Phantom 3 Pro Out Of Storage

[MedinaNewbie]

Hi,
Newbie here. Bought a Phantom 3 Pro new about 6 years ago. Flew it 5-7 times, no crashes, then put it in storage when my wife and I had our first kid. Fast fwd to now, got it out of storage and having trouble getting it working again.
Charged the RC and batteries, updated the RC firmware, still can’t get it working. The linking/pairing process (by pushing the little button on the side of AC) doesn’t work. Could that be because I haven’t updated its firmware of the AC? If so, I see lots of mentions of different version of FW, which should I be trying to install?

TIA

 

[CKUK]

Hi,
Newbie here. Bought a Phantom 3 Pro new about 6 years ago. Flew it 5-7 times, no crashes, then put it in storage when my wife and I had our first kid. Fast fwd to now, got it out of storage and having trouble getting it working again.
Charged the RC and batteries, updated the RC firmware, still can’t get it working. The linking/pairing process (by pushing the little button on the side of AC) doesn’t work. Could that be because I haven’t updated its firmware of the AC? If so, I see lots of mentions of different version of FW, which should I be trying to install?

TIA

Let the experts answer your question from me - Welcome to the forum

 

[BillyN]

Let the experts answer your question from me - Welcome to the forum

I am not an expert (by far) but my guess is same as yours, incompatibility between RC and AC firmware. Will wait for more knowlegdable answers, just posted this answer to keep the thread alive and follow answers.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Hi,
Newbie here. Bought a Phantom 3 Pro new about 6 years ago. Flew it 5-7 times, no crashes, then put it in storage when my wife and I had our first kid. Fast fwd to now, got it out of storage and having trouble getting it working again.
Charged the RC and batteries, updated the RC firmware, still can’t get it working. The linking/pairing process (by pushing the little button on the side of AC) doesn’t work. Could that be because I haven’t updated its firmware of the AC? If so, I see lots of mentions of different version of FW, which should I be trying to install?

TIA

Not to familiar with the p3p but when you press link button can you feel it clicking, some link buttons have been know to detach themselves, not sure about firmware but it shouldn't stop it working,do you have 1 red light on remote where they normally all green,due to the time in storage its probably just unpaired (hopefully) ,phantoms hate storage, till you figure out if link button working we bit stuck,in app under rc linking does time expire,?press button when off so you can feel it doin its soft click
No by far no expert either,every phantom react different so there ain't expert ,

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Any updates or what ?

 

[Oso]

Charged the RC and batteries, updated the RC firmware, still can’t get it working. The linking/pairing process (by pushing the little button on the side of AC) doesn’t work. Could that be because I haven’t updated its firmware of the AC?

I am not an expert (by far) but my guess is same as yours, incompatibility between RC and AC firmware.

Welcome to the forum!

As was noted by @BillyN, you may have a FW mismatch.

AC FW 1.8 and RC FW 1.6 were released together with an encryption change. If you have one of those (or later), you must have the other (or later) or you will have issues. DJI noted this in the release notes at the time.

When you updated your RC to the latest FW which has the new encryption, you may have inadvertently created a mismatched encryption between your AC and your RC since your AC could still be on old encryption. Do you know which version of FW you had on the AC and the RC prior to introducing changes, and also which versions you have now? Same for the app. Which version are you using now and also which device?

You saying "updated the RC formware, still can't get it working" indicates to me that you may have had a linking issue prior to updating the AC firmware.

FYI that problems could have manifested due to the extended idle time which has led to many instances of NAND flash data degradation in P3Ps. This was alluded to by @ianzone when he said that, "phantoms hate storage." Also, issues have arisen simply by keeping a P3P powered up for long periods with no fan blowing on the AC which can cause component overheating failure. Note that the tiny fan on the gimbal is so ineffective that it is basically decorative. We always tell people to use a small external fan when not flying, so hopefully you have been doing this during your troubleshooting.

 

[T-10]

I also had long storage issues. My P3P is now working on Aircraft Firmware 1.11.20 Remote Control Firmware 1.9.3

Download link: Phantom 3 Professional - Download Center - DJI

 

[Rick_Grff]

Hi Medina this is the trick that I used. I had my pro3 in the closet for 2 years. I did check on my batteries during that time. When it came time to use it I had no video ,pictures or satellites just a blank screen. So what I did to make mine work was to sit down next to it and keep repeating the start up process over and over I had to do it 8 maybe 10 times. It came back to life and worked fine. Hope this helps.