New Phantom Owner in CT

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Hi all,

I'm a new Phantom 4 owner, and wanted to say hello. I've been playing around with drones for a number of years, starting with building them from parts, but I had never owned a really good one, and I had somewhat lost interest and hadn't really worked with them much for several years. Then a year or so ago, a friend gave me a Parrot Bebop drone that he wasn't using, and I found myself getting psyched about drone ownership again. In particular, I started getting excited about flying (the Bebop was much more user-friendly and fun to fly than any of my homemade drones) and also about aerial photography. The Bebop takes quite decent photographs, and I was happy with the quality for a while - but I've also been a photography enthusiast for years, and it wasn't long before I found that I was really outgrowing what it could do. So I started thinking about getting a professional photography drone.

Being somewhat strapped for cash, I decided to look for a used Phantom - they have been so popular that there are plenty of them available at decent prices on the used market. I initially thought that I could raise around $500, and thought that I could get a Phantom 3 Pro for that price if I looked around a little. Then I read more about the Phantom 4 series and got excited about maybe getting one of those. I figured there was no way I could afford a Phantom 4 Advanced or Pro, but the Phantom 4 Standard still seemed really good, and I thought if I could raise $600-700 I should be able to find one in decent shape.

I had pulled together about $550 when I happened to come across a new posting on FaceBook Marketplace - a Phantom 4, apparently in excellent shape, for $500. I agonized a little about buying it from there - I hadn't really used FB Marketplace much before, and never for as large a purchase. But FB does offer purchase protection, as long as you pay through their system and the item is shipped to you. So I decided to go for it. A week or so later it arrived, and I was thrilled to find that it was in absolutely perfect condition - not a mark on it. It came with two batteries, but it had been used only a few times before being stuck in a closet and never used again, and of course both batteries had fully discharged and were shot. I got a used battery with warranty online from a reputable site for $85, and once I had it and the controller all charged up, I was able to test the Phantom out; everything worked perfectly.

So at this point I was thrilled with my purchase - but then I made a discovery. I found the model number of my Phantom and looked it up - and according to what I was reading online, I didn't have the Standard model at all - I had the Pro version. I did a little more research, and found the various ways to identify the different models, and was able to settle it without a doubt - the one I had was a Phantom 4 Pro v2. This obviously was fantastic news - as a photography enthusiast, the improved camera on the Pro was my dream, but I never thought I could afford one. To have stumbled into this was just incredible luck. I really can't explain why the previous owner hadn't advertised it as a Pro model and set a higher price; my best guess is that they got it as a gift, and they never realized exactly what they had.

So now I'm looking to do get some serious aerial photography done! I took the FAA Part 107 exam a couple of days ago and passed; I'm now waiting for the certificate to come through, and in the meantime, I'm polishing up my flying chops (it's been a while) ... I absolutely love my new Phantom; it's really a dream come true for me to own one and I am beyond excited to see what I can do with it ... !

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Welcome to the forum.
Please and do be sure you have read our guidelines.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching . 👍
Edit..you sure your batteries are shot ?
 
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Welcome to the forum.
Please and do be sure you have read our guidelines.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching . 👍
Edit..you sure your batteries are shot ?
Thanks! Yes, I'm fairly sure they're shot ... One of them doesn't light at all when plugged in; that one also has a slight 'sponginess' to the panels on top and bottom (with the lettering on them) so I think it's in bad shape. The other one seems normal, but it does the "16 blinks" of the #1 LED when you plug it in; then all the lights go out for 5 seconds then it repeats. I left it plugged in overnight to see if this would change but no luck.
 
Great story! Best of luck with your new bird!
 
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Greetings from Birmingham Alabama, welcome to the forum!
 
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If they are swollen they are shot. If not you might be able to wake them up. If they havn’t been used but a few times I can’t see where
they would be swollen.
 
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Congratulations on your purchase.... I am in NW Connecticut if you would like advice or would like to get together to fly or have questions, feel free to contact me through PM here..
 
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If they are swollen they are shot. If not you might be able to wake them up. If they havn’t been used but a few times I can’t see where
they would be swollen.
Do some searching. I did and found this
Maybe this wil help:

Battery Hibernation mode:

It is important NOT to alter the sequence:

1. Switch on battery - ignore what happens to lights etc.
2. LEAVE IT ALONE for at least 5 minutes.
3. Do NOT touch power button - plug into DJI charger
4. LEAVE IT ALONE.. it may be hours before it wakes up ... DON'T TOUCH IT !

You need a DJI charger for this - it's the only time a specific charger is required in fact ... you cannot use any 3rd party charger.

The secret is to NOT touch the power button after point 1), if you
But if it’s swollen dump it.
 
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Do some searching. I did and found this

But if it’s swollen dump it.
Ah, good to know. I did read about hibernation mode and tried leaving the 'good' battery plugged in overnight, without any luck, but I didn't know about the sequence you have to follow leading up to that, so I may not have done things in the right order. I will try that today for sure - I'll let you know if it works. The other one is definitely toast, and I have dumped it.
 
Excellent luck!
I really know the feeling of getting the new drone and even more when you got a better one than you ordered.
The photography is really good and you'll enjoy it. The same is with video and even more if you shoot and play at 4K.
In the beginning, fly in an open place with no obstacles. P4 is pretty fast.
 
Hello from Florida west coast. Great find, lucky too. Enjoy that beautiful bird.
 
Welcome. You'll like the P4P. I've had Phantoms, 2, 3, 4 and an Inspire 2. Don't recommend the latter for the layman.
 
Thanks! Yes, I'm fairly sure they're shot ... One of them doesn't light at all when plugged in; that one also has a slight 'sponginess' to the panels on top and bottom (with the lettering on them) so I think it's in bad shape. The other one seems normal, but it does the "16 blinks" of the #1 LED when you plug it in; then all the lights go out for 5 seconds then it repeats. I left it plugged in overnight to see if this would change but no luck.
Don’t know if you tossed that other battery. But if it wasn’t swollen, just won’t charge, this guy prob will fix it for $50~$60 depending on the problem.
He reconditioned 3 of my batteries I thought were gone.
[email protected]

He’s in Bolingbrook, IL - outside of Chicago. Worth a try.
 
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Welcome to the forum! :)
 
Don’t know if you tossed that other battery. But if it wasn’t swollen, just won’t charge, this guy prob will fix it for $50~$60 depending on the problem.
He reconditioned 3 of my batteries I thought were gone.
[email protected]

He’s in Bolingbrook, IL - outside of Chicago. Worth a try.
That's very good to know, thanks. I did come across his web page and wondered about it, but it's good to get an independent recommendation. I do think that the one, non-swollen battery should be salvageable. The last time I had it plugged in on the charger, it did the "16 blinks, 7 seconds off, repeat" thing for a few hours, then the lights went off. I disconnected it and when I plugged it back in, it started a different pattern - 3rd LED blinking three times, then pause, then repeat. But after a few minutes it went back to the original pattern. A little later it went dark again, and when I plugged it in again, for a second it looked it was flashing a normal charging pattern - but then it was back to pattern #1. After a while it went dark again, and this time it stayed dark. All of this makes me think that while something is obviously wrong, it's very likely fixable by someone who knows what they are doing. I haven't touched the battery in a few days, so I'm going to try it one more time today, but if it doesn't work after that, I think I'll send it to Erik.
 

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