My P4P falls to the left on take-off

[hermitdog]

I've flown MANY excellent flights with this drone. Now it falls to the left whenever I try to take off - using the yellow slider. Batteries fully charged; home-point set; compass calibrated; my router wifi turned off. Obviously, I need to change a setting (or settings) - but which one(s)? Please watch this 6-second video:

HELP, please.

 

[Fly Dawg]

I don't think there is anything in the settings to fix that. Something like this should never happen. There are several possibilities. Possibly mechanical with a motor not up to speed (Although one would think you would have errors if that were the case). Another possibility would be a damaged or severely un-balanced prop. ( Not likely but possible ). I would suggest looking at the aircraft .dat file, for a possible diagnoses. The only other time I have seen anything similar was when shutting off the props with a CSC. This could also mean that you may have an RC issue as well. The .dat should give more info to go on.

 

[hermitdog]

THANKS, Dawg. Just yesterday this drone flew two excellent flights -- making videos all the way. But today, can't even get off the ground (which is probably a GOOD thing!) I will check the .dat files.

 

[Fly Dawg]

But today, can't even get off the ground (which is probably a GOOD thing!)

One thing you might try first, is calibrating the RC. Just a thought. Also, does this also happen with manual takeoff?

 

[hermitdog]

Thanks again, Dawg. I've just recalibrated the RC and recalibrated the compass (outside, of course.)
I tried taking off both manually and with the yellow slider. Either way, it still falls to the left before taking off - as shown in the video above. I thought that trading positions of the two silver props and then trading positions of the two black props might make it fall in a different direction ... It did not. Still falls to the left and never leaves the ground. Does anyone know what might be going on? It flew SO WELL yesterday!

 

[Fly Dawg]

Does anyone know what might be going on? It flew SO WELL yesterday!

This is why I mentioned the aircraft .dat files. These begin at every aircraft power on and could show what a possible anomaly may be. It could be related to a Gyro, or any number of possibilities. Also, did you try this without the device? You do know it will fly just fine without an FPV device. If you test it that way, that could rule out an app issue. I don't think it is anyway, but it would rule that out.

 

[hermitdog]

I have the Phantom 4 Pro+ with the built-in screen. I do not use DJI Assistant on a cell phone or tablet. When you say "without an FPV device," I assume you mean the First Person View RC - the P4P+ 's controller. So, where do I find the .dat files in that? Thanks in advance for your help and concern.

 

[Fly Dawg]

When you say "without an FPV device,

Yes this means using only the RC and AC, no device ( Phone, Tablet, Crystal Sky etc...) connected to the RC.

 

[hermitdog]

All I have is the aircraft and the controller (with built-in screen.) Where are the .dat files?

 

[Fly Dawg]

All I have is the aircraft and the controller (with built-in screen.) Where are the .dat files?

They are in the AC itself. I assume you are not familiar with these and they are a bit tricky to find the correct ones at times. What you need to do is follow the link below ( Instructions on how to retrieve the files are there ). Normally these are very large files and must be uploaded to a sharable drive, such as Google Drive, Dropbox etc.... However your's may be directly up loadable here being the we only need up to the point of attempted takeoff. If you find they do not upload directly then you will need to use a share site and place a link back here. Below is the link with instructions...........

How to retrieve a V3 .DAT File from the AC

 

[hermitdog]

THANKS for your GREAT help, Dawg --- but I'm going in circles now. Your link specifically states that I need to use the DJI Assistant 2: "Retrieving a .DAT from the AC requires using the DJI Assistant 2 Version 1.1.6 or later. The version can be seen in the lower right part of the DJI Assistant 2."

I've installed the DJI Assistant 2 and tried to run it several times, but every time I try to sign in, I get this:

I've chatted online with DJI Support about this. They told me to sign up again with a different name -- I did that and tried to login using that name and email address, got the same sign-in window with no verification code.
I'm going to contact a drone repair service. THANKS again, Dawg.

 

[hermitdog]

OK . . . I recalibrated everything. Went outside for good GPS signals. Got an audio message that HomePoint had been set. Ready to fly . . . right? Nope. I could not take off because of ESC problems. So, I researched THAT on the Web, as is my wont, and discovered that I needed to try the ESC BEEP setting, which I did. Three of the propellers BEEPed and moved (well, sort of a jerk) . . ., but ONE does not - the left-front one. Thus, I surmise, that since all four propeller motors worked fine this morning (note the 6-sec vid that started this thread:

), the problem is with one of the ESC boards (a hardware problem, not a software problem.) So, I searched again for how to correct that and found this excellent vid on how to replace the ESC boards:

But, alas, I am a retired English teacher, not an electrical engineer. Ohio Drone Repair, can you hear me? Home

A loud "Thank You" to FLY DAWG for his caring and excellent suggestions! This whole thing has gone to a different level now. I'll need to check my bank account before going further.

 

[Skynet1]

hermitdog,
I wanted to simply congratulate you on the excellent way you have described the issues you were experiencing, and your followup interaction with Fly Dawg arriving at the conclusions you have, which by the way appear to be very logical. Although relatively new to the forum, you appear to be well versed with the workings of your aircraft, and while the issues as you've described, and information offered are not always easily explained as you are well aware, you've certainly done your homework while coming to what may very well be the culprit in your case. I'm by no way a technician as it relates to the Phantom series quad-copter, but have replaced a couple of motors and ESC's over the years.
Fly Dawg and a several others here on the forum however are top notch on the technical aspects of these aircraft and have been very instrumental in helping many distressed pilots arrive at a logical conclusion to there concerns. Not receiving any movement or beep from the motor in question upon start-up certainly cast some doubt in that regard.
The ESC in question may very well be faulty, or simply have a bad solder connection, if so, all is good the aircraft has remained on the ground rather than the issue occurring in the air at some point, as has been previously mentioned.
While replacing a ESC isn't an especially difficult task, having a handle on good soldering techniques would be important. I'm sure you'll get this sorted and back in the air in short order. All the best!

 

[hermitdog]

Thank you, Skynet1. This morning I sent the drone via Priority Mail to Ohio Drone Repair in Cleveland. [ Home ]
I do hope it's as simple a matter as you think it is. In any event, I was afraid that my doing surgery on the electronics would result in even greater problems. Some say, "If it's not broken don't fix it." I say, If it IS broken, find someone else to fix it!"

 

[Skynet1]

Thank you, Skynet1. This morning I sent the drone via Priority Mail to Ohio Drone Repair in Cleveland. [ Home ]
I do hope it's as simple a matter as you think it is. In any event, I was afraid that my doing surgery on the electronics would result in even greater problems. Some say, "If it's not broken don't fix it." I say, If it IS broken, find someone else to fix it!"

LOL

 

[Fly Dawg]

As an appology, I did not return to this thread to verify what you had said in regard to the latest thread for props. What I mentioned there is no longer valid at this point. I assume you have issues resolved.

 

[Doug Rosevear]

I've flown MANY excellent flights with this drone. Now it falls to the left whenever I try to take off - using the yellow slider. Batteries fully charged; home-point set; compass calibrated; my router wifi turned off. Obviously, I need to change a setting (or settings) - but which one(s)? Please watch this 6-second video:

HELP, please.

Looks like you have a couple of props on the wrong way

 

[ribjig]

Looks like you have a couple of props on the wrong way

If they are on the wrong way, they would be unlocked...?
If they are unlocked, they would fly off instantly...?
(I've had mine fly off when on the right way, but not locked)
(by fly off, I mean spinning off a few feet up & land ~20 ft away)

 

[jlrsn]

Have you gone into the advanced settings and are both IMUs equally at the same value. What I mean are the green sliders synchronized?

 

[Speedmeister]

I have seen same problem on a non dji drone with the wrong prop mounted on the motors. It is hard to do this on a dji drone. Sometimes a long strand of hair that got caught up on the rotors may cause problems. I sometimes start my motors without props and simulate a take off. DJI warns me that I dont have props installed but I am also assuming that it will tell me if my ESC is malfunctioning and other problems at higher rev. I am familiar with the sound of the motors/props. I usually check prop and motors when anything sounds out of the ordinary. You get to know what is normal from experience..