So yesterday was the first time I've been able to get out and have a little fly time in over a month.  Went to my favorite park that I've gone to dozens of times, setup everything and remembered the last time I tried to fly I had really bad compass issues.  So I decided to do a compass calibration.  Performed the "dance" and all was a go.  Took her up, did my routine flight check, all was a go.  I wanted to film my waypoint mission so I started the program and initiated the mission.  All was good for about the first 60 seconds, then I noticed she wasn't flying the path, I looked down and the cursed red "Compass Error" was flashing, of course it was pretty windy so she was flying by way of the wind.  Wasn't horrible, nothing I couldn't control in Atti mode.  Got her back safely and of course I was upset as this has seemingly been an on going thing recently.  So I decided to do the calibration again, this time it failed, tried again in a different spot, again failed, went smack dab in the middle of the field and failed.  Nothing on my body but a belt (have to keep my pants up), but no keys, phone, coins, nothing.  Needless to say I packed up and went home.  I emailed DJI (a second time, as I e-mailed them a month ago at my last post on this issue) this time I get a confirmation that they RECEIVED my e-mail and have opened a ticket up for me.  Now to those that have been down this road before, what can I expect from DJI?  Is the time frame still 6-8 weeks?  I assume it's a good thing I saved the original shipping box from them or will they send me what I need to ship it back to them?  

I think what I'm most upset about is I had plans on capturing the trees in my park every week as the leaves changed and I've missed that completly.  So now I would like some ideas for me to plan with snow filming/photography possibilities? I live in Kansas so not much exciting really goes on here and I'm not about to film in our city where the better monuments/sculpters are.  I would rather stay out in nature and away from people.  

Anyway, thank you all for your help!

Sorry Man,   DJI-Dave ?

Jayhkr,   maybe you can replace the compass,  It is mounted on one of the legs.   New legs come with a compass I'm fairly sure.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

CaveDrone Posted at 2015-11-12 07:32
Sorry Man,   DJI-Dave ?

Jayhkr,   maybe you can replace the compass,  It is mounted on one of the  ...

Did you invoke the Cone Of Silence in your post?

Geebax Posted at 2015-11-11 15:09
Did you invoke the Cone Of Silence in your post?

LOL,   Actually,  I used white text on the rest of my post, as I was exposing state secrets and this forum is ideal for that, very innocuous. if you can read this, you can join my spy club
I did put some spy thing here some where,  can you find it?

By the way, I fixed the prievous post. lol

Been hAving the same issues lately. Almost every flight. Calibrated IMU. Calibrate the compass each flight, starting in a field. Starting to really irk me.

hbax450 Posted at 2015-11-11 20:24
Been hAving the same issues lately. Almost every flight. Calibrated IMU. Calibrate the compass each  ...

Have you tried something like THIS?

Butch

Rebel Posted at 2015-11-11 17:18
New compass cost 15 bucks. Save yourself some time and probable grief and do it yourself.

I might just do that.  Does anyone suggest a reputable dealer to purchase it from and I can assume YouTube will have instructions on replacing.  BIGGEST question is, will replacing this myself void my warranty I still have with my drone?  It's relatively new, purchased just back in August.  Thanks everyone for the help.......oh and I'm still looking for the spy thing CaveDrone!

Rebel Posted at 2015-11-12 17:50
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=phantom+3+compass&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Se ...

Interesting you pay $15 for the compass alone, or the two legs complete with compass for $12 ??

Yeach, You can risk 15USD and try to do it yourself, i hope it works, also even you fail with changing compass you'll have to send it in anyway... if i were you i'd just give it a shot

jayhkr Posted at 2015-11-12 00:41
I might just do that.  Does anyone suggest a reputable dealer to purchase it from and I can assume ...

jayhkr,    Click and highlight the area around the Emoticon... LOL

DJI-Tim Posted at 2015-11-12 02:10
Yeach, You can risk 15USD and try to do it yourself, i hope it works, also even you fail with changi ...

Well I got a reply to the e-mail I sent to your corporate tech department and they suggested doing a FW update and IMU calibration.  IF that didn't work they would issue an RMA for it.  So you're saying if changing the compass out myself and it doesn't work, DJI will still fix it under warranty?  I guess that's my biggest issue.  I don't want to do anything that will void anything.  It's getting to the point weather wise that I might not be able to get out as much as before anyway so if I'm without it till the first of the year it won't be a huge loss, disappointing, but not a total downer.

I'm having similar issues.  Just submitted the following support ticket:

First 40 flights--no issue.  Now at 53 flights, and during each one I am getting intermittent and unpredictable compass errors.

Typically launching from a grassy field, no power lines or metal objects nearby.  No hard landings or accidents whatsoever.  No exposure to high humidity or water.  Also, I am soft with the controls--no hard turns or abrupt movements.  I calibrate the compass before each flight, and recalibrate the IMU following the last firmware upgrade.

Compass error usually occurs shortly after launch, while at the same time the drone drops to one side and begins to veer.  About 30 seconds or so later, the error disappears, and things return to normal.  Afraid to go very far.

Also, might be related, only just starting to get low RC signal connection after initial pairing, before take-off.  The only way to fix is to restart the controller.

jayhkr Posted at 2015-11-15 16:24
Well I got a reply to the e-mail I sent to your corporate tech department and they suggested doing ...

Can you describe how you are doing the campass "dance"?
Can you also go in an open field and screen capture your compass MOD values? Should be under settings>sensors.

quanthonytrang Posted at 2015-11-15 22:48
Can you describe how you are doing the campass "dance"?
Can you also go in an open field and scree ...

Well my dance consists of me going to an open field (view any of my video's I've posted and you'll see where I'm at!) Leave keys, gun, coins....etc in my truck during calibration.  Turn RC/Ipad air 2 on, boot app up, turn on bird, connect app to bird.  Go into calibration menu, select ok, walk 20 or so feet away from RC, hold bird at chest level (approx. 5.5') and slowly turn body, holding bird in normal "flight" level counter-clockwise one full revolution until rear lights turn green.  Turn bird 90* facing down and repeat the counter-clockwise turn again until the lights turn green.  However the last time out, I received flashing red lights indicating a failed calibration.  If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I will take a picture of my MOD values for you and post them.

jayhkr Posted at 2015-11-16 18:06
Well my dance consists of me going to an open field (view any of my video's I've posted and you'll ...

I don't know how tall you are.. but the app says the P3 should be higher than 1.5m for compass calibration.

Dance like I do..
You can do it in either clockwise or anti. It shouldn't matter.
Try holding the bottom of the skids and raising the phantom above your head. Spin 360 til the lights change colour. Keep the phantom raised and drop the nose of the phantom down and spin 360 again till the light change colours again.
This way is faster and more accurate as you are further off the ground.

Post up the MOD values when weather permits.

quanthonytrang Posted at 2015-11-15 22:48
Can you describe how you are doing the campass "dance"?
Can you also go in an open field and scree ...

Ok, here's what I did today.  Formatted the SD card and reinstalled FW 1.4, all went well.  Preformed a IMU calibration on a very level surface, again all went well.  Went out to the park/field I've been to many times with no issue.  Preformed the compass calibration, this time with succes!  Checked the sensor values: 0.00, 1.00, 1510.85.  Took her up, did a flight check for a few minutes to be sure all controls responded correctly and again all went well, "Safe to fly" was given with 15 satellites acquired.  Took her up a bit, switched over to a waypoint mission and began the flight.  Approximately 6 minutes into the flight I received the  "compass error" message, flipped to Atti mode and began to bring it back.  In the process of bringing it back I was able to capture a photo of the sensor values which read: .14, 1.01, 1506.36.  Landed and took another picture that showed 0.00, 1.00, 1506.36, still showing 15 satellites acquired.  I responded to my e-mail pretty much stating what I just said and I guess now I just wait.  A little frustrating but at LEAST she came back safe and sound.  All that practice sure has paid off in Atti mode in the beginning!  

As much as I would like to do the work myself and save myself time, I feel it to be better to allow DJI to perform the work as it is still well under warranty.  I just have to smile and deal with it, it's a bummer, don't get me wrong but I count myself lucky as to at least I'm not sending them back multiple pieces of my bird for "repair".  Below are some pictures I took of the screen preflight, during flight back, and after landing.

Pre Flight


During Flight


After Landing

quanthonytrang Posted at 2015-11-16 16:28
I don't know how tall you are.. but the app says the P3 should be higher than 1.5m for compass cal ...

I'm 5'10" so I'm well above the 1.5m height!  I don't hold it above my head, but at chin level (approx 5'7") and turn my entire body around counter clockwise both holding the bird horizontally and vertically till the back lights blink green as you stated.  I must have posted my values JUST after you posted your original post, so they are above.  Thank you for your help!

It may need Degaussing, you may have flows in a high magnetic area and the compass has held onto that.

jayhkr Posted at 2015-11-17 09:31
Ok, here's what I did today.  Formatted the SD card and reinstalled FW 1.4, all went well.  Prefor ...

Your mod values look fine to me. 1500 is perfect.
You mentioned that you are receiving the compass warning 6 minutes into a Waypoint mission. Is there a heavily magnetic structure that you are flying near??

Mad_Angler1 Posted at 2015-11-16 17:55
It may need Degaussing, you may have flows in a high magnetic area and the compass has held onto tha ...

I'll have to look up what all that entails.  Thank you.

quanthonytrang Posted at 2015-11-16 18:30
Your mod values look fine to me. 1500 is perfect.
You mentioned that you are receiving the compass ...

Nothing near, at least nothing that I consider "near".  One of those electrical stations a few miles away that's about it.  If I have to worry about something a few miles away, I might as well never fly anywhere. Plus, as stated before, I've flown here many times with no problems.  Nothing new has been built, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

DJI-Tim Posted at 2015-11-12 03:10
Yeach, You can risk 15USD and try to do it yourself, i hope it works, also even you fail with changi ...

I'm sitting with a dead P3P because of compass error. I've seen the videos with the Naza software and P2, but nothing comparable for the P3P, so I tried to swap the compass when I had a compass error that nothing with fix. Still sitting with a dead bird.

Tried calibrating the IMU and compass in all types of environments. As a last resort, ended up getting a new compass, and still no go

Yeah, that's why mines being shipped back today.  Figured it's covered under warranty, the weather is turning crappy here, might as well let them take care of things.  Just hoping I get it back in good, working shape!

I also had compass errors straight out of the box. After several days of trying everything to get it to complete a calibration, I sent it back to the dealer in Florida. They checked it out and could not fix anything. They shipped it to DJI in Carson, CA. DJI received it last Wed at noon and on Friday afternoon, shipped back to me. Waiting for FedEx today. I hope they get yours back to you as fast as they did mine.

RickAZ Posted at 2015-11-24 09:49
I also had compass errors straight out of the box. After several days of trying everything to get it ...

That's an awesome turn around.  Let us know how they shipped it back to you as far as care taken to package it up to you.  And of course once you get a few flights in let us know the results of them fixing the compass error issue!

jayhkr Posted at 2015-11-25 01:15
That's an awesome turn around.  Let us know how they shipped it back to you as far as care taken t ...

FedEx delivered it a couple hours ago. The packaging was good and received my original Phantom box back and looks like the same Phantom. The stickers are cut showing they split the case for the repair and the lens cap was missing. I am not sure they didn't send a used remote back though. It has some dark marks on it that it didn't have before (it was brand new).
I topped off the batteries and took it outside. The compass calibrated perfectly and had two perfect flights. Very stable and flies the way it should.
I was pretty nervous after reading the service experiences of other on here and other forums, but I have to say, I am very pleased. I don't know if I got lucky or DJI is getting the service end of their business together.
I hope you have the same luck as I did!

RickAZ Posted at 2015-11-24 14:14
FedEx delivered it a couple hours ago. The packaging was good and received my original Phantom box ...

Thank you for letting me know!  I took pictures of both serial numbers so I would know if something was wrong.  I guess having the gimble lock not returned isn't horrible so as long as it was in the original box.  Lets hope I have the same great luck as you in a couple of weeks!