RANT: Lastest victim of Phantom 2 Sudden Death/Skyfall

Call to DJI North America +1 (818) 235 0789, after pushing "3" for technical assistance:

"For technical assistance, your call will be answered in the order that they were received." *CLICK* .....busytone...
:roll:

**UPDATE: Called 5 times and got: 3 instant clicks to busytone, and 2 with the message "You are #_ in line"...after 2 minutes...click busytone...

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Not...happy
 
The falls like this are a worry. If the batteries are failing, there's nothing any of us can do about it. Imagine worst case scenario.......eg. hits a child..........yikes!

Edit: I wonder if there's an error causing the motors to shut off too soon, when it tilts to 70 degs. If the Phantom tilted heavily for some reason and it turns off after less than a sec of 70 degs, that would be a problem.
Page 10 of the Naza M Quick Start Guide.


Edit: Nope...this Phantom lost power, THEN tilted and flipped. Back to the drawing board.
 

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That looks like the classic battery failure. Did the battery come out when it hit the ground? Was it showing any signs of life? Or was it totally dead. Does it power on now? That battery needs to get to DJI.

EDIT: After watching the video again, it looks like the battery didn't shut down completely.
 
I always wonder if it's stupidity or just carelessness that makes people fly a drone over a highly populated public area. Flying a drone over public places (and traffic) seems totally irresponsible - no matter how many hours of experience you have - as this video clearly shows.

You're right, you where lucky you didn't hurt anyone. If it had fallen on me or me family I'm not sure what I would have done. But you wouldn't have liked my reaction. Just my view. Now go do what you want.
 
LiLPhantom said:
#1 Upon start up the gimbal is still calibrating (you took off too soon)
What do you base this on? I've taken off with my gimbal still moving to no ill effect. The P2 IMU is not controlled by the gimbal.

LiLPhantom said:
#2 Initiating Start up the gimbal yaws to the right without lifting off (you took off too soon)
Rudder input will make the gimbal yaw and that is what it appears to be in the video.

LiLPhantom said:
#3 Holy clouds, its flippin cloudy all around, GPS hates lots of thick humid clouds (shouldn’t fly in clouds).
This is completely false. Unless you are flying under cumulonimbus clouds with 15,000ft tops, your GPS signal won't be dramatically influenced by cloud cover.

OP, I just watched the full video. Had you flown in SA before? The local magnetic declination is upwards of -25, some of the highest flown by a P2. At -25, you will get massive TBE and hooking even with a perfectly calibrated compass. Which leads me to ask, where did you calibrate it? Since it appears you moved the P2 before you took off, where did you turn the P2 on? Were you holding it?

Here's what I see in the video:
  • You took off from what looks like granite. Granite is magnetic. It will alter the compass reading. That on top of the already huge declination error is a potent combination.
  • I don't think your P2 flew away as much as it went into declination induced TBE. Ask the Kiwis on the board to confirm. It can feel like a flyaway as your P2 is circling without you telling it to. It seems to have gone into failsafe without issue when you shut off the RC.
  • When the motors effectively shut down, you can still see the red lights of the front ESCs illuminated (2:00 mark). That is your smoking gun. Show that to you dealer. It proves you didn't do a CSC as the Naza is still telling the front LEDs to stay on which only happens when the motors are running.
So, what happened at the end? I can't tell. The battery didn't shut down. At least not fully given the front LEDs. It's almost as if the Naza just gave up. Maybe it idled the motors thinking it was on the ground.
 
ianwood to the rescue!
Learned a bunch from that post. I've been lurking in here and wondering what happened with this one. Always looking to keep abreast of these incidents.

I know about the yaw thing and noticed that too, before takeoff. Happens to mine when I turn the motors on. Also notice the lights on after the motors stop as well. Hope the OP can find out more.
 
ianwood you asked:
Since it appears you moved the P2 before you took off, where did you turn the P2 on? Were you holding it?

I routinely take off at a construction site and hold the P2 4 to 5 feet above the ground when powering up to avoid any possible influence from metal structures underground. I get home lock and course lock indications and then perform a compass calibration.

Is it a bad practice to hold the P2 in the air while powering up ??
 
Buk said:
ianwood you asked:
Since it appears you moved the P2 before you took off, where did you turn the P2 on? Were you holding it?

I routinely take off at a construction site and hold the P2 4 to 5 feet above the ground when powering up to avoid any possible influence from metal structures underground. I get home lock and course lock indications and then perform a compass calibration.

Is it a bad practice to hold the P2 in the air while powering up ??

It's not recommended. It should be on a stable surface during startup. The IMU needs to stabilize. If it is moving, the IMU could get confused. We've seen a number of unusual flyaway type events related to the P2 moving during startup. It's not proven but there does appear to be a link.

Best to employ a compass app on your phone that can detect local magnetic variations if you're flying in the urban jungle. That combined with a box or container (with no metal in it) to keep your P2 stable and away from sources of magnetic interference.
 
P2 was in dji germany, they said that they replaced one speed control unit and gimbal..well..i got it back and went for test flight.. ascent went ok, but when i thrust forward p2 fell down like a rock. Nice. Another gimbal and gopro broken! P2 was not damaged beside props. I replaced broken h3-3d with my old h3-2d and all good, everything is working fine. I was in contact with dji gemany and global, they dont want to take responsibility for this second crash and both broken gopro's goes allso out from my pocket!.
I would like to get new h3-3d but im afraid that all this will happend again.. :/
 
Difficult to imagine that the H3-3D was responsible for that. However. I think It was vibrating really badly at take off...
Anyway.. I would consider waiting for the GoPro 4 and probably the H4-3D coming with it soon.... (talking from my hat but makes sense I believe)
 
I know how to fix all your problems.. if im correct your all using wifi for video.. you cant use wifi with a phantom 2.. get back to me if i can help
 
chris digata said:
I know how to fix all your problems.. if im correct your all using wifi for video.. you cant use wifi with a phantom 2.. get back to me if i can help

I must have missed that, strange. Who is using wifi here? No mentioning of using gopro with wifi on, or am I really losing it....... :?: :?:
 
chris digata said:
I know how to fix all your problems.. if im correct your all using wifi for video.. you cant use wifi with a phantom 2.. get back to me if i can help

Chris, nobody here is dumb enough to be using the GoPro's WiFi. With the very greatest respect, we all know about the interference issues that the GoPro's WiFi causes.
 
DrewPDrawers said:
It amazes me how little personal responsibility/liability people have. Did you call Microsoft or apple the last time your computer froze? Did you call AT&T when your phone froze?

Guys - all this crap that it is someone else's fault is ridiculous!!

-It is an expensive electronic TOY.
-It is a new-ish technology.
-Sh** happens with electronics.

Quit being so butt hurt about it. It sucks, I get it. BUT have to know that there is a better than small chance that something can go wrong with flying electronics.

It's not DJIs fault. Its not drone fly's fault. Sh** happens. Stuff breaks. YOU are the one that purchased an expensive something for hobby.

OWN IT. You are not 12, life is not fair.

I am going flying. If something bad happens, too bad for me. I understood that when I purchased my Phantom.


wow..kind of harsh in my mind. my p-2 has less than 10 flights on it and it started to fly away by itself this morning..i shut it down but now i don't trust it.
mine i am afraid is yet another defect..and should be covered under warrantee..but come one..there are way too many problems with p-2"s recently.
you can't sell a product that works for awhile and then suddenly dies or does what it wants.
in my case i have done proper calibrations etc. good sat. lock..but seems possessed now.
 

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