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My Mavic crashed. Battery Error.
4924 35 2017-2-25
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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Hey guys

I had an issue 25.01.2017 I would like you to look at and give me your views.
I have startet a warranty claim with DJI Support and their initial response is 'Pilot fault, no warranty.'

‘’ 【Flight control file fly30】

1)Aircraft worked at gps mode mostly in flight.

2)Pilot pushed throttle down and rudder to the left, the aircraft descended and turned its head to the left, then crashed at t=297s when it was 1.8 meters relative height.

Conclusion:
Pilot fault, No warranty.’’

After some emails back and forth they have agreed to look at it again, but I fear the outcome will be the same as before.

Here is the video:

I got two Battery Errors on 2:28 and 3:02. After the first error it started to behave erratic and started a fast descend. I pushed throttle up to make it ascend again, but it kept descending fast. After some seconds and a drop of about 13 meters it stopped the descend. I had some control and started to look for a landing spot.
At 3:02 I got another Battery Error. I ascended now because I was afraid it would start a fast descend again. I moved the Mavic a little closer to the road and prepared to do a landing.
Then suddenly at 3:36 it started a fast descend again and I started pushing the throttle up. It still continued the fast descend until it crashed to the ground.
Everything is clearly visible in the YouTube video provided.

Something is clearly wrong with the battery. The battery time startet at remaining 22:17. After 1 minute flight it dropped to 14:28 remaining.
When the first Battery Error appeared the remaining time was 08:10. 24 seconds later when the second Battery Error appeared, it had dropped to 06:04 remaining.
All this in a flight time of 3 mins and 54 seconds!

Result of the crash: battery popped out. All props damaged or broken clean off, defective gimbal (ribboncable torn off), motors and arms bruised and dented. Top and bottom cover damaged.

Thanx

2017-2-25
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Fractures
lvl.4
Flight distance : 635531 ft
United States
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It seems pretty obvious to me that the aircraft was falling at an uncontrollable speed at the end. It seems pretty sketchy that DJI is just acting like its NBD and that nothing seems out of the ordinary. Hopefully one of the Mods here can look at your flight data and actually provide some intelligent insight.
2017-2-25
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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Fractures Posted at 2017-2-25 13:36
It seems pretty obvious to me that the aircraft was falling at an uncontrollable speed at the end. It seems pretty sketchy that DJI is just acting like its NBD and that nothing seems out of the ordinary. Hopefully one of the Mods here can look at your flight data and actually provide some intelligent insight.

Thank you! That is just my thoughts too. I think DJI just gave me a 'default' or 'standard' reply and hoped I would drop it.
2017-2-25
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hallmark007
Captain
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It certainly looks like at the end you were pushing up on left stick and AC was loosing altitude, but your last stick movements were 100% down, I don't know if this was a last ditch attempt by you to save the AC, But looks like dji are going on that movement.

My only concern is when you got battery warning you didn't try to land or even fly back to home point. There is no redundancy in the Mavic for battery failure, a lesson to all when you get battery warning you land.
2017-2-25
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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Hi
I  was afraid to engage the RTH procedure when I experienced this problem.

All I did at the end was holding the throttle up. I don't know why it shows up like I was doing the shut down sequence.
Maybe thats the way the flightlog interprets the absence of a battery.
2017-2-25
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Nees
First Officer
Flight distance : 80991 ft
Belgium
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Suddenly it startes to drop, but seems like you might have hit something. werent you recording at the time?
2017-2-25
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Stewie Griffin
lvl.3
Canada
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It looks to me like right at the end, you performed the emergency shutoff procedure where you pull both sticks down and towards each other, same as when you first started it up.  It seems like you cut the power manually... or am I missing something?
2017-2-25
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SteveDickin
First Officer
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Stewie Griffin Posted at 2017-2-25 15:25
It looks to me like right at the end, you performed the emergency shutoff procedure where you pull both sticks down and towards each other, same as when you first started it up.  It seems like you cut the power manually... or am I missing something?

By this time his craft was already down, I guess he was doing the next thing to try and save the drone which is turn of the power to stop further damage while spinning on the ground.

That said, failing to land the craft after battery warnings and then possibly even maybe hitting a tree would make DJI say Pilot Error I am sure.
2017-2-25
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Jdwyier
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United States
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The Mavic was falling out of the sky like a brick. From 3:40 to 3:50 it dropped 54 meters, that's 5.4 m/s. Mavics max controlled decent rate  is 3.8m/s.

Don't know if you saw the battery warnings while flying or only after the fact, but I'd having been looking for a place to land after seeing the first warning.  If DJI considers that battery warning to be a critical level error IMHO it should not clear the screen until the craft has been landed and power cycled.
2017-2-25
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Stewie Griffin
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Canada
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Oh yes, I wasn't even looking at altitude.  But in those last few seconds, it went from 1m to 9m, and then cut out.  It is true that it was dropping very quickly though.
2017-2-25
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hallmark007
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Junior_NO Posted at 2017-2-25 14:13
Hi
I  was afraid to engage the RTH procedure when I experienced this problem.

Hi junior you might be taking me up wrong I very much agree with you , your AC was heading straight down while you were trying to push up on left stick and this should be enough for dji to realise there was some kind of malfunction in the AC before it crashed.

I do think you deserve a fair hearing and I hope you get one.

Have you tried to upload your logs to healthy drones or phantom help, they may help your case.

Good Luck..
2017-2-25
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Speed009
lvl.1

United States
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following..

let's see how DJI responds..very curious..
2017-2-25
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ngvuanh
lvl.4
Flight distance : 159820 ft
United States
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Your battery dropped drastically for the first 2 and a half minutes from 22:09 to 8:00 battery life and you received first battery error warning but you still have 85% battery life.
It looks to me you in fact had battery ERROR.
2017-2-25
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DJI Mindy
Administrator
Flight distance : 7 ft
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Sorry for your crash, Junior_NO.
I have checked your case which under your forum email.
Could you please upload the flight record file from your mobile device to dropbox and send me the link?
I'll forward your flight record to our engineers for review.
2017-2-27
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-2-27 00:46
Sorry for your crash, Junior_NO.
I have checked your case which under your forum email.
Could you please upload the flight record file from your mobile device to dropbox and send me the link?

Hi
I have sent you a PM.
2017-2-27
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DJI Mindy
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Junior_NO Posted at 2017-2-27 03:18
Hi
I have sent you a PM.

Thank you.
I'll forward your data file to our engineers.
2017-2-28
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-2-28 01:34
Thank you.
I'll forward your data file to our engineers.

Have your engineers had time to look at the flightlog?
2017-3-1
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ChasinTail
lvl.1
Flight distance : 42943 ft
United States
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sub'd
  That video sure looks like you were doing everything to keep the drone in the air.  Full up on joystick and still losing that altitude doesn't equate to user error in my limited experience
2017-3-1
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Pugsley
lvl.1
United Kingdom
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That looks to be an obvious power fault with the bird, she was going down fast despite you putting in full throttle, looks like the battery was completely miscalculating it's levels.  Hope you get a new one soon from DJI
2017-3-1
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Teesquar
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United States
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Was this the first flight with this battery? I see you're from Norway, was it very cold during the flight? Was the battery kept warm up until flight time? Would be interesting to see the voltage readings from the battery.
This will definately be another thing to check during flight, for me ... is the time remaining dropping unusually fast.
2017-3-1
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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Teesquar Posted at 2017-3-1 12:04
Was this the first flight with this battery? I see you're from Norway, was it very cold during the flight? Was the battery kept warm up until flight time? Would be interesting to see the voltage readings from the battery.
This will definately be another thing to check during flight, for me ... is the time remaining dropping unusually fast.

Yes, it was the first flight with this battery. Didn't get a firmware mismatch so I presumed it was on the same level.
About 0 degrees celsius during the flight.
The battery was kept warm until the flight.
2017-3-2
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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Update from DJI. They have accepted my warranty claim. The conclusion is:
'From the 25/1 record that shows a battery error prompt, then aircraft descended with a high speed abnormally. According to the record, its a battery issue, not pilot fault for this time. Suggest a free RMA for customer.'
2017-3-2
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hallmark007
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Junior_NO Posted at 2017-3-2 06:52
Update from DJI. They have accepted my warrant claim. The conclusion is:
'From the 25/1 record that shows a battery error prompt, then aircraft descended with a high speed abnormally. According to the record, its a battery issue, not pilot fault for this time. Suggest a free RMA for customer.'

Good job junior No , glad it worked out for you, you had all the evidence there and dji backed up your case. Hope you get your new Mavic soon and back flying..
2017-3-2
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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hallmark007 Posted at 2017-3-2 09:52
Good job junior No , glad it worked out for you, you had all the evidence there and dji backed up your case. Hope you get your new Mavic soon and back flying..

I wish they would give me a new one, but the quote says repair and lists the items to replace.
2017-3-3
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ngvuanh
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Junior_NO Posted at 2017-3-2 06:52
Update from DJI. They have accepted my warrant claim. The conclusion is:
'From the 25/1 record that shows a battery error prompt, then aircraft descended with a high speed abnormally. According to the record, its a battery issue, not pilot fault for this time. Suggest a free RMA for customer.'

I am glad that you got covered even though it took your time.
I just don't understand how that's possible for them to refused your claim initially with an obvious battery problem and blamed pilot error.
That person need to be fired. They made DJI look bad.
2017-3-3
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Junior_NO
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ngvuanh Posted at 2017-3-3 10:21
I am glad that you got covered even though it took your time.
I just don't understand how that's possible for them to refused your claim initially with an obvious battery problem and blamed pilot error.
That person need to be fired. They made DJI look bad.

Yes, I agree with you.
It's the same flightlog and the same video, why so different conclusions? Did they even look at the log the first time?
Maybe a mod can give us an explanation?
2017-3-4
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Dronoob
Second Officer
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Junior_NO Posted at 2017-3-4 00:48
Yes, I agree with you.
It's the same flightlog and the same video, why so different conclusions? Did they even look at the log the first time?
Maybe a mod can give us an explanation?

I am wondering the same. I've seen a case here in which the Mavic was in a wide open area at a safe height, then it started to go bananas and dropped down with the sensors showing crazy values. The result of the analysis was "pilot error".  Nobody could understand that but DJI refused to have a second look at it. :-/
2017-3-4
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Mrimstad
lvl.4
Norway
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More money is made by refusing warranty claims than is made by making customer happy in the first place.
Starting to think i should just put mine upp for sale wile its still in one piece.
There are reports of battery problems, gps problems, sensor problems every damn day.
kinda funny, seing dji stepping upp theyr game on advertising, apple quality packaging and so many gimmiky features
yet neglecting qc. It might have become better, but its obvisly not good.

Ohh yeah and im sure dji has gotten big enough now to have sepperate development camps.
But come on, you dont use time and resources on adding two rc support to a product that advertises with ultra portability.
And has the habbit of faling out of the sky!!

God i get moments where i get so salt and sour.I still love my mavic, just not looking forward to dealing with #%! like this.
Good luck with your warranty claim.

2017-3-4
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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A litte update about my case...

I received 'my' Mavic back from 'repair' 17 march.
First of all, it was not my Mavic, this one has a completely different serial number.
I got a refurbished one, sent without the gimbal clamp! (the gimbal cover was attached though)
I had mixed up the batteries (I didn't know which was the faulty one), so Support told me to send all the batteries and they would check them.
What I got back was all my original batteries (including the faulty one). I was told by Support that they would replace the faulty battery.
They also sent it back to me without props (also told by Support that they would replace).

Why does the 'repair' take so long time if they send me a refurbished drone? They told me the repair will take long time because parts out of stock.
How can I trust everything is ok with the gimbal, now that it was shipped without its clamp?
I sent mail to Support 5 minutes after opening the box, but they haven't replied to me yet.
I haven't powered it up yet, waiting for Support to fix this mess.

BTW: I uploaded the flightlog to HealthyDrones.com and it showed me the SN of the faulty battery.
2017-3-20
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fans56a35a6c
lvl.1
Flight distance : 15059 ft
United States
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Worst customer service I have heard of...{:4_154:}  Hoping it won't happen to my mavic....  Good luck dealing with them...
2017-3-20
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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Another update:

I powered up my 'repaired' Mavic this evening and voila; gimbal problem! No error in the GO 4 app, but a loud 'clang' sound from the gimbal (sometimes two 'clangs').


It was shipped without the gimbal clamp, but hard to tell if this happend during shipping or just bad quality control before they shipped it.

2017-3-21
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Nikon 1
Second Officer
United States
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Junior_NO Posted at 2017-3-2 06:52
Update from DJI. They have accepted my warrant claim. The conclusion is:
'From the 25/1 record that shows a battery error prompt, then aircraft descended with a high speed abnormally. According to the record, its a battery issue, not pilot fault for this time. Suggest a free RMA for customer.'

Congratulations to Junior_NO as well as DJI and the Mods.  It makes me happy to see that there are people behind the decisions being made at DJI.

2017-3-21
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Junior_NO
Flight distance : 578622 ft
Norway
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As I feared, 'bob' has to go back.
'bob' is the name of the refurbished drone I got back. If someone know him, I would like to hear what happened to him and why he ended up back at DJI's.
2017-3-22
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crash-drone
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Canada
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hallmark007 Posted at 2017-2-25 13:57
It certainly looks like at the end you were pushing up on left stick and AC was loosing altitude, but your last stick movements were 100% down, I don't know if this was a last ditch attempt by you to save the AC, But looks like dji are going on that movement.

My only concern is when you got battery warning you didn't try to land or even fly back to home point. There is no redundancy in the Mavic for battery failure, a lesson to all when you get battery warning you land.

Wow. Seriously? You are ok with a battery error causing the drone to crash? From what I can tell there seems to be a SERIOUS design flaw with how the battery and detection is made. There are too many battery error issues with nearly full batteries. Can you say design flaw? Just because you have a battery error you should not lose control of the aircraft ever! especially at 200 ft or more. This is REALLY REALLY DANGEROUS!!! There are many stories battery error and drone just appears to turn off with battery running. This sounds to me like a battery level detection or error detection.

Please let me know if you have a few thousand dollars laying around to provide to everyone with this issue so they can help learn there lesson better....

I really can't believe you are OK with this scenario.
2017-3-26
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crash-drone
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Canada
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crash-drone Posted at 2017-3-26 10:22
Wow. Seriously? You are ok with a battery error causing the drone to crash? From what I can tell there seems to be a SERIOUS design flaw with how the battery and detection is made. There are too many battery error issues with nearly full batteries. Can you say design flaw? Just because you have a battery error you should not lose control of the aircraft ever! especially at 200 ft or more. This is REALLY REALLY DANGEROUS!!! There are many stories battery error and drone just appears to turn off with battery running. This sounds to me like a battery level detection or error detection.

Please let me know if you have a few thousand dollars laying around to provide to everyone with this issue so they can help learn there lesson better....

Also, I want to mention. This is not only an issue with the Mavic. Inspire 1, Matrice, etc..... To me this sounds like serious battery detection problem vs a battery issue.. The drone decided to take action NOT the PILOT.
2017-3-26
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hallmark007
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crash-drone Posted at 2017-3-26 10:22
Wow. Seriously? You are ok with a battery error causing the drone to crash? From what I can tell there seems to be a SERIOUS design flaw with how the battery and detection is made. There are too many battery error issues with nearly full batteries. Can you say design flaw? Just because you have a battery error you should not lose control of the aircraft ever! especially at 200 ft or more. This is REALLY REALLY DANGEROUS!!! There are many stories battery error and drone just appears to turn off with battery running. This sounds to me like a battery level detection or error detection.

Please let me know if you have a few thousand dollars laying around to provide to everyone with this issue so they can help learn there lesson better....

Are you serious, you come here very late in the day and make accusations about something I said which is clearly wrong, you obviously haven't read through the thread but decide to put your foot in your mouth.
The only thing I mentioned to the op was as soon as he had a battery warning he should have tried to land the aircraft, and that is the correct procedure and as somebody who flys with a commercial pilots license that's what your training tells you.
When in a manned AC or an SUA correct procedure when you have a fault as serious as the op had is to land in a safe area ASAP.

Now my point to you is to read the thread before you put your obvious big mouth in it..
2017-3-26
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