Opened up the Phantom to see if I could spot the source of the sudden power failure and here is what I saw. Looks like there was something that caused a lot of heat to occur for the small pin battery connection. This is most likely the connection that came off during the hover and caused the total loss of power. Please let me know if there is anyone else out there that has had this problem occur and what you did to fix it.
Sudden fall from the sky
- Thread starter H-19
- Start date
Just wanted to mention that I received a full refund from "All e RC". Great Company with good customer service. Hopefully the next Phantom 2 Vision I receive will not have the same battery issues.
Hi,
It happened to my phantom 2 (with zenmuse 3D and Hero 3 Black Edition) twice this week.
The symptoms were identical even though the flight situations were different.
The 1st time I was shooting a video at 300 feet up then started a straight descent. Everything went well till it was 10 feet above ground with a battery still having roughly 40 % left. then the drone suddenly fluttered downwards like a dead leaf with reduced power but rotors still spinning. I tried to immediately increase the power by pushing the left stick but the Phantom did not respond at all, fell and bounced back on the ground. Luckily no damage. After which i was able to regain control and make it land smoothly. I thought maybe the descent was too quick (even though the latest firmware is supposed to prevent fluttering by limiting descent at 2m/s max).
But the 2nd time (next day with a fully rechraged battery), the fatal one for the drone (fell into sea water while hovering over a sea harbor), happened with the same symptoms even though this time i was flying at low speed and level. the drone suddenly lost power (but still with the rotors spinning like in the 1st time) even though the battery had 33% left.
Note : in both cases the RC switches were both pushed forward, the Hero 3 wifi was off, there was no rotor guards mounted (as this can sometimes cause instability in case of wind), there was no high power line or anything strongly "magnetic" in the area, there was bright sunshine but no super heat which could interfere with the GPS (I had a permanent 8-9 satellites connection), moderate wind (5-6 knots max).
Question : what can cause a sudden reduction (but not total loss) of power (and I suppose voltage even though I cannot remember the exact value at the time of crash) with an active battery above 30 % charge left?
It happened to my phantom 2 (with zenmuse 3D and Hero 3 Black Edition) twice this week.
The symptoms were identical even though the flight situations were different.
The 1st time I was shooting a video at 300 feet up then started a straight descent. Everything went well till it was 10 feet above ground with a battery still having roughly 40 % left. then the drone suddenly fluttered downwards like a dead leaf with reduced power but rotors still spinning. I tried to immediately increase the power by pushing the left stick but the Phantom did not respond at all, fell and bounced back on the ground. Luckily no damage. After which i was able to regain control and make it land smoothly. I thought maybe the descent was too quick (even though the latest firmware is supposed to prevent fluttering by limiting descent at 2m/s max).
But the 2nd time (next day with a fully rechraged battery), the fatal one for the drone (fell into sea water while hovering over a sea harbor), happened with the same symptoms even though this time i was flying at low speed and level. the drone suddenly lost power (but still with the rotors spinning like in the 1st time) even though the battery had 33% left.
Note : in both cases the RC switches were both pushed forward, the Hero 3 wifi was off, there was no rotor guards mounted (as this can sometimes cause instability in case of wind), there was no high power line or anything strongly "magnetic" in the area, there was bright sunshine but no super heat which could interfere with the GPS (I had a permanent 8-9 satellites connection), moderate wind (5-6 knots max).
Question : what can cause a sudden reduction (but not total loss) of power (and I suppose voltage even though I cannot remember the exact value at the time of crash) with an active battery above 30 % charge left?
Well from looking at that pic it looks like the connecter to the date pin wires came clean of the board. and I also see what looks like on of the gray antenna wires is also broken off.
I'm a newbie and had a terrible crash from freaking out. I totally panicked and made the situation worse. I ended up crashing straight to the ground from about 8 metres because I was an idiot and cut the power. What should I be checking for?
When I manually turn the props they seem really stiff.
Any help would be great from this really embarrassed individual.
Cheers,
Tim
When I manually turn the props they seem really stiff.
Any help would be great from this really embarrassed individual.
Cheers,
Tim
I just noticed I can pull off the prop and the cover of one of front props but I cant do it to any other others. A like a little washer/clip was also detached. Should I be able to simply pull this off? This was the prop that was stiff to turn but no longer is.
When you say one of the covers of the props Are you meaning the out side casing and the threaded part on one of the motors?
That clip if it a real tiny e clip that is what holds the motors shaft in place on the bottom of the motors and if that if off the top bell housing of the motor can pull right off of the windings that are in the inside the motor. and it sound like thats what you were describing being able to pull it off. If the clip cam off partily that can cause the motor to feel stiff then when the clip popes off all the way than it should spin freely BUT it wont stay on other then just from the magnets holding the bell in place. So you will need to remove the 4 screws that hold the motor on the the arm and then put the clip back in the slot on the end of the shaft that sticks out the bottom of the motor. tho there should also be a tiny thin smim washer that goes on to the shaft under the clip.
Thanks Damon and James.
I was able to pull the entire housing off. Thank you both for the replies. I'll get to fixing it now!
I was able to pull the entire housing off. Thank you both for the replies. I'll get to fixing it now!
I'm confused I helped with nothing. But after reading through your posts again you might have busted the clip holding that motor together. It was probably originally tight from an oversized shim. Use YouTube to find motor repairs and maintenance. To see how to remove top cover and disassemble / reassemble motor.TimCr8tn said:
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