Strange P3P behaviour after FW update.

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Last night, following the positive feedback here on the forum, I updated my P3P to the latest firmware, left the .bin file on the micro sd card, because I was expecting a new battery today.
This morning, went to the usual place where I test, open space, no interference, no metal on the ground nor around the take off area...

As soon as I started the motors, the left front one started rotating so fast it made the drone tremble.
Also the app (android version......) showed no connection to the drone, never experienced that before.
I lifted the aircraft a few feet of the ground, but it went down suddenly and I freaked out, landed immediatelly, restarted the whole process and it looked it was fine again.

During flight, the gimbal suddenly stoped working properly, and the camera remained slightly tilted for the rest of the flight.

Finnaly while I was packing the P3P, I noticed the tiny screw on the tip of the left front arm ( the one that shaked violently ) had losen itself a bit, and a gap was clearly visible in the structure.

Question: has anyone ever experienced something like this before?!?
One motor going nuts?

Should I've calibrated the P3P after the FW update?
On the status screen, it did not asked for calibration, was seemingly fine.

I am now trying to find a torx t6 screwdriver to try and tighten the little screw, before it leads to more structural wear.
 
Definitely tighten the screw! I would recommend full calibration of RC, IMU and compass after applying FW.
 
Could the shaking lose the screw?!?
It was intense alright, but to that extension?

I frequently calibrate the RC (wich imo is too simple, just pressing the sticks...), and the IMU check always says its fine.
I don't even know how to calibrate it.
As for the compass, I only did the initial calibration a month ago when I bought the P3P, and never touched it since.
Always fly in the same area.

Guess it's time for a compass calibration.
 
Seems to me a lot of people here don't ALWAYS recommend doing a compass calibration before a flight. My take is it's good to do when flying a new location, but if you're in the same general area and conditions (<50mi) you're better off not doing one. If I've had a few good flights id rather not risk messing the next one up because of a poor calibration.
 
What about the one crazed raging motor threatning to dismantle the drone?
Anyone ever experienced something like that?

Could it be because I left the firmware .bin file on the sd card?
 
This is a common advice. ALWAYS do a compass calibration BEFORE every flight. ALWAYS. Doesn't matter what the screen says. It doesn't hurt anyone!

It's not my advice. If the compass is calibrated ok from a previous flight, and you haven't moved more than say 50 miles, it works fine without calibrating. I have done over 400 flights (not consecutively) with various Phantoms without calibrating - I only do it when I move a long way, probably 1 flight in 20 or 30. I've calibrated my P3P compass maybe 5 times in 75 flights - once was when I went to a different continent and again when I returned. All that without a hint of TBE or crooked flying like in the old days.

If you are calibrated well from before and do it "just to be safe" but happen to be near some metal you didn't notice, then you would've been better off not calibrating.
 
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Not due to firmware bin file. You need that on to update all your batteries. As to the motor I can't see it but can't help but wonder about the screw. Also suggest IMU and gimbal cal as suggested above.


Sent from my PT beating heart
 
From what I've read on here, that one motor spinning wildly, you may have an ESC going bad. Anyone more experienced with it than me have thoughts?
 
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After reading comments about calibrating the compass every flight I made the mistake of calibrating the compass near a lock that now I realise was full of rebar.....it would not calibrate and I had to find a safe place away from the Lock. I think your better off finding a field far away from any structures and calibrating there and then from what I have read you should be good for at least 100 mile radius from that point
 
Whenever I move to a different spot- even if 50-100 yds away I redo the compass calibrate ( I'm assuming you mean the GPS lock) so when I do RTH it will come to ME not 150-150' away.
Yesterday shooting at the pier in the foreground here we first started near the middle of the pier- lots of cement & rebar- and my friends P3 took off and immediately was acting whacky and reeling like a drunk at closing time. Took a couple minutes to wrestle it back to where I could catch it. Didn't want to crash it in sand.
ImageUploadedByPhantomPilots1438867611.211573.jpg


We then moved over about 2 inches to the right on photo where there's an area of grass between the beach and the pier & calibrated correctly & both flew just fine.
But later that morning he kept having severe tilt issues and had to do an Auto Gimbal adjustment several times that day to keep camera level.
Don't know if 2 events are connected or not.
But the bird does NOT like a lot of cement....
 
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Whenever I move to a different spot- even if 50-100 yds away I redo the compass calibrate ( I'm assuming you mean the GPS lock) so when I do RTH it will come to ME not 150-150' away.
Yesterday shooting at the pier in the foreground here we first started near the middle of the pier- lots of cement & rebar- and my friends P3 took off and immediately was acting whacky and reeling like a drunk at closing time. Took a couple minutes to wrestle it back to where I could catch it. Didn't want to crash it in sand. View attachment 26658

We then moved over about 2 inches to the right on photo where there's an area of grass between the beach and the pier & calibrated correctly & both flew just fine.
But later that morning he kept having severe tilt issues and had to do an Auto Gimbal adjustment several times that day to keep camera level.
Don't know if 2 events are connected or not.
But the bird does NOT like a lot of cement....

Which is why I try to do my (rare) compass calibrations either over asphalt (has no r-bar, or grassy areas.
 
From what I've read on here, that one motor spinning wildly, you may have an ESC going bad. Anyone more experienced with it than me have thoughts?

After some research, I am inclined to think this may be the case.......
Others have mentioned ESC errors after a firmware upgrade.
There's a video on youtube of a Phantom ESC rotating slower than its peers, wich looks like the same issue I encountered yesterday.
I will do some more testing to be "sure", since the app wasn't connected to the aircraft at the moment I turned on the motors.

I have the P3P for a month now, 40 flights.
Max distance 1200m, max altitude 300m.
Had a crash (my fault mostly, but extreme bad luck and the app failure didn´t help either) on my second day, third flight.

As many have stated, when it works it is heaven!
For someone that loves photography and video like I do, it's a dream come true!

But...
I think these things are still too unreliable, the android app is garbage (only works since I rolled back Google Play services, wich leaves my phone useless for a lot of apps), on two ocasions the P3P scared the hell out of me by not responding to RC input, drifting to the left, not obeying the forward command... Birds keep flying over the aircraft and they will eventually bring it down...
Twice it almost crashed during landing (imo the most dangerous step of all) due to a slight breeze.

About the wind, I do not feel safe when it exceeds a mere 10km/hour, wich is almost all the time.

If this in fact is a bad ESC, I'll probably quit this hobby, since it's far too costly and potentially harmfull to others in case of one of the many technical failures that plague these products.


Great picture, Jeff!
 
Whenever I move to a different spot- even if 50-100 yds away I redo the compass calibrate ( I'm assuming you mean the GPS lock) so when I do RTH it will come to ME not 150-150' away.
Yesterday shooting at the pier in the foreground here we first started near the middle of the pier- lots of cement & rebar- and my friends P3 took off and immediately was acting whacky and reeling like a drunk at closing time. Took a couple minutes to wrestle it back to where I could catch it. Didn't want to crash it in sand. View attachment 26658

We then moved over about 2 inches to the right on photo where there's an area of grass between the beach and the pier & calibrated correctly & both flew just fine.
But later that morning he kept having severe tilt issues and had to do an Auto Gimbal adjustment several times that day to keep camera level.
Don't know if 2 events are connected or not.
But the bird does NOT like a lot of cement....

No you are talking about the home point which is automatically set when you switch the P3 on and subsequently you can reset it if you move. I am talking about the compass calibration which you are required to perform the DJI spin.

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The new firmware did change something to do with ESCs. According to the release notes, a motor will now shut down if something impedes the rotation of the propeller. It doesn't seem like that could cause a motor to run too fast, though, even if there was a problem with the motor or ESC.

Was the loose screw near the motor that acted up? Maybe the loose screw made the motor act up or appear to act up amd it was the only problem.

-- Roger
 
The new firmware did change something to do with ESCs. According to the release notes, a motor will now shut down if something impedes the rotation of the propeller. It doesn't seem like that could cause a motor to run too fast, though, even if there was a problem with the motor or ESC.

Was the loose screw near the motor that acted up? Maybe the loose screw made the motor act up or appear to act up amd it was the only problem.

-- Roger

That's interesting, the fact the new firmware did mess with the ESC.
Since the crash, I spend a good amount of time visually inspecting the quad, before and after every flight.
I am pretty sure it was the vibration caused by the uncontrolled spinning of that particular motor that led to the screw getting lose.
I will be getting my hands on a T6 and T8 tonight, and see if it can be tightened back.

Tomorrow, more ground testing with the motors on, IMU checking and a compass calibration.
There's nothing more to do, I guess.......

I don't think I'll be flying over property or people anytime soon.
 

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