if not short lived.

Flew last night and was having a blast.  First and second battery no problems.  Third battery is the charm.  At about 200 feet altitude and 150 feet distance, I get a warning on my screen "lost battery connection fly carefully".  Since the rotors are still turning I assume it is the little contacts so I have no smart feedback.  Not one to take chances, I start to descend and return to land.  Then I get a message "gimbal failure" and my camera goes out.  I am still at about 150 feet but almost overhead.  Continuing to descend all of a sudden message on screen "lost contact with Phantom" - then WHAM!  It is at my feet in I would say 1000 pieces. It just fell from the sky.  I stand there literally in shock for about 2 minutes.  Just holding the controller and looking at the carnage in front of me.

The wreckage is so bad I cannot tell what - if anything - on the inside may or may not have come loose.  It fell onto asphalt from the last height I saw of @130 ft.

That is awful. Sorry for your loss. You must be upset at a major battery failure so soon, especially since it was going well, then bam.
What are you going to do?

CapitAn Posted at 2015-3-20 20:21
That is awful. Sorry for your loss. You must be upset at a major battery failure so soon, especially ...

Photograph the rest of my kit and put it up for sale.  I cannot afford a new bird right now. I am pretty upset but nothing I can do about it.  I don't think the battery itself failed.  It still shows almost full charge.  As an electronics engineer what I saw looked very much to me like the corruption and ultimate failure of the core operating system.  One system after another failing/dropping out - like a CPU failure.  No reason for a gimbal failure report and the camera going out other than the system was not seeing it.  Just because the gimbal fails does not mean the camera fails.  Right before it dropped it stopped responding to the controls - stopped descending momentarily right before message 'lost contact with Phantom.'  I had enough time to see it hover for a second, look at the screen and see the error message and when I looked up again it was literally on the ground.

Sorry dude, was it  P2+?

isaiahbrock7@gm Posted at 2015-3-20 20:49
Sorry dude, was it  P2+?

P2V+V3 - brand new - one week old.

Are you able to send it back to DJI?

Mr. Wise,

That's just plain horrible. Your posts and insight here have been very helpful to me. I hope you get back in the air soon.

Jerry

So is there a chance your battery was not seated well? I know Russell Brown makes a point about this on his Kelbyone training video.

isaiahbrock7@gm Posted at 2015-3-20 21:04
Are you able to send it back to DJI?

Not much to send but a bunch of pieces - literally - little pieces.  The biggest single piece is two of the arms still have motors attached but are separated from the body.  The body itself is unrecognizable.  The electronics are destroyed.  The gimbal and camera are in numerous pieces.  Ironically though, the part of the gimbal that my gimbal protector protected DID NOT separate even though everything around it did.

jtrjr@yahoo.com Posted at 2015-3-20 21:06
Mr. Wise,

That's just plain horrible. Your posts and insight here have been very helpful to me. I h ...

Thanks Jerry.  I have a contact in to DJI, will see what they say.  If my (ex)wife would ever sign the damn papers my money would not be tied up and I could get one now.  But until that fiasco is over, I am not sure I can.

Sorry for what happens...have you checked ESC version and wires as suggested somewhere else?Are you flying with the DJI application or third party one?

Was not an esc problem - read descriptions above - not flying now at all, but was using DJI app.  Not sure I would trust a third party app until I knew it was well tested and the ones I have seen lately are 'new' so not very well tested.  Not saying they are bad or don't work.  I just don't have that level of confidence when there are enough other potential 'defects' with this unit.

You did something wrong.  One guy on here has no problems so its gotta be you.   Sorry had to...  


Sorry man.   Hopefully you have the video and can take this up with DJI.   It would be nice if these birds had some sort of black box so user error can be ruled out and DJI can compensate people in situations like this.   Good luck with DJI.


Just curious to rule out any wrong doing on your part.   Were you flying in perfect conditions?   No fog or heavy humidity in the air?   What were the temps and conditions?   It almost seems like an electrical short.

Wasn't shooting video - just flying.  You know, I had no problems at all until this.  The quad flew great - I was impressed at its responsiveness.  And when I get a new bird (eventually) I will take that up in the air just the same.

If you read my posts I did not blame the copter and I made no claims about how I did everything 'right.'  I followed the same plan I did every time I flew.  I know what it appeared like to me.  Could I have done something wrong?  Absolutely.  Did I?  I don't know.  I described what I experienced as best I could.

jliddil Posted at 2015-3-20 21:09
So is there a chance your battery was not seated well? I know Russell Brown makes a point about this ...

I don't think so as when I picked up all the pieces, the battery was still seated.  I had to press the tabs to get the battery out of the housing.

Weather conditions?

LIPHANTOM Posted at 2015-3-20 21:55
Weather conditions?

35 degrees F, no wind, clear sky, 6:15 pm (still very much light), unobstructed flight path/LOS on all sides, had 9 sats locked, NAZA mode S1/2 up, camera not recording, closest thing that could provide any type of signal for interference is a house about 3/4 mile behind where I was positioned - empty, no one home, is used for a summer residence so empty in winter, iPhone in airplane mode with wifi enabled, Tx and Ext both had just prior to flight completed full charge.

Did I leave anything out?

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-20 22:05
35 degrees F, no wind, clear sky, 6:15 pm (still very much light), unobstructed flight path/LOS on ...

Maybe you got EMPed.   

Just asking my friend.  Sometimes people don't think about weather conditions and moisture in the atmosphere. Electronics don't like water.

Kind of cool to be flying.  I'm sure the batteries didn't like those temps.  Could be something there.   

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-20 22:05
35 degrees F, no wind, clear sky, 6:15 pm (still very much light), unobstructed flight path/LOS on ...

Where do you keep your P2 when rest? Do you have a bag? Do you leave it a lot in a cold car? Just to try to understand what could happen

This board is quite crowded, often times with many complaints. I read as much as I can to learn as much as I can. Over the past several weeks, I've come to believe that there are a handful of people posting here that are extremely helpful, honest and commited to helping others. Gerry, North, Ace, Rod & Cheshire, Rdc, Guy just to name a few. You most certainly are amongst my must read list and are in good company with the members I just mentioned and others that I may have missed. I really do hope that you can get back up soon. I have also learned a great deal from your unfortunate experience yesterday: If it can happen to you, then it most certainly can happen to me.

Sorry again,

Jerry

Steven Posted at 2015-3-20 22:12
Where do you keep your P2 when rest? Do you have a bag? Do you leave it a lot in a cold car? Just  ...

I have a HPRC case for storage and travel.  Always in my house or my office, never left in the car.

jtrjr@yahoo.com Posted at 2015-3-20 22:17
This board is quite crowded, often times with many complaints. I read as much as I can to learn as m ...

Thanks Jerry.

Chris

You know what?  I still have my Hubsan X4 to zip around the house and warehouse (during lunch of course) with.  I have crashed that thing so many times while I learned to fly it is not funny.  Now doing rolls and flips and extreme banks and such is a breeze with it.   I wish that had a camera - I would love to do FPV with that and race with it.  That really was purchased so I could learn to fly but once I did it just became addictive.

Nrg,
I am not sure what to say, these Phantoms or any material thing we become so passionate about and devote so much of our time to that simply or not so simply and for no good reason or explanation become destroyed before our eyes is gut wrenching for sure. You have spent a ton of time learning/researching etc. and your devotion, insight and contributions on the technology and this forum does not deserve or even remotely equal the outcome.
Thank God these are material possessions and that we can replace them unlike loved ones we have lost.
I am not going to question anything you did last evening as reading and listing to your past posts and watching the videos you posted and your narration of the last few minutes of flight reinforce that you knew what the hell you were doing. I also have to commend you for not lashing out on here for what happened as you had done all you could immediately upon noticing there was a sign of a problem. It certainly seems to have been an internal and catastrophic failure. I am confident your inquiry with DJI will not go unanswered and hope you are able to be sharing more of your insight and wit in the not too distant future..So sorry for the the loss of the dozbot..
My Phantom will not fly today.

Northofthe49th Posted at 2015-3-20 23:14
Nrg,
I am not sure what to say, these Phantoms or any material thing we become so passionate about a ...

Thank you for the comments.  dozbot may have been lost, but I have a feeling there will be a new incarnation at some point.

Chris

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-20 23:25
Thank you for the comments.  dozbot may have been lost, but I have a feeling there will be a new i ...

The Rise of the Phoenix!

From what I can tell from your description of events, I'm assuming the battery vibrated loose.  First thing you would lose contact with the smart battery (small pins).  How much time passed between you getting the (gimbal failure) message and the message (lost contact with phantom) message?  If it was a very short time, your battery probably came out.  That is all I can think of from what you described.

Wow, sorry to hear this!

It was really bad luck to be over blacktop - sometimes soft grass, trees, bushes etc. can break the fall to a large degree. It's actually rare to have it go into pieces...

It does sound like an OS or firmware problem. Mine gives the lost connection message quite often...seems like a glitch since the bird is within about 200 feet when I get it. It seems the more they pile into the "features", the more complicated the whole hairball becomes. My Phantom 1 has never done anything out of character, but the P2V+ is always doing one thing or another.

If you like to just fly around and take a few pics now and then, consider a P1 - they are ultra reliable and more fun (IMHO) as they don't have the fragility.  If budget is really tight, you can find some older models of the Blade 350QX (2) for about $300.....I bought one and it was a blast to fly around.

Another neat model is the Eye One Xtreme - $150. But it's fairly easy to crash and destroy also.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-3-20 23:49
Wow, sorry to hear this!

It was really bad luck to be over blacktop - sometimes soft grass, trees,  ...

It was a one lane road that dead ended in a cul-de-sac.  If it had been 10 feet farther away when it dropped it would have fallen into snow.

Were you flying with an after market battery?

To bad DJI doesn't sell just the phantom alone. So you don't have to buy all the things you don't need.

JATO Posted at 2015-3-20 23:55
Were you flying with an after market battery?

All 4 of my batteries are DJI batteries.

Just a question.  If this is just a couple of weeks old why are you convinced that it's your loss?  It could very well be a faulty flight controller, and since it is less than a week old should this not be a warranty thing?  I can't imagine that they have a reject rate of zero on their components, so I can understand it if you had been flying for several months, but right out of the box.  Should be on them.  I'm actually asking because I have not had any dealings trying to get warranty replacements from DJI.  I would be interested to see what they say.  I don't know that I would be able to let of the hook so easily.  

First Phantom 3 shots!  MUCH safer when these things fall from the sky!

Hmmm, really sorry for your loss.  I'm a month into my P2V+ V3.0 and am having a blast too (having learnt on a Hubsan X4 too).

So far it's done everything it's supposed to, and I've been ultra cautious abut preflight checks etc.  I'm dreading the day that it falls out of the sky, but it seems that it's only a matter of time.  This technology, at this price point, is I guess right at the edge of what's possible and I have to accept that.  Wish I knew it before I bought, it might have changed my decision to buy (but probably not).  

Good luck with Dji, I hope you get satisfaction.

When I read these posts by ppl that I think have all the needed cautions like me before start to flight I feel very sad and I'm not comfortable when fly. It's not a good though when you fly that your quad can suddenly fall down at any moment. And I usually fly over sea, not far from the coast but over sea.
Sad for your lost. I can imagine how you feel.

gary.ok@hotmail Posted at 2015-3-21 01:11
Just a question.  If this is just a couple of weeks old why are you convinced that it's your loss?   ...

I do have contact with DJI right now.  I am waiting their reply.  I have described everything to them in detail and sent pictures of the wreckage with specific pieces they asked for - electronics and motors.  First problem I have is they first asked for video and I did not have the camera running.

No sense in getting overly excited about it really.  It happens and it happened to me.  It is a chance we all take as soon as you take off.  I will wait for their response and proceed from there accordingly.

Axeman Posted at 2015-3-21 02:47
Stay with the forum and keep us posted as of your progress. You're part of the family you know flyin ...

I plan on staying around.  So if you hear a high pitched buzz zipping by, it is just me with my Hubsan.

Thanks Axe.

Chris

Yeah I guess its just the lawyer in me that would jump all over them, and probably prematurely.  You know companies can be forced to honor their warranties, but most never allow it to get to that.  What I am saying is that you spent a thousand dollars on a piece of hardware that failed right out of the box.  They seem to have folks believing that the burden of proof is on the consumer.  It is not.  So even though you don't have video evidence you are within the warranty period and have a legitimate claim.  I wouldn't give them a moments peace until they make it right.