophisticated" battery cannot perform when its partially charged! Seriously though, I don't blame OP one bit for this mistake. Not everyone that owns a Phantom lurks this forum religiously and will understand this practice. You trust any other lithium battery like your smartphone to perform at 50% right?

Even when my battery is at 100%, I am ALWAYS keeping an eye on my cell voltages and ensure that don't go near 3.4v or im landing. Its annoying as hell. the Phantom 2 never had this issue. DJI sucks for making a stupid over priced unreliable battery that cannot out perform the P2! Many of us WISH to have multiple small flights using a partially charged battery.

DJI attempted to fix this problem before with a battery firmware update remember? So don't deny that DJI doesn't recognize that there is an issue. Obviously there is and it sucks!

 

[Benny The Ball]

Uneducated is exactly right lol

You want to play the game? Learn what you can.

By your logic I hope you have a kid, don't teach them how to drive and toss them the keys to your car. They have teenage stuff to do. Not learn how vehicles work or how to drive them. How hard can it be.

...people these days always making excuses for their failures. Pathetic.

This site is not exactly enhanced by unpleasant posts like yours, BVC.

 

[JasonJett]

Yeah..this Is a pretty big deal to me. Is this a problem with the inspire?


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[moswissa]

Yeah..this Is a pretty big deal to me. Is this a problem with the inspire?


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Do you have any need to spend the extra money for the Inspire? Or are you just buying it because it looks "cool"

the P3 and inspire perform the same for the most part. The P3 has slightly better range (according to some online tests) and it definitely has a longer battery life. AND the P3 comes with Lightbridge

The inspire is good for rotating the camera 360' and using dual pilots. Im trying to think of any more differences other than the fact that it looks cool and can fly a bit better under heavy wind.

It seems to me that you are using a drone for hobbyist purposes and not professional. A p3 will do just that, unless you wanna be "cool" get the inspire! But it seems like the p3 was an expensive purchase for you to begin with..you claiming you saving up like crazy and went to the extend in selling a truck? ****. good luck buddy

 

[Jesse James]

I lost my standard in the ocean last month if I was over land it would have been fine. I accidentally turned the remote off and it try to return to home about 8 feet away from the dock I still rember just watching it sink the worst. Sent it to Dji everything was fryed. (Salt water) but if I was over land it would have just landed safely. Def more of a risk fling over water. Sorry for you loss. I bought a p3a from microcenter for $599. Thing is so stable but now I'm scared to fly it can't afford another one.


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[JasonJett]

1. It looks cool. 2. It looks more professional. I do have some work I am doing for the county. 3. It is a hobby with hopes of doing some commercial work to get paid. The saving was more of an issue with the wife. Not because I couldn't afford it. The truck was a very used 2000 Chevy 2500 with almost 300,000 miles again I think I ended up with the better deal lol


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[bLaStErAiD]

That is not necessarily true. I do it and never had a problem.

I would call this playing russian roulette

Nope,I have been flying and building quads for years...

But none of those use the p3's batteries do they?, need more proof, read post #72 by Marknmd and click on the link he posted

 

[bLaStErAiD]

So if I start flying on 100% charge and land at 60% I shouldn't take off again with the same battery? Is that what your saying?

I think you'd be fine if you take off within the same day you are gonna be flying around, but if you are gonna let it sit for more than 1 day, just charge it back up, why risk it?

P.S. What I meant by same day if possible was, to charge your batteries the same day you are gonna be flying

 

[bLaStErAiD]

Well it looks like I've dodged bullets. My last few flights have been on part used batteries at about 60%.

I think you have been lucky, there are some posts that John Locke and other members have written about regarding the batteries in detail somewhere in the forum