Hi everyone
Was just wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction for finding out about maintenance for my Phantom 4. I am busy with my Operations Manual and need to supply information as to how often I am going to potentially service the aircraft. Things like propellor changes, motor changes, battery replacements etc etc.
Any help would be most appreciated
Regards
Wayne Coomer
From reading this forum the most common reason for trouble with the P4 is operator error, causing prop damage or worse. Like all modern UAVs they cut power to the motors almost instantly if they foul something so the motors and control electronics don't burnout easily. The props are not expensive and if my memory serves me correctly I did see a post that suggested changing them every 200hours or each year. Others leave props on until they chip them although I can see merit in changing all props at once when one is chipped and keeping the undamaged ones as spares.
I have seen posts about fatigue cracks in the top shell of the P4 near the motors, The operators claim to have flown mostly in P mode without prangs and never they specified whether the crack extended into the magnesium alloy chassis but it would certainly be a bit disconcerting to see a crack there.
Software maladies often crop up with updates, I don't ever plan on updating mine while it is operating properly but my windows update is turned permanently OFF as well so don't take advice from me there!! Software developers may disagree but I can rarely see a good reason for fixing anything that isn't broken and it is amazing how many times an improvement in one area can lead to unintended problems in others. At the very least don't rush in on every latest update, let someone else find the bugs first!!
I would love someone to tell me approximately how many cycles a DJI battery should last, I have asked that question a number of times on a number of threads without much of an answer yet. It is between 200 and 2000 cycles depending on how deeply they are cycled, how long they are kept at 100% charge at higher temps, if individual cells are taken down to around 3 V and luck of the draw. The DJI battery management has a fairly good handle on everything it can control so I am hoping for closer to 2000 cycles than 200 from mine if I can work with them.
Just out of curiosity I discharged one of my batteries down below 10% recently (with my P4 sitting firmly on the table) and from 9% down to 3% on a fairly new battery the individual cell voltages had only dropped from 3.66V to 3.65V when I chickened out. It seems very unlikely that even at DJIs 0% the ICVs would even go near the 3V permanent damage level even if the battery was under load and the cell voltages were not balanced (remembering that auto land was triggered back at 10% so it shouldn't be under load)
The DJI battery management means that your Phantom should rarely fall out of the sky due to a failed or flat battery, it always keeps track of the battery status and gives plenty of warning before the available charge isn't adequate for the trip home or the available power is reducing because of a failing cell. The one thing it can't measure (yet, I am sure DJI are working on it) is what sort of wind conditions are prevailing upstairs which impacts on the Phantoms ability to predict the return home flight time. Quite a few UAVs have met an untimely death by initially flying down wind and being unable to return into a stiff breeze because their operator did not realize what was happening. More than 2/3rds of "My phantom flew away, I couldn't control it" threads are due to misunderstanding the danger of wind at height.
The camera gimbal is sensitive, light weight and relatively easily damaged so extra care needs to be taken with it and associated ribbon cable when landing and handling the P4. Some operators keep a spare ribbon cable in their case for emergencies. The clear plastic gimbal clamp is designed to support and protect the gimbal and camera during transport but remove and reinstall it carefully. I remove the props first after landing, tip the P4 upside down and reinstall the gimbal clamp before placing the AC back in its case.
