Sudden rapid descent, still have control

Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
31
Reaction score
4
Began having the following problem with my P2V, 3 axis Zenmuse gimbal, GoPro3:
After flying just fine for 2-3 minutes, the Phantom begins to lose height, eventually hitting the ground. During this unexplained descent, I still have full control of yaw, pitch, and roll; just won't hold height or ascend even with left stick full up. The blades are still spinning, it's just as if the Phantom doesn't have enough "oomph" to stay up. It does not appear to be trying to return to its RTH point, just comes straight down.

The batteries are at least 75% full. Happened with several DJI batteries. I can start it up again, and it will ascend correctly, and then after a couple of minutes the same thing happens. I thought my batteries all had a little swelling, so I pitched them.

Got three new batteries: Limefuel, Ofeely, and no-name - all brand new, no swelling. Same thing happens with all three of these. Tried switching to new 9443 props - no change, still falls after a few minutes.
Any thoughts?
 
Thanks Marknmd!
Yes, possible (within 5 miles of a small airport) , but I thought that would prevent me from even taking off.
I took off the prop guards, seems better now, but I haven't been back to the place where this first occurred yet.
 
There's a height issue too. For example, my understanding is, if you're, say, about 3 miles from a no fly zone airport, you can take off and fly around just fine, but after you reach a certain height, you have entered the no fly zone and the craft will land itself.

No FLY Zones | DJI

Good luck.
 
I have had this problem more then once not sure why either. I was a long ways away from a No Fly zone so I know this wasn't the problem. Then it goes away for a while and then comes back not sure why would love so advise
 
My only other guess would be an exhausted battery. Old batteries are risky - especially if they haven't been cared for properly. So your battery reads 75% power but after a few minutes of flight the Phantom senses it's at 20% power or whatever your critical battery threshold is set at, and lands itself. This is a good thing because otherwise it would drop from the sky. If you have an old battery, it's possible you are getting a false reading on your battery's strength. Or an aftermarket battery also could have issues. Even a new battery could be bad. Since this is your first post, I assume your battery is fairly new.

Another possibility is you added too much weight to the Phantom or you added something that is interfering with the prop wash.
 
Phantom is all factory so prop wash thing i don't think so, but the battery thing sounds like something to look into I have 3 NEW batteries i'm going to have to watch and see if it happens on one battery and not the rest. Thanks
 

Recent Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,352
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic