Another beautiful day and flight with no more battery problems. http://youtu.be/aAACefhrPdw GREASE THE CONNECTIONS !!!
Invalid Battery on Phantom Vision..Advice needed.
- Thread starter kingcat200
- Start date
Shedracer said:Question, anybody know where we might buy this grease in the UK. I so want to fly my P2V.
I haven't had any issues at all so far, but if I do then I would assume this is the sort of thing...?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electrolube---H ... ive+grease
dielectric grease - maplins I believe
I flew my phantom this afternoon , 2 minutes into the flight I got the indicated 0% battery charge and brought it down quite quickly to about head height it then went into auto land mode. I'll try to pick up some grease tomorrow and report back but certainly I don't feel it's safe to fly at the moment.
Not a good situation.
I flew my phantom this afternoon , 2 minutes into the flight I got the indicated 0% battery charge and brought it down quite quickly to about head height it then went into auto land mode. I'll try to pick up some grease tomorrow and report back but certainly I don't feel it's safe to fly at the moment.
Not a good situation.
itsmecarl123 said:
Hi, I've had zero battery problems. I did my analysis on the bench and was able to cause the issue and watch the sequence. If you check the pins and contacts carefully and use alcohol or other non-abrasive cleaner on the contacts and pins, plus an enhancer like DeOxit I think it should be OK. I'm not sure a dialetric grease is the answer unless it is specified for gold contacts and enhanced contact performance and not just corrosion resistance on a power line application, but I really have no experience with that stuff. I would make sure it's a conductive compound, we want to enhance the connection, not an insulating grease.
First post here, so hello everyone & thanks for the great information & experience you've been sharing on the forum. Like many of you I pre-purchased a Phantom Vision and after arrival flew it out-of-box perfectly on nearly a dozen missions before erroneously getting "invalid battery" & 0% battery remaining warnings, along with the sudden gut-wrenching auto descents. Searching the internet brought me here as well as to a few other forums discussing the same topic, some even in other languages, so it's clear this is a pretty common problem worldwide.
I can appreciate the Vision's smart battery incorporating a built-in balance charger, measuring & displaying realtime telemetry data in the DJI app, having a bright LED gas gauge often visible even in daylight, and for putting it all into a convenient plug-in module, a big improvement over previous methods using loose connectors, cables, and wire dress.
I'll even give DJI credit for the infamous battery ID check, which no doubt is to insure we only install smart batteries that fully support rapid telemetry so it can provide us with more accurate fuel metering & low battery warnings, begin an auto GoHome when approaching the lower of two fuel-remaining limits, and to initiate an emergency Auto Descent in attempts to save the aircraft before power completely runs out if warranted. Pretty neat stuff IMHO.
But I have to say I'm not very impressed with DJI's deafening silence and lack of forthrightness about this, so I decided to take a closer look.
Some if you PV owners may find this photo interesting. It's a micrograph of the contact pads on the Vision's smart battery after a few insertion removal cycles (for recharging) and just about an hour's worth of cumulative flight time.
What you're seeing are the marks left behind by the spring-loaded gold contact pins in the Vision. If you look closely you'll notice patterns suggesting the pins have been bouncing, leaving a series of impressions or "dots" behind. Notice the trails are nearly identical on both pads. A small triangular mark appears which looks like a bit of dull debris, but it's actually a tiny shiny spot where the contact pins have polished the gold pad into a smooth mirror-like finish.
Unlike the primary battery connection which sandwiches the Vision's contact blades between two slabs of metal, the data connection is dependent on the very tips of the two tiny spring-loaded gold pins remaining in contact with the pads on the battery for communications. If the data-stream is momentarily lost, I imagine it sets an error condition for which the current answerback is to notify the console (DJI app) and initiate an Auto Descent (Vision).
The marks suggest the pins have been bouncing and sliding around, which makes sense if we consider the gyroscopic forces of the rotors pushing & pulling the Vision along the X & Y axes. Had the pins & pads been oriented vertically I wonder if we would have ever encountered this issue? What I find particularly interesting is how the pins appear to have walked off the pads completely, or are they walking "onto" the pads?
As others have suggested, the good news is this can probably all be fixed in firmware. Something as simple as waiting for a watchdog timer to run out before assuming the worst & invoking a rapid Auto Descent, and not giving up on re-establishing communications with the smart battery whenever comm is interrupted by poor contact.
Anyway I just got word this will be fixed in a firmware upgrade next week (week of Nov 18th) so keep your fingers crossed.
iDrone
I can appreciate the Vision's smart battery incorporating a built-in balance charger, measuring & displaying realtime telemetry data in the DJI app, having a bright LED gas gauge often visible even in daylight, and for putting it all into a convenient plug-in module, a big improvement over previous methods using loose connectors, cables, and wire dress.
I'll even give DJI credit for the infamous battery ID check, which no doubt is to insure we only install smart batteries that fully support rapid telemetry so it can provide us with more accurate fuel metering & low battery warnings, begin an auto GoHome when approaching the lower of two fuel-remaining limits, and to initiate an emergency Auto Descent in attempts to save the aircraft before power completely runs out if warranted. Pretty neat stuff IMHO.
But I have to say I'm not very impressed with DJI's deafening silence and lack of forthrightness about this, so I decided to take a closer look.
Some if you PV owners may find this photo interesting. It's a micrograph of the contact pads on the Vision's smart battery after a few insertion removal cycles (for recharging) and just about an hour's worth of cumulative flight time.
What you're seeing are the marks left behind by the spring-loaded gold contact pins in the Vision. If you look closely you'll notice patterns suggesting the pins have been bouncing, leaving a series of impressions or "dots" behind. Notice the trails are nearly identical on both pads. A small triangular mark appears which looks like a bit of dull debris, but it's actually a tiny shiny spot where the contact pins have polished the gold pad into a smooth mirror-like finish.
Unlike the primary battery connection which sandwiches the Vision's contact blades between two slabs of metal, the data connection is dependent on the very tips of the two tiny spring-loaded gold pins remaining in contact with the pads on the battery for communications. If the data-stream is momentarily lost, I imagine it sets an error condition for which the current answerback is to notify the console (DJI app) and initiate an Auto Descent (Vision).
The marks suggest the pins have been bouncing and sliding around, which makes sense if we consider the gyroscopic forces of the rotors pushing & pulling the Vision along the X & Y axes. Had the pins & pads been oriented vertically I wonder if we would have ever encountered this issue? What I find particularly interesting is how the pins appear to have walked off the pads completely, or are they walking "onto" the pads?
As others have suggested, the good news is this can probably all be fixed in firmware. Something as simple as waiting for a watchdog timer to run out before assuming the worst & invoking a rapid Auto Descent, and not giving up on re-establishing communications with the smart battery whenever comm is interrupted by poor contact.
Anyway I just got word this will be fixed in a firmware upgrade next week (week of Nov 18th) so keep your fingers crossed.
iDrone
iDrone said:First post here, so hello everyone & thanks for the great information & experience you've been sharing on the forum. Like many of you I pre-purchased a Phantom Vision and after arrival flew it out-of-box perfectly on nearly a dozen missions before erroneously getting "invalid battery" & 0% battery remaining warnings, along with the sudden gut-wrenching auto descents. Searching the internet brought me here as well as to a few other forums discussing the same topic, some even in other languages, so it's clear this is a pretty common problem worldwide.
I can appreciate the Vision's smart battery incorporating a built-in balance charger, measuring & displaying realtime telemetry data in the DJI app, having a bright LED gas gauge often visible even in daylight, and for putting it all into a convenient plug-in module, a big improvement over previous methods using loose connectors, cables, and wire dress.
I'll even give DJI credit for the infamous battery ID check, which no doubt is to insure we only install smart batteries that fully support rapid telemetry so it can provide us with more accurate fuel metering & low battery warnings, begin an auto GoHome when approaching the lower of two fuel-remaining limits, and to initiate an emergency Auto Descent in attempts to save the aircraft before power completely runs out if warranted. Pretty neat stuff IMHO.
But I have to say I'm not very impressed with DJI's deafening silence and lack of forthrightness about this, so I decided to take a closer look.
Some if you PV owners may find this photo interesting. It's a micrograph of the contact pads on the Vision's smart battery after a few insertion removal cycles (for recharging) and just about an hour's worth of cumulative flight time.
What you're seeing are the marks left behind by the spring-loaded gold contact pins in the Vision. If you look closely you'll notice patterns suggesting the pins have been bouncing, leaving a series of impressions or "dots" behind. Notice the trails are nearly identical on both pads. A small triangular mark appears which looks like a bit of dull debris, but it's actually a tiny shiny spot where the contact pins have polished the gold pad into a smooth mirror-like finish.
Unlike the primary battery connection which sandwiches the Vision's contact blades between two slabs of metal, the data connection is dependent on the very tips of the two tiny spring-loaded gold pins remaining in contact with the pads on the battery for communications. If the data-stream is momentarily lost, I imagine it sets an error condition for which the current answerback is to notify the console (DJI app) and initiate an Auto Descent (Vision).
The marks suggest the pins have been bouncing and sliding around, which makes sense if we consider the gyroscopic forces of the rotors pushing & pulling the Vision along the X & Y axes. Had the pins & pads been oriented vertically I wonder if we would have ever encountered this issue? What I find particularly interesting is how the pins appear to have walked off the pads completely, or are they walking "onto" the pads?
As others have suggested, the good news is this can probably all be fixed in firmware. Something as simple as waiting for a watchdog timer to run out before assuming the worst & invoking a rapid Auto Descent, and not giving up on re-establishing communications with the smart battery whenever comm is interrupted by poor contact.
Anyway I just got word this will be fixed in a firmware upgrade next week (week of Nov 18th) so keep your fingers crossed.
iDrone
Hi Idrone,
Great story!
It seems you look at places where other people didn´t look.
I only flew 1 minute because i was trying to use IOC but here is no IOC so i decided to wait for the upgrade. When i connect the Phantom Vision to the computer, i see a popup at the moment you can hear the usual beebs and it says there is no DJI Intelligent battery.
Do you have any idea what the reason can be for the popup? After one minute of flying i don´t see any scratches on the goldplate.
Sorry if my English is not so well... my fly experience with drones is much better
(with homelock, i like that flightmode) Thank you
Impressive work Idrone, I just don't get why dji don't let us know officially about the fix instead of all the hearsay,
It was posted last weekend that a fix would be available this week, now next !
It was posted last weekend that a fix would be available this week, now next !
Thanks iDrone, yup it appears that these contacts are not up to the vibration and insertion abuse. After the update we can evaluate the situation. If the current software latches or locks into the alarm condition if the battery data is only momentarily lost is the question. I may test this tomorrow. If it does latch then this is an easy software patch.
Otherwise I will simply mod my packs to add a small 2 pin cable, soldered to these pads and add a mate in the battery bay. It would be a simple mod to remove the two spring loaded pins and splice in the mate. There would be just enough room for these to be connected before sliding in the battery. Perhaps even a chopped servo extension cable would be an easy choice. In any case I'm not worried, between new software and something like this, I'll have peace of mind.
Otherwise I will simply mod my packs to add a small 2 pin cable, soldered to these pads and add a mate in the battery bay. It would be a simple mod to remove the two spring loaded pins and splice in the mate. There would be just enough room for these to be connected before sliding in the battery. Perhaps even a chopped servo extension cable would be an easy choice. In any case I'm not worried, between new software and something like this, I'll have peace of mind.
RemE said:
Hi
One of my first thoughts was to try the servo lead mod. However when I disassembled the battery casing to solder a cable to the board I discovered that the only area of contact was the two gold 'spots' themselves, the rear of the board had no access as it looked sandwiched or multi layered. I considered my soldering was not up to the job as the the two spots are so small and close together.
If someone else works out where to tap into on the board it would be appreciated if you could let us know.
Thanks in advance.
That was my whole point of using the penatrox on the contacts, you don't lose your connection because of vibration
Driffill said:
I don't think you understood what I was saying - I am not saying that there is an issue with the main contact - I am saying that the "smart" battery passes its voltage data through the little connectors, so when those little connectors lose contact, the vision thinks the battery is dead - I am not sure what you thought I said, but as we have seen over the last 5 pages of posts, I was actually correct.
wildcatter said:
Hey wildcatter, is the penatrox still working? Haven't had a chance to buy any, but cleaning with alcohol did work for now.
Great News about the new software
Could anyone feedback what actually happens now we have new software should the Battery Small pin connection become corrupted/disconnected with the Vision in flight
Could anyone feedback what actually happens now we have new software should the Battery Small pin connection become corrupted/disconnected with the Vision in flight
I never had any battery issues and have made about half a dozen 20 minutes flights. I was therefore thinking myself lucky and hoping for the best. Alas, my state of satisfaction was not to last too long.
I got home from work today to find that new software had been released so carried out the update. Now I can't fly my PV at all! I get the 'Not DJI Intelligent battery' warning when I connect to the Vision Assistant and when I try to connect to the PV with the Vision App I get an invalid battery warning. The controller doesn't communicate with the craft, I can't start the rotors; I can't control the camera from the app.
I'm also seeing a sequence of lights that I can only assume is to do with the same error but that is not explained on the lights indicator card or the manual (Green, Red, Red, Red). Good work DJI!
At the moment, I have a very expensive paperweight! I have contacted the dealer to see what DJI make of this one (obviously can't contact DJI directly, that's not how they operate!)
I am rapidly going from lover to hater, but I guess that's the price we pay for being early guinea pigs, I mean adopters.
I got home from work today to find that new software had been released so carried out the update. Now I can't fly my PV at all! I get the 'Not DJI Intelligent battery' warning when I connect to the Vision Assistant and when I try to connect to the PV with the Vision App I get an invalid battery warning. The controller doesn't communicate with the craft, I can't start the rotors; I can't control the camera from the app.
I'm also seeing a sequence of lights that I can only assume is to do with the same error but that is not explained on the lights indicator card or the manual (Green, Red, Red, Red). Good work DJI!
At the moment, I have a very expensive paperweight! I have contacted the dealer to see what DJI make of this one (obviously can't contact DJI directly, that's not how they operate!)
I am rapidly going from lover to hater, but I guess that's the price we pay for being early guinea pigs, I mean adopters.
TisiRaptor said:
Same problem here with the Green, Red, Red, Red lights. The value of the compass is not good anymore and i can not calibrate the compass after the update but the No Intelligent DJI Battery pop up is gone and the app is still useless
I put a cry for help up in the thread about the update. Mine updated ok (invalid battery error disappeared after about 3 power cycles) but my Rx appears to have gone south... it's showing as software version 0.0.0.0 but the update to 1.0.1.3 keeps failing. I've got a good battery but a bad receiver. Any help gratefully received...
Just reconnected my PV to the assistant and lo and behold it prompts me to update something called P330CB. I did this and the invalid battery warnings have disappeared. I can now connect the the PV with both the controller and the vision app. I can start the rotors and could probably fly it but it's dark now and I'm not taking the chance.
Will need to wait until tomorrow and see if I get the chance.
Will need to wait until tomorrow and see if I get the chance.
