hundleton1 Posted at 2015-5-22 07:52
so was is CSC or holding the throttle in full down ?

Good point, hundleton!

It would be very interesting to hear if this was a case of accidental CSC (Combination Stick Command)!

It is a bit crazy that it is so relatively easy to turn off the quadcopter in air, if you move both sticks down and in - or down and out.

I am very curious to hear what DJI will say, if that was the case. Stricktly speaking it would be "user error". But it is a user error it should not be possible to do so easily. My humble guess is - best case - they offer 30% off a new one...

We ought to at least have the ability to turn off the CSC when not on the ground. Or adding some extra command (holding down two buttons at the same time) making it impossible to do a CSC+buttons in air by mistake.

-

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FantomDK Posted at 2015-5-22 15:55
Good point, hundleton!

It would be very interesting to hear if this was a case of accidental CSC  ...

Heart goes out to you dude, I would be devastated at such a loss, but also very angry at DJI. IMO, and have always thought this, that this is a fundamental flaw in the operational controls of the Phantom. To be able to switch off the rotors mid flight purely by standard stick maneuvers, to me, is a DJI issue and not user issue. It should be virtually impossible to be able to switch off rotors in flight and for it to happen during a maneuver which IMO is standard I think DJI need to rethink on this. I had to do the exact same move today sharp down and back at the same time in order to avoid something and luckily the rotors did not switch off.

Personally I would push DJI for a replacement and an explanation of why it is their design that is the issue, not user error. If not, how many more people could this happen to ?

I have written to DJI's technical director to inform him of what I believe to be a flaw in the P3 and asking them to look at a possible solution.

Being able to shut the motors with the current CSC is not a flaw in any way. Any quad of this size needs a quick way to shut it off for safety IMO. Also I cant possibly think of many circumstances where you can accidental issue the CSC on a Phantom. Someone mentioned they performed a manoeuvre that simulated the CSC to "avoid" something. If you fly and need to perform what would be quite a drastic manoeuvre then its the flying style that needs changing not the stick combination. the current CSC command is in no way a "standard" stick manoeuvre.

I have had the Phantom with no props on trying various manoeuvres and cant come close to shutting the motors off by accident. Gutted for anyone who had the P3 drop because they performed the CSC but its not the fault of DJI or the P3, just the users and to cry and complain just takes the piss.

You can now buy the official DJI Hardshell Backpack for the Phantom 3

Remember to buy extra propellers and one or two spare batteries to keep you flying

www.Phantom-Guide.co.uk - The Ultimate Phantom 3 Resource

I had the same issue, but my phantom was just flying forward and just suddenly fell from the sky after going forward. Unfortunately the f-ing thing fell into the sea, so was unrecoverable, which was no good. awaiting for DJI europe to see what happened, have sent them the logs and video of the flight. Right at the end it looks like one or more of the engines just stopped working.

daveip Posted at 2015-6-21 10:26
I had the same issue, but my phantom was just flying forward and just suddenly fell from the sky aft ...

Can you share the video of the flight? Thanks

In the p3 manual it clearly states for the first 10 cycles of discharges and charges you need to land immediately at the 30% low battery warning if not have it down just before it..  Again read the manual, it really doesn't take all that long

Why the hell would you need to even put the sticks into the lower corners during flight? That would cause the p3 to spin in a fast circle while dropping alt at the fastest rate it can while flying backwards to the left or right? If your p3 falls out of the sky from a csc move on the sticks during flight then your just A huge moron...  You can't even fly that way? Pointless in every aspect, were you out there just beating the hell out of it?  The manual even clearly states csc will start and stop the motors in any condition...  I hope I read that post wrong

How the heck would csc help you avoid hitting anything? The damn p3 would be spinning in a circle going every direction the back of it was facing...  Are u all really trying to defend this guy and say csc is a issue? I can't believe this..  Only someone who,panicked would try to avoid hitting something with the sticks in that position and if that is the case then csc did its job and shut the thing off cuz you lost control and didn't know what was going on...  I can't believe this thread,  any one who accidentally does csc during flight in my opinion shouldn't be flying a damn copter!  Just think about what the p3 or any copter would be doing with the sticks in csc position during flight..  Loosing altitude as fast as it can plus spinning in a circle plus flying backwards to the left or right, and the best part is it would be all over the Place because backwards will be every direction possible while its spinning in a circle fast as hell

Mark97564 Posted at 2015-6-21 12:32
How the heck would csc help you avoid hitting anything? The damn p3 would be spinning in a circle go ...

Nobody has mentioned that you can also shut down the motors by holding the throttle in a hard descend position for 3 seconds. Its not just the down and in CSC that  shuts them down.  I think its  a design flaw and I am very careful to descend with caution because of this.  I wouldnt be surpised if some of the falling from the sky incidents were casued by this.

Holding the throttle stick all the way down will NOT shut the motors off during flight, it takes 3 seconds because it's checking to see if there is a altitude change and if there is they don't shut off, if the altitude doesn't change then they shut off..

Loganrobin@gmai Posted at 2015-6-22 04:25
Nobody has mentioned that you can also shut down the motors by holding the throttle in a hard desce ...

As Mark noted, holding down the throttle will not do the CSC unless the quad is on the ground or held still for a few seconds (hand catch, for example) and close to the ground.

The CSC is a needed feature to prevent possible injury, etc. - let's say your bird was flying toward an 8 lane expressway and might cause an accident - best to just drop it down.

I've flown P1, P2 and now P3 and never accidentally done a CSC.  

It sux to lose a quad so I feel for everyone - at the same time, it's incumbent on newer (or older) pilots to spend many hours reading, learning and practicing (ideally with less expensive models) before flying fancier machines.

The P3 is turning out to be the most reliable gimbal/cam bird ever mass-produced. That doesn't mean it's perfect - far from it - but DJI has attempted to save us from ourselves.

I don't think we will ever have a quad that can handle a free fall....but who knows? Air bags come to mind.

oops I did a double edit, please ignore this one.

Add me to the list of "power loss and fell out the sky" crashes. I had my phantom 3 Advance for 2 days, Bought it at a local hobby shop Saturday 7/18/15, it crashed Sunday 7/19/15
My first few flights were just to get to know the aircraft and build some "trust" in it's on board features (gps and such) I am an experienced airplane and helicopter pilot and AMA member so flying this thing is nothing. With that being said, I know the rules and know how to fly. on my 4th full flight I wanted to take out for a longer distance and while doing so I wanted to  film the flight and compass calibration procedure to show a friend what flying is all about. the flight was like the ones stated above. Fantastic flight, full control, full signal strength, awesome video, love the aircraft. 14 min in with 38% battery I wanted to one more little flight along the soccer field and then come back at full speed and land, flying away slowly, then stopping at about 130' high, it just shut off and fell to the ground! The P3 landed in the grass and the camera broke off, 2 props broken, airframe cracked and swelled, landing gear ok, maybe cracked. the battery had one solid, and one blinking light, I held the power button and nothing.... the aircraft would not power up, I tried to power up the P3 after walking to the car, nothing... the leds would light up in a row and then just go out. I wanted to at least power it up so the P3 would close out the video file because I was recording during flight. now I get home with and find out that after the 15 min flight there were 2 video files and it saved one that was 14min long which I could view, the last min of the flight was a new file that was not closed. Now the NEXT day I decided to put the battery in and try to power it up... who knows, maybe the battery shut down due to heat? I plug it in, turn it on, and SPARKS AND FIRE under the top of the airframe!!!! I pulled the batter out right away after filling my kitchen with smoke! This really sucks for me as I know mine is a total loss.... I bought mine at a local hobby shop and they are no help at all, I tried all day long to call DJI Monday 7/20/15 and never got through (the recording would just hang up on me) so now I have to try and call all day long again today...... I and lucky that I recorded my iPhone screen during the entire flight and it has audio of me and my spotter talking during the crash so I have proof that I was screwing around hitting something, and by far not out of range, and it shows all the battery levels and everything, including the last bit of video from the camera.

Tonight after work I will create a new thread and put all the videos (they are on youtube) I don't want to take this one over, but I just had to share my experience as I would really like to know if my "smart" battery shut down from heat or something like that, and what the heck went on with the main board or whatever fried inside. Wish my luck as I try to get a hold of someone at DJI

an emergency chute deploy would have came in handy, if it had one; and with a beacon.

Mark97564 Posted at 2015-6-21 12:19
Why the hell would you need to even put the sticks into the lower corners during flight? That would  ...

How about IOC mode in course/home lock?

Say i'm following (rather going in front of) a boat coming towards me from a east north east position... and that I'm descending towards the sea to get a bigger view of the boat... that will put my right control stick in my lower left position... and my left control stick in the down position...

Now if the boat is on the right of the p3 and it accelerates past the p3, to keep it in view, i also have to rotate the P3 to the right... and since i was lowering down as well, the left control stick will be on the lower right... putting both sticks in a CSC position, right?

I know it might be difficult to image this in one's hear, may be I should post a picture or smth?

I do think it has the potential to cause damage more than it can be helpful - may be they should have included an additional button (in a non ergonomic place - so you can't hit it by mistake) on the remote and a shut down would be caused by CSC + button press...  that would make sure no combination of controls could shut the P3 in flight by mistake...

In any case, DJI should give us the option to disable the CSC in the pilot app... that way we can choose whether or not we want that 'functionality' (notice the quotes - i believe it's more of a problem than anything else)...

Someone mentioned that new DJI3 batteries should not be discharged below 30% for the first 10 flights.  I could not find that info and if anyone has it please post.

This is what I found on charging the DJI3 battery:

Battery Charging
1) Charge and discharge the battery completely once every 20 charge/discharge cycles. Discharge the battery until there is 8% remaining power or until it can no longer be turned on, then recharge it to the maximum capacity. This power cycling procedure will optimize battery life.
2) The Intelligent Flight Battery is designed to stop charging when it is full. However it is a good practice to monitor the charging progress and disconnect the batteries when fully charged.
http://download.dji-innovations. ... y_Guidelines_en.pdf

Mark97564 Posted at 2015-6-21 12:19
Why the hell would you need to even put the sticks into the lower corners during flight? That would  ...

That was just a scenario put up, not determined that it is what happened.

boutropeur.msn Posted at 2015-5-3 18:02
Please do post the logs!

Thanks all, for the Battery conditioning Posts...Extremely helpful

Hi , i had same problem today my phanthom3 professional just crashed for no reason i was in the air for about 18min 80meters high a drone just start falling from the sky for no reason is damage not working
now $1300 gone I'm so disappointed . I'm calling customer service today.

Hi Jacob,  I had same problem today my phanthom3 professional just crashed for no reason i was in the air for about 18min 80meters high a drone just start falling from the sky for no reason is damage not working
now $1300 gone I'm so disappointed . I'm calling customer service today. how did you end up solving the problem? thanks

CSC accidents continue to happen and I wonder if gain & expo settings could be a contributing factor.  I just can't imagine what flight profile you could find yourself in that comes close to a CSC?  

Hi, the manual says something about smart battery malfunction if it is used near strong magnetic fields or power sources,  were any of these crashes near that kind of interference?  I also wonder if the battery overheating could be a problem, it seems that all of these crashes were near the end of the flight, was it also a hot day?  I just purchase a P3 Advanced and am a little worried about flying, it cost a lot of money to lose it over a software or hardware issue. This is my first post and any advice is welcome.

There should certainly be a way to disable CSC, I don't like the thought that a stick combination - however rare and weird it is -  can lead to a crash, that is too much of a price for the little mistake.

Hello everybody, I got the same problem today, my P3A suddenly lost power after 50 seconds flight... I have'nt found the drone yet, I have to go tomorrow to the last waypoint.

Here are the flight informations:
http://healthydrones.com/main?sh ... ENERALNotifications

Here is the video I extracted from the app


As you can see, even the camera shut off. I lost everything at once, which means I made no mistake. Fortunately, I always fly in safe zones (usually in my mountain range).

Does anyone have a clue on what happened? Can I ask Dji a P3A replacement?

Happened to mine today... after owning it for 24 hours.  Everything was working just fine. Had calibrated and was buzzing around the parking lot for about 10 minutes with stops to rest/cool. On my 4th flight I was up around 200 feet when suddenly while I was spinning it decided to AT TOP SPEED go directly down until SLAMMING into the pavement. There was absolutely nothing I could do. As it was screaming down I was moving the sticks up and to the sides with no response. So... legs are buckled in. The camera housing took the biggest hit cracking the circuit board and plastics. So it needs new parts for sure.   I have video.  So upset!

Evidently there is a stick position (both down and to the center) which will kill the engines in mid flight. No warning in the manual not to do this. Engines can restart but you need about 400 feet to recover. I cannot think of one good reason to have an engine kill switch maneuver on your controller for a drone in mid-flight. So stupid!

blueye7 Posted at 2016-2-6 09:15
Evidently there is a stick position (both down and to the center) which will kill the engines in mid ...

Rubbish, as has been said many times RTFM. It is there clear as can be in the middle of page 46.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-5-3 11:15
FYI for when you get this fixed or get a new bird.

LiPo batteries need conditioning for the first ...

40% meh, I land mine at 70% lol

Well, my batteries are still relatively new so I'm trying to take it easy but 40% is a good safe number to me.

blueye7 Posted at 2016-2-6 06:15
Evidently there is a stick position (both down and to the center) which will kill the engines in mid ...

Your drone is acting crazy and headed upward full speed toward a hovering helicopter above you...or
it's headed fast toward a giant crowd assembled in the park a block away...or
it's headed out toward the 8 lane interstate and out of control and likely to fall onto a car or truck and cause an accident....or
it's headed toward an airport and you can't steer it away..

Just some of the reasons why you need the - very well documented - stick kill ability.

blueye7 Posted at 2016-2-6 09:15
Evidently there is a stick position (both down and to the center) which will kill the engines in mid ...

Evidently???
Go back to the manual that you didn't read and look at the section on starting and stopping the motors.
Don't worry ... if you hadn't jerked the sticks around like a drunken moron, you'd have crashed some other way within a day or two.
There's a lot to learn befor you take to the skies.

Hi folks, the same question came to my head. The battery has failed and crash. Very bad situation. DJ unreliable to battarya.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-6-24 01:58
As Mark noted, holding down the throttle will not do the CSC unless the quad is on the ground or he ...

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