Some of you may remember my posts from earlier where my P4 started to spin out of control above my house. Well, its done it again but this time i wasnt as lucky. just 1 minute into the flight it started to tumble in much the same way as last time. Has all the latest updates and no gimble guards. was my second flight with the same battery, the first not having any problems which is a good thing as i flew along a river. When i found its landing place the battery had come out and a few bits were broken. The sd footage file was corrupt, im guessing this is because the video file was never closed. I am uploading the ipad video though and would welcome any input as my confidence with the P4 has been shattered. Im just grateful that it didnt happen over anything other than a field. I guess we can rule out bird strike from the previous time and assume it had some kind of technical fault. If any DJI admin can instruct me as to how i get this sent in for analysis and repair. Also, If it is a fault with the drone, will the repair be covered under the warrenty as i dont have DJI care?

https://healthydrones.com/main?f ... 6af14544c213f23a009


http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/DNWB9G4X8YP186OOTVDF/


When i try to select UK repair all i get is
Your selection is not available currently, please try another one.

what props are/were you using, stock? carbon fiber ?

spalding1968 Posted at 2016-10-23 15:05
https://healthydrones.com/main?f ... 6af14544c213f23a009

I appreciate this is not of much consolation...
I'm not saying this is the cause but it might save you some future woes...

I'd be worried about those power lines affecting the compass (nearest pylon cables seem to be about 70m away). If the compass was calibrated before take off at that location (or previously near that location), it's possible that it took a bad calibration. I suspect there could be enough magnetic influence at that location to affect a properly calibrated compass though.  Looking at the maps, I see there's two sets of pylon cable runs and also standard mains poles amongst them. I would reckon there's a lot of electrical interference there that could cause problems.

Unfortunately the Healthy Drones log doesn't reveal much other than a sudden increase in battery current and the gimbal hitting the stops as the craft went out of control


I'm sure DJI's own analysis of the Phantom's internal flight logs will reveal more though.

Everything was stock. Props were muddy but undamaged when i got to it.
The power station was not generating at the time of the crash, I do know cos i work there. I have flown up to the pylons in the past when the power station was generating with no ill effects. Following posts regarding compass calibration I have not calibrated it today and the previous flight, along a river (Phew), was perfect. This isnt the first time this has happened but last time it corrected itself before crashing. Logs were synced and confirmation was received that they had them. That was the last i heard. Previously it was suggested that the most plausible explanation, without any proof, was birdstrike but im confident that wasnt the case this time.
Any thoughts on why it wont let me select uk for repair. I know there is a DJI repair center in Brighton.

spalding1968 Posted at 2016-10-23 16:20
Everything was stock. Props were muddy but undamaged when i got to it.
The power station was not gen ...

It doesn't look like you did anything wrong, I think once dji guys have a look at this they will sort it under warranty, sorry to hear about the crash, good luck

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-10-23 18:32
It doesn't look like you did anything wrong, I think once dji guys have a look at this they will s ...

Fingers crossed.

spalding1968 Posted at 2016-10-23 19:48
Fingers crossed.

Well I had an accident with mine my grandson knocked it of kitchen counter , they fixed it under warranty no post cost no repair cost, two weeks good as new.

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-10-23 20:16
Well I had an accident with mine my grandson knocked it of kitchen counter , they fixed it under w ...

were you covered by dji care cos im not. and where did you send it?

spalding1968 Posted at 2016-10-23 20:19
were you covered by dji care cos im not. and where did you send it?

It was collected from my home and went to Netherlands, no I didn't have dji care, just warranty and I explained what happened, no problems.

I've tried to sit on the tailgate of my truck and fly and it started throwing all sorts of errors. I assume that the metal was causing interference. You were sitting in the back of your vehicle. Could that have caused your issue?

Falling out of the sky is never a good thing.
If it was also spinning as it tumbled, that suggests one motor may not have been operating properly.
Powerlines, compass issues etc might make your Phantom fly a curve rather than straight or it could cause it to slowly spiral while hovering but it will never make your Phantom fall from the sky.
Go to the app and find your flight records, click on the cloud icon to upload the data to DJI.
Then go to the DJI website here: http://www.dji.com/support and click on online support and chat with one of their helpful people who will start the ball rolling.

PartsGuy Posted at 2016-10-24 08:33
I've tried to sit on the tailgate of my truck and fly and it started throwing all sorts of errors. I ...

The compass is in the bottom of the landing gear.
If you put it on your car, a manhole cover or reinforced concrete etc, it will scream compass error.
Move it away from the steel and that goes away.

I think it is a prop issue also, even stock props can break or crack at the critical point where it mounts to the motor.

Grizz 1 Posted at 2016-10-24 08:56
I think it is a prop issue also, even stock props can break or crack at the critical point where it  ...

In post #5 he says the props were not damaged.

The props were undamaged except for having a little mud on one of them. the damage to the drone was to the landing gear which bent on impact and popped the small covers over the screws. it also popped open the side of the casing a small amount. Ive flown many times from the back of my car with no problems. The other time this happened, earlier post, i was at home and stood away from my car. This is something i could probably fix myself with the right tools but its the cause thats giving me the most grief. if you havent seen my previous post the clip is at

Maybe the magnetic field around those high tension wires brought down your P4.......just wondering?????

i think thats an ESC issue that recovered the first time, send it in and see what they say

You would want to contact the Europe Support team directly at support.eu@dji.com. They would set you up with a RMA.

Looks to me that one motor failed, and recovered in the first situation, but not in your second clip

Do the logs record motor speed for each motor? If not, this is something DJI should look into logging.

My guess is one faulty motor.

As stated earlier there was no current flowing through the pylons. i know because i work at the power station. I have flown close to the pylons with the station generating as an experiment with no effects but still welcome your thoughts. everything was stock standard with nothing added and using an ipad mini 2. im thinking it must be something motor related because if it was a signal interference issue i dont think it would physically be possible to spin and tumble like it has on the 2 occasions.

Wow, bad luck to have the same problem twice.

It looks like a motor stopped for a few seconds and it loose balance. Would be interesting to see what DJI Engineers come back with as the root cause.

FuZZyPiLOT Posted at 2016-10-24 15:12
Wow, bad luck to have the same problem twice.

It looks like a motor stopped for a few seconds and i ...

The thing that comes in my mind, but is a bit off-topic, unbelievable how powerfull the P4 motor is, to overcome the problem in the first situatie anyway

Just had an email from DJI support in the Netherlands so the ball is rolling. Thanks to all who added their input.

I'll take a WAG that a bearing ball is flatten somewhere and acting like a roller clutch.  Once in the tumble, it relieves the pressure on it and it frees up - or maybe not in the last crash flight.  Do all props seem to spin with the same resistance?

I just looked at your healthy drones, when you look at sensors on the left and compass tab, there's loads of compass errors, also if you look at power and volts&amps, towards the end, your amps were quite high..... I have a feeling your compass failed somehow....  Hope u get this resolved with support.....
I do not see any warnings earlier in the flight, so I think it just went bunker all of the sudden..

If the motors are all ok and the props are all ok your looking at a computer that is controlling the power to the motors.  The video clearly shows it flying perfectly then spinning out of control. That is a motor failing to do its part. You recovered the first time, Not so much the second time.
Ive had three instances where I was trying to descend and it just wouldn't come down. One of those times I brought it down to about 20 feet it stopped, hovered then dropped like a rock.  THEN flew ok having dunked itself half way in the ocean.  
The controller is probably to blame, hence your regaining control mid flight. Software issues?
post up if you find a solution.

The motors feel smooth but i am starting to suspect a motor issue. The first time wasnt so much ME regaining control because i was just bracing for impact and making sure no one was under where it looked like it was going down, it just righted itself. The healthydrones compass info was as it was spinning, so i think it was caused by and not the cause of what was happening. Anyhoo, repair form all filled in and attached to the email i was sent. Ill keep ya posted. Many thanks for your comments.

imovetheearth48 Posted at 2016-10-24 09:56
Maybe the magnetic field around those high tension wires brought down your P4.......just wondering?? ...

No ...read post #12

Phantomski Posted at 2016-10-25 04:20
I just looked at your healthy drones, when you look at sensors on the left and compass tab, there's  ...

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the compass.
Look where all those "errors" are and what is happening at the time.
It's a perfectly good compass recording the Phantom spinning around as it tumbles from the sky.

i noticed you took off with 65%. thats never good. it might not have caused this, but always fly with a fully charged battery. flying with a half charged battery might cause the voltage to drop, and make your phantom fall from the sky.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-10-24 15:58
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the compass.
Look where all those "errors" are and what is h ...

As usual, u already looked deep and long ;)
Why high amperage? Because the quad was trying to save itself?

Phantomski Posted at 2016-10-25 01:57
As usual, u already looked deep and long ;)
Why high amperage? Because the quad was trying to save ...

I would think if one motor has failed or thrown a prop' then the machine will be trying its hardest to stay level, using more power than usual.

Agreed, but the log should have had something about motor failing, unless it was the prop.. then there may be no warning.... actually, i only assume if a motor failed, either the motor or the esc would send an error. Hope i will never find out....

Bilzc10 Posted at 2016-10-24 23:18
i noticed you took off with 65%. thats never good. it might not have caused this, but always fly wit ...

I had just landed from my previous flight. stopped recording and then started again, took straight off and then it happened. I was trying to keep the flights short untill i could proove that this wasent going to happen again. Was tempted to fly around my local church, imagine if it had gone through a stained glass window. Maybe i should stick to kites ahh, no. Powerlines.

Aardvark Posted at 2016-10-25 02:04
I would think if one motor has failed or thrown a prop' then the machine will be trying its hardes ...

The props are all undamaged.

Phantomski Posted at 2016-10-25 01:57
As usual, u already looked deep and long ;)
Why high amperage? Because the quad was trying to save ...

"Why high amperage? Because the quad was trying to save itself?"
The more interesting question is, where did the extra power go?

It looks rather like the aircraft comes down with zero power to the motors and yet the amps increase and the battery voltage drops indicating that the battery is supplying extra power.  I don't see how the power could be going into the motors as it is coming down fast enough to have lost power to the motors and is spinning as it would with no motor power.

It appears to go wrong shortly after being told to climb and thus using more power than normal.

Presumably the wind was from the north east and that blew it south west as it came down rather than it flying south west itself?

Dji support in Netherlands is dealing with it now. Do they arrange a courier, if so, do I box up the drone body or will the courier have the packaging.

Nigel_ Posted at 2016-10-25 18:16
"Why high amperage? Because the quad was trying to save itself?"
The more interesting question is, ...

if one motor or one prop failed, the rest of the motors would be trying to fight it, and i think it would still pretty much come down in a falling way, even though the 3 other motors will try to recover.. who knows..... but then again, even 3 motors could have some impact on how it comes down.. really not sure.. an interesting thing to know... did anyone here lose a quad due to prop failure and observed how it actually fell? When my Blade 350 lost 1 prop.. it was definitely falling at an angle, rotating about it's horizontal axis, and it fell slower than it would if power just cut..... but being a blade, i have no stats of any sort on it....