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Mavic AIR vibration - shake - shaking - cavitating POSSIBLE SOLUTION
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8399 104 2018-2-5
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RepKK
Flight distance : 58780 ft
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While I think a lot of us are guessing (i know I am)... I am checking my mavic air (that was doing same thing as others are reporting) with all the easy things to check that I am seeing as suggestions on youtube/forums. Mine was shaking exactly like this video when I received three days ago.  I noticed it doing it the first 24 hours but the shaking would go away after 30 seconds to a minute (at least that is what I know since you can't see it shaking when it is 150ft in the air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ5ixWK80Zs
Here is what I tried...

(1) I did a IMU Calibration and still saw a little of this at beginning of flight but only a little.
(2) I checked the IMU status (in Advanced Settings>Sensors> for the drone in DJI GO 4 app).  It was good.
(3) I also checked the props and I think I discovered something.... If you hold the motors with your finger tips and test each prop, I found that the props that were on the drone from the factory might have an issue.  Again this is for my drone and might not apply to yours.  But the props "with no white mark" (props that turn one direction) were "rock solid" when I held the motor and tried to gentle check to see if props were installed correctly. When I did the same with the "opposite direction" props (the one's with the white dashes)... they were noticeably loose.  
By that I mean there was "play in them".  I could hold the motor and make the prop slightly move (spin) ever so slightly.  Again, this was NOT true for the props without "white marks". When i replaced the "white mark props" with same type from the extra props I received... they were tight like the other props.  The vibration has disappeared.

Still need to check but I am wondering if the "extra props" came from a different manufacturing batch than the props they put on the drone as they were shipped.  This is just a theory.  A little scared to put old props back on and test because I can only assume that the "cavitating"/shaking/vibration  cannot be good for the motors on the drone.


Finally, I see a lot of stuff on internet/youtube about the "motors warming up".  I am wondering if that idea is not coming from the props being "loose" as I have described and that after shaking like it does... the props don't "fix themselves" by heating up from the vibration and getting tighter because of the heat.  Therefore folks are sensing that it is the motor warming up - when really it is the plastic on the props "warming up" and fixing itself. Again, these are all just ideas to consider.


2018-2-5
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drown84
Flight distance : 176312 ft
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Im pretty sure it has to do with the motor controller not play well with cold motors. I don't see my props being "loose" like you say, and the drone flies fine indoors, and as soon as I take it outside in the cold it show this issue. If it was something with the props, the issue would happen indoors and outside in the cold.
2018-2-5
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fans8ea2660d
Flight distance : 122822 ft
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Having the same issue with my Mavic Air (got it last Friday and have had a total of 8 flights now).  Prior to the first flight, I calibrated the IMU and compass.  The several flights were indoors, no issues.  I tied it outside yesterday (was below zero outside), and thought the unit was going to explode as it was shaking so badly.  I managed to land it and go back inside.  I tried it again indoors, and it happened again, but only for a few seconds.  What was also odd, is the unit started to yaw without a control input.  Landed it and tried it again, seemed OK next flight.  Not sure if the issues are specific to my unit or if others are having similar issues.  
2018-2-5
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Montfrooij
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You might be on to something. Props can easily cause this.
2018-2-5
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slyfox0
Second Officer
Flight distance : 118 ft
Mexico
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So is this normal or there is a problem with the entire production line? I havent opened my Mavic yet.
2018-2-5
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RepKK
Flight distance : 58780 ft
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Here is my problem with the “motors being cold”.  I have had Spark since Thanksgiving.  Ohio has been bitterly cold.  I have flown in single digits repeatedly (Fehrenheit) and never once has Spark EVER done this).  

It can’t be good for entire drone to cavitation lack that.  I don’t want a drone that tries to destroy itself if it is too cold.  Why isn’t Spark doing this???
2018-2-5
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Oracle Miata
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I just got mine today and will report on my findings after I get the batteries charged.
2018-2-5
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Oracle Miata
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Oracle Miata Posted at 2018-2-5 13:56
I just got mine today and will report on my findings after I get the batteries charged.

I did notice the same looseness in the props as mentioned.
2018-2-5
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Wachtberger
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Germany
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I didn't have this at my maidenflight yesterday with 0° Centigrade and have just now checked the props. They all feel equally tight. But this does not exclude of course that there might be different production batches that have caused yours to be different. Nevertheless I believe warming up the motors and everything else before take off in cold weather is beneficial.
2018-2-5
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Wachtberger
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Oracle Miata Posted at 2018-2-5 14:08
I did notice the same looseness in the props as mentioned.

That is interesting. Have you already tried the spare ones in comparison?
2018-2-5
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RepKK
Flight distance : 58780 ft
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I flew Mavic Air on lunch break today outside at about 25 degrees with no problem since installing spare props.  The drone had been inside.  I am going home and setting drone on porch for 15 minutes then installing battery and seeing if shaking comes back.  I will let you know what happens.
2018-2-5
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Surface2Air
First Officer
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My first flight outdoors in the cold, same issue with the shaking. Inside I didn’t have that problem.

Search YouTube for ‘Mavic Air shaking’ and there are two results. Add mine, makes at least three, but I bet there’s more.

So Be careful flying your Mavic Air in the cold until we get some more info on what’s going on.
2018-2-5
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Oracle Miata
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The vibration was there upon startup.  It's about 19F outside.  It seemed to go away after 30 seconds of hovering.  I switched the loose props out and noticed that one of the ones I switched out was still a bit loose.  After I started up the drone I had a milder vibration, and it seemed to go away quicker.  I flew for a bit with no major issues.  I will try more later when the other batteries are charged.  Sidenote- my Mavic Air avatar has not shown up under my name yet, but I noticed some people's have.  Any clue as to why?
2018-2-5
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RepKK
Flight distance : 58780 ft
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Here are two videos.  I put my Spark and Mavic Air outside in 22 degree weather (no batteries) for about 10 minutes.  So 10 degrees below freezing.  I then put batteries in and raise them up and see the difference.  I am going to agree with the cold drone theory for the Mavic AIR.  But why doesn’t it do same thing to the Spark?


Here is Spark video:




Here is Mavic Air video:
2018-2-5
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Far_North
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RepKK Posted at 2018-2-5 15:28
Here are two videos.  I put my Spark and Mavic Air outside in 22 degree weather (no batteries) for about 10 minutes.  So 10 degrees below freezing.  I then put batteries in and raise them up and see the difference.  I am going to agree with the cold drone theory for the Mavic AIR.  But why doesn’t it do same thing to the Spark?

Where are the videos?
2018-2-5
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Far_North
First Officer
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I see a recall of some sort in the future.
2018-2-5
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slyfox0
Second Officer
Flight distance : 118 ft
Mexico
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Has anyone tried contacting DJI support about this?
2018-2-5
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RepKK
Flight distance : 58780 ft
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I had trouble getting them on youtube... they are there now.
2018-2-5
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Surface2Air
First Officer
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Thanks for the videos - that is exactly what happened with mine. Also can confirm my Spark doesn’t have any problem in the same weather conditions.
2018-2-5
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SSFRIH
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It seems to be a IMU problem causing this but the manual said you should not fly in such cold but a Mavic Pro and Spark and Phantom 4 pro can with no problems. Why?
2018-2-5
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SSFRIH
lvl.3
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Check out 51drones on YouTube he has the same problem
2018-2-5
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SSFRIH
lvl.3
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Oracle Miata Posted at 2018-2-5 14:08
I did notice the same looseness in the props as mentioned.

It's the IMU being to cold, warm up the drone and test it inside. No shake, then take it out in the cold and it will start shaking again. 20 deg. that's what I've seen on YouTube.
2018-2-5
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slyfox0
Second Officer
Flight distance : 118 ft
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Is this a normal operation of Mavic Air in cold weather or should I return Mavic Air without opening it?
2018-2-5
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Mark Blaide
Second Officer
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RepKK Posted at 2018-2-5 15:28
Here are two videos.  I put my Spark and Mavic Air outside in 22 degree weather (no batteries) for about 10 minutes.  So 10 degrees below freezing.  I then put batteries in and raise them up and see the difference.  I am going to agree with the cold drone theory for the Mavic AIR.  But why doesn’t it do same thing to the Spark?

Thanks for the videos. Could you try an experiment? Start the motors by moving the joysticks down and in, and then let it idle for a minute like the manual says. Then go up into a hover and see if it happens.

A second test would be to change the gain on your roll setting:  Main Controller Settings, Advanced Settings, Gain, Roll < make it less. This was recommended by Hummingbird.UAV but I haven't been able to test this one.
2018-2-5
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method007
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Mine does the same thing.  Shakes violently for about 20 seconds then smooths out.  Only tried it in cold weather
2018-2-5
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slyfox0
Second Officer
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Here is th best explanation that is have figured so far without trying Mavic Air yet.

Page 29 of the Mavic Air Manila “In cold environments, insert the battery into the battery compartment and turn on the aircraft for approximately 1 to 2 minutes to warm up before taking off.”

Drone 51 explanation    Also read user comment about Mavic Air and IMU
2018-2-5
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AIister
Second Officer
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unboxed mine today and checked the props.  one of them is loose, can wiggle about 1/8" at end of prop, other 3 are pretty snug.  will swap and see
2018-2-5
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drown84
Flight distance : 176312 ft
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So this looks like its not an isolated incident at this point. Looks like most Air's are going to do this if started cold. Hopefully DJI will provide a firmware fix.
2018-2-5
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$gambino$
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Yes there is a problem i do t see props , definitely not motors being the problem i think its the way imu is warming up...or second theory is gain to high...has anyone went into gain settings in dji go 4 and tried that for roll axis or attitude?
2018-2-6
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lvl.3
Flight distance : 55636 ft
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I'll be getting mine tomorrow so will also confirm. Whether this can be fixed through firmware or not will strongly depend on whether its a faulty batch and a hardware issue, or a software issue. Either way DJI has a  bit of work to do...
2018-2-6
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fans6d0133cb
Flight distance : 400 ft
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Same issue in the cold for me so far.
2018-2-6
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eYeSkYeYe
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For some weird reason, I find sound of Mavic Air when it's shaking really satisfying.  Visually, it's exactly opposite story.
Do you think that shaking can damage some parts of the MA or it's just annoyance?
2018-2-6
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RepKK
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My question for DJI is why this is a new problem for the Mavic AIR and does not exist in the Mavic PRO or the cheaper Spark?  Don't get me wrong, I love the AIR...

I just want to know if every time I start it too cold am I destroying the motors or something internal with the incredible "cavitating" that it does.  When it stops working 13 months from now... I don't want to be told it is just "worn out".
2018-2-6
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AG0N-Gary
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eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2018-2-6 06:52
For some weird reason, I find sound of Mavic Air when it's shaking really satisfying.  Visually, it's exactly opposite story.
Do you think that shaking can damage some parts of the MA or it's just annoyance?

Stressing the airframe comes to mind.

I am not saying it is normal for it to happen and I've never seen any other drones do that shaking, but I'm amazed at how many of  you just "hit the starter and take off" without any stabilizing time.  When I start motors, I let it sit on the ground for at least enough time that I can check home point is set and all cells are looking good.  Then I pull it off the ground about 8-10 feet so it is out of VRS range and let it hover several seconds, give it a left-right, back-forth stick check (never full throttle), and if all looks well, go fly.
2018-2-6
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eYeSkYeYe
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AG0N-Gary Posted at 2018-2-6 07:30
Stressing the airframe comes to mind.

I am not saying it is normal for it to happen and I've never seen any other drones do that shaking, but I'm amazed at how many of  you just "hit the starter and take off" without any stabilizing time.  When I start motors, I let it sit on the ground for at least enough time that I can check home point is set and all cells are looking good.  Then I pull it off the ground about 8-10 feet so it is out of VRS range and let it hover several seconds, give it a left-right, back-forth stick check (never full throttle), and if all looks well, go fly.

Back in a DIY days of drones... something similar is happening when so called PIDs (or PID parameters) are not tuned correctly. It is a repetitive process until you get it right. But once done right, temperature does not seem to affect it much. But, DJI uses proprietary and not open source/hardware technology so really hard to say.
2018-2-6
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fans6d0133cb
Flight distance : 400 ft
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I just want to know if these units are ok or if we have to send them back.
2018-2-6
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lvl.3
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AG0N-Gary Posted at 2018-2-6 07:30
Stressing the airframe comes to mind.

I am not saying it is normal for it to happen and I've never seen any other drones do that shaking, but I'm amazed at how many of  you just "hit the starter and take off" without any stabilizing time.  When I start motors, I let it sit on the ground for at least enough time that I can check home point is set and all cells are looking good.  Then I pull it off the ground about 8-10 feet so it is out of VRS range and let it hover several seconds, give it a left-right, back-forth stick check (never full throttle), and if all looks well, go fly.

Some good pointers here. You wouldn't start a car and head off straight away....You gotta let the oil circulate the engine, the engine warm up  and the fuel enough time to give the engine a good kick.
2018-2-6
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DJT_MVSP
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Spark's motors doesn't have any brakes..

While Mavic Air's motors have brakes: those vibrations you're seeing is just the motor quickly speeding up and braking constantly. Probably in cold conditions, the motors are slower to be detected and to react..
The solution is to decrease the "Gain" in advanced AC settings:

Pitch: 90%
Roll: 90%
Do not change other settings

2018-2-6
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drown84
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DJT_MVSP Posted at 2018-2-6 09:14
Spark's motors doesn't have any brakes..

While Mavic Air's motors have brakes: those vibrations you're seeing is just the motor quickly speeding up and braking constantly. Probably in cold conditions, the motors are slower to be detected and to react..

Have you confirmed that this fixes the issue?

I opened a case with DJI and they want the drone back. I don't want to send it back if its a simple firmware fix and not a hardware issue (and risk getting a "refurbished" drone back).

Anyone else have experience sending a drone back this early? Will they send a new unit(or will they open it up and try and "repair" it which could cause more issues)?
2018-2-6
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rolling56
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So def a defective part? maybe.... if this person knows everything about IMU's and their heating. ...but it might be possible to adjust the IMU heater system through f/w.
2018-2-6
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