Oops........

Joined
Jan 4, 2016
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I have had my P3P for about two months now. Today I discovered the difference between a Phantom pilot and a fixed wing private pilot, with a touch of humble pie thrown in.

I was cruising along about 5 feet off the ground with the camera pointed down about 20 to 30 degrees. I started to roll the camera back up and immediately noticed there was a rise in front of me coming up pretty quick. The little voice in my head screams, “@#$%! Pull up!!” So, I grab the left stick and haul it back into my lap. It did not pull up.

Well, no mystery about what happened here. What I need is some advice on what to do next. I wasn’t going very fast and was only a few feet off the deck. The bird came to rest on its back in some very soft, powdery soil. When I got to it one prop was still spinning and throwing dirt all over the place. The good news is that I had installed a camera/gimbal guard right before this flight. It snapped a couple of the zip ties holding it in place but it and my camera are otherwise fine. In fact, there does not appear to be any other physical damage – didn’t even break a prop. Electrical condition remains unknown at this point. My concern is all the fine powder that seems to have gotten into everything – motors, gimbal, fans, etc. I don’t want to do anything at all until such time as I have gotten that stuff out 100%. I seem to recall seeing somewhere that if I open the shell I will void my warranty. Even so, if I send it in they are going to charge me anyway unless pilot error is covered.

On the off chance any of you have ever had a similar experience, I would welcome your insight and advice.
 
Yikes! And how's your lap?!

I can't imagine it being covered under warranty. Depending on how much dirt got inside, I'd either just blow it out with some canned air, or open it up for a more thorough cleaning. I'd really go at the motors with some canned air. If one of those seizes while your up you'd be in trouble


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If the foreign material possibly ingested is fine and dry i woud use a vacuum cleaner nozzle attachment to give everything a good suck (opposite direction to how it found its way in) and then use an air compressor with an air dryer in line, or canned air as a second option paying particular attention to the motors and gimble joints.

When you have GPS lock a good option in these cases can be just to let go of the sticks while you evaluate your options. Not second nature i know.
 
Tap the P3 with fingers with motors down, let the dust come off or get loosened. Wipe the exteriors with damp cloth and then blow compressed canned air first on motors to get dust off.

Hope it's not coal dust or dust with moisture around. Coal dust is harmful to electronics.

Best wishes
 
If the foreign material possibly ingested is fine and dry i woud use a vacuum cleaner nozzle attachment to give everything a good suck (opposite direction to how it found its way in) and then use an air compressor with an air dryer in line, or canned air as a second option paying particular attention to the motors and gimble joints.

When you have GPS lock a good option in these cases can be just to let go of the sticks while you evaluate your options. Not second nature i know.
Thanks - excellent idea on the vacuum. I'll definitely give that a try. And so far as letting go of the sticks, I know that. Just panicked, pure and simple. Can I have a Do Over??

Hope it's not coal dust or dust with moisture around. Coal dust is harmful to electronics.

Nope - I live in the desert and it is just super fine powdery dirt. I'm sure it is abrasive enough to wipe out moving parts but I doubt if simple contact will hurt anything.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts.
 
Can I have a Do Over
Sadly, no.
Good luck with cleaning and safe(r) flying (from now on). I think the vacuum nozzle is a good idea, as well as the compressed air and a nice good wipe.
 

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