This is my first post in the forum.  I read the rules, and hope that I am not violating any of them.  If I am, apologies in advance.  I have been flying my Mavic Mini weekly for a few months now with good success and enjoying it very much.  I did crash it at the end of last week.  I was hovering about 8-10 feet over a lake near my house, when it began a slow backwards descent, I think on it's own.  It was backing under shoreline trees to my right and was about a foot over the water, when I tried to save it.  I managed to get it out from under the shoreline trees it was backing under, but then I softly crashed about 30 feet high into a tall Cypress tree between me and the aircraft.  From there it eventually fell into the water and to the bottom of the lake about 2 feet down.   I retrieved it after it had been in the water for about a minute.  I can't see any damage to the props, but after drying it out for 3 days, I am still getting a 30210 error.  The camera and gimbal still work, and I can record video, but the speaker is dead.  It won't beep at aircraft startup, and won't beep if I turn on "find my drone".  When the aircraft is connected to the controller, the led is flashing green, and it does turn red when I use "find my drone".


The entire last flight begins near the end of my Youtube video at 6:02:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHScYyMAL6g

The flight log is here:
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/9VF66ONR568W5E7IQ3WA/

If I am reading the log correctly, both sticks were centered when the unexpected loss of hover occured, and GPS count was 11 or 12.  Is that the way you read it, and what is the most likely cause of the Mavic Mini loosing hover?

Your drone showed the first sign of trouble at 2:07.6 when it pitched back hard and rolled.
You had a number of error messages starting at 2:07.7 when the drone hard rolled almost upside down.
At 2:08.6 another message advised Motor is blocked.
This was repeated many times as it tumbled downwards.

If the drone is still under warranty, it looks like a case for DJI to look at.

Labroides Posted at 7-26 06:57
Your drone showed the first sign of trouble at 2:07.6 when it pitched back hard and rolled.
You had a number of error messages starting at 2:07.7 when the drone hard rolled almost upside down.
At 2:08.6 another message advised Motor is blocked.

Labroides.. I appreciate your study, and your thoughtful analysis very much.  To me though, the first sign of trouble is at 1:54 in the log, when the aircraft leaves hover, and starts descending backwards on its own.  You can see small trees in the video on the right, just after I fly between the Cypress trunks and out into the lake early in the video. The sticks stay centered for four seconds from 1:54 until 1:58, and during this time, the aircraft is backing and descending on its own going under those small trees growing out in the water to the right of me, and the aircraft almost touches the water.   If I did nothing at that point, the aircraft would have landed under those small trees in the water.  I couldn't fly straight up as the small trees were above the aircraft, so I had to twist out of there and then try to go up.  I think the Motor is blocked messages come out after the aircraft is in the tall Cypress tree.

I would very much appreciate it if you would study the log and video again, and let me know what you think caused the aircraft to come out of hover around 1:54 in the log, or perhaps a second or two earlier.  I have close to forty flights on the aircraft and have never seen it loose hover before.

Even though the aircraft is only about three months old, I don't think DJI fixes water damaged drones from what I read on their web site.  When I try to put in a service ticket, it tells me I am out of luck.  I didn't buy the replacement plan.

Hello there vintagegarage. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mavic Mini. Since this unfortunate incident happened to your DJI drone. I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for further assistance. We have a team that will do there best to help you and give out the best resolution for the said issue. Again, I am sorry and thank you for reaching out.

It may take a lot longer to dry out. I have had small security cameras get drenched and it took at least a week to dry. The small surface-mounted parts on the circuit boards can retain water under them for a long time.

To me it looks like the problem starts at 1m36s in the log. You took your hands off the sticks and the drone kept going forward for over 4 seconds before it started going backwards on it's own; and this was a slow speed, so unusual to take that long to stop.

vintagegarage Posted at 7-26 08:41
Labroides.. I appreciate your study, and your thoughtful analysis very much.  To me though, the first sign of trouble is at 1:54 in the log, when the aircraft leaves hover, and starts descending backwards on its own.  You can see small trees in the video on the right, just after I fly between the Cypress trunks and out into the lake early in the video. The sticks stay centered for four seconds from 1:54 until 1:58, and during this time, the aircraft is backing and descending on its own going under those small trees growing out in the water to the right of me, and the aircraft almost touches the water.   If I did nothing at that point, the aircraft would have landed under those small trees in the water.  I couldn't fly straight up as the small trees were above the aircraft, so I had to twist out of there and then try to go up.  I think the Motor is blocked messages come out after the aircraft is in the tall Cypress tree.

I would very much appreciate it if you would study the log and video again, and let me know what you think caused the aircraft to come out of hover around 1:54 in the log, or perhaps a second or two earlier.  I have close to forty flights on the aircraft and have never seen it loose hover before.

Your mini maintained altitude at around 4 ft (relative to the launch point) quite well, until 1:54.3 and had sunk to zero ft at around 2:00.
The original Mavic Mini was never great at maintaining altitude and commonly shows some altitude instability.

There's nothing in the data that shows why yours wasn't maintaining altitude, and it's something that's often seen with this model.
The props for the Mini are pretty flimsy and might have lost some of their shape which could contribute to poor hovering stability.

DJI Stephen.. thanks for that suggestion.  I used the link you provided to use the email form to send an email to DJI, asking them to read this topic and let me know what they think.  Much appreciated.

If the state of the props is in question could you post the DAT log file.
I am not up to date with the current app versions but prior to version 1.2 something ( when the Mini 2 was launched?) the mavic mini recorded/s readable DAT logs on the phone.
The individual motor speeds are recorded in the DAT and in some cases can suggest warped props.
With or after app version 1.2 something I recollect that the DATs on the phone were encrypted, I do not know if the newer versions of the app create readable DATs.

I have readable DATs with app version 1.1.6, the flight was a couple of days ago.

Props look perfect.. just took them off and am sending the aircraft back to DJI for study.. thanks for everyone's help here..

Fair enough but just as a matter of interest, the problem with the props that is 'mentioned' was warpage caused by the storage position used.
This may,  when looking at the blades 'end on', also have caused the blades to lose some of their 'crescent moon'  shape. The result was a loss of lift, meaning that the motors had to turn faster to generate the necessary lift.
It is probably not a factor in this and the point is now irrelevant.
Incidentally you should keep the removed blades in their original pairings and NOT mix them up.

As it turns out, I think the advice to send it back to DJI was possibly a bad suggestion, that cause me about a month of time, but at least no money.  I knew the aircraft was not repairable, because it says right on the DJI web site that water damage is not repairable, when you go to start a service request.  DJI supplied me a free mailing label, and I sent the aircraft in after removing the props, battery, and sd card, as instructed in that same process.  The aircraft ended up at the repair facility in Texas.  After several days of checking the status on line with no update, I decided to call the DJI help line on the phone.  One good thing about the help line, is that they always answer the phone promptly, and they are very courteous.  The agent I spoke to said that the record she was looking at said there was prop damage.  I asked her to look again, as I hadn't sent in the props with the aircraft.  The next correspondence I received a few days later was an email from DJI on 8/4/2021 telling me that the damage assessment was complete with a link to check the status online.  That status showed nothing new, but about two hours later, I received a second email from DJI with a Service Quotation of $292 for a replacement aircraft, plus a $65 dollar service fee, or a total of $357.  There was no mention what the flight log analysis, nor the last flight video that I included in my service request indicated, or what caused the unexpected loss of hover before my crash.  To this day, I still don't know if anyone looked at my flight log and last video.  I was really disappointed by the lack of communication from DJI as I was expecting either a call or an email letting me know what the flight log analysis and last video revealed.

I called the DJI help line the next day to say, I didn't want to buy a replacement aircraft, and reminded them that I wanted the damaged aircraft back as I had stated in my original work request.  The agent I spoke with said she would check on it and call me back.  The call promptly was returned from her number in China, saying that they would be sending it back to me.  A few days later, the online status of my work order was updated to "repaired", and then updated two days later to indicate it was coming back to me via UPS.  It arrived a few days later, unrepaired and missing the gimbal protector.  The error status was still showing the bad ESC code as before.  On the plus side, DJI, didn't charge me anything for shipping in either direction, nor the $65 service fee.  All I really lost was a few weeks of time and a gimbal protector.

I ordered one of the $25 new factory ESC boards on eBay, and it arrived in less than a week. I also ordered a new gimbal protector on eBay.  My eyesight is very bad now at age 73, with macular degeneration and the inability to read fine details.  It was clear that I needed to unsolder three wires for each of the four motors, but I didn't realize that there was a ribbon cable that needed to be unglued and removed as well.  I ended up melting the side of the ribbon cable connector, and making a mess as well of re-soldering the 12 wires.  Rather than give up, I ordered a second ESC board and an $8 new ESC ribbon cable.  I also bought a pair of 3.00 reading glasses, and a better soldering pencil and when they came in, I gave it another try.  This time I soldered the 12 wires first, and then installed the new ribbon cable last.  What would have been a trivial soldering job 10 years ago, was now very difficult.  In any event, with patience, I was able to finish the repair, put the aircraft back together, and now have made six error -free flights on the repair job.  It is flying like new and I am still using the original undamaged propellers.  I am putting the DJI refurbished aircraft that I bought on eBay while waiting for my original to come back from Texas in the backup role.  Both are flying well.  Lastly, DJI asked me for feedback on my experience, and I expressed my disappointment in what was apparently a lack of analysis, and also thanking them for comping me on the shipping costs and repair bill.  

vintagegarage Posted at 8-31 12:08
As it turns out, I think the advice to send it back to DJI was possibly a bad suggestion, that cause me about a month of time, but at least no money.  I knew the aircraft was not repairable, because it says right on the DJI web site that water damage is not repairable, when you go to start a service request.  DJI supplied me a free mailing label, and I sent the aircraft in after removing the props, battery, and sd card, as instructed in that same process.  The aircraft ended up at the repair facility in Texas.  After several days of checking the status on line with no update, I decided to call the DJI help line on the phone.  One good thing about the help line, is that they always answer the phone promptly, and they are very courteous.  The agent I spoke to said that the record she was looking at said there was prop damage.  I asked her to look again, as I hadn't sent in the props with the aircraft.  The next correspondence I received a few days later was an email from DJI on 8/4/2021 telling me that the damage assessment was complete with a link to check the status online.  That status showed nothing new, but about two hours later, I received a second email from DJI with a Service Quotation of $292 for a replacement aircraft, plus a $65 dollar service fee, or a total of $357.  There was no mention what the flight log analysis, nor the last flight video that I included in my service request indicated, or what caused the unexpected loss of hover before my crash.  To this day, I still don't know if anyone looked at my flight log and last video.  I was really disappointed by the lack of communication from DJI as I was expecting either a call or an email letting me know what the flight log analysis and last video revealed.

I called the DJI help line the next day to say, I didn't want to buy a replacement aircraft, and reminded them that I wanted the damaged aircraft back as I had stated in my original work request.  The agent I spoke with said she would check on it and call me back.  The call promptly was returned from her number in China, saying that they would be sending it back to me.  A few days later, the online status of my work order was updated to "repaired", and then updated two days later to indicate it was coming back to me via UPS.  It arrived a few days later, unrepaired and missing the gimbal protector.  The error status was still showing the bad ESC code as before.  On the plus side, DJI, didn't charge me anything for shipping in either direction, nor the $65 service fee.  All I really lost was a few weeks of time and a gimbal protector.

..................

vintagegarage Posted at 8-31 12:08
As it turns out, I think the advice to send it back to DJI was possibly a bad suggestion, that cause me about a month of time, but at least no money.  I knew the aircraft was not repairable, because it says right on the DJI web site that water damage is not repairable, when you go to start a service request.  DJI supplied me a free mailing label, and I sent the aircraft in after removing the props, battery, and sd card, as instructed in that same process.  The aircraft ended up at the repair facility in Texas.  After several days of checking the status on line with no update, I decided to call the DJI help line on the phone.  One good thing about the help line, is that they always answer the phone promptly, and they are very courteous.  The agent I spoke to said that the record she was looking at said there was prop damage.  I asked her to look again, as I hadn't sent in the props with the aircraft.  The next correspondence I received a few days later was an email from DJI on 8/4/2021 telling me that the damage assessment was complete with a link to check the status online.  That status showed nothing new, but about two hours later, I received a second email from DJI with a Service Quotation of $292 for a replacement aircraft, plus a $65 dollar service fee, or a total of $357.  There was no mention what the flight log analysis, nor the last flight video that I included in my service request indicated, or what caused the unexpected loss of hover before my crash.  To this day, I still don't know if anyone looked at my flight log and last video.  I was really disappointed by the lack of communication from DJI as I was expecting either a call or an email letting me know what the flight log analysis and last video revealed.

I called the DJI help line the next day to say, I didn't want to buy a replacement aircraft, and reminded them that I wanted the damaged aircraft back as I had stated in my original work request.  The agent I spoke with said she would check on it and call me back.  The call promptly was returned from her number in China, saying that they would be sending it back to me.  A few days later, the online status of my work order was updated to "repaired", and then updated two days later to indicate it was coming back to me via UPS.  It arrived a few days later, unrepaired and missing the gimbal protector.  The error status was still showing the bad ESC code as before.  On the plus side, DJI, didn't charge me anything for shipping in either direction, nor the $65 service fee.  All I really lost was a few weeks of time and a gimbal protector.

What a story. Read it with great interest and I think it was just fantastic what you went trough and what you managed to do. Of course you would have had some knowledge of electronics and how to handle a soldering iron. Well done mate. I am a couple of years older, but what I usually say is, that after 35 years of age you do not get older, just better and now you are damn good. Take car and enjoy flying.

vintagegarage Posted at 8-31 12:08
As it turns out, I think the advice to send it back to DJI was possibly a bad suggestion, that cause me about a month of time, but at least no money.  I knew the aircraft was not repairable, because it says right on the DJI web site that water damage is not repairable, when you go to start a service request.  DJI supplied me a free mailing label, and I sent the aircraft in after removing the props, battery, and sd card, as instructed in that same process.  The aircraft ended up at the repair facility in Texas.  After several days of checking the status on line with no update, I decided to call the DJI help line on the phone.  One good thing about the help line, is that they always answer the phone promptly, and they are very courteous.  The agent I spoke to said that the record she was looking at said there was prop damage.  I asked her to look again, as I hadn't sent in the props with the aircraft.  The next correspondence I received a few days later was an email from DJI on 8/4/2021 telling me that the damage assessment was complete with a link to check the status online.  That status showed nothing new, but about two hours later, I received a second email from DJI with a Service Quotation of $292 for a replacement aircraft, plus a $65 dollar service fee, or a total of $357.  There was no mention what the flight log analysis, nor the last flight video that I included in my service request indicated, or what caused the unexpected loss of hover before my crash.  To this day, I still don't know if anyone looked at my flight log and last video.  I was really disappointed by the lack of communication from DJI as I was expecting either a call or an email letting me know what the flight log analysis and last video revealed.

I called the DJI help line the next day to say, I didn't want to buy a replacement aircraft, and reminded them that I wanted the damaged aircraft back as I had stated in my original work request.  The agent I spoke with said she would check on it and call me back.  The call promptly was returned from her number in China, saying that they would be sending it back to me.  A few days later, the online status of my work order was updated to "repaired", and then updated two days later to indicate it was coming back to me via UPS.  It arrived a few days later, unrepaired and missing the gimbal protector.  The error status was still showing the bad ESC code as before.  On the plus side, DJI, didn't charge me anything for shipping in either direction, nor the $65 service fee.  All I really lost was a few weeks of time and a gimbal protector.

Unfortunately it's all to common of DJI to slap a generic cause of effect then to actually investigate the issue, lots have fought many hours for DJI to actually review their case. One of the resident users here is an expert at flight analysis and had to pressure DJI several times for them to look into the Data he had.

DJI is far to much like apple, instead of repairing the mini it's far cheaper to just write it off as DOA and charge you/send someone a new one then to train people to spot and repair these drones.

It makes me very glad to hear you were able to repair the little bird and are back to flying, I was in a similar boat not to long ago. I could of sent my remote in for a battery replacement but I'd be out the remote for a month or longer so I bought the part and did it myself.

After watching a lot of Youtube videos yesterday of Mavic Mini's loosing hover a few feet above water, I decided that I shouldn't do that from now on.. lesson learned.