Phantom on Fire

[PhatJ420]

Hey all,

Unfortunately for my dumb ***, I did not ponder joining until tonight's tragic happening. I've had my Phantom for 6 days, FYI.

After attempting to install a $150 gimbal that I bought off of ebay, my Phantom caught fire when I went to plug the battery in. Flames could be seen through the two rear arms of the airframe along with plenty of cancer causing smoke and fumes (barf).

Something tells me I caused a short.

Upon opening up the case, multiple wires that connect the motor controller boards to the NAZA were fried through like fuses. Complete dissection.

Good news: LED & Sound (though a bit muffled) indicated VERY normal "brain" activity.

The board that the NAZA is mounted on shows signs of being fried as well, though...

At any rate, I'm feeling like I just lost a very close friend and am hoping that the worse I am looking at is 4x motor controller boards and a main board.... God forbid the NAZA and/or GPS is fried.

What have y'all heard in regards to the tolerance to stupidity in the eyes of DJI?

Any advice or recommendation as to how most economically to get my baby up and running again is most appreciated.

Regards,
James

P.S. please take it easy on me... I'm as noob as they come.

 

[popwebz]

After attempting to install a $150 gimbal that I bought off of ebay, my Phantom caught fire when I went to plug the battery in.

Something tells me I caused a short.

I suspect that your "gimbal" was drawing too much current. Your device that steps down the voltage for the gimbal probably was bad (if you had one even).
Too much current = heat = smoking

It's funny that less than a week of flight time and you are already trying to use a gimbal. This is not something you eat to dive head first into.

 

[popwebz]

After attempting to install a $150 gimbal that I bought off of ebay, my Phantom caught fire when I went to plug the battery in.

Something tells me I caused a short.

I suspect that your "gimbal" was drawing too much current. Your device that steps down the voltage for the gimbal probably was bad (if you had one even).
Too much current = heat = smoking

It's funny that less than a week of flight time and you are already trying to use a gimbal. This is not something you eat to dive head first into.

 

[CameraGuy]

Hey all,

Unfortunately for my dumb ***, I did not ponder joining until tonight's tragic happening. I've had my Phantom for 6 days, FYI.

After attempting to install a $150 gimbal that I bought off of ebay, my Phantom caught fire when I went to plug the battery in. Flames could be seen through the two rear arms of the airframe along with plenty of cancer causing smoke and fumes (barf).

Something tells me I caused a short.

Upon opening up the case, multiple wires that connect the motor controller boards to the NAZA were fried through like fuses. Complete dissection.

Good news: LED & Sound (though a bit muffled) indicated VERY normal "brain" activity.

The board that the NAZA is mounted on shows signs of being fried as well, though...

At any rate, I'm feeling like I just lost a very close friend and am hoping that the worse I am looking at is 4x motor controller boards and a main board.... God forbid the NAZA and/or GPS is fried.

What have y'all heard in regards to the tolerance to stupidity in the eyes of DJI?

Any advice or recommendation as to how most economically to get my baby up and running again is most appreciated.

Regards,
James

P.S. please take it easy on me... I'm as noob as they come.

I posted something a week ago about not using the aux power to power a gimbal. The electronics are just not up to scratch. That's what happened to you I believe.

You may have to replace everything inside. Hopefully the NAZA is fine and the receiver.I would start by removing as much as you can from the board.

Better yet, contact your dealer, or the local flying club. They might be able to help you.

Sorry for your trouble.

Darren

 

[PhatJ420]

Thank you for the advice... As far as the gimbal, it claims to be of matched voltage to the Phantom's system. I had very successful flights using it over the course of 3 days (about a half dozen).

That said, I did notice that the aux power wires coming from the Phantom seemed very thin for 12V. What it looks like may have happened was the insulation melted from the heat caused by the current, then shorting itself out as the + and - would have then come into contact with each other and there doesn't seem to be any fuse for the aux power (one would think that it would be a very good idea to have an aux 12v line fused).

Due to the fact that I have had this aircraft for such a short time, I intend to ask the store I bought it from to replace it as defective. They have about 6 stores so it is certainly considered a small chain and they have sold quite a number of these. I believe I shall just not share the fact that I was using an aftermarket gimbal.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Again, thank you.

 

[popwebz]

I intend to ask the store I bought it from to replace it as defective. They have about 6 stores so it is certainly considered a small chain and they have sold quite a number of these. I believe I shall just not share the fact that I was using an aftermarket gimbal.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Ugg that sounds so slimy and unethical.

 

[jbuckley]

My Phantom 2 Gimbal also caught fire this past week. So far it is crickets over at DJI support. I have all the pictures and a video. No one was hurt and the GoPro and P2 seem to be ok, but the Gimbal horizontal join melted apart. I had about 10 hours on this particular setup and it was sitting in my lat when it happened. Friggin' scary!

This has to be a product defect with too much current coming from the P2 battery to the Gimbal. Still waiting to hear has this can be made right and, more importantly, hoping that this isn't an issue leading to big, news-making fires in the hills of California.

 

[wkf94025]

I intend to ask the store I bought it from to replace it as defective. They have about 6 stores so it is certainly considered a small chain and they have sold quite a number of these. I believe I shall just not share the fact that I was using an aftermarket gimbal.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Ugg that sounds so slimy and unethical.

+1

 

[OI Photography]

My Phantom 2 Gimbal also caught fire this past week. So far it is crickets over at DJI support. I have all the pictures and a video. No one was hurt and the GoPro and P2 seem to be ok, but the Gimbal horizontal join melted apart. I had about 10 hours on this particular setup and it was sitting in my lat when it happened. Friggin' scary!

This has to be a product defect with too much current coming from the P2 battery to the Gimbal. Still waiting to hear has this can be made right and, more importantly, hoping that this isn't an issue leading to big, news-making fires in the hills of California.

This thread is 7 months old, and referring to an aftermarket (non-DJI) gimbal on the P1, not the P2. I don't mean to diminish what you did experience, I just didn't want you seeing precedence where there wasn't any. Did you contact the dealer where you purchased it? That's the first place to try with a problem like this.