Oh No!!! Hit A Tree

[Norm Walker]

Hi Guys
I have been worried about flying over water since I got my drone about a week ago. But this afternoon got disorientated and hit a tree. The bird fell and landed on it's back. I was gutted. Didn't look like there was too much damage, not even a broken prop.
Now when I try to fire it up I get MC Error.
Have had a look through the threads and have seen about dropping it to fix. Have tried a few times to no avail. Also read a thread about opening it up but what would I look for.
Any info please.... and I promise to be more careful in future..

 

[RoyVa]

Norm, first I would hook to the assistant and see what errors it shows. The do a re- calibration of the IMU . See if that corrects the error. Holler back if not and we'll jump to the next step of taking off the shell and checking wiring and plugs to seeing any were knocked loose. Then on to the old trick of tapping on the MC to try to jog her memory.

 

[Norm Walker]

Yeah Thanks Roy,
I have tried the drop reset a number of times and don't want to do it any harder. The IMU won't calibrate "Unknown error, but looking at the stats I have a real big value on the X axis. The bird landed on it's back after the tree. So am thinking that it is pretty well jammed The x axis shows a reading of -16.8
Have had a look for tools for undoing the shell, but have nothing that fine. I'll either have to get some tools or spend some bucks I guess.

 

[envisionabove]

Sorry to hear that Norm...
In the down time what can you share that mite help others?
If I remember correctly your training was using the simulator software?
Do you have video of the crash you wish to share?

And thanks for Manning up.
Once you get the cover off the tech guys here will do everything they can to help. Once they get out of bed.. Don't loose hope.

 

[Norm Walker]

No Man,
Didn't have the vid rolling when it happened. I was just practicing flying at a lower altitude on an oval. Had made a hood (post on the forum) for the pad screen as I was having trouble seeing it. The hood worked well and I flew to one side of the oval near some trees and just wasn't paying enough attention to the screen or the vis on the bird. was hovering and thought I had turned it around enough and when I hit the stick forward flew straight into a bloody tree.
Ran across oval with heart in mouth, but surprised at how little damage had been done. It had hit the ground upside down, but hadn't even damaged a prop.
Unfortunately some brain damage had obviously occurred.
Have looked at a few YouTubes and think I can remove the cover OK. Will have to get some screw drivers tomorrow and would love some more tech advice on what to do then.
Shot some great vision earlier in the day, just a bit pissed at being grounded for a while.
Have thought about sending it to the drone doc., but am a bit of a DIY guy, so with a bit of advice from the forum hope to get her up and running.
Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Jeff48920]

This thread may help. DJI Forum|Fix for "NO MC DATA-ACCELEROMETER FAILED" if caused by impact.

 

[Raph]

Norm, first I would hook to the assistant and see what errors it shows. The do a re- calibration of the IMU . See if that corrects the error. Holler back if not and we'll jump to the next step of taking off the shell and checking wiring and plugs to seeing any were knocked loose. Then on to the old trick of tapping on the MC to try to jog her memory.

What does "hook to the assistant" mean? Is this software for the PC?

 

[Norm Walker]

What does "hook to the assistant" mean? Is this software for the PC?

Think he meant look Ralph

 

[Norm Walker]

This thread may help. DJI Forum|Fix for "NO MC DATA-ACCELEROMETER FAILED" if caused by impact.

Thanks for that Jeff. I'll get some tools tomorrow and have an "open day"

 

[Jeff48920]

Thanks for that Jeff. I'll get some tools tomorrow and have an "open day"

Keep us informed. Good luck

 

[swoopair]

Your compass might be damaged. It's a cheap and easy fix to install a new one.

 

[suck it up]

I had that happen to me, I gave the bird a hard rap, I banged it good and it unstuck it.

 

[grrquadman]

Just wondering: what gets "unstuck" when you bang it real good? Is there something in there rolling around? A tiny blob of mercury? A 3-D pendulum? What?

 

[Norm Walker]

Hi Crew,
First of all Thanks to everyone who gave advice and helped me with info. This is a great forum.
If you read this thread you'll see I had no luck dropping my drone onto a hard surface to reset the accelerometer.
So I bit the bullet and bought some Torque screw drivers this morning and pried my way into the heart of the machine. YouTube for info on getting the lid off and be careful, take time.
The other info on a "technical tap" also helped DJI Forum|Fix for "NO MC DATA-ACCELEROMETER FAILED" if caused by impact.
The only difference I found was that DJI are glueing the plug from the black box to the mother board, so no chance of removing it and tapping it on a table.
(Everything is so bloody small in there)
I got around it by holding the offending part to support the ribbon strip and giving the bottom of the internal part a good flick with a finger nail.
It took two attempts before I got a normal reading and could calibrate the unit. Make sure you check all this while the lid is off. You'll know that it's the accelerometer if the X axis reading is very low -16.8 in my case or I guess very high if you have crashed at a different angle.
I,m not an electronics tech of any sort, but was willing to give it a go with the great help I received from the forum crew. Thanks again guys.
All functions seem normal now and motors are running, so tomorrow we'll be out for a test fly.

 

[swoopair]

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[suck it up]

Hope it all works out for you!

Good Luck

 

[Norm Walker]

Flew it today and all perfect..

 

[envisionabove]

Flew it today and all perfect..

Fantastic news to hear indeed!
Norm get some fly time in open areas until your bored then get some more.

Muscular memory takes a while...that's why some of us use cheaper drones for fun around the yard and before flying the money birds.

So glad it's all working..

 

[Meta4]

What does "hook to the assistant" mean? Is this software for the PC?

Think he meant look Ralph

Assistant is software used for diagnostics on a Phantom 2.
Not applicable for the P3

 

[RedHotPoker]

Way to go Norm. You get to fly another day, that's awesome. There is a diagnostic of sorts. In the Phantom 3 Go app under Advanced Settings with the Phantom running, and plugged into a computer via usb.
Press Enter Flight Data Mode.

RedHotPoker