Trouble with battery AND horizon tilt after minor crash

Espen Kalland · Jul 1, 2016

Hey guys,
So i just needed about two full weeks with my new P4 to crash into a flagpole (the only one within a hundred miles)
The shell is slightly damaged, but everything is where it should be.

The last flights has given me error messages like; Battery error, voltage critically low
It is the same story even if i swap with a new original battery.

If you have any suggestions as to what i should try, please tell.
I dont mind popping the thing open to check any wiring or continuity, or what you might think of.
The error messages pops up randomly, even with 90% + capacity.

Thanks!

msinger · Jul 1, 2016

Is the shell malformed anywhere around the battery compartment? If so, perhaps it's sometimes preventing the pins on the bottom of the battery from making contact.

Espen Kalland · Jul 1, 2016

msinger said:
Is the shell malformed anywhere around the battery compartment? If so, perhaps it's sometimes preventing the pins on the bottom of the battery from making contact.

Everything looks normal besides the one propeller arm.
i posted some images to my google drive for you to see.
dji

msinger · Jul 1, 2016

I'm guessing either the rear, right arm is bent at just the right angle to prevent the battery from bottoming out when inserted or something is loose inside of your Phantom. Replacing the shell is the first thing I'd try. If you need one, you can get one directly from DJI or on Amazon.

Espen Kalland · Jul 17, 2016

msinger said:
I'm guessing either the rear, right arm is bent at just the right angle to prevent the battery from bottoming out when inserted or something is loose inside of your Phantom. Replacing the shell is the first thing I'd try. If you need one, you can get one directly from DJI or on Amazon.

Sorry for late reply, anyways.. i think you are on to something there, and i ordered a new shell probably within 5minutes after the crash.
The new shell is expected to arrive tomorrow, and i´ll start disassembling and re-assembling the P4 right away.

BUT, i do have another issue that bothers me:
The gimbal does not seem to hold it´s leveled position while on ground, flying or hovering. (check the video below)

Any ideas on what to do? scrap and buy a new, or will the new shell do the trick?
Sadly due to the battery error, the drone lowered into a pond and was 50% submerged for about one minute, and i had to bake it in the oven at 50 degrees Celcius for a while..

Has anyone else done such a recovery earlier with any success?
I´ve installed the latest firmware and done all the calibrations.

Espen Kalland · Nov 9, 2016

Hi again!

I am bringing this post back up again since i have some hopes on making the drone fly again.
The pond incident is probably resolved, thanks to immediate action after it was submerged.

At this point i have replaced the shell, and currently waiting for spare part 3 (Power distribution board)
One of the IC´s had exploded, causing the battery voltage warning.

At this point, i am just curious to how i can fix the issue with the gimbal going out of level when flying.