I am not sure who came up with this fix but THANK You!!! I had the same issues as everyone else. Battery read full on multimeter but only 2 light and battery dying fast while in flight. The reflow fix works wonders!  Now 4 lights and I fixed in less than 30 minutes. I appreciate the video and for saving me hundreds on my car insurance I mean transmitter replacement

My RC would charge to 68% which worked for a few short jobs. I finally decided to follow the video. I took apart the controller, pulled the board, placed aluminum foil on either side of the black component next to the charge lights and heated it for :30. I plugged in the charger and got 1 blinking light which scared me as I had 3 before. I heated it gently again and got my 3 lights back. I then went all out and heated it up for at least 1 minute. To my surprise I got all 4 lights. Thanks to all who have contributed to this repair, especially the guy who posted the video. I'm in the video business and understand the effort it takes to make that video.

Hello
Please my RC for dji phantom 4 pro + is not charging. When I try to charge the first indicator light will blink for some minutes and goes off . After an hr I turned it on and realized it’s didnt charge and still on 1% . Can anyone help with the solution

Are the 250 degree F or Celsius?

Aj637 Posted at 2018-7-31 16:29
CORRECTED LINK TO DISASSEMBLY VIDEO by TRAVEL| PHOTO | FILM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pr6YhdnOYg&t=538s

Could you please clarify the temperature set up was in F or Celsius.

Thanks

GianniR Posted at 6-24 06:19
Could you please clarify the temperature set up was in F or Celsius.

Thanks

Put me down for another success story.  My battery when charging only lit up 3 lights and stopped.  I bought a new battery out of China on Ebay and replaced it.  It would just start lighting 4 LEDs and then stopped.  I flew and it immediately started decreasing LEDs and my flight time was way too short.  I found this thread, watched a video, and opened my remote control.  I measured the battery voltage and it was 8.4v so I knew the battery was good.  I heated my rework to 250deg F and hit the PCB around the battery connector area and charge jack area, reconnected everything and pushed the button on the front and it was only lighting 3 LEDs.  I took it all back a part, increased the temperature to 400degrees F and did it again.  I reconnected all of the cables, pressed the power button and 4 LEDs lit and I was thrilled.  I have put the remote control back together and still 4 LEDs are lighting.  It didn't do this before so it appears this fixed the issue.  Thanks to all who contributed to this fix!

Just a followup to my previous post... I wanted to confirm that everything is back to normal.  DJI Go app shows full charge.  The controller was on for well over 40 minutes and the GO app showed the battery at 94%.  Four LEDs lit the entire time.  It sounds like I didn't need to replace my battery but I'm pleased I have a new one in there anyway.

I personally didn't face any problems similar to this but still reading and seeing this thread reminds how a simple matter can escalate and become one of the most viewed and interacted thread. Cheers

Kelso88 Posted at 2017-10-14 07:43
My remote won't charge. Plug it in and it blinks for a few seconds then goes off

Mine does exactly the same thing. If anyone knows how to fix let us know.. maybe it’s still charging fully but not registering with indicator lights

I just did this "reflow" with our Phantom 4 Controller.  There are a few videos that are similar, some with more detail than others.  After having done it, I think about 80% of the disassembly shown may be unnecessary. I went as far as the 6 small ribbon connectors on the main board before I realized that as long as the two screws are removed, most connectors can stay connected. I did not disconnect the wired plugs nor the antennae connectors. If I had to do it again I would try leaving the ribbon cables connected.  If you feel you may pinch the cables, disconnect them.  Now the board can be carefully lifted and tilted back to lay on the controller, iPad holder retracted underneath and flat on the table.  This also makes a good stand for it to be on when doing the heating.  If the board resists being lifted, it may be stuck on the two posts toward the front edge - apply a little more force under the board there and it should come up.

I used an "embossing heat gun" that my wife had for crafts to heat the chip located next to the light array as shown. I used a piece of cardboard curved around the chip to isolate it and held the gun on for two minutes. I did not need to heat any other areas.  When I was done, the cardboard looked slightly toasted at the edge near the chip, so it is a fair amount of heat.

Afterwards, once it cooled, I reconnected the battery and then the charger to verify that the charging lights came on as expected.  If all is well, they should begin lighting in sequence and as the charge completes all 4 will light in sequence, then finally go off.  If all is good with the charging, turn the controller on to make sure all lights light up indicating a full charge; if you have disconnected the ribbons, only "No. 5" coming from the power switch needs to be reconnected to test this.  This is a good test before reassembly in case you need to apply the heat again if it didn't take.

If all is good, reassemble and take the drone out to test all controller functions in a limited safe flight.  Take your time with this, work carefully and methodically, and it may save your controller and some $$$ on repair.

I want to add another massive thanks to both Rainer, the original poster, for the solution and TravelPhotoFilm for the walkthrough video.

Also wanted to add that this also works on the Phantom 4 Pro Plus with which I've had the same issue. The disassembly is basically the same but the component that needs reflowing is in a slightly different place, between the buzzer and the battery connector, highlighted in the below image:



So once again big thumbs down for DJI quality control and post sales support (boooo) but a big thumbs up to this community!

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-10-16 01:56
We are so regretful for bringing the unpleasant experience to the users. And sometimes users tend to post their difficulties to the social media to look for the help, and we as moderators will also do the most for solving the issue. At the same time, when we are aware the trouble we had caused, we are doing our best to improve our service, and provide a good experience for the customers. It is never a certain distance to move forward, but we will keep moving.

Brand new phantom 4v2.. 10 flights .. controller down to 2 out of 4 lights. Nothing happens when charger inserted.
Actually .. has been a difficult drone to own ( my fourth drone )
Would not reccomend or purchase again

Wanted to give more kudos to Rainer and the video producers. This fix worked a treat, all I had to spend was $40 AUD on a heat gun from Bunnings.


Thank god I didn't have to deal with DJI support which is sub par.  I will never be spending another cent on DJI. This is the second issue I've had on what is expensive gear. Honestly like the rest of my toys, e.g DJ decks - they hardly get used. I would say my drone would be lucky to have flown 10 hours hahah and that isn't exaggerating.

djiuser_dAfosw96zL9p Posted at 2020-10-20 08:20
Brand new phantom 4v2.. 10 flights .. controller down to 2 out of 4 lights. Nothing happens when charger inserted.
Actually .. has been a difficult drone to own ( my fourth drone )
Would not reccomend or purchase again

I have had the same issue, I purchased the phantom 4 v2 and the remote does not seem to charge when the charger is inserted.

Aj637 Posted at 2018-7-31 16:21
8 months ago, while in Hawai'i, I sadly learned about this issue with my remote controller. Today, after giving it a shot to "reflow" as suggested from all the awesome users who posted about this and having success, I have a 100% battery reading on the RC, all 4 lights working and a flying Phantom 4 drone instead of a huge paper weight. Here is the video  referred to for disassembly which was very helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxkLe9eCT69HHlT-BnnAug
I used the exact same heat gun from Harbor Freight as Proudsuperior used above at the low setting which is said to be around 500+ degrees. I tried a couple times yesterday, heating areas by the charging port and battery connection for a minute hear and there but it didn't give me any results when I connected the charger. I just got one blinking light but I decided to leave it connected overnight. I woke up to the same RC, low battery warning when I turned it on. I almost gave in to purchasing a new one or a used one off of craigslist, but I figured to go for broke and heat it up again....I read that Proudsuperior focused the heat on the tiny (probably the smallest chip on the board) black chip with 8 silver connectors on the right of the last LED.  I attached a pic of the location but the chip is on the other side of the board. Using the same foil method to focus the heat, I was about a 1/2 inch away from the chip for about a minute. I let it cool then plugged the charger in again and it actually worked yo! ALL 4 LEDs started blinking in sequence. I even melted the battery connector a little on the circuit board but I was still able to connect the battery to it. After putting it all back together, I let it charge again. BUT, after a couple minutes, the lights stopped. I thought it was a tease. I quickly disconnected the RC from the charger and turned on the RC. Again, all 4 lights popped on. It was already fully charged from being plugged in all night. I took the drone for a test flight, being that it was almost 8 months ago since the last flight, I got a warning that firmware was out of date. I disregarded the update and it flew perfectly. I may be missing some new features from the newest firmware but hearing about issues after updates is making me question updating it right now. "If it aint broke, don't fix it" right. Anyways, thank you soo much everyone for all the reviews and comments that help solve this terrible issue that seems to be ignored by DJI, by not issuing a recall. ALSO, I honestly feel that my RC did not charge fully from the day I bought it because when I charged it for the first time the fourth light seemed to be dim, but I just thought it was the light. It might have seem dim only because light from the 3rd light was hitting it and it was actually not on at all...SHM I wish I new about this issue then.

Well Im glad to hear you didnt give up just a bit short of success and tried once more.. Yeah I was a bit unsure to apply the heat myself. and after reading your post i will go ahead and try it again to see if I can get some success. After looking over my board and noticing that its just a tad bit different then I most of the pics I see online. Ill post results. thanks again to given me a general idea where to apply heat. Thanks.

Heolstor Posted at 2020-8-26 08:28
I want to add another massive thanks to both Rainer, the original poster, for the solution and TravelPhotoFilm for the walkthrough video.

Also wanted to add that this also works on the Phantom 4 Pro Plus with which I've had the same issue. The disassembly is basically the same but the component that needs reflowing is in a slightly different place, between the buzzer and the battery connector, highlighted in the below image:

Hi, I know this is very old but I have the same issue, my question for you is, do I need remove the board or can I do this with all the wires in the board connected? Thanks

Have to express my thanks to Rainer and everyone else. My controller has been dead for literally years. I assumed it was a dead battery, and after the giant PITA it was dealing with dji to get a replacement battery for my drone, I kind of just moved on not wanting to deal with that headache.

Today, for whatever reason, I finally decided to take the battery out to see if I could find and order a Chinese knockoff replacement. Imagine my surprise though when the battery voltage tested fine. Scratched my head, googled this new info, and found this thread.

Well, since I had almost completely given up on the drone anyway, I decided to just use my heat gun and give this a shot (wasn't going to buy a reflow kit just for this). It worked! I wasn't even all that particularly careful about it, just worked the heat gun around the battery connector area on the back side of the pcb. Stopped when I noticed the foam spacer on the front of the board starting to melt/shrink.

So anyway, thanks!!