P3P crash after firmware update

[DarkEmblem]

How many flights have you had with your P3?

 

[iSander]

How many flights have you had with your P3?

27 with the P3, 4h41m flight time.
And had 100-ish flights with my Vision+ before

 

[Oso]

Fire appeared to be coming from the mainboard, directly above the battery. I believe the ESC's are located in the arms, correct me if wrong.

My understanding is that with the P3, DJI has designed the ESCs to be part of the mother board instead of in the arms as they were prior to the P3.

 

[Nexxster]

On the P3, the ESCs are part of the mainboard.

 

[Buckaye]

I wonder if you didn't have the battery seated all the way....

 

[iSander]

I wonder if you didn't have the battery seated all the way....

I'm pretty sure about it being seated all the way, always one of the things I check first.

 

[Dronebow]

Please let us know what DJI says about this incident...

 

[ianwood]

This wasn't a VPS error. This looks like a hardware error of some sort. Very sudden. You can see a judder in the frame before it starts rotating suggesting a physical event immediately preceding the loss of control. I'd guess prop, motor or ESC failure.

 

[evang]

I had the same thing happen 2 times unfortunately I couldn't recover from the second time. It took 2 weeks to finally get it to the point to send back to DJI. Do the online chat first. That seems to be the best way to get the ball rolling. Mine was an engine failure. Also I preordered the first day and got what I believe was one of the first phantom 3's. I unfortunately had to go ahead and order another on my own dime and am still waiting on a refund or replacement of the original. That being said, the new P3 I got in 2 weeks ago is absolutely perfect. Its performance is like comparing a p3 to a p2v+! Changes have been made, regardless of what anyone tells you so demand a brand new one, not a replacement. Just my 2 cents.

 

[iSander]

I've contacted my dealer and DJI, now hoping for a fast/satisfying response.

 

[Cthulhus]

Possible a bird collision ?

 

[SimonH78]

The front motor can be seen running in the last frame before impact so it was powered and running before it hit..

 

[dottat4]

The front motor can be seen running in the last frame before impact so it was powered and running before it hit..

Right or left? Earlier I noted the right was indeed spinning but could not confirm left was. Are saying left was under power?

 

[ranges]

It would be interesting to test the esc of the motor that didn't break the prop. I think esc failure is more likely than motor failure, but I may be wrong. An esc short would certainly discharge a battery quickly, as logged. I'm wondering if the fire and smoke was from the esc on the motor with unbroken prop.

That is my guess also.

 

[SimonH78]

Right or left? Earlier I noted the right was indeed spinning but could not confirm left was. Are saying left was under power?

It was the left one as look FROM the camera POV!

 

[iSander]

DJI livechat support wasn't really helpful unfortunately. Took like 15-20 minutes to find out that they can't help because I'm from Europe and I need to send an e-mail instead.
Back to the waiting game... does anyone know how long it usually takes for DJI Europe to respond?

 

[flyNfrank]

Attached the file, thanks for looking into it

I just saw this. I converted the file to .csv and will look it over this evening if I get caught up.

 

[flyNfrank]

Attached the file, thanks for looking into it

Looking at this now but need to stop to go to doc. I need to know if you had your controller sticks set at a different flight control option?

This is one of the only things that I can answer why some data is appearing as it is. I'm not saying anything yet as to what all happened, but I do not see anything that leads towards motor failure.

 

[iSander]

Looking at this now but need to stop to go to doc. I need to know if you had your controller sticks set at a different flight control option?

This is one of the only things that I can answer why some data is appearing as it is. I'm not saying anything yet as to what all happened, but I do not see anything that leads towards motor failure.

Controls were all in default settings.

 

[Buzzy]

I am also very sorry for your loss which does probably concern the whole phantom community. I am beginning to think that we are approaching a First World War moment in terms of not having any means to avoid the dire effects of free fall to earth. Perhaps a quad motor formation is so vulnerable to a power loss or motor failure that a six motor configuration may be safer and could be made to compensate for a motor loss. I believe the DJI S1000 can survive a motor failure, but at a hell of a price! Obviously a power loss from a single defective battery could only be countered by having a backup battery. I realise that all these ideas may be impossible at our price point. Parachutes may be another way to go.

If i am going to drop big bucks for a 6 rotor helo because DJI cannot make a competent 4 rotor helo, my money sure as hell will not be spent at DJI