Those Popping Batteries

[Craig Carter]

Hi Team,

So where are we at lately with the dreaded "battery disconnect " debarcle.

Ive gone from not caring about getting that battery in to being super paranoid about how it goes in. I push the batt tabs in , slip the battery in place and then give it a tug to see what happens - is this good enough to be safe?
Ive seen all kinds of opinion on this - I cant afford an upgrade so just how loose does that battery ned to get to create a problem do we know?

REgards

 

[KiloGolf7]

I started using Gaffers Tape

 

[Fly Dawg]

I cant afford an upgrade so just how loose does that battery ned to get to create a problem do we know?

Not really. It appears to be one of those things that are random, at best. The many occurrences are a point of concern. But there is little that can be done about it. No one is actually sure, if it is a latch issue or a vibration disconnect. But it is an issue. For now, all anyone can really say is use due diligence and secure the battery by any means you see fit, just as a precaution.

 

[Meta4]

So where are we at lately with the dreaded "battery disconnect " debacle.

Where we are at is some people are guessing and spreading unsubstantiated rumours.
Where there have been cases of Phantoms falling from the sky, few (if any) show any evidence that batteries have fallen out.
The issue could well be something completely unrelated to the fit of the battery.
My Phantoms and those of most flyers continue to fly without problem.

 

[Neon Euc]

To be extra cautious you can also add velcro on the battery and the phantom. That way it will make it more secure and easy to take the battery out.

 

[Fly Dawg]

Where we are at is some people are guessing and spreading unsubstantiated rumours.

Not certain that guessing is the correct phrase, nor is unsubstantiated. All of these instances show the exact same data profile to the extent of a complete power loss in flight. The majority of these show no evidence of any type of aircraft malfunction or any error reports that would lead to this sudden power loss. For the most part these are completely normal flights until that point. Both sets of telemetry ( .txt and aircraft .dat's ) show the exact same profile in most of these cases. Granted, there is nothing absolute and definitive, however without another explanation this is the most likely scenario as supported by both sets of data.

Where there have been cases of Phantoms falling from the sky, few (if any) show any evidence that batteries have fallen out.

This is true, there is no evidence to show that the batteries have "fallen out". It is a "disconnect", either a loose or unlatched battery or a failure at the connection point of the aircraft and/or battery causing a complete shutdown of the aircraft. There have been a few cases of connector meltdown, which could also cause the same results. Personally I have only seen two of these cases where the aircraft was recovered and the pilot reported melted connection points on both the aircraft and battery sides, the difference in these cases were signs in the data that something wasn't right with the aircraft power. ( I.E. High current draw...etc... )

For lack of any other plausible explanation to the exact cause, the end result is the same. DJI itself has given a "hint" by changing the design of the P4 v2. Just my own observational input on this.

 

[Neon Euc]

Not certain that guessing is the correct phrase, nor is unsubstantiated. All of these instances show the exact same data profile to the extent of a complete power loss in flight. The majority of these show no evidence of any type of aircraft malfunction or any error reports that would lead to this sudden power loss. For the most part these are completely normal flights until that point. Both sets of telemetry ( .txt and aircraft .dat's ) show the exact same profile in most of these cases. Granted, there is nothing absolute and definitive, however without another explanation this is the most likely scenario as supported by both sets of data.


This is true, there is no evidence to show that the batteries have "fallen out". It is a "disconnect", either a loose or unlatched battery or a failure at the connection point of the aircraft and/or battery causing a complete shutdown of the aircraft. There have been a few cases of connector meltdown, which could also cause the same results. Personally I have only seen two of these cases where the aircraft was recovered and the pilot reported melted connection points on both the aircraft and battery sides, the difference in these cases were signs in the data that something wasn't right with the aircraft power. ( I.E. High current draw...etc... )

For lack of any other plausible explanation to the exact cause, the end result is the same. DJI itself has given a "hint" by changing the design of the P4 v2. Just my own observational input on this.

Have to agree with fly dawg in this. Way to many phantom 4's dropping out of the sky recently. But it makes me think.... 99.9% of these drop outs seem to be in America with hardly or none in the UK. Makes me think any chance of creating a poll listing where the phantom 4 drops out of the sky and in which country... Then maybe the community can take pics of the latch and see if there is any changes on the design on the same model. After all.... Buy a car from one country and buy the same car in another country and there will be differences

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Fly Dawg is pretty spot on. Meta sounds like DJI Customer Disservice. When the event you are trying to record is the loss of power to the recording device, there will not be a whole lot of data now will there?

 

[Method007]

Meta is absolutely correct in his assessment.

Also - did you guys know that 100% of serial killers ate bread when they were younger? Bottom line - if you care about your kids futures you won’t feed them bread.

 

[bsartist]

Meta is absolutely correct in his assessment.

Also - did you guys know that 100% of serial killers ate bread when they were younger? Bottom line - if you care about your kids futures you won’t feed them bread.

Correct. The carbs in bread are not good for you. Same with pasta. And anything with refined sugars.

 

[onthewave]

Where we are at is some people are guessing and spreading unsubstantiated rumours.
Where there have been cases of Phantoms falling from the sky, few (if any) show any evidence that batteries have fallen out.
The issue could well be something completely unrelated to the fit of the battery.
My Phantoms and those of most flyers continue to fly without problem.

I have had this issue happen twice. I have flown Phantoms from day 1 when they were introduced. Our company has owned over 12 of them. We have had 2 fall out of the sky , batteries found in close proximity and always within the first minute or two of flight. Over 170 people on the phantompikot forum have reported it. 3 drone pilots in my own town have had this problem and all with the Phantom4 pro . DJI refuses to even look at our flight log because the 2nd phantom 4 pro we had was 32 days out of warranty. THEY ARE IGNORING A REAL PROBLEM. And yet in version2 a battery sensor was added. So believe me they know it’s a problem. We will be in court with them on Sept. 6th to depose them and this problem that they need to own and make reparation not just to our losses but everyone else this has happened to.

 

[Meta4]

I have had this issue happen twice. I have flown Phantoms from day 1 when they were introduced. Our company has owned over 12 of them. We have had 2 fall out of the sky , batteries found in close proximity and always within the first minute or two of flight. Over 170 people on the phantompikot forum have reported it. 3 drone pilots in my own town have had this problem and all with the Phantom4 pro . DJI refuses to even look at our flight log because the 2nd phantom 4 pro we had was 32 days out of warranty. THEY ARE IGNORING A REAL PROBLEM. And yet in version2 a battery sensor was added. So believe me they know it’s a problem. We will be in court with them on Sept. 6th to depose them and this problem that they need to own and make reparation not just to our losses but everyone else this has happened to.

What you describe indicates something caused a sudden loss of power.
But it's just a guess that the loss of power was caused by the battery dislodging.
The actual cause of the incident may be unrelated to battery movement.

 

[Fly Dawg]

But it's just a guess that the loss of power was caused by the battery dislodging

I think this is an incorrect assessment. You keep using the word "Guessing" as I stated before this is not truly the term to use. All you can go by is the provided data, when available. When you have all the information that anyone could possibly provide. The "sudden" loss of power is confirmed especially so from multiple sets of data that exhibit the same profile. There really is no "guessing". Although granted as I said before there is no possible way ( Without the OP's prospective) to verify in any way that the battery "fell out". It does not have to move or dislodge very far to arrive at the same conclusion.

 

[Method007]

I have had this issue happen twice. I have flown Phantoms from day 1 when they were introduced. Our company has owned over 12 of them. We have had 2 fall out of the sky , batteries found in close proximity and always within the first minute or two of flight. Over 170 people on the phantompikot forum have reported it. 3 drone pilots in my own town have had this problem and all with the Phantom4 pro . DJI refuses to even look at our flight log because the 2nd phantom 4 pro we had was 32 days out of warranty. THEY ARE IGNORING A REAL PROBLEM. And yet in version2 a battery sensor was added. So believe me they know it’s a problem. We will be in court with them on Sept. 6th to depose them and this problem that they need to own and make reparation not just to our losses but everyone else this has happened to.

Can you go into depth on this? The cost to pursue a suit against DJI would easily be 30K+. What are your damages? Who are you deposing? Who is the firm representing DJI China? Who is your law firm? What is the theory of liability? Who are you utilizing as an expert? I’d love to hear more about this please.

 

[rexster314]

In the last several months, after reading some of these loose battery problems, I started checking the fitment between aircraft and battery and found the clips sometimes not engaged completely. I've started inserting a new battery till it stops before "snapping" then holding the aircraft firmly and camera/gimbal supported, give the battery a hard slap with the side of my hand. It always works and you can hear the click when it's done properly

 

[Method007]

I think this is an incorrect assessment. You keep using the word "Guessing" as I stated before this is not truly the term to use. All you can go by is the provided data, when available. When you have all the information that anyone could possibly provide. The "sudden" loss of power is confirmed especially so from multiple sets of data that exhibit the same profile. There really is no "guessing". Although granted as I said before there is no possible way ( Without the OP's prospective) to verify in any way that the battery "fell out". It does not have to move or dislodge very far to arrive at the same conclusion.

He used the term “guess” because of the “there is no possible way ( Without the OP's prospective) to verify in any way that the battery "fell out".“ part. I suppose there is a better word than “guess”, but it’s close enough to hypothesize.

 

[Meta4]

I think this is an incorrect assessment. You keep using the word "Guessing" as I stated before this is not truly the term to use. All you can go by is the provided data, when available. When you have all the information that anyone could possibly provide. The "sudden" loss of power is confirmed especially so from multiple sets of data that exhibit the same profile. There really is no "guessing". Although granted as I said before there is no possible way ( Without the OP's prospective) to verify in any way that the battery "fell out". It does not have to move or dislodge very far to arrive at the same conclusion.

Lots of people have jumped to join the dots between sudden power loss and battery movement.
Until there's evidence that sudden power loss was caused by battery movement, it's just a guess.
Call it a hypothesis if you like but until someone finds something to support the hypothesis, it's just a guess.

 

[Fly Dawg]

Until there's evidence that sudden power loss was caused by battery movement, it's just a guess.

Hmmm... Ok. Just for the sake of argument and discussion. What is your hypothesis on the issue. I have no issues ever being proven wrong, on anything. It is a debatable situation, but I would really like to hear your analysis from the data to describe what you believe the issue was. I am open to other suggestions, at any time. No offense directed or intended, but I do want to hear another analysis of the issue as opposed to what has already been offered. An aircraft malfunction is already off the board.

 

[Meta4]

Hmmm... Ok. Just for the sake of argument and discussion. What is your hypothesis on the issue. I have no issues ever being proven wrong, on anything. It is a debatable situation, but I would really like to hear your analysis from the data to describe what you believe the issue was.

I don't have an alternative hypothesis.
Flight data only indicates a sudden loss of power but gives no clue what caused the loss of power.
It might be battery movement, a component failure, a programming issue or something else.
People have jumped on battery movement but I still haven't seen any solid evidence to link that with the issue.

 

[Speedmeister]

I recently acquired a spark and joined the spark forum. They have battery disconnect issues too but I checked my spark and cant see how it could dislodge a battery unless from a crash. Same with my P4PO. Batteries are in there tight!