Phantom 4 Pro - Battery contacts melted!

[DaRana]

Ugh. Not looking forward to dealing with DJI support. Took my drone out earlier to capture a quick sunset. Took off. Landed. Came inside. Couldn't get battery out. Sometimes the battery is a bit tight but better than falling out. Tried harder, nope. Finally had to use wide grip pliers. Turns out the battery contacts melted, plastic melted and fused from battery to inside of the drone. Ugh.

So now I get to deal with DJI support and be without my Phantom for probably 6 weeks best case. Sigh. Just venting because DJI service hours ended so I have no one else to complain to.

Also? Man, that could probably have gone a LOT worse. Fire from the sky kind of worse.

 

[With The Birds]

The AC is drawing the best part of 20A hovering.... You need to make sure that connector is fully seated or you will get some serious power dissipation at the contacts. More than a few people have had this issue so we might need to suspect poor engineering/manufacture on DJI’s part. This shouldn’t be a failure mode that is easy to encounter.

 

[alokbhargava]

You should refer the issue to DJI and get drone replaced.

 

[DaRana]

The AC is drawing the best part of 20A hovering.... You need to make sure that connector is fully seated or you will get some serious power dissipation at the contacts. More than a few people have had this issue so we might need to suspect poor engineering/manufacture on DJI’s part. This shouldn’t be a failure mode that is easy to encounter.

Yeah, I’m not sure if there has always an issue, bad soldering, what. I’m also aware of seating securely due to paranoia of falling out. Like you said, it shouldn’t be an easy failure mode to occur. Also noticed looking through my airdataUAV logs that the minor and major derivations across all five batteries were consistently almost all on cell 4. That hints to me that it was maybe a poorly soldered connection or otherwise poor connection point. Never enough to trigger active alerts but above baselines for my first p4p and Mavic.

You should refer the issue to DJI and get drone replaced.

Yeah, definitely opening a case today. Just annoyed bc I have had to deal with Dji support before so I know this means hours of my time and 5-6 weeks Best Case with no p4p.

 

[DOC 1500]

How old is your aircraft and battery?

 

[DaRana]

How old is your aircraft and battery?

AC was purchased 9/22/17, has about 120 flights across five batteries. This battery was purchased early July and has 51 charge cycles.

Case submitted Friday, now waiting for “24-48 hours” for shipping label. I requested 2 day shipping bc it’s clearly a warranty/defect issue and I’m on the east coast. It’s 5-6 days in transit each way via ground. Plus 1-3 days for getting a shipping label. Plus 1-5 weeks for them to actually “diagnose” it based on past experience. Then most likely send me a refurb that I have no knowledge of it’s flight history and have to hope isn’t DOA, which I also have had experience.

Sigh. Thx for being my vent-hole, Internet. [emoji3]

 

[low_budget]

Same problem here. Didn’t understand why the battery was stuck in the Phantom until I got some thick rubberized gloves, ripped it out, and saw wonderful crispy smokehouse battery contacts!

Do I just fix the thing myself (and buy a new battery) or trust DJI assclown repair department with total mystery returned unit and shipping dates? Then they might update the firmware which I’d really not like. Warranty is good until June, so I have until then to decide.

I’ve replaced many Phantom 3 shells due to THAT design flaw, so at least I have experience if I fix this new design flaw myself, LOL.

UPDATE: Looks like no replacement battery connector is available. I have to trust the DJI repair people. Sigh........

 

[DaRana]

Same problem here. Didn’t understand why the battery was stuck in the Phantom until I got some thick rubberized gloves, ripped it out, and saw wonderful crispy smokehouse battery contacts!

Do I just fix the thing myself (and buy a new battery) or trust DJI assclown repair department with total mystery returned unit and shipping dates? Then they might update the firmware which I’d really not like. Warranty is good until June, so I have until then to decide.

I’ve replaced many Phantom 3 shells due to THAT design flaw, so at least I have experience if I fix this new design flaw myself, LOL.

UPDATE: Looks like no replacement battery connector is available. I have to trust the DJI repair people. Sigh........

I had to resort to vise grips myself. I was getting SO frustrated trying to get it out. Could not figure out why it wouldn't move. Sometimes the batteries get just a little stuck but this was crazy. Had to step away before I threw the drone! But, yeah, melted/fused plastic is not so easy to yank out with a poor grip.

Didn't even think to check for a replacement part - I would have tried that if there was (and I had thought of it...). I wish for your sake there was, though. I'd be shocked if you get the same drone back, my experience has been mostly refurbs. I think my second Mavic replacement may have actually been new ... it was replacing a refurb I received back for a Refresh Express on DJI Care, pre-paid the replacement fee, and it was DOA. Let's just say I raised a stink...

FWIW on this one I asked politely but firmly for 2 day shipping out and back, I received it out, hopefully will back as well. From the east coast it is 5-6 days for shipping alone, so that's not trivial. I'm pretty much assuming 4-6 weeks, the Mavic will have to keep me company until then but I've scratched my plan for a dronelapse of the eclipse.

Mine went out today ... hoping for the best. Ya know I never thought I'd really have to worry about the total drone limits on the Gold plan with Airdata ... but at this rate, three mavics and I assume soon to be a third Phantom, 8 isn't so far away.

 

[AndrewCCM]

Same problem here. Didn’t understand why the battery was stuck in the Phantom until I got some thick rubberized gloves, ripped it out, and saw wonderful crispy smokehouse battery contacts!

Do I just fix the thing myself (and buy a new battery) or trust DJI assclown repair department with total mystery returned unit and shipping dates? Then they might update the firmware which I’d really not like. Warranty is good until June, so I have until then to decide.

I’ve replaced many Phantom 3 shells due to THAT design flaw, so at least I have experience if I fix this new design flaw myself, LOL.

UPDATE: Looks like no replacement battery connector is available. I have to trust the DJI repair people. Sigh........

More than likely, you’re going to get a refurb from them anyway. Not likely you’ll get back the same unit. At least that is what I have read many people say when sending in for repair.

 

[DaRana]

Update: So not sure if I'm getting better and being explicit/demanding with DJI Service, if DJI Service is getting marginally better, or both or just pure luck. But I got my replacement phantom on Monday.

Total elapsed time was under 3 weeks. Considering SOP for DJI is ground shipping and I'm on the east coast, that's pretty shockingly good.

Battery melt incident was Thursday 1/25. Spent ~1hr of time troubleshooting it Thursday. Spent another ~1.5hrs of time Friday dealing w/ DJI support (via chat). Insisted that they provide 2 day shipping both ways b/c it was clear warranty issue. Received ground shipping label Friday late afternoon, then got a second label which was 2 day shipping label about 6PM, so I couldn't ship until Monday.

Shipped Monday, 1/29, spent maybe 90 minutes packing and prepping with DJI's honestly kind of insane return process (considering how huge they are now, I feel like sending a link to download a word doc off an insanely long AWS link is a bit, well, time for some polish.) and shipped out that day. It was received 1/31 but not really received by repair until 2/1. Late 2/1 it was marked as "yeah it's a warranty repair" then late 2/2 it was marked as "okay we 'fixed' it and shipping back" aka "oh here's a random refurb we'll send!"

Tuesday 2/6 it shipped, and it shipped back ground, not 2 day, so it took a full week to get back here. Received 2/12.

Spent about 2 hrs Monday 2/12 going through basic setup, resetting all of the settings, some extra time added b/c somehow my account got effed up out of sync and I could login via web but not via app so I couldn't activate. Lovely. Then firmware updates with new battery and such, by then it was close to sunset so I only had a few mins before dark to do a battery's worth of basic testing.

Spent another hour yesterday running through @John Locke 's "New drone" checklist with a cpl of my own additions (How to validate your new Phantom 4P. What to test for.). I've gotten a bad refurb back from DJI before so not risking it. Got about half of tests done, plus side this one seems to gimbal flip SLIGHTLY less than my last, may also have a touch better resistance to vibration. Haven't seen yet if it can do full 4k w/o glitches - my last one was one of the black swans that could. On the down side, both flights I had wicked horizon tilts come out of nowhere in a way I've never had on my other two P4Ps.

Anyways, just figured I'd do something crazy and update on this. On the plus side, under 3 weeks for a warranty replacement on a Phantom 4 Pro from the east coast is pretty much best case scenario and should be recognized. Downside, I still did end up wasting 6+ hours so far for an annoying issue. But it could have been a LOT worse!

EDIT: Just to clarify, yes I got a refurb, as expected. Which means I need to go update my state farm policy and pay the FAA again for a new Part 107 aircraft registration

 

[John Locke]

EDIT: Just to clarify, yes I got a refurb, as expected. Which means I need to go update my state farm policy and pay the FAA again.

Pay FAA again? Has something changed with FAA?
Usually the registering routine gave the pilot a number that goes on all of your aircraft. Register yourself once and put that on any number of craft. Can't you simply label the new craft with the same number?

 

[DaRana]

Pay FAA again? Has something changed with FAA?
Usually the registering routine gave the pilot a number that goes on all of your aircraft. Register yourself once and put that on any number of craft. Can't you simply label the new craft with the same number?

Hey John, yeah, sorry, I should have clarified this was for Part 107 registration.For Part 107 registration you have to register each craft.

I'm actually going to update the post right now to avoid any future confusion by someone searching.

 

[John Locke]

Hey John, yeah, sorry, I should have clarified this was for Part 107 registration.For Part 107 registration you have to register each craft.

I'm actually going to update the post right now to avoid any future confusion by someone searching.

OK, that makes sense. Most people aren't Part 107, a bad assumption on my behalf.

 

[low_budget]

I sent my Phantom 4 pro back to DJI since I really had no other option and it was still under warranty.

Feb 7th: received, evaluation, and quote.
Feb 9th: repaired and tested
Feb 12th: shipped back

Still haven’t received it yet so I’m hoping for the best.

My Phantom 4 worked perfect before the battery connector melting and didn’t have a scratch. I sure hope I’m not disappointed with the refurb.

It looks like they’re replacing the battery too, I hope that isn’t a refurb.

I think this issue is a design flaw. The connectors are not large enough and the plastic can’t handle the heat generated. Maybe the Phantom 5 will fix this while introducing a new design flaw. Every DJI product has at least one major design flaw.

 

[DaRana]

OK, that makes sense. Most people aren't Part 107, a bad assumption on my behalf.

No worries, @John Locke , glad you pointed it out, actually. I wouldn't have wanted to leave confusing info out in a public post for someone to find in the future. At least, any more than I already do w/ typos and writing too much, too fast.

 

[DaRana]

I sent my Phantom 4 pro back to DJI since I really had no other option and it was still under warranty.

Feb 7th: received, evaluation, and quote.
Feb 9th: repaired and tested
Feb 12th: shipped back

Still haven’t received it yet so I’m hoping for the best.

My Phantom 4 worked perfect before the battery connector melting and didn’t have a scratch. I sure hope I’m not disappointed with the refurb.

It looks like they’re replacing the battery too, I hope that isn’t a refurb.

I think this issue is a design flaw. The connectors are not large enough and the plastic can’t handle the heat generated. Maybe the Phantom 5 will fix this while introducing a new design flaw. Every DJI product has at least one major design flaw.

Yeah, I got a replacement battery, too. According to my Airdata logs the battery is only reporting the 2 total charges I've done.

Re: the drone, it is a bit frustrating to know you're getting a refurb, moreso since DJI has a history of less-than-stellar refurbishing and quality control. I'm not sure how to decode the serial numbers, and the website to do so is no longer up, so I'm not sure how new or not this one is. It had stickers over the sensors, but it was missing all of the body stickers (e.g. the stickers next to the motors showing the prop colors, although the mounts themselves still have the black dots). So I'm assuming it's a refurb since my other two P4Ps had those stickers. And yeah, I knew every thing that ever happened to it, good and bad - not knowing what may have happened w/ this one is a bit annoying.

Glad that yours was turned around to quickly, too, though. I'll keep my shutter fingers crossed for ya that it comes back in good shape.

 

[With The Birds]

Yeah, I got a replacement battery, too. According to my Airdata logs the battery is only reporting the 2 total charges I've done.

Re: the drone, it is a bit frustrating to know you're getting a refurb, moreso since DJI has a history of less-than-stellar refurbishing and quality control. I'm not sure how to decode the serial numbers, and the website to do so is no longer up, so I'm not sure how new or not this one is. It had stickers over the sensors, but it was missing all of the body stickers (e.g. the stickers next to the motors showing the prop colors, although the mounts themselves still have the black dots). So I'm assuming it's a refurb since my other two P4Ps had those stickers. And yeah, I knew every thing that ever happened to it, good and bad - not knowing what may have happened w/ this one is a bit annoying.

Glad that yours was turned around to quickly, too, though. I'll keep my shutter fingers crossed for ya that it comes back in good shape.

If DJI process is as advertised you can assume, with respect to a refurb, it is an article that was returned during the original grace period after purchase and has been checked over prior to re supply.

It is not a repaired product.

 

[John Locke]

I think this issue is a design flaw. The connectors are not large enough and the plastic can’t handle the heat generated

I'm curious how you concluded your failure is a design flaw. Yours is the first failure like this that I've heard of. Could be a unique failure.

 

[Newbieguy]

I had a battery contact problem that caused my P3A to fall from the sky. They weren’t melted but somehow defect. Contacted the mothership and sent the drone to them they confirmed the problem and sent me another refirb as I was still under warranty. I was completely satisfied.

 

[John Locke]

I had a battery contact problem that caused my P3A to fall from the sky. They weren’t melted but somehow defect. Contacted the mothership and sent the drone to them they confirmed the problem and sent me another refirb as I was still under warranty. I was completely satisfied.

Just to be clear, your P3 failure isn't relevant to the P4 melted connector being discussed here in this thread. As for your P3 failure, which is a different physical form factor battery, that's the first time I heard of a "battery connector" problem from a P3.

What happened a lot with P3 craft was there were a good number of craft falling from the sky using 1.5 firmware in cold weather, or when someone got very close to a depleted battery and with full throttle up and full throttle forward. This perfect storm puts a high load on the battery, sometimes making the voltage of one cell drop to 2.99V. When that occurs the battery would auto-shutdown to protect the battery, hence the craft falls from the sky. That's a design flaw IMO, as a battery should never shut off while flying. Instead, DJI changed the 1.6 firmware to prevent full throttle acceleration when the lowest cell in the battery reached 3.6V, implementing throttle governing. This practically eliminated all scenarios of craft falling from the sky.

I'm guessing the battery protection scheme at 2.99V, which still exists today, is a hardwired circuit. I think someone here said they use a TI micro-controller for that. If it's hardwired with no provisions for firmware control, that may be why DJI implemented throttle governing, I would assume. However, if there was a option to interrupt auto shut-down during flight, then everyone could fly their drone well below 2.99V and potentially damaging the battery. Maybe DJI didn't want the liability of potentially having to replace batteries under warranty, with pilots flying under 3V all the time.