Please guys read this help me out. "Frustrated"

[Ash]

Hi Guys. Who ever has read my previous posts will know how much bad luck I have had since purchasing my DJI Phantom 2. I have been blighted with issues regarding my tx controller and the phantom its self.

1. I had to send back my controller, it didn't work
2. Second controller, tilt didn't work, sent back to vendor and was repaired....this was all positive
3 Purchased a h33d gimbal had to be sent back , didnt work properly and got sent another.....all fine again
4 Phantom has turned into a psychotic suicide pilot and had decided to destroy most of its components. It has broken my h33d gimbal, battery, rc immersion 600mw tx, skids, props, gopro connecting arm and my compass was ripped off and is lying somewhere in undergrowth.

My phantom has never been that stable (according to my flying mate, who has experience with flying and building) My Phantom will not hold in gps even when I get a strong homelock. When in the air just two feet above the ground the Phantom decides to fly off in any direction it wants and sometimes at quite a speed and eventually crashing and Sunday we had to fish it out of a tree.....its mad!! It won't hold in gps at all and having tried different things to right the situation we have to tie a line on the bottom of the skids so we can pull it back down when it goes into flyaway mode while testing. This Phantom could cause some innocent person injury. I am with an experienced flyer most of the time, so no interference, good homelocks, no wifi.... been all the the videos learning how to fly safe and properly. My friend never has problems with his. I will have to pay up to about £500 to get this heap up and running again, the way I intended. I haven't flown much, so disappointing and I am actually afraid of my Phantom.

Anyway I am prepared, however a little upset to take the loss of the damaged components If can get thing psychotic Phantom stable and able to fly safely, so I can just do some nice videography which I intended to do. Does anyone know why my phantom behaves in this manner? Please help guys, just any ideas may lead me to a solution. I now have some experience with the Phantoms electronics and software now so I am comfortable to work in this environment......so any ideas?? Pleaseeeeeeee!!!! Thank you

 

[chapsrlz]

are you sure you are flying in gps mode, and firmware uodated to latest stable version?

also if you have crashed it you may consider connecting it to the sofware assistant.

 

[Ash]

Thanks Chapslrz, yes definately gps all updated firmware and done a hard reset and checked and calibrated. even checked compass mods.... all good. This is thre frustrating part, we consider all to be ok but the phantom is so unstable, I haven't heard of anyone else having the problems I have had. Some do seem to have an occasional flyaway but mine does it all the time. I throttle up to a few feet slowly, its drifts the when I throttle to gain height or to try regain control.....its goes off. On two occasions i get it up, it drifts out of gps i have got some control for a short period then I hear it pick up speed so much so that it is almost on its side and off it goes....no control what so ever... Crash takes 20 or more minutes to find it in pieces. My mate says my Phantom thinks its a plane

 

[chapsrlz]

are you doing physicall examinations on the phantom before a flight?
running a checklist?
no damage on props, case, etc?

it doesnt matter if you have 6 or more satellites, if you have a tiny crack on a prop youll end with an erratic quad (been there)

 

[Ash]

Yes I do always very careful. I am now too nervous to fly unless I am very sure evrything is ok, however how sure i am the phantom still goes crazy. I went to a meadow when I first purchased the phantom, for some reason I could not get a homelock. I turned off the phantom put it in the boot of my car and went home. I somehow feel the props are getting the wrong information...totally disregarding the gps signal.....but how could this possibly happen

 

[OI Photography]

Does it exhibit the same behavior if you fly in ATTI mode only, and without the gimbal attached?

 

[Jason Church]

Have you accidently Rev one or more of the channels in the Phantom assistant? They should all say norm or Rev.

 

[DesertFlyer53]

What are your gain settings?

 

[Pacific Barbarian]

Re: Please guys read this help me out. "Frustrated"

I admire you for your patience. I know its a lot of money but it almost makes sense to dump it and buy a new one. I know that is not a good solution and we all have a never give up attitude but sounds like you have tried it all. Maybe just let it go next time it wants to fly away.

 

[Ash]

Thanks guys not sure about gain a rev, so I haven't touched any controls like that. I have done an advanced imu calibration, I always do sticks religiously. Totally miffed, and I would love just to trash it and buy another that way I might gain some confidence back, however the cost is too high, especially with the pieces i have broke from the flyaways.

Any way thanks for all your help. The short and long of it is. The guy I purchased is having it back to repair, his after care sales and patience is the best I have ever come across............fingers crossed. I do have to say after watching vids on flyaways, I really do think Phantoms have flaws, there are far to many flyaways for my mind. Thanks

 

[lake_flyer]

Hmmmm, this looks like a faulty power connection to me.

When the Phantom loses power for only a fraction of a second the motors keep running but the chance is great that the startup information in the memory of the NAZA controller is damaged or lost. So it flies totally blind. It has to reinitialise the compass, the barometer as well as the GPS. Even if the GPS would still hold it's information, the loss of barometric and compass data is enough to make the quad go nuts.
[edit] I might not be right on the ball here, after all, I am not a DJI R&D person, but I found out that a bad battery does this.

I had it right from the start with my FC40. It just flew away exactly like yours. Everything was fine, green lights all over, all software updates and calibrations done. But it just flew away to the lake a minute after startup. I managed to get manual control by switching the radio on and off.
Turned out to be a bad battery connection. It just disconnected during flight because of the obvious vibrations. After I made sure all connections were tight I never had the problem again.

Now this is a P2. So you have the 5200 battery. Are you sure all the connectors are clean and make good contact?
Are you totally sure the battery itself is 100%, don't be too sure....they fail.

Just my thoughts, I hope you get it sorted out.

 

[lake_flyer]

And one other thing.

Completely re flashing the firmware and advanced calibration followed by a field calibration could perhaps also help.
Nahhh, you might already have tried that.

 

[CameraGuy]

I had a phantom 1 like that. I got to the point where I couldn't trust IT and it is sitting in a box right now doing nothing.

I didn't fly for over a year. I finally ended up buying a new P2 with the H3 3D, and have had some good success.

If you are like me, you will never feel good about flying this Phantom. Put it away, buy another, they are on sale and enjoy the next one.

I hate to tell you this, but better to start fresh. DJI won't support you. That's how the Chinese are

D

 

[gordhunt]

My phantom 1 did that and it was the compass replaced it and issues since

 

[CarlJ]

My phantom 1 did that and it was the compass replaced it and issues since

Good call gordhunt, a compass issues will manifest in exactly the same manner that the OP describes. A quick look at the mod values and a visual inspection of the compass itself should shed some light on the issue.

To the OP, good luck and don't give up.

 

[Ash]

HI. I have fitted a new compass and sent the Phantom back to the vendor for inspection and repair. He emailed me yesterday saying he flew my Phantom, after trying to gain height the phantom went out of control. He then took off my after market carbon props and put some original DJI ones on, he says the Phantom now flys perfectly. It is so hard to believe after market props could make the Phantom so crazy but it does seem that way. I should have it back tomorrow so all good once again..... ha ha until the next time, I do admit as one poster says I have lost a lot of confidence in my Phantom and the best bet would be to buy another but I am not prepared to do this just yet. I can honestly say I would have my friend build me one like his. He flys perfectly everytime, never has issues.

Anyway guys if I can send a message out, it would be stick with original props only. Thanks

 

[DesertFlyer53]

HI. I have fitted a new compass and sent the Phantom back to the vendor for inspection and repair. He emailed me yesterday saying he flew my Phantom, after trying to gain height the phantom went out of control. He then took off my after market carbon props and put some original DJI ones on, he says the Phantom now flys perfectly. It is so hard to believe after market props could make the Phantom so crazy but it does seem that way. I should have it back tomorrow so all good once again..... ha ha until the next time, I do admit as one poster says I have lost a lot of confidence in my Phantom and the best bet would be to buy another but I am not prepared to do this just yet. I can honestly say I would have my friend build me one like his. He flys perfectly everytime, never has issues.

Anyway guys if I can send a message out, it would be stick with original props only. Thanks

You had carbon props installed!? Wish you would have mentioned this from the beginning! The Phantom does NOT fly well with carbon props. This is a well known issue. Pays to read these forums.

 

[lake_flyer]

Certainly wise to mention any mods or changes you made to the original setup.
However, with good quality carbon props the Phantom would normally fly fine, be it that you have to perform some calibration of the prop blades and or hub. But even uncalibrated it should fly at least ok'ish, perhaps a little more vibration but that should be about it.

I can hardly believe that changing the props solves all your problems. Your dealer will probably as a last resort have reinstalled 3.06 and did an advanced calibration after changing the props back to original. But you should be able to put on carbon props in the right size and shape and fly without issues other then vibration. A lot of people on this forum fly with carbon without issue. Not me though, I think the DJI props are that flexible for a reason, smooth and forgiving and as little vibration in your video takes as possible.

 

[Ash]

Hi. Yes I agree I should have mentioned the modifications I had made, however being a newbie its quite hard to remember firmware update versions, prop changes when I have so very little experience. I too find it very hard to believe just changing the props to the originals can make my phantom more stable. If it was just jittering in the air I could understand, but to keep losing total control and it flying away at speed is much harder to believe. When I fixed the new aftermarket props I did examine them carefully, the, just seemed like a clone at less than half the price.....they were the same length, and seemed to be the same pitch so I cannot get my head around the Phantom going into its own "Psycho mode"

If DJI Phantom had a outlet I would march it straight to them. I missed the courier today so i will have to get the Phantom tomorrow..........wish me luck and thanks for all the help you have given me, its had gone appreciated.

Best Regards

 

[jason]

Ash don't feel bad about using after market props as there are a few of us who have done the same thing. I have used after market props because they were cheap $18 for four vs $30 for DJI original. Then after several crashes and reading a few articles in this forum
about after market props I mic those props against the originals and was surprised at the results. Haven't had a problem since putting original props back on. I will not say I haven't had a crash or run into things because I have but what I will say is use original equipment and you'll far less uncontrolled flights. Happy flying.