Hey all,
Had my P3P for over 8 months without issue. Finally warm enough for a flight, so I took her out.

Allowed the bird to warm up.
Calibrated the compass.
Started the bird manually (non auto take off).
Put it into a hover @ about 15 feet.

Then...

It took off. Flew straight into a tree about 50 yards away. Without input from the controller.

So. She crashed.

After retrieving the drone, I powered it down, checked for damage. No visual damage so I powered it back up. Everything seemed fine until I realized I had a message saying "No Image Transmission" on my DJI Go App. And I noticed my gimbal/camera was limp.
Restarted the bird. Heard the start up noise and watched the camera/gimble go through its exercise then go limp.

I tried updating the firmware and it never stops updating. The light on the gimble flashes green/red for about 5 minutes, then flashes green, then off, then flashes green, for another 5 minutes, then green/red, etc, etc.

There is also a red light on, on the side of the unit, behind the gimble(but not on the gimble) that i havent noticed before.

Not sure what the issue is. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Have heard that the ribbon cable is one of the main items which can suffer in these sort of crashes.

Other than that I would send it in for repair.

Any idea why it suddenly took off like that?

You can upload your flight log here then people will look at the cause

My buddy crashed his, well it actually was ran over, and his did the same thing with the image. His turned out to be the plug that goes into the gimbal board had cracked. He had to get the board replaced and then it worked fine.

If it was in ATTI mode it is possible for it to have been carried away in the breeze into the tree.  It would look like it was flying away by itself.  Was the flight mode switch in the right position?  If you upload the flight log we can examine it to determine what happened.

As soon as I get home today I will upload the log.

Please try to replug the 6pin and 8pin cables on the gimbal then test again.

Mindy,
Thanks Ill give that a shot.

And just so we are clear, is there any way you could post pics of the locations of those cables, so I dont screw something up?

fans8b2b3821 Posted at 2017-4-13 05:14
Mindy,
Thanks Ill give that a shot.

We don't have pictures available, aside what you could Google. For the ribbon cable that post #2 mentions, it's the thin black cable that runs along the side of the camera to the yaw motor that looks like an inverted "Y". For what Mindy mentions, the are the thicker gray cables that you can see between the spacing of the top of the gimbal in the aircraft. They can be seen in between the vibration dampeners w/ anti drop kits.

Ok.

I unplugged the connectors and plugged them back in. Making sure they were fully seated.

Powered up the unit with the same results. Camera goes through its twisty exercise and then falls limp. Screen on app still shows no image transmission and gimble disconnected.

I tried once again to update the firmware with no luck. It appears to be updating but doesnt beep during the upload and I dont have a .txt file telling me it failed.

At this point I am just ready to send it in for repair.

fans8b2b3821 Posted at 2017-4-13 17:18
Ok.

I unplugged the connectors and plugged them back in. Making sure they were fully seated.

App Images

fans8b2b3821 Posted at 2017-4-13 17:18
App Images

App images

I canr figure out how to upload the flight log for the crash. Ive watched it. And what I see is a loss of GPS signal, then a motor obstruction.

So, I have read on another forum that a nicked ribbon cable could be the culprit. If thats true, what about this...

fans8b2b3821 Posted at 2017-4-13 17:45
So, I have read on another forum that a nicked ribbon cable could be the culprit. If thats true, what about this...

It looks a little scrapped up, so it may be possible. It's a little hard to tell, but is the straightest part of the cable not seating flush?

If by flush you mean flat against the arm, then no, its not.

fans8b2b3821 Posted at 2017-4-13 17:21
I canr figure out how to upload the flight log for the crash. Ive watched it. And what I see is a loss of GPS signal, then a motor obstruction.

If you click on this link and follow the instructions, it will display your flight record.  Copy the link from the address bar and post it back here and we can have a look and see if we can determine why the aircraft "took off" on you.

The other issue looks like a break between the gimbal and the aircraft, most likely the flat cable needs replacing.

fans8b2b3821 Posted at 2017-4-13 18:17
If by flush you mean flat against the arm, then no, its not.

Aside from the part that feeds into the yaw motor perpendicularly, the rest of is should be flat against the arm. Just to clarify, when you reseated the gray cables, did you check the connections on the inside of the airfraft as well?

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-4-14 14:24
Aside from the part that feeds into the yaw motor perpendicularly, the rest of is should be flat against the arm. Just to clarify, when you reseated the gray cables, did you check the connections on the inside of the airfraft as well?

I checked all connections that i could access without taking the body apart.

From the sounds of it, it very well may be the ribbon cable. I have ordered a replacement from DJI. I plan on replacing it myself.

I will keep you all posted.

fans8b2b3821 Posted at 2017-4-15 05:25
I checked all connections that i could access without taking the body apart.

From the sounds of it, it very well may be the ribbon cable. I have ordered a replacement from DJI. I plan on replacing it myself.

Whenever you have the chance would be great. Best of luck to you.

Ok.  

Update...

I received and replaced the flat ribbon cable.  It was a lot easier than I had expected.  Once it was put back together, I started the drone.  To my delight, the camera did not go limp!  It stayed in placed after its start up exercise.  

However, I am still getting a "no image transmission signal" on the app.  Here is what I know so far.

Before I replaced the black flat ribbon cable, I could not operate the camera or take pictures.  Now that I have replaced it, I can move the camera with the remote, take pictures, and video.  When I check the sd card, the videos and pictures show actual video, not just a dark screen.  

I have also successfully upgraded the firmware to 1.10, and the drone flies like normal.  

Any suggestions?

And let me ask you this.

Are the antenna's built into the legs of the bird?  I know the antenna itself is inside the body of the drone, but could that have come loose in the crash and that be the cause of the no image issue?

Topic bump...

Just throwing a guess... try change new memory card?  It happened to me a few weeks ago, hit a tree after my phone went out and no image transmission signal.  Of course, I freaked out but decided to change the card and calibrate the gimball and tada!