Hi,
I have a tiny bit of experience flying quads, because my Dad gave me a Hak909 for my birthday. Controls are the same as the Phantom. I got fairly good with the 909, with no GPS, and it was great fun, so I began looking into Phantoms.
Just bought this Vision, just opened the box yesterday. It was a brand new phantom in an unopened box.
I downloaded, and installed the programs and installed all new firmware and drivers. I calibrated the remote using the software.
To cut to the chase: My first problem is a battery that won't fully charge. Second problem is "drop out of the sky." I think they might be related.
1) I think I might have created the first problem but maybe not. Last night I started charging the main LiPo but I was exhausted and I was afraid to leave it charging with me sleeping and so I unplugged it and went to bed before it was finished. At the time, it was reading first lamp solid green second lamp flashing, which I believe is around 38% charged.
Now today it won't charge above that. If I discharge it a little and then try to charge it, it will charge for only a few minutes and then stop. And the green light comes on the charger even though the battery shows same as above.
I checked it with the Phantom Assistant and it shows battery at 35%. And yet the smart charger refuses to charge.
I tried the trick where you turn the battery on and then "force" it to charge. It starts off okay. Charger lamp is red. Seems to be charging. But strangely, the battery turns itself off after about 15-20 secs. And a half second after that, the charger light turns green. I believe the battery might be turning itself off because it thinks it's fully charged. But maybe the charger is turning the battery off. I'm not sure.
If I turn the battery on by itself or in the phantom, it stays on. It only turns itself off while connected to the charger and is charging.
Seems to me the battery should have a reset button or something.
I don't get it.
2)
Obviously I don't want to fly it but I'm running out of ideas, so I thought I'd try to discharge the battery down to 8% or so as mentioned in the manual. And then maybe the recharge might fully charge. I have my doubts but that's the only thing I can think of.
So how do I do that? I thought I'd just hover it real low, and then when I get the low battery warning I'd land and idle it.
So I go outside, turn the unit on, got GPS, did the compass calibration, and it was "ready to fly" in GPS as indicated with blinking green lights on the tail.
I started the rotors, then brought both sticks to neutral. The motors idled. I started to push the left stick and the Phantom tilted to the right and hit the ground. It never made lift off.
I tried again. Same thing.
I looked back online to be sure I wasn't doing anything wrong, other than trying to fly with 35% battery. I seemed to be doing everything okay. Maybe I wasn't giving it enough thrust.
So once again I went outside. Started from scratch. Did the GPS and the compass calibration.
Again I had blinking green lights on the tail.
So I gave it good thrust and it rose up to about 15 feet and I let the stick back to neutral. It sat there for about 2 seconds as I figured it would settle down, and it did for a sec. But then the motors just stopped dead - all four of them at once, and it fell from the sky. Just came straight down like a rock, no tumbling. Landed on its feet and luckily it landed on grass. Camera came loose but no damage that I can see.
It was pretty horrifying.
Went inside, read some more, thought some more. Did I do something wrong?
Tried it again. This time I lifted off aggressively but neutraled in time to keep it at waist level. Seemed perfect. It was literally at waist level, hovering for about 5 secs and then the motors all died at once and it fell to the ground. No damage.
I don't get it.
Yes, I am sure I did not pull the throttle down. The left stick was at its midpoint.
Both times it fell from the sky, the Phantom was turned off when I approached it as it lay on the ground. The battery showed no lights. I think it turned itself off in mid-flight. Sure looks like it.
Now what do I do?
Since my goal was to deplete the battery - I turned it back on and I idled it for a half hour straight to try to deplete the battery. Nothing to lose, I figure.
After about 15 minutes, the low battery alarm sounded on the remote, as expected. I kept it running.
Phantom finally stopped spinning its motors after 30 minutes or so. What's notable is the battery did not shut itself down during those 30 minutes.
I again attempted to charge the now depleted battery. It charged fine but then shut off after 15 minutes. Green light on the charger. Check battery. Battery shows two solid lamps on. Progress but not what I wanted.
I checked the battery status using Phantom Asst. I immediately got a pop up that informs me that I have a damaged battery cell and I should discontinue use. Battery shows 38%, up from 35%
Maybe it's just bad luck - and I got a bad battery. Or maybe I messed it up somehow.
I'm prepared to get a new battery and try again. The more I think about it, I think the battery is bad. It shuts itself off when connected to the charger and it apparently shuts itself off in mid flight (but it didn't shut off during idle).
Sorry this is so long. Any comments or advice?
I also have two questions.
1. Is the battery supposed to turn itself off if it is turned on while not in the Phantom? Or does it just stay on?
2. Does the battery turn itself off after a crash?
Thanks for your time!
-Mark in Maryland
I have a tiny bit of experience flying quads, because my Dad gave me a Hak909 for my birthday. Controls are the same as the Phantom. I got fairly good with the 909, with no GPS, and it was great fun, so I began looking into Phantoms.
Just bought this Vision, just opened the box yesterday. It was a brand new phantom in an unopened box.
I downloaded, and installed the programs and installed all new firmware and drivers. I calibrated the remote using the software.
To cut to the chase: My first problem is a battery that won't fully charge. Second problem is "drop out of the sky." I think they might be related.
1) I think I might have created the first problem but maybe not. Last night I started charging the main LiPo but I was exhausted and I was afraid to leave it charging with me sleeping and so I unplugged it and went to bed before it was finished. At the time, it was reading first lamp solid green second lamp flashing, which I believe is around 38% charged.
Now today it won't charge above that. If I discharge it a little and then try to charge it, it will charge for only a few minutes and then stop. And the green light comes on the charger even though the battery shows same as above.
I checked it with the Phantom Assistant and it shows battery at 35%. And yet the smart charger refuses to charge.
I tried the trick where you turn the battery on and then "force" it to charge. It starts off okay. Charger lamp is red. Seems to be charging. But strangely, the battery turns itself off after about 15-20 secs. And a half second after that, the charger light turns green. I believe the battery might be turning itself off because it thinks it's fully charged. But maybe the charger is turning the battery off. I'm not sure.
If I turn the battery on by itself or in the phantom, it stays on. It only turns itself off while connected to the charger and is charging.
Seems to me the battery should have a reset button or something.
I don't get it.
2)
Obviously I don't want to fly it but I'm running out of ideas, so I thought I'd try to discharge the battery down to 8% or so as mentioned in the manual. And then maybe the recharge might fully charge. I have my doubts but that's the only thing I can think of.
So how do I do that? I thought I'd just hover it real low, and then when I get the low battery warning I'd land and idle it.
So I go outside, turn the unit on, got GPS, did the compass calibration, and it was "ready to fly" in GPS as indicated with blinking green lights on the tail.
I started the rotors, then brought both sticks to neutral. The motors idled. I started to push the left stick and the Phantom tilted to the right and hit the ground. It never made lift off.
I tried again. Same thing.
I looked back online to be sure I wasn't doing anything wrong, other than trying to fly with 35% battery. I seemed to be doing everything okay. Maybe I wasn't giving it enough thrust.
So once again I went outside. Started from scratch. Did the GPS and the compass calibration.
Again I had blinking green lights on the tail.
So I gave it good thrust and it rose up to about 15 feet and I let the stick back to neutral. It sat there for about 2 seconds as I figured it would settle down, and it did for a sec. But then the motors just stopped dead - all four of them at once, and it fell from the sky. Just came straight down like a rock, no tumbling. Landed on its feet and luckily it landed on grass. Camera came loose but no damage that I can see.
It was pretty horrifying.
Went inside, read some more, thought some more. Did I do something wrong?
Tried it again. This time I lifted off aggressively but neutraled in time to keep it at waist level. Seemed perfect. It was literally at waist level, hovering for about 5 secs and then the motors all died at once and it fell to the ground. No damage.
I don't get it.
Yes, I am sure I did not pull the throttle down. The left stick was at its midpoint.
Both times it fell from the sky, the Phantom was turned off when I approached it as it lay on the ground. The battery showed no lights. I think it turned itself off in mid-flight. Sure looks like it.
Now what do I do?
Since my goal was to deplete the battery - I turned it back on and I idled it for a half hour straight to try to deplete the battery. Nothing to lose, I figure.
After about 15 minutes, the low battery alarm sounded on the remote, as expected. I kept it running.
Phantom finally stopped spinning its motors after 30 minutes or so. What's notable is the battery did not shut itself down during those 30 minutes.
I again attempted to charge the now depleted battery. It charged fine but then shut off after 15 minutes. Green light on the charger. Check battery. Battery shows two solid lamps on. Progress but not what I wanted.
I checked the battery status using Phantom Asst. I immediately got a pop up that informs me that I have a damaged battery cell and I should discontinue use. Battery shows 38%, up from 35%
Maybe it's just bad luck - and I got a bad battery. Or maybe I messed it up somehow.
I'm prepared to get a new battery and try again. The more I think about it, I think the battery is bad. It shuts itself off when connected to the charger and it apparently shuts itself off in mid flight (but it didn't shut off during idle).
Sorry this is so long. Any comments or advice?
I also have two questions.
1. Is the battery supposed to turn itself off if it is turned on while not in the Phantom? Or does it just stay on?
2. Does the battery turn itself off after a crash?
Thanks for your time!
-Mark in Maryland
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