**** Unforgiving Sport

[WyattEarp]

I made another big mistake today. I failed to account for wind at altitude and ran out of battery 100 ft in the air. Note: When the app says 0% battery the Phantom shuts off and falls like a rock. NO MARGIN.

Anyway the gimbal and camera flew off. I have a cracked shell - not too bad. Gimbal is bent but the ribbon is intake - small miracle. However, the cable from the camera/gimbal to the phantom needs replacing as well as the compass cable. Does anyone know where I can get these?

The bent gimbal is probably fixable - I know there is a thread on that. Also one of the motor arms is bent up - hope to fix that with a heat gun. I would like to replace the cables and check out the camera and gimbal before I consider the question of quitting the sport or forking out another $1300 for a new Phantom.

Pictures to follow.

Disheartened

 

[DavesMotorCity]

**** the Phantom! I lost 2 I'm out $2500. I did nothing wrong and I lost everything **** this phantom to hell!,,

 

[cahutch]

0% is 0%. The "Margin" is the low battery warning you got at 20-30% power remaining.

Good to hear the ribbon cable survived. Should be fixable.
I wouldn't try to fix it with a heat gun. Spend the $60 for a new shell.

Looking forward to pictures

 

[WyattEarp]

0% is 0%. The "Margin" is the low battery warning you got at 20-30% power remaining.

I was hoping for another 2-3% - no joy

 

[WyattEarp]

Anyone know of a video that shows how to remove/replace camera-to-phantom cable? I'm having a hell of a time getting it out. Not the ribbon cable - that's intact.

 

[WyattEarp]

Pictures:

Housing:


Arm:




Underside:


Compass:

 

[WyattEarp]

Gimbal:

 

[M.Tigelaar]

Here it is
http://1uas.com/DJI/Phantom-2-Vision-Pl ... Cable-Pack

 

[WyattEarp]

Shell Arm:

 

[slothead]

Sorry for your loss Wyatt...

I'm at a loss to understand how the arms "bend." I've heard this before, but that is fairly stiff plastic. I would think they would break/crack before bending. If it really did bend (exceeding its elastic limit), was there excessive heating from the contained ESC (not sure how you would know this unless something burned)? And how did the LED lens in that arm fare?

-- edit --

I was writing while you posted pics. It looks like the arm actually did crack, correct?... Hmmm... didn't see all the pics... It looks like it did both!

 

[WyattEarp]

Sorry for your loss Wyatt...

I'm at a loss to understand how the arms "bend." I've heard this before, but that is fairly stiff plastic. I would think they would break/crack before bending. If it really did bend (exceeding its elastic limit), was there excessive heating from the contained ESC (not sure how you would know this unless something burned)? And how did the LED lens in that arm fare?

-- edit --

I was writing while you posted pics. It looks like the arm actually did crack, correct?... Hmmm... didn't see all the pics... It looks like it did both!

Yes it did. I think it landed on that arm - it was soft earth that it hit - a construction site for new homes. Just 15 feet from hard pavement - I guess I'm lucky?

 

[WyattEarp]

Here it is
http://1uas.com/DJI/Phantom-2-Vision-Pl ... Cable-Pack

Ordered and on the way. Thanks

 

[WyattEarp]

Looks like my gimbal is pretty bent - can this be corrected? The threads I've seen talk about rotating the shaft to account for the bend. I was wandering if you could use heat to bend it back. I can't find a thread that talks about that.

Also when I put the gimbal guard on it forces the gap between the arm and the camera to spread. See photo.

 

[M.Tigelaar]

Mine looked like this and I have everything straightened with pliers, as well as it worked
Now everything is working again

 

[WyattEarp]

As I was looking over the damage I notice that the connection of the compass cable to the circuit board is detached and not repairable.

This and all the other damage leads be to conclude that it can not be repaired for any reasonable price.

 

[SpikeFinch]

"Unforgiving Sport" Really?

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNa5dcLccS4[/youtube]

 

[M.Tigelaar]

As I was looking over the damage I notice that the connection of the compass cable to the circuit board is detached and not repairable.

This and all the other damage leads be to conclude that it can not be repaired for any reasonable price.

The circuit board is "only" $59.00
I have also replaced that because of the water crash :|

http://1uas.com/Phantom-2-Vision-Centra ... rch=Vision

 

[Catalina36]

How did you manage to fly it to 0% battery? At 15% it initiates auto land to prevent something like this from happening.

 

[WyattEarp]

How did you manage to fly it to 0% battery? At 15% it initiates auto land to prevent something like this from happening.

It was returning home too much altitude

 

[smaugnaut]

I made another big mistake today. I failed to account for wind at altitude and ran out of battery 100 ft in the air. Note: When the app says 0% battery the Phantom shuts off and falls like a rock. NO MARGIN.

Anyway the gimbal and camera flew off. I have a cracked shell - not too bad. Gimbal is bent but the ribbon is intake - small miracle. However, the cable from the camera/gimbal to the phantom needs replacing as well as the compass cable. Does anyone know where I can get these?

The bent gimbal is probably fixable - I know there is a thread on that. Also one of the motor arms is bent up - hope to fix that with a heat gun. I would like to replace the cables and check out the camera and gimbal before I consider the question of quitting the sport or forking out another $1300 for a new Phantom.

Pictures to follow.

Disheartened

Thats nice to know because i landed with 3% the other day on a distance flight! LAnding was rough. Also, for anyone out there that is willing to listen, The Phantom does not perform as well under 20% battery. When descending fast it can become like a lead weight! You can correct it with throttle but it will not hold alt. This is my experience and other than when its under 20% it flies so beautifully!