I'm here in Bangkok filming the political protests with a stock Phantom 1 and GoPro 3 (no gimbal). Over the past week, I've accidentally slammed the Phantom into a concrete wall and through a set of powerlines (video coming up).
But what happened yesterday took the cake.. in mid-flight I saw smoke coming out of Phantom. I was above a group of protesters and immediately moved it away and tried to land it. Approx 20 meters off the ground the Phantom lost all power and hit the ground (right in front of a big portrait of the Thai king). After it hit the ground, there were no lights coming from the Phantom and there was light white smoke coming from the unit. There was the all-to-familiar electric burning smell
I opened up the battery cover and removed the battery... it was HOT. The top of the battery was blackened and the connector was charred black. I let the Phantom sit for a few minutes and then popped a fresh battery in to see if it would work. No lights, no sounds, and a very sad face.
It was a very quiet subway ride back to the hotel and I was thinking how I could salvage working parts from the Phantom into a F450/F550. Back at the hotel, just for kicks I popped another battery into the Phantom and the **** thing powered up!! Zombie Phantom back from the dead.
I'm still trying to figure out why the battery caught fire. I have five spares and use the DJI approved charger and balance on every charge. If I don't fly for a while after charging, I pop the batteries in the refrigerator for storage. My guess is maybe a defective battery?? But I'm open to ideas on why the battery blew up because I don't want it to happen again.
But what happened yesterday took the cake.. in mid-flight I saw smoke coming out of Phantom. I was above a group of protesters and immediately moved it away and tried to land it. Approx 20 meters off the ground the Phantom lost all power and hit the ground (right in front of a big portrait of the Thai king). After it hit the ground, there were no lights coming from the Phantom and there was light white smoke coming from the unit. There was the all-to-familiar electric burning smell
I opened up the battery cover and removed the battery... it was HOT. The top of the battery was blackened and the connector was charred black. I let the Phantom sit for a few minutes and then popped a fresh battery in to see if it would work. No lights, no sounds, and a very sad face.
It was a very quiet subway ride back to the hotel and I was thinking how I could salvage working parts from the Phantom into a F450/F550. Back at the hotel, just for kicks I popped another battery into the Phantom and the **** thing powered up!! Zombie Phantom back from the dead.
I'm still trying to figure out why the battery caught fire. I have five spares and use the DJI approved charger and balance on every charge. If I don't fly for a while after charging, I pop the batteries in the refrigerator for storage. My guess is maybe a defective battery?? But I'm open to ideas on why the battery blew up because I don't want it to happen again.
