False battery temp reading and fast discharge

[dragon16]

Hi all,

I'm new to the Phantom, having only had mine for a week or so, and hoping that I'm just missing something obvious here. I've spent a good amount of time and effort searching here and elsewhere for evidence that someone else has had this issue, but to no avail.

Here's the situation:
I have about 6 successful flights under my belt since getting my P3S a week ago, without so much as a rough landing. On Monday, I went for a quick lunch-hour flight in a nearby park. The flight went just fine for 10 minutes or so. Then I noticed a warning of Battery Discharge Low Temperature. At this point, I also noticed that my remaining battery capacity was dropping off at an alarming rate. I initiated a return-to-home immediately, and got it safely on the ground before anything unfortunate happened.

Since then, I've done a bit of investigating. After fully charging the battery, the app still reports a low battery temperature alarm, and displays a constant temp value of -58. Not sure at the moment if that's in C or F, but I don't expect it matters much. Air temperatures on the day of the last flight were around 80F. Charging was done in my air conditioned home, kept at 76F. I was planning to perform a hover test, just to get a baseline for flight time on this battery (my only one so far). However, I am now unable to even start the rotors due to the battery temp alarm.

If anyone has some insight as to what might be causing the issue, your input will be greatly appreciated! I will happily provide any specific details needed.

Also, here is the flight log on healthydrones: HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Thanks in advance!

 

[Techcop50]

Welcome to the forum!
Sounds like a defective battery to me...but I'm no expert.

 

[WetDog]

Sounds like some sort of sensor failure, either in the battery or the AC. Do you have another battery?

Either that or you had one hell of cold front hit your place.....

 

[dragon16]

Thanks for the replies, guys. The idea that it was a defective battery did cross my mind. I should also point out that I did buy the drone second-hand. The battery was also used, but purchased separately on Amazon. Thus, I still have a couple weeks to return it if it does indeed turn out to be the culprit. I have a second battery arriving on Tuesday. This one is brand new. I'll pop it in and see if the problem follows the battery or the drone.

I appreciate the input. I'm just a bit surprised that a pretty thorough search hasn't turned up another instance of this type of failure. It always stinks being the innovator in this type of situation.

 

[Philltayl]

Is the battery a DJI one or a 3rd party one?

 

[dragon16]

Is the battery a DJI one or a 3rd party one?

It's a DJI.

 

[WetDog]

Thanks for the replies, guys. The idea that it was a defective battery did cross my mind. I should also point out that I did buy the drone second-hand. The battery was also used, but purchased separately on Amazon. Thus, I still have a couple weeks to return it if it does indeed turn out to be the culprit. I have a second battery arriving on Tuesday. This one is brand new. I'll pop it in and see if the problem follows the battery or the drone.

I appreciate the input. I'm just a bit surprised that a pretty thorough search hasn't turned up another instance of this type of failure. It always stinks being the innovator in this type of situation.

When you get your new battery, be sure to post the results here.

We're always interested in new failure modes....

 

[dragon16]

When you get your new battery, be sure to post the results here.

We're always interested in new failure modes....

I absolutely will. Should be Tues or Wed.

 

[RodPad]

I absolutely will. Should be Tues or Wed.

So are you done? Meaning it won't fly at all now.

 

[dragon16]

So are you done? Meaning it won't fly at all now.

That seems to be the case. The low temp warning is persistent, and it won't allow me to even start the rotors while that warning exists. It says "warm battery to above 15C and try again."

 

[WilliamM]

So it looks to be the AC. Since you bought a used one hope you get your money back.

 

[RodPad]

He hasn't tried a second battery yet, hope that's it.

Rod

 

[dragon16]

So it looks to be the AC. Since you bought a used one hope you get your money back.

I definitely wouldn't say that just yet, since I haven't yet tried the new battery. And since I'm pretty capable in the field of electronics (it's my career), I'd be more likely to attempt a diagnosis and repair than to try to return it.

 

[WilliamM]

I definitely wouldn't say that just yet, since I haven't yet tried the new battery. And since I'm pretty capable in the field of electronics (it's my career), I'd be more likely to attempt a diagnosis and repair than to try to return it.

Misunderstood, thought you got a new battery in that past post. Hope it works.

 

[dragon16]

Misunderstood, thought you got a new battery in that past post. Hope it works.

No worries. The new battery is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Should be able to post back with results shortly after. Thanks!

 

[dragon16]

Good news, guys: The new battery works flawlessly!

And after testing out the new battery, I reinstalled the old one, just to confirm that it still has the same issue. While I was able to get it off the ground before the low temp alarm showed up, it failed again shortly after takeoff. I've initiated a return request on Amazon. I'm well within the allotted 30 days, so it should be fine.

Thanks to all who replied for the insight. I appreciate it greatly!

 

[RodPad]

 

[Techcop50]

Great news! Thanks for the post, very informative.

 

[Stainlessstaffy]

Hi all,

I'm new to the Phantom, having only had mine for a week or so, and hoping that I'm just missing something obvious here. I've spent a good amount of time and effort searching here and elsewhere for evidence that someone else has had this issue, but to no avail.

Here's the situation:
I have about 6 successful flights under my belt since getting my P3S a week ago, without so much as a rough landing. On Monday, I went for a quick lunch-hour flight in a nearby park. The flight went just fine for 10 minutes or so. Then I noticed a warning of Battery Discharge Low Temperature. At this point, I also noticed that my remaining battery capacity was dropping off at an alarming rate. I initiated a return-to-home immediately, and got it safely on the ground before anything unfortunate happened.

Since then, I've done a bit of investigating. After fully charging the battery, the app still reports a low battery temperature alarm, and displays a constant temp value of -58. Not sure at the moment if that's in C or F, but I don't expect it matters much. Air temperatures on the day of the last flight were around 80F. Charging was done in my air conditioned home, kept at 76F. I was planning to perform a hover test, just to get a baseline for flight time on this battery (my only one so far). However, I am now unable to even start the rotors due to the battery temp alarm.

If anyone has some insight as to what might be causing the issue, your input will be greatly appreciated! I will happily provide any specific details needed.

Also, here is the flight log on healthydrones: HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I have just found this post, and it is very interesting as I have a Phantom 3 Standard, and it has more or less an identical problem with the battery, showing -58 Degrees Celsius.
Mine has been charged 9 times total, the first 6 or 7 were flawless, then it started to play up, indicating it was flat after a full charge, then the Low Temperature Warning, Can you recall how many times yours had been charged before it started playing up?
Mine was bought Brand New last October, so i am wondering if there may have been a fault with a particular batch of batteries.
Thanks for this Post.

 

[dragon16]

Sorry guys. I'm not a very good contributor. I never did make a follow-up post. Here's the rest of the story:

The Amazon seller from whom I bought the battery that failed refunded my money without requiring return of the battery, so I had the opportunity to disassemble it for a post-mortem. What I found is that the wires connecting the temp sensor to the circuit board had obviously been pinched between the case halves during assembly, and we're intermittently losing contact due to vibration during operation. I was able to strip the wire slightly, repair the break with solder, and reseal with shrink tubing. The repaired battery works great. I have had zero trouble with it since. Hope this helps.

I took a couple of pictures of the damaged wire, but the quality isn't great. I'll post them anyway.