Phantom 3 Advanced Owners with the bad 2 - 6 second video lag [FINALLY FIXED!]

Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Messages
200
Reaction score
110
Location
Pasadena Texas
So after much trouble shooting it's solved! This issue I think is only going to happen with the Phantom 3 Advanced series as DJI went cheap and it has hurt in areas with high temps! But the issue is solved and here's how you can fix it!

It's not your tablet over heating and lagging, It's the GIMBAL CONTROLLER!

After I fixed it today, in 96 degree south texas (houston) heat, I cranked my brightness all the way up on the ipad mini 4 and let her rip. ZERO lag! Tablet was as hot as GRITS (girls raised in the south) and ZERO lag!

Phantom 3 Advanced Video Lag FIXED! – UAVDoc

Thoughts: The issue is with the chips not making good thermal contact to the heatsink. As some have done by adding a fan and didn't help. This solved it instantly! Fan could help, but I do not believe it's needed.
 
DJI going elcheapo again.
They never seem to think that overheating is an issue with fpv related circuitry. This was the same issue in the P2V+ wifi modules.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GodFear17
Tablet was as hot as GRITS (girls raised in the south)

.
No No NO . Grits are what we have with shrimp ,see..
4D06FCF9-3936-408E-8686-AFCD3BD1DDAC.JPG

;)
Good tip GF
 
  • Like
Reactions: GodFear17
No No NO . Grits are what we have with shrimp ,see..
View attachment 60773
;)
Good tip GF

I thought that grits comment might get some traction, but Man I just learned I've been doing it wrong all this time. Wonder if my grits will get me some shrimp. Rofl


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
  • Like
Reactions: dirkclod
I thought that grits comment might get some traction, but Man I just learned I've been doing it wrong all this time. Wonder if my grits will get me some shrimp. Rofl


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
Hey..they were good :) lol
 
I thought that grits comment might get some traction, but Man I just learned I've been doing it wrong all this time. Wonder if my grits will get me some shrimp. Rofl


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
Hi there 17. I grew up in Pasadena. The grass is greener in Pasadena. Where do you fly at??
 
  • Like
Reactions: GodFear17
Hi there 17. I grew up in Pasadena. The grass is greener in Pasadena. Where do you fly at??

anywhere really, My son and I do a lot of early morning flying at Memorial Park in Pasadena like 8am sometimes with race quads, I like to go down to Texas City dike for long range runs in the big birds.

I started a group on FB should join up, it's for south houston events, over 100 members... South Houston Multirotors
 
So after much trouble shooting it's solved! This issue I think is only going to happen with the Phantom 3 Advanced series as DJI went cheap and it has hurt in areas with high temps! But the issue is solved and here's how you can fix it!

It's not your tablet over heating and lagging, It's the GIMBAL CONTROLLER!

After I fixed it today, in 96 degree south texas (houston) heat, I cranked my brightness all the way up on the ipad mini 4 and let her rip. ZERO lag! Tablet was as hot as GRITS (girls raised in the south) and ZERO lag!

Phantom 3 Advanced Video Lag FIXED! – UAVDoc

Thoughts: The issue is with the chips not making good thermal contact to the heatsink. As some have done by adding a fan and didn't help. This solved it instantly! Fan could help, but I do not believe it's needed.

Thanks so much, GodFear17 for linking this article. It's really good info to have.
There was a time after a FW update that everyone experienced extreme lag. DJI corrected it in the next update. Now I wonder if they just reduced the max processing power to reduce the heat buildup.
Thanks again!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Digdat0
Thanks so much, GodFear17 for linking this article. It's really good info to have.
There was a time after a FW update that everyone experienced extreme lag. DJI corrected it in the next update. Now I wonder if they just reduced the max processing power to reduce the heat buildup.
Thanks again!

This is what I was thinking too. They have to be able to control the processing power via software updates, and more power would mean more heat. The 1.8 firmware "optimized gimbal parameters", which, in looking through release notes is really the closest thing to updating these components. But heat issues could still remain. I can't imagine having to QA test something like the drone. If done right, it's software, hardware and a flight system. That can't be easy to test ... Wonder how much they check the actual hardware after updates.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JonEQuest
Yea the update didn't fix it for me. I'm wondering if there is just different stages of this happening. Whatever the case, this solves it for good! Sorry my write up wasn't the best, I was trying to get this out there as quick as I could for everyone! heh
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wingfan04
Just started having this exact same issue with my P3A. Came out of nowhere. I blamed it on the App or a Firmware update. Some-days it's fine. Some-days it's horrible. Sometimes it varies during flight. Been scouring the internet for a fix. Thinking this will solve my problem.

Thank you
 
Let me know if it works out for you
Do you think this issue is happening only with P3 advanced? I do have P3 Pro, and have a lag, which is around 2 seconds, sometimes more. but all starts fine at beginning, gets worse after a few moments in flight.. I tried several things people recommended on forum, like changing settings on your app and pad, removing everything else from your pad, etc. no change.
Should I think it is something similar to what you explained? Or gimbals in P3P are so different that it should not be related?
Many thanks for your post.
 
Do you think this issue is happening only with P3 advanced? I do have P3 Pro, and have a lag, which is around 2 seconds, sometimes more. but all starts fine at beginning, gets worse after a few moments in flight.. I tried several things people recommended on forum, like changing settings on your app and pad, removing everything else from your pad, etc. no change.
Should I think it is something similar to what you explained? Or gimbals in P3P are so different that it should not be related?
Many thanks for your post.
It looks like a pretty easy tear down and #1 links to the article and Amazon page for the thermal pads. You should order the pads, open up the gimbal and replace or add pads to your chips. The boards should be similar except of the fan. I would think the P3P would need good pads even more than the P3A because of the extra power required (they did have to add a fan to it).
Let us know what you find.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GodFear17
Yea the update didn't fix it for me. I'm wondering if there is just different stages of this happening. Whatever the case, this solves it for good! Sorry my write up wasn't the best, I was trying to get this out there as quick as I could for everyone! heh

Yes, it was good timing on your part. I live in the San Fernando Valley in California. Typically 100 - 109 degrees Fahrenheit here. I had been having range issues with my boosted antenna's and could only fly roughly 1500 feet and then would get a lost signal. I finally learned that I was using the 32 channels hack and was always using over 20 or any channel higher than the standard DJI gives us. Then I tried using "Auto" channels selection and all was fine. On another thread I found that the sunhans amps only use up to 14/15. Case solved and happy flying. This was just before summer. Now, it's fluctuating from 95 to 109 here and I am definitely getting the lag in my video. I was thinking what else could possibly go wrong. I will attempt the repair as I have been in the gimbal before. I just ordered the thermal pads. Thanks for your tenacity in finding this and for posting it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GodFear17
For those having this issue, do you notice a difference in signal quality between ATTI and GPS mode? I have a theory that ATTI mode takes more power, thus generating more heat, thus causing signal issues as this chip gets too hot.

So for those experiencing this issue, do you see any signal difference between ATTI and GPS mode?
 
For those having this issue, do you notice a difference in signal quality between ATTI and GPS mode? I have a theory that ATTI mode takes more power, thus generating more heat, thus causing signal issues as this chip gets too hot.

So for those experiencing this issue, do you see any signal difference between ATTI and GPS mode?

I for one have not noticed any difference as I usually either use P mode or Funcion mode. If I remember, I will try to see if I notice any difference. Interesting thought.
 
Do you think this issue is happening only with P3 advanced? I do have P3 Pro, and have a lag, which is around 2 seconds, sometimes more. but all starts fine at beginning, gets worse after a few moments in flight.. I tried several things people recommended on forum, like changing settings on your app and pad, removing everything else from your pad, etc. no change.
Should I think it is something similar to what you explained? Or gimbals in P3P are so different that it should not be related?
Many thanks for your post.


It could indeed happen to a Pro as well. The boards are the same, but the Pro has a few extra chips on it. It mounts and has the same kind of heat sink, it has a fan, but that does nothing if the thermal pads are not making solid contact to the chip and the heatsink.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers