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Mavic Mini took an unwanted bath :(
1448 12 2020-1-26
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Geux
Netherlands
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Hi there,

I'm Robert from The Netherlands.

A newbie to this forum, in fact, a complete newbie to drones.

Bought a Mavic Mini Fly More Combo set under two weeks ago and really enjoy taking it with me on my walks in nature.

Since a few days the Mini started hovering unstable at times. Going up suddenly, drifting to the side. Usually a few times in the minutes after takeoff, easily catchable with the controller. Rest of times the Mini was a joy to fly and start to learn controlling it, playing with quickshots etc.

Today however, all went bad.

Took off, doing a few shots near a small stream with dogs and kids playing, only a few feet away from me, and very low level.

It again wanted to go up and drift to the side. I could catch it the first few times, then decided to get the drone home (manually) since it was very near.
Then it started drifting again and I wasn't;t able to catch it.

It hit a few branches and fell into the stream.

I got it out (eventually), removed the battery and took it home. It is disassembled and drying. But I think it is probably dead.  

Can anyone view the log and shed some light on what I did wrong?

Here is the URL:
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/G018CT9UBBUYBJTLW8ID

If it is dead I would definitely buy a replacement unit, but if these things continue happening at random and you loose a drone every few weeks it could get expensive. ;)

Thanks for any advice / info.

Robert
2020-1-26
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DJI Stephen
DJI team
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Hello and good day Robert. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Mavic Mini. Since this unfortunate issue happened. Kindly please contact out DJI Support Team for further assistance at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav. We would do their best to find out the reason of the incident and then the corresponding resolution would be provided. Again I am sorry for your loss and thank you for your understanding.
2020-1-26
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JJB*
Captain
Flight distance : 12132231 ft
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Netherlands
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Hi Robert,

Sorry for your loss, will explain what went wrong (well, just my opinion)

You started this flight with 0 satellites and ofcourse 0 reception.
First 1m12s in OPTI mode.
At 1m16s enough sats and reception to set your HomePoint.

During flight few times back in OPTI, so bad hover accurancy on GPS.
Plus a GPS NonPostioning error in the log.

At the end GPS reception back to level3, with some position errors.

Your flight is a typical example of just not knowing enough of how to fly a drone.
Always wait for enough satellites, wait for HomePoint to be set, do pre and after take off checks.

A lot of trees in the area, not ideal area for good GPS signals.
Hope your MM will come alive again.

cheers
JJB

analysis1.png
2020-1-26
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hallmark007
Captain
Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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Hey Geux, sorry to hear that, not sure if you have care refresh it would help in this situation.

I had a quick look at your log, you were right on the cusp for good gps really you need 10/11 satellite, I think you were flying under some tree cover this can also effect VPS sensors that keep your drone steady at low altitude (under 10m).
So both of these combined could have caused drone to be unstable and the cause could have been flying under cover, also moving water can cause VPS to be confused.

11 satellites or 4 green bars, you have satellite receiver that receives both gps and glonass satellite, you really need 6 to fly drone safety so if you have 11 you are guaranteed at least 6 of one type which is what you need, just something to remember.
Good luck .
2020-1-26
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Geux
Netherlands
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Thanks for all of your quick replies and input.

Indeed, I took off in a densely wooded area, so probably did not wait long enough for good GPS.

And the lost GPS at the end is probably when it went for a swim. Bad reception at 1-2 feet below... :/

Care Refresh, read about this when the 48 hours window was already closed. But I don't think 'water' damage would qualify?

This is the first video I took when it stabilized from the initial problems after take-off.
At the end of that video you can see it lift suddenly. That one I caught with the controller.

https://vimeo.com/387254572

After that I tried to get the Mini back to me (manually), but could not control it at the very end.

P.s.
After a few hours of drying I have tested the Mini without spinning the motors.
Maybe not all is lost..

https://vimeo.com/387284304

It is amazing that it's even this 'alive' after more then a minute in cold (clear) water. Also, no propellors broke when it hit the branches.
Not a half bad product this Mini. It probably just needs a better pilot than me.

Maybe tomorrow I'll try and spin the motors.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again all.

Greetings,
Robert
2020-1-26
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hallmark007
Captain
Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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Geux Posted at 1-26 09:09
Thanks for all of your quick replies and input.

Indeed, I took off in a densely wooded area, so probably did not wait long enough for good GPS.

Care refresh doesn’t work with water damage, try putting the hairdryer on it for awhile, freshwater may not be to bad .
(Edit) it does work with water damage as long as you can fish it out .
2020-1-26
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Mizzu
First Officer
Flight distance : 431873 ft
Germany
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Geux Posted at 1-26 09:09
Thanks for all of your quick replies and input.

Indeed, I took off in a densely wooded area, so probably did not wait long enough for good GPS.

When you tear it down, clean up everything with 99% Isopropanol.
This is crucial.
Else you will get oxidation (sooner or later) and you will have the typical "water damage". This means you can be lucky and the Drone will last for many years but you can also have bad luck and it will be broken forever in a week.
Of course remove the battery before doing anything else.

Don't be impatient and fly the Drone before you cleaned it.
Just order a bottle of it on Amazon or whereever, it is just around 5€.

Better not flying a few days than burning 400€ ;)

2020-1-26
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Mizzu
First Officer
Flight distance : 431873 ft
Germany
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hallmark007 Posted at 1-26 09:34
Care refresh doesn’t work with water damage, try putting the hairdryer on it for awhile, freshwater may not be to bad .

It does work with Water Damage.
2020-1-26
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hallmark007
Captain
Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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Mizzu Posted at 1-26 09:41
It does work with Water Damage.

Sorry my bad I must have had a senior moment , thank you.
2020-1-26
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InspektorGadjet
Captain
Flight distance : 439915 ft
Spain
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Sorry for your loss, like some users say, make sure you clean it, Isopropil alcohol.
Let it dry and let us know, there ia a chance you can save him.
2020-1-27
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m80116
Captain
Flight distance : 3264131 ft
Italy
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I don't think what you have experiences  is the norm. I need to test my Mini more to confirm. Seeing your movie I think that's exactly what the Mini was meant to do... so tree cover shouldn't be a problem.

ATTI should work pretty well even without VPS, maybe bad GPS (refraction from trees) contributed to  the erratic behaviour.

Best of luck for your Mini. If I may give you one tip: bring down the exposure of 0.7 to 1.0 EV, especially in not broadly lit places it helps greatly preserve highlights (like sunbathed leaves in the woods).
2020-1-28
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Geux
Netherlands
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Thanks all.

Quick update.

After careful cleaning and prolonged drying my ‘ex-Submarine” ;) Mavic Mini has already made two successful short low-level flights in my backyard.

Amazing show of build quality after what is has gone though, or I may be very lucky after all.

This time I delayed take-off until it had full GPS. Indeed, that took way longer then I usually allowed time for. So premature takeoff was definitely my fault.

Still not sure about what caused the strange behavior mid flight though, so that makes me less confident to risk the Mini again.

I‘ll contact DJI support as DJI Stephen advised. Maybe they can tell me more to raise my confidence.

Thanks again all. For both the advice and sympathy.

Greetings,
Robert
Tilburg (NL)
2020-1-29
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Christian U
Second Officer
Flight distance : 189659 ft
Germany
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I have an pre-flight procedure for that:
Turn on Mavic Mini first, so it can boot up and has maximum time to search Sattelites
then Turn on RC, so that it can establish connection to the AC
then turn on iPad and start DJI Fly app
then put iPad into RC and connect Cable

So my whole setup Procedure is shortest possible and iam in the Air mostly in 2 mins.
When AC and RC and App is connected the AC has mostly 12 sattelites and i can fly directly.
2020-1-29
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