2 days ago I bought a new Phantom 3 Pro. I got home charged everything up and read all about it. Turned everything on and it said it needed firmware update. So I did it. Checked log file when done with each part and success. Worked fine. Next morning I go out in front of the house, get the RTH all set. I fly up about 20' then set it down. Moved dog in the garage. About 15 seconds time. Go to turn motors on and it shoots up like a rocket on a slow curve up over my house. I mean it went high enough I could not see it. Well on the other side of my house is Lake Tahoe. Looking on the screen on remote it was getting further away from me straight over the lake. I moved controls and nothing. I could see video. It was going straight. 838 m from me is when it made splash down. I never got my boat in the water so fast. Thinking maybe it will float long enough. 45 minutes till I got to the gps location of coarse it's gone and at the bottom. Not sure of depth there. My sonar I had with me only goes to 600 feet. I am not happy at all. It would have been cheaper just to have thrown $700 into the lake.

Wow, I would be fuming if this was me and interested in what would cause this. Must admit I hear so many scare stories like this it is starting to make me not want to fly, imagine if it hit a person, building or car. Do you have the flight log.

I have a phantom 3 advanced, They are pretty buggy. I have never had a issue as severe as yours but mine gets a compass error pretty regularly. I also get a error about the motors being overloaded quite a bit. I think you can upload flight data to somebody and they can figure out what happened. I'm sure somebody will comment about how to do that soon.

Sorry to hear about that, please sync your flight records through DJI GO APP firstly, then send an e-mail to support.us@dji.com with the specific time it happened and your APP account e-mail address, attach the cached video if you have that in your mobile device.

timbo Posted at 2016-12-16 04:41
I have a phantom 3 advanced, They are pretty buggy. I have never had a issue as severe as yours but mine gets a compass error pretty regularly. I also get a error about the motors being overloaded quite a bit. I think you can upload flight data to somebody and they can figure out what happened. I'm sure somebody will comment about how to do that soon.

May I know have you contacted our tech support for the case?
Just to clarify, the firmware version for RC and AC is up to date, right?
You have the compass error even through you fly it in an open place?
For the motor overload error, it will disappear after restarting the aircraft and APP or not?
How long you've owned it?

Why did you not press Return To Home?

Geebax Posted at 2016-12-15 23:41
Why did you not press Return To Home?

I pressed it. Nothing. I tried to turn it. Nothing. I could still see camera view 1 second then off for 10 or so then back on a second. It was first flight.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2016-12-15 23:30
May I know have you contacted our tech support for the case?
Just to clarify, the firmware version for RC and AC is up to date, right?
You have the compass error even through your fly it in an open place?

I bought it the day before. Did the newest firmware update to it that day I bought it because it said to on screen.

"Thinking maybe it will float long enough. 45 minutes till I got to the gps location of coarse it's gone"
It wouldn't have floated for even 4.5 seconds.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2016-12-16 02:30
May I know have you contacted our tech support for the case?
Just to clarify, the firmware version for RC and AC is up to date, right?
You have the compass error even through your fly it in an open place?

I have no contacted tech support, i have the newest firmware. The compass error only comes on when i am close to a house or a car. Really if anything is within 10 most of the time i get a compass error. i bought it new about 3 months ago. the problem really started getting bad  about 3 weeks ago.

mrrz500n Posted at 2016-12-16 23:25
I pressed it. Nothing. I tried to turn it. Nothing. I could still see camera view 1 second then off for 10 or so then back on a second. It was first flight.

Can you post your flight logs to Phantomhelp.com, then we can take a look at them and hopefully find out what happened.

timbo Posted at 2016-12-15 15:41
I have a phantom 3 advanced, They are pretty buggy. I have never had a issue as severe as yours but mine gets a compass error pretty regularly. I also get a error about the motors being overloaded quite a bit. I think you can upload flight data to somebody and they can figure out what happened. I'm sure somebody will comment about how to do that soon.

I noticed you mentioned getting a notification about motors being overloaded... I sometimes get a similar notification but something like 'Gimbal overloaded' and usually means there is some long grass around the camera where I am trying to take off from. I always make sure to find a nice clear spot these days... Not sure if that's what you meant, but if you have that problem it's probably that.

Adam Flurk Posted at 2016-12-16 17:32
I noticed you mentioned getting a notification about motors being overloaded... I sometimes get a similar notification but something like 'Gimbal overloaded' and usually means there is some long grass around the camera where I am trying to take off from. I always make sure to find a nice clear spot these days... Not sure if that's what you meant, but if you have that problem it's probably that.

When you realized you had no control, did you try changing flight modes?
I;ve had some issues, when flying waypoints in DJI go, after loading mission & hitting go, bird went off in total wrong direction, but just flipping to P mode your bird will stop on the spot & just hang there waiting for a command.
My issue? I loaded a mission from a site about a mile away I'd flown/saved a couple days before!

And the phantom help upload link is http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Adam Flurk Posted at 2016-12-16 17:32
I noticed you mentioned getting a notification about motors being overloaded... I sometimes get a similar notification but something like 'Gimbal overloaded' and usually means there is some long grass around the camera where I am trying to take off from. I always make sure to find a nice clear spot these days... Not sure if that's what you meant, but if you have that problem it's probably that.

i think mine means the actual motors, it tells me sometinhg like (motors overloaded going to slow down)

timbo Posted at 2016-12-17 13:48
i think mine means the actual motors, it tells me sometinhg like (motors overloaded going to slow down)

They are pretty buggy.
Just because a warning comes up, does not mean there is an error in the software.  It is trying to tell you something is not ideal for flight.  It could relate to something in the real world.

The compass error only comes on when i am close to a house or a car.
That should be telling you something.  Being close to structures or big hunks of metal is going to cause problems.  Your aircraft relies on an undisturbed compass.  Flying next to a car or a house with their own magnetic properties is going to upset your aircraft compass.  This isn't a bug, and warning you that it has detected a magnetic anomoly isn't an error.  It's saying the pilot is doing something stupid.  Knowing how things work goes a long way to understanding why the aircraft is doing what it is doing and what the warnings mean, so you can avoid it in future.

i think mine means the actual motors, it tells me sometinhg like (motors overloaded going to slow down)
If the motors are working too hard, the software is designed to slow them down to protect them from burning out or discharging the battery dangerously.  The cause could be a physical obstruction in the motors (a squashed bug for example) or more likely, you are flying at full speed against the wind or in extreme cold.  This will cause the motors/battery to overheat and it is likely to trigger a warning.  This was introduced in firmware 1.6.  It is better to have a protection in place to slow things down and reduce the load rather than have the aircraft shut down and fall out of the sky.  This is a protection -- not a bug just because it doesn't mindlessly follow your commands.

endotherm Posted at 2016-12-17 06:38
They are pretty buggy.
Just because a warning comes up, does not mean there is an error in the software.  It is trying to tell you something is not ideal for flight.  It could relate to something in the real world.

I understand that the buildings & cars are causing the compass error. When I first got the drone I could fly it relatively close to cars and houses. For example I could put it in my front yard. It would be about 10 feet from the house and 15 feet from the car and it would fly just fine. For the past 3 weeks the drone has to pretty much be 30 feet away from everything or else it will get the error. This is not normal regardless of what you say. As far as the motors go. Nobody else I have talked to has got the error. Am I the only one that has ever flown against the wind. The drone still fly's great and it is an impressive piece of technology but it can be very buggy. If you want to be a dji fan boy and just deny the drones can have issues be my guest.

timbo Posted at 2016-12-18 03:31
I understand that the buildings & cars are causing the compass error. When I first got the drone I could fly it relatively close to cars and houses. For example I could put it in my front yard. It would be about 10 feet from the house and 15 feet from the car and it would fly just fine. For the past 3 weeks the drone has to pretty much be 30 feet away from everything or else it will get the error. This is not normal regardless of what you say. As far as the motors go. Nobody else I have talked to has got the error. Am I the only one that has ever flown against the wind. The drone still fly's great and it is an impressive piece of technology but it can be very buggy. If you want to be a dji fan boy and just deny the drones can have issues be my guest.

So are you trying to say when you got it, it wasn't buggy, and now it is buggy?  It doesn't really work like that.  Buggy refers to an error in the software that would have been there since the day you got it.  Can you identify an error in the code?

More likely you have since calibrated the compass while close to some metal.  It will make allowances for that environment and its magnetic influences, and "zero" itself accordingly.  Now when you fly away into "clean" air, you are experiencing readings that are inconsistent with the environment where it was calibrated.  It reports a compass error.  The compass is behaving perfectly normal and as it is expected to behave.  You wouldn't go hiking with a hand-held compass, but with a magnet that you stuck on the back, then complain the compass wasn't working properly.  Try going somewhere that isn't within a stones throw of vehicles/structures/concrete and doing a compass calibration there.  Then see if your aircraft works like it should, without constant errors like many others enjoy.  Instead of blaming others, you might consider that it is something you are doing or have done.

I  have experienced the "error" with the motors.  Many others do too.  It warns "Propulsion output limited. Aircraft motility has been lowered."   It is easily reproducible, just fly into a >15m/s headwind at full power. Of course it can fly into the wind, but if it is trying to overcome a strong wind and the motors work too hard because you are pushing it "full stick" for considerable time, it will protect itself by slowing down.  If you see the warning, slow down and/or change altitude where the wind conditions are likely to be calmer.  This firmware change was added was in response to widely reported battery failures at the start of the cold weather in the Northern hemisphere one year ago, when the aircraft was flown hard in those conditions.  Maybe you should talk to others outside your group of friends.  Perhaps others on this forum who offer advice on problems you are experiencing and posting about.  Have a read here.

I'm not a fanboy, they can have issues, but I am not in denial about where the fault lies, like you.  Rather I identify the issue and work through the problem rather than unjustifiably slagging off their reputation without proof and calling people names.  There is already no shortage of people that blame every little problem they experience on the latest firmware upgrade, without a shred of evidence.  I am among the thousands of users that regularly upgrades without issue, every single time.  If it were so buggy and unreliable, why aren't we all experiencing the same thing you are?

endotherm Posted at 2016-12-17 23:23
So are you trying to say when you got it, it wasn't buggy, and now it is buggy?  It doesn't really work like that.  Buggy refers to an error in the software that would have been there since the day you got it.  Can you identify an error in the code?

More likely you have since calibrated the compass while close to some metal.  It will make allowances for that environment and its magnetic influences, and "zero" itself accordingly.  Now when you fly away into "clean" air, you are experiencing readings that are inconsistent with the environment where it was calibrated.  It reports a compass error.  The compass is behaving perfectly normal and as it is expected to behave.  You wouldn't go hiking with a hand-held compass, but with a magnet that you stuck on the back, then complain the compass wasn't working properly.  Try going somewhere that isn't within a stones throw of vehicles/structures/concrete and doing a compass calibration there.  Then see if your aircraft works like it should, without constant errors like many others enjoy.  Instead of blaming others, you might consider that it is something you are doing or have done.

Thats not the same motor warning i get, mine says (Motor overloaded, aircraft will decelerate to ensure safety).

Geebax Posted at 2016-12-16 14:01
Can you post your flight logs to Phantomhelp.com, then we can take a look at them and hopefully find out what happened.

Geebax I did not know it logs that much info. I see the green H for home. You can see were I moved controls to make it go up. But when it started taking off to the side I'm not touching controls. It got out past 800 meters pretty damn fast. I'm not at home at the moment. When I get home Monday I'll upload it.

fans987d278a Posted at 2016-12-16 14:48
When you realized you had no control, did you try changing flight modes?
I;ve had some issues, when flying waypoints in DJI go, after loading mission & hitting go, bird went off in total wrong direction, but just flipping to P mode your bird will stop on the spot & just hang there waiting for a command.
My issue? I loaded a mission from a site about a mile away I'd flown/saved a couple days before!

I had no waypoints or anything like that ever put into it. Only thing or place stored was Home.

mrrz500n Posted at 2016-12-18 20:28
Geebax I did not know it logs that much info. I see the green H for home. You can see were I moved controls to make it go up. But when it started taking off to the side I'm not touching controls. It got out past 800 meters pretty damn fast. I'm not at home at the moment. When I get home Monday I'll upload it.

The flight recorder captures all the readings and sensors every 100 milliseconds (ten times per second).  Everything from stick inputs to heading and speed, even when it takes photos and the angle of the camera.  Sites like PhantomHelp can decode the flight log contained in your smart device or the aircraft itself.  It is from these records that you can generally determine the cause of an action, or if a fault occurred, or even what flight mode the aircraft was in.  It may embarrass you if you find it is something that you did, but at least you will have peace of mind and know why it happened for next time, so you can avoid repeating it.

Geebax Posted at 2016-12-16 17:01
Can you post your flight logs to Phantomhelp.com, then we can take a look at them and hopefully find out what happened.

I uploaded the file to that url.. I did it 5 minutes ago. Question. How do you know which file belongs to which person?