Phantom Down!
- Thread starter Dirty Bird
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I love it!!! I have read it 3 times now. Having gone through this a couple times myself this year, I felt like I was right there smoking my marlboro lights next to you.
He cuts the freakin tree down.....lol hahHAHAHaaaa! When I mentioned this to my wife, she said Frank you know you would done the same thing to get your quad back. I never have found the two I lost.
He cuts the freakin tree down.....lol hahHAHAHaaaa! When I mentioned this to my wife, she said Frank you know you would done the same thing to get your quad back. I never have found the two I lost.
flyNfrank said:
Keep in mind that this sort of thing is equivalent to idiots buzzing crowds of people or flying around govt. buildings. Cutting down a tree to retrieve a plastic toy is not endearing us to the public at all, unless it just happens to be a completely dead tree and ready to fall anyway.
Even though it's a $1,200 machine you can't just go around cutting down trees without permission on public or private land to retrieve it. Lucky the OP didnt get caught and charged with criminal vandalism or trespassing.
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I have a Limefuel external battery I use to charge up my Google Glass and my cell. It's a great product.
I'm inclined to trust anything they make until proven otherwise. It's not even being released until Oct 15 so the battery in question may be a prototype or very early model?
http://www.amazon.com/Limefuel-Replacem ... B00M7F83KK
I'm a tree hugger but I think I'd probably grab the chain saw too to get my little guy back. Especially if it was in the middle of a dense forest. Of course I might not tell anyone I did it...
I'm inclined to trust anything they make until proven otherwise. It's not even being released until Oct 15 so the battery in question may be a prototype or very early model?
http://www.amazon.com/Limefuel-Replacem ... B00M7F83KK
I'm a tree hugger but I think I'd probably grab the chain saw too to get my little guy back. Especially if it was in the middle of a dense forest. Of course I might not tell anyone I did it...
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DB, I am sorry to hear of your trouble. Your story was well written and captivating. Cutting down a tree? That's dedication!
I had posted of a similar battery problem. I was over the ocean filming my son surfing, close to 200 feet offshore, when I received a low battery alarm and the bird began to auto-descend. I was only at about 30 feet, mind you. My battery was reporting at 59% via the telemetry. I thought she was a goner, but I applied full throttle up and she maintained altitude. I headed for shore, keeping full left stick up. Got her safely to shore, started to breathe again, and began the diagnostic process.
Thanks to several posts on this board, I realized I had a bad battery and that the issue usually came from a damaged battery. But I never dropped it....never crashed with it (this was before my unfortunate gimbal damaging DWI flight).
I inspected the battery... No swelling, but a white plastic support in the the middle of the battery was slightly cracked. It had fallen over a few times while charging it. I would never have suspected that a little bump could ruin a battery like it did. Since it was damaged, I couldn't send it back to DDM. When I connected to the computer, one cell was way off. Definite bad battery.
I decided to see the extent of the damage and the limits of the battery. I went out to the garage and charged it while observing it closely for swelling or other issues. When it was charged, I went for a low altitude flight.
It flew perfectly, until 59%. Low battery alarm and auto land began again. I decided to test the limits of the issue. Holding left stick up kept the bird at a steady altitude, and she remained controllable. I was even able to slowly climb, but didn't dare to exceed 7-10 feet. This state remained for a good 5 minutes, then it slowly began to descend no regardless of the inputs, but very slowly.
I brought that battery to the recycling center and said goodbye, not wanting to risk a fire or further damage to the battery or Phantom.
I hope your Phantom prowls the skies again soon, DB. If, heaven forbid, this happens to you again, or to anyone else reading this post, hold that left stick up and get her home ASAP. If you can, and if you are willing, DB, confirm my findings....
Best of luck
I had posted of a similar battery problem. I was over the ocean filming my son surfing, close to 200 feet offshore, when I received a low battery alarm and the bird began to auto-descend. I was only at about 30 feet, mind you. My battery was reporting at 59% via the telemetry. I thought she was a goner, but I applied full throttle up and she maintained altitude. I headed for shore, keeping full left stick up. Got her safely to shore, started to breathe again, and began the diagnostic process.
Thanks to several posts on this board, I realized I had a bad battery and that the issue usually came from a damaged battery. But I never dropped it....never crashed with it (this was before my unfortunate gimbal damaging DWI flight).
I inspected the battery... No swelling, but a white plastic support in the the middle of the battery was slightly cracked. It had fallen over a few times while charging it. I would never have suspected that a little bump could ruin a battery like it did. Since it was damaged, I couldn't send it back to DDM. When I connected to the computer, one cell was way off. Definite bad battery.
I decided to see the extent of the damage and the limits of the battery. I went out to the garage and charged it while observing it closely for swelling or other issues. When it was charged, I went for a low altitude flight.
It flew perfectly, until 59%. Low battery alarm and auto land began again. I decided to test the limits of the issue. Holding left stick up kept the bird at a steady altitude, and she remained controllable. I was even able to slowly climb, but didn't dare to exceed 7-10 feet. This state remained for a good 5 minutes, then it slowly began to descend no regardless of the inputs, but very slowly.
I brought that battery to the recycling center and said goodbye, not wanting to risk a fire or further damage to the battery or Phantom.
I hope your Phantom prowls the skies again soon, DB. If, heaven forbid, this happens to you again, or to anyone else reading this post, hold that left stick up and get her home ASAP. If you can, and if you are willing, DB, confirm my findings....
Best of luck
Great story and like everyone else I hope she lives to fly again.
I had a scare like that a couple of days ago - coming back from a successful range test (2.2miles) the battery level shot down to 18% (or mYbe it was 14%) when I was still over 4000' away. Landed at 2% altough I didn't have thick woods like you in case I came up short. Have never had the battery drop like that in nearly 250 flights.
I had a scare like that a couple of days ago - coming back from a successful range test (2.2miles) the battery level shot down to 18% (or mYbe it was 14%) when I was still over 4000' away. Landed at 2% altough I didn't have thick woods like you in case I came up short. Have never had the battery drop like that in nearly 250 flights.
Dirty Bird said:Last night I decided to head out for a relaxing night flight around the neighborhood. It was to be the 120th flight for my Vision+. I flew out a few thousand feet in each compass direction, bringing her back overhead after each segment. On the forth segment, I suddenly & unexpectedly received a low-battery alert, which was odd as moments earlier the battery was showing 58%. The Phantom was a couple thousand feet out as I headed for home. I could see the LEDs clearly in the distance when she began losing altitude. As the klaxon sounded, even full throttle was insufficient to maintain altitude. My house is surrounded by trees, and I have to stay high to maintain visual contact. As she slipped out of sight behind the trees, still nearly 2000' away, I knew she would never make it home.
Phantom Down!
This was a sickening feeling, but I tried to keep my head and thought it best to cease any attempt at an RTH where it might crash at speed. Instead I decided to release the sticks and allow her to autoland straight down at her current location. Unfortunately I knew she was over Stinchcolme's Hollow...the oldest & densest piece of forested terrain in the area. Though it is not a particularly large wooded area, its like Jurassic Park in there and you can't even see the sky through the canopy. I knew she was going down, so I went inside and logged into my Flytrex account. The mission was still showing live, and her last reported location was where I feared. I grabbed my Garmin eTrex and manually entered the Flytrex coordinates, broke out a powerful Coast LED flashlight, and off I went into the night. Before leaving I logged my cell into Flytrex so I could stay aware of her status. She continued to broadcast for several minutes after landing before the battery shutdown @ 9.51 volts.
Here I am out in the dark of night, in dense woods with which I am unfamiliar, flashlight in hand, following a GPS pointer, searching for my bird. The canopy is extremely dense and I knew it was almost certainly "up there" somewhere. This wasn't going to be a simple "pick her up off the ground" mission. Flytrex showed her last altitude as 116', confirming my suspicions. Just as I am approaching the coordinates things took a turn for the worse....it began to rain. Not a gentle rain, mind you, a monsoon sort of rain, and in only few minutes I am drenched and I know my Phantom is getting soaked too! :shock: Through the torrential downpour, and with the aid of my trusty Coast flashlight, I caught a glimpse of what I *THINK* is my bird. It is high up in the canopy...at least 75-80' above...and just a glimpse of white where there should be only green & black. I know there is nothing more I can do in the dark. I mark the tree with my pocket knife and sadly head home. :?
Throughout the night I hear rain pounding on the roof, and it is still pouring when I head out this morning to resume the search. I head into the wet woods straight for the tree, my journey made easier with a bit of daylight. This time at least I have a poncho & a thermos of coffee! When I arrive at the tree I look up, but I see no sign of my Phantom. All I see are branches & leaves. Now the sky is light & gray, and the blip of white I saw the night before has nothing to stand out against. I wonder if I really saw it or was it just wishful thinking? For the next two hours I wander the woods in the pouring rain, searching to no avail. I brought along binoculars and scan the trees but see nothing. I run out of smokes and head back to my vehicle to reload and tap into the thermos of coffee to ease the chill of the cold, damp, morning. I am ready to concede...she is lost.
No Phantom Left Behind!
While savoring the warmth of my coffee, I suddenly think I should check the "Find My Phantom" feature in the Vision App. The last reported location was exactly the same as the Flytrex data. What are the odds both could be wrong? So back into the woods I go. I return to the tree and, on the "Find My Phantom" map, the blue & red dots converge. She's here...somewhere. For the next 20 minutes I scan the treetops with my binoculars. Suddenly, at the top of the very tree I had marked the night before, I spot her! She is in one of the highest branches, pitched sideways, perfectly hidden high atop the canopy. You wouldn't see this until the last leaves had fallen. Now how do I get her down? Well....I'm too old to be climbing trees and, like most deep woods trees, this one had very few branches down low. That's when I remembered why man invented the chainsaw!I headed home, grabbed the saw, planned my angle of attack, and felled the damned tree! I planned the felling well, and the tree came down slowly with its fall eased by a dead husk of a tree at which I deliberately took aim. There she was....I had my Phantom back!
Damage Assessment:
Believe it or not, aside from being wet, not even a prop was nicked! Just a few leaf stains which I removed by dipping in bleach. (I will likely toss the props and install a new set just to be safe) Opening the shell I found only a few drops of water inside near two of the motors. I am very surprised more water did not find its way inside due to the intense rain and the angle at which she was sitting (nearly vertical on her left side). The camera & gimbal were both thoroughly soaked, but show no signs of physical damage. I have blown them out, applied a blow dryer, and have them covered in rice at the moment. The Flytrex Live is still in place. The battery still powers on and was not even wet save for the exposed cap. It has already been recharged, though I doubt I will use it again. It appears she made graceful landing into the canopy. If there is any damage it will be due to sitting out in the rain all night. It will be a few days before I apply power to test further.
Flytrex Live +1, "Find My Phantom" +1
Stinchcolme's Hollow - Not the best place for an emergency landing & recovery operation!
Sitting on the table drying out in rice:
**** you! Nice story, I was supposed to prepare my vegetables for morning juice while looking at forum and I ended up looking at forum while holding a beetroot and a carrot in my hands...
Poor tree though, but for the future, you might as well nuke the whole forest so that this does not happen again...
Dirty Bird said:Thanks! Last time I flew with this battery I got a momentary low-battery alert during a high-speed flight with a concurrent max throttle input. It only lasted for a moment so I ignored it, but perhaps I should have taken it more seriously? I will cycle the battery and test it close by, but no more long-range missions with Battery #1!
Sorry to say this DB but yes you never ignore any warning !
As i also had a faulty battery experience it gave a first time warning when it flew full throttle and went away. It was @ approx 50% or below the first time that battery agave a warning.
I recharged the battery but the next time it gave a warning when it hitted the 93% level.
Watch out with it and fly in close proximity.
DownunderPhantom said:
It is, and I purchased it back on April 30th. I believe the batteries only have a 90 day warranty.
Sorry to hear your story bro. But u lucky Man U got it back I lost mine and had to buy a new one so thumbs up for your dedication
Dirty Bird said:
Warranty or not, a factory fault must be covered unlimited, thats my idea of a product.
Just ask the question on a replacement DB, a " no " you already have, a " yes " you can get !
arizeda said:
I can't plug it in to check at the moment but ~30 cycles. A couple of months back I dropped this battery. It fell a couple feet onto the tile floor, and the inner casing incurred a small crack that I repaired with epoxy. I stayed close the next time I flew with the pack and noticed no issues, and it has flown numerous times since. Whether the drop may have had anything to do with it is hard to say? I have four packs and all are just about six months old (April) and right around 30 cycles. All of my batteries are the ones with the small round contacts.
MadMitch88 said:
I understand where you are coming from but, believe me, no one is going to care or even notice a felled tree in there. This is an old-growth piece of dense woods that is extremely difficult to get through. The ground is littered with the rotting hulks of fallen trees, briars, and dense growth. While I was searching I stopped to admire one massive white oak that has to be the king of that particular spot of forest. It had to be over 125' tall with a trunk at least 8' in diameter, and it was quite majestic.
Great story and you have a flair for writing. Glad you got it back in such great shape.
This other post must be from a different Dirty Bird, right?
This other post must be from a different Dirty Bird, right?
Dirty Bird said:Opwan said:
Yup...
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DB: Hope everything works out for you. Try this to recover your video file before your Phantom dries out http://live555.com/drones/DJI-Phantom-2-Vision+-video-fix/
I have had the same problem with the batteries as you. The first battery I had this with the problem occurred right at the end of a long flight but when the battery still had about %50 remaining capacity reported. I recharged the battery and tested it carefully however it only got worse. I contacted DJI in the states and eventually got them to replace the battery. It took about 5 weeks for them to return a new one but hey at least they did. I also purchased mine back in April and they said they would warranty them for a year.
I have now had another battery fail with the same issue. Both batteries with the small round communication pins. My second battery failure I was not so lucky. In this case I was out on a long GS sortie flying out around and then over a local lake, normally about a 4 mile loop that I have flown many times. I have over 300 flights on my bird. This time however on my way back during this flight my Phantom was near completing it flight but still over the lake starting its accent to come over the trees and return back to where it departed and suddenly the battery alert started with still %54 remaining in the battery. My Phantom was still 200 feet off shore but it was in a place I couldn't see it directly since It was still about 1/2 mile away from me and below the trees. I quickly called my dronemods GPS tracker on my bird and alas I got no response. I knew then it must be in the water. I retrieved the data from the GS app and got the exact coordinates where it stopped. Oddly it stopped transmitting its telemetry 15 feet over the water. I imagine it must have either completely lost power at 15 feet or that I lost the signal from the datalink at that height which seemed less likely. I grabbed one of my kayaks and headed down to the beach and paddled out to the GPS coordinates where my Phantom was last reported. Unfortunately there was nothing I could see even though this lake is extremely clear. The next day I returned again because there was a bit more sun and I brought a sting and a weight so I could check the depth. Again I could see nothing but I measured the water depth and it 45 feet! I certainly wasn't going to snorkel down to recover it. Later I returned with a gopro camera and lowered that down on a string so I could get a view from the bottom of the lake. I pulled the around near the bottom and went back home and looked at the video. Certainly the water was clear at 45 feet as I could see the bottom and all the rocks around but no Phantom to be seen. I contracted a local commercial diver to come out. Diver Lou and I kayaked out to the GPS coordinates. He set an anchor and buoy and dove down to search. after about 20 minutes he found it. Sure enough on the bottom at 45 feet sitting on the floor as if it had landed there with no visible damage. It was only 35 feet from the GPS coordinates provided and 45 feet down.
Now I am in the process of recovering it. I carefully completely disassembled everything down to the last screw and used deoxit on all its circuits as it has spent 4 days under water. Most everything is in good shape. All four ESC's and my battery are toast and my flytrex core 2 is also toast, everything else seems fine. Most of the circuits in the Phantom are pretty well protected from moisture damage by conformal coating put on by DJI. The camera is not but mine was not harmed by the water once deoxit treated and dried out. The ESC's seemed to get their MOSFET's blown perhaps from temperature. Fortunately they are only $19 each. My flytrex core 2 has a blown regulator which has happened to it before even without the water. I will likely repair that. The failed battery will go to be recycled, its totally dead, even if it wasn't I would never trust it again.
So far it appears that my Phantom will fly again soon but I am starting to get concerned about the reliability of these batteries.
Best of luck in getting yours back to operational DB!
BTW: after recovering my flytrex core 2 data and my video from my flight its clear that power cutout completely 15 feet above the water, all data and video recording stopped there so even if I had been on the spot to try to hold the throttle up there would have been nothing I could do.
I have had the same problem with the batteries as you. The first battery I had this with the problem occurred right at the end of a long flight but when the battery still had about %50 remaining capacity reported. I recharged the battery and tested it carefully however it only got worse. I contacted DJI in the states and eventually got them to replace the battery. It took about 5 weeks for them to return a new one but hey at least they did. I also purchased mine back in April and they said they would warranty them for a year.
I have now had another battery fail with the same issue. Both batteries with the small round communication pins. My second battery failure I was not so lucky. In this case I was out on a long GS sortie flying out around and then over a local lake, normally about a 4 mile loop that I have flown many times. I have over 300 flights on my bird. This time however on my way back during this flight my Phantom was near completing it flight but still over the lake starting its accent to come over the trees and return back to where it departed and suddenly the battery alert started with still %54 remaining in the battery. My Phantom was still 200 feet off shore but it was in a place I couldn't see it directly since It was still about 1/2 mile away from me and below the trees. I quickly called my dronemods GPS tracker on my bird and alas I got no response. I knew then it must be in the water. I retrieved the data from the GS app and got the exact coordinates where it stopped. Oddly it stopped transmitting its telemetry 15 feet over the water. I imagine it must have either completely lost power at 15 feet or that I lost the signal from the datalink at that height which seemed less likely. I grabbed one of my kayaks and headed down to the beach and paddled out to the GPS coordinates where my Phantom was last reported. Unfortunately there was nothing I could see even though this lake is extremely clear. The next day I returned again because there was a bit more sun and I brought a sting and a weight so I could check the depth. Again I could see nothing but I measured the water depth and it 45 feet! I certainly wasn't going to snorkel down to recover it. Later I returned with a gopro camera and lowered that down on a string so I could get a view from the bottom of the lake. I pulled the around near the bottom and went back home and looked at the video. Certainly the water was clear at 45 feet as I could see the bottom and all the rocks around but no Phantom to be seen. I contracted a local commercial diver to come out. Diver Lou and I kayaked out to the GPS coordinates. He set an anchor and buoy and dove down to search. after about 20 minutes he found it. Sure enough on the bottom at 45 feet sitting on the floor as if it had landed there with no visible damage. It was only 35 feet from the GPS coordinates provided and 45 feet down.
Now I am in the process of recovering it. I carefully completely disassembled everything down to the last screw and used deoxit on all its circuits as it has spent 4 days under water. Most everything is in good shape. All four ESC's and my battery are toast and my flytrex core 2 is also toast, everything else seems fine. Most of the circuits in the Phantom are pretty well protected from moisture damage by conformal coating put on by DJI. The camera is not but mine was not harmed by the water once deoxit treated and dried out. The ESC's seemed to get their MOSFET's blown perhaps from temperature. Fortunately they are only $19 each. My flytrex core 2 has a blown regulator which has happened to it before even without the water. I will likely repair that. The failed battery will go to be recycled, its totally dead, even if it wasn't I would never trust it again.
So far it appears that my Phantom will fly again soon but I am starting to get concerned about the reliability of these batteries.
Best of luck in getting yours back to operational DB!
BTW: after recovering my flytrex core 2 data and my video from my flight its clear that power cutout completely 15 feet above the water, all data and video recording stopped there so even if I had been on the spot to try to hold the throttle up there would have been nothing I could do.
tpallred said:Great story and you have a flair for writing. Glad you got it back in such great shape.
This other post must be from a different Dirty Bird, right?
Dirty Bird said:Opwan said:
Yup...
Thanks. LOL....ummm...well technically I did not crash...
DronePilot said:
Thank you. I will give your file recovery program a try as YouTube was unable to correct the problem. I am surprised your Phantom came out so well sitting immersed for four days at 45' depth. Good thing it was fresh water! How much did the diver services cost? I am mostly concerned with the camera/gimbal since the Phantom itself only had a couple drops of water inside. I am going to let her sit in the rice for a few days before powering things up to access the damage.
EDIT - I tried running the video repair program but it says it won't run on a 64-bit version of Windows.
Dirty Bird said:Thanks. LOL....ummm...well technically I did not crash...
Glad you could take some gentle kidding.
And, right! It just landed with excess elevation! :lol:
tpallred said:Glad you could take some gentle kidding.
I landed in the treetops!
I'm reminded of that scene in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" when he flies over the handlebars of his bike and proclaims, "I meant to do that!"
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