Hey folks, I was flying my Mini SE when randomly, and quite suddenly, the propeller wings shut down (it's like it committed suicide). The battery was almost fully charged and so was the RC, I had good GPS connection (believe ~ 12 satellites). The drone fell and was not safely recoverable, my RC was still connected to the drone and I could see through it's camera so the drone remain powered up - it's the wings that lost juice. I saw some old forum posts hinting to the same problem but has anyone else had this issue recently?

I contacted DJI support and they're giving me the whole "sorry your drone is no longer in warranty" routine (even though the accident occured barely 10 days past the 1 year activation mark) and offering me a super gracious 20% discount to purchase a replacement. They're not even willing to do an analysis to see what actually went wrong - they're asking me to pay for that as well. If I was the manufacturer, I'd want to at least check the logs to see what happened and then advise the user of next steps instead of not even bothering to attempt an investigation. Looking for some guidance here, I'm not sure whether I should even bother buying a new one if they're going to self destruct after their warranty is over.

If you have looked at other threads you should have also seen requests for the flight logs and guidance as to how to get them.
Kindly upload the relevant log to https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ and post the URL here.

With regards to the expiration of the warranty, it is unfortunate but true that there has to be an end date and someone will always be just beyond that date.

Here you go - I hope this is the right one (this was the latest file on the main folder but there is another one for the same date/time in the cache folder) - https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/3AM4AR9F89VJ9GU5U6IX

_faisal_91 Posted at 6-7 10:29
Here you go - I hope this is the right one (this was the latest file on the main folder but there is another one for the same date/time in the cache folder) - https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/3AM4AR9F89VJ9GU5U6IX

Uuum it probaly is the correct log, it looks as if the flight end over a drop off, is that correct? At or near Trolltunga? Staggering scenery.
If it was over a drop off what was the drop?????

And the motors did stop in mid air. :-(
In the csv have a look at the last entry in the column entitled ''OSD.isMotorOn''

Plenty of DJI drones go well beyond the end of their warranty period so I would not judge all of them by just one experience. However there has been a spate of mid-air motor-stops recently though they tend to be Mini 3s of some sort.

With that in mind it might be worth asking DJI if they can improve their offer.

Yep it was at Trolltunga - the scenery was gorgeous but the appreciation of it was unfortunately shortlived due to this incident. The drop was about 300m, I suspect it dropped in a blanket of snow which is why it didn't completely shatter and I was able to retain connection. Upon attempting to re-launch the drone, the message that I got was that something is obstructing the wings.

Any indication to what could have caused the initial propeller wing shut down?

Everything looks good in the logs towards the end of the flight (though I'm a newbie at decoding) - 90% battery, 20 sats, barely 60ft away from home, < 2 min flight time, P-GPS mode, barely any speed - see my frustration?

I don't see anything but really you need JJB* or others to have a look.
It might also be an idea to post the thread and log over on MavicPilots, include the following text in your story. "@slup @sar104 @Meta4" That messages them that they have been mentioned in a thread.

Any chance of using another drone to fould hook it and rescue it?  .......Though there are risks attached to that especially near a cliff etc.. Given the possible climb or length of the rescue flight it would probably need a bigger drone.  

Nah I'm already back in Canada, there was anther pilot around but he had the mini 3 and unfortunately the weather changed for the worse quite quickly so we had to start our trek back. Thanks for the chat Sean, I'll look to posting this on the other threads as suggested

Hello, there. We apologize for any inconvenience. If the aircraft is out of warranty period, we are sorry that we can not offer free data analysis and warranty services. You can choose paid data analysis services but the repair fee will still be borne by you regardless of the data analysis results.

I see that slup thinks it was an ESC error.
https://mavicpilots.com/threads/ ... 38316/#post-1558744
It might be worth having a look and the corresponding DAT flight log, you would need to down load and instal CsvView from https://datfile.net/CsvView/downloads.html to 'look' ( it's probably what slup used to product his chart, attached ).
I doubt it will work, the DAT is probably encrypted, but if the DAT can be read slup or sar104 might be able to dig something out of the DAT.

_faisal_91 Posted at 6-7 10:29
Here you go - I hope this is the right one (this was the latest file on the main folder but there is another one for the same date/time in the cache folder) - https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/3AM4AR9F89VJ9GU5U6IX

Hiya,

Had a look at your flightlog, no errors in there.

But from 1m50.8s to the end of the log you did pushed your craft donw, 100% down stick.
Last record shows high drone pitch and roll angles, so craft 'landed'....
So it looks like you flew your drone down.

cheers
JJB   [ Charts by FRAP ; the 'best' software for flightlog analysis ]

Hey JJB, thanks for you taking the time to review the logs and respond

The high pitch and roll angles happened when the motors turned off due to ESC error - the "landing" was really a crash but I guess it's saying it landed because the drone did not get wrecked - just wasn't recoverable

_faisal_91 Posted at 7-4 12:22
Hey JJB, thanks for you taking the time to review the logs and respond

The high pitch and roll angles happened when the motors turned off due to ESC error - the "landing" was really a crash but I guess it's saying it landed because the drone did not get wrecked - just wasn't recoverable

I'm so sorry to hear this, I had a Mini SE and it's a lovely drone.

Is there anyway someone could go search and get it back for you, it sounds like it would work okay and maybe just has prop damage from an awkward landing.

You must have been gutted having to leave it, I would be.

Cheers

_faisal_91 Posted at 7-4 12:22
Hey JJB, thanks for you taking the time to review the logs and respond

The high pitch and roll angles happened when the motors turned off due to ESC error - the "landing" was really a crash but I guess it's saying it landed because the drone did not get wrecked - just wasn't recoverable

The high pitch and roll angles happened when the motors turned off due to ESC error - the "landing" was really a crash but I guess it's saying it landed because the drone did not get wrecked - just wasn't recoverable
That's not what the data shows.
The data shows the left stick being pulled fully down and held there for 6 seconds.
That caused the drone to make a steady vertical descent with steady small pitch and roll angles until the very end of the data which shows the drone coming to rest on an uneven surface and ending up tilted forward at 28° and to the left  at 50°.

The data shows the drone being unintentionally "landed" with no evidence of any malfunction.
I'm not sure where someone got the idea of an ESC error.
He's misread the recorded flight data and missed the actual cause of the incident.
The motors didn't turn off until the props hit rocks when the drone "landed".
The drone did not fall.
The descent was smooth, slow and steady.

I see  the last entry shows that the left stick was 100% down, the VPS shows 4.3ft and Motors off / motors fail ESC stalled near ground.

The OP says there was a drop of 300m, so was over the drop, so what was the VPS picking up on?

If the drone came to rest on an uneven surface as Labroides, says, wouldnt it have entered landing mode? it does not show this.  
Also it landed on snow which is why it didnt smash to pieces.
The last entry was Motors off / motors fail ESC stalled near ground.
Is it possible that the last few entries showing pitch and roll was the ESC failing and it did in fact shut down and fall the 300m, I ask because the log does not show that it descended those 300m then landed?

Bashy Posted at 7-4 19:04
I see  the last entry shows that the left stick was 100% down, the VPS shows 4.3ft and Motors off / motors fail ESC stalled near ground.

The OP says there was a drop of 300m, so was over the drop, so what was the VPS picking up on?

The OP says there was a drop of 300m
If the drone fell 300 metres, the OP would have said that.
But he never suggested that the drone fell 300 metres, mainly because it didn't.

Labroides Posted at 7-4 19:24
The OP says there was a drop of 300m
If the drone fell 300 metres, the OP would have said that.
But he never suggested that the drone fell 300 metres, mainly because it didn't.

Read reply #5, the OP stated 300 meters. But, the data shows 32' max altitude? Sumpin' ain't right.

Labroides Posted at 7-4 19:24
The OP says there was a drop of 300m
If the drone fell 300 metres, the OP would have said that.
But he never suggested that the drone fell 300 metres, mainly because it didn't.

The OP pretty much did say that though else i wouldnt have mentioned it.

Post #4 Sean asks, ''If it was over a drop off what was the drop?????''

OP Replies in post #5 ''The drop was about 300m, I suspect it dropped in a blanket of snow which is why it didn't completely shatter and I was able to retain connection.''

So when the OP says that the motors shut off and fell and was not recoverable, I took that as saying it was above the 300m drop off, cause sure as hell, given the distance from the HP and the VPS height and the Alt height, that would have easily been recoverable, therefore, adding the motor(s) fail due to ESC error and no mention of Landing in the log tells me that it did in fact shut down the motors mid air and fell.

Mobilehomer Posted at 7-4 20:09
Read reply #5, the OP stated 300 meters. But, the data shows 32' max altitude? Sumpin' ain't right.

Read reply #5, the OP stated 300 meters.
He said there was a 300 metre drop, not that the drone dropped 300 metres.
In his thread on the other forum he said:
    All the blades were on the drone, they just  randomly switched off. Directly below there was a 300m drop but 3ft to  the right, there was a surface which was roughly 10-12ft below
If the drone fell 300 metres, he couldn't tell the condition of the propellers.

In this thread he said:
my RC was still connected to the drone and I could see through it's camera so the drone remain powered up
If that was the case, and if the drone had fallen 300 metres, there would be data showing the 300 metre fall.

But, the data shows 32' max altitude?
The data shows a max height of 29.1 ft which was achieved at 1:19.2.
I cannot see a problem with that.

Sumpin' ain't right.
Like what?

I've only got the data and his sketchy description, lacking important detail to go by.
If you want clarification, you'll have to wait for the OP to explain.

Bashy Posted at 7-4 21:10
The OP pretty much did say that though else i wouldnt have mentioned it.

Post #4 Sean asks, ''If it was over a drop off what was the drop?????''

Post #4 Sean asks, ''If it was over a drop off what was the drop?????
The OP isn't good at explaining, but his words from the other forum suggest there was a small ledge 12 ft down, above a 300 metre drop.
I explained more in my previous post.

If you want certainty, ask the OP what the situation was.

Labroides Posted at 7-4 21:38
Post #4 Sean asks, ''If it was over a drop off what was the drop?????
The OP isn't good at explaining, but his words from the other forum suggest there was a small ledge 12 ft down, above a 300 metre drop.
I explained more in my previous post.

I havent seen the other forum, but going on what you've copied from there, you said that he stated the ledge was 3 feet to the right of 300m (est) drop.

I was going on what was posted here, i suppose some clarification may help...

Did it fall onto the 12ft drop ledge, if so, that would prob explain the 4ft vps before the end of the log, if not and it did fall 300m est then that would explain the premature end of the log but as has been stated, thats a long way to be able to see the props and a long way over a drop to still have a live view connection, i cannot see the live view connection still being live in that situation, not impossible but, this is the Mini SE, the range ain't great, couple that with straight down a 300m drop, either the drop was far less than estimated or it did in fact land on the ledge, that makes more sense actually, the OP thought it was further away from the wee ledge or didn't even see it, and landed on it.

With regards to seeing the props, i did think that earlier but i remembered that there was another drone and thought that perhaps it was used to at least go down there to see whats what.

Bashy Posted at 7-4 22:42
I havent seen the other forum, but going on what you've copied from there, you said that he stated the ledge was 3 feet to the right of 300m (est) drop.

I was going on what was posted here, i suppose some clarification may help...

Did it fall onto the 12ft drop ledge,  ...
See my first post where I explained what the data shows.
If you want more info, ask the OP to clarify.

Labroides Posted at 7-4 22:55
Did it fall onto the 12ft drop ledge,  ...
See my first post where I explained what the data shows.
If you want more info, ask the OP to clarify.

Yes, i saw your reply...

That caused the drone to make a steady vertical descent with steady small pitch and roll angles until the very end of the data which shows the drone coming to rest on an uneven surface and ending up tilted forward at 28° and to the left  at 50°.

There was still a fraction over 4ft on the vps at the time the log ended and at that time it says ESC error, is that normal for a crash?

Bashy Posted at 7-5 03:16
Yes, i saw your reply...

That caused the drone to make a steady vertical descent with steady small pitch and roll angles until the very end of the data which shows the drone coming to rest on an uneven surface and ending up tilted forward at 28° and to the left  at 50°.

Hi Bashy,

Had another look, puzzles me as well. (did not looked at the location he was flying)

Guess the last part of the log shows drone descended (flying over and down the rock edge) to fly down into whatever its called.
But drone hit, probably, some rocks, see the impact on the pitch and roll of the drone.
Because of this impact the motors stopped, see the warning
"MotorFail [ ESC stalled near ground ] | MotorsOFF"

It is the same as you land your drone in tall grass, the moment the blades are hampered in motion, motors are off. Motors off = end of log.

If suddenly in flight the power is OFF, no sign of rapid changes to drone pitch and roll angles, so ESC warning.


After this  drone felt down 300 meters....
OP was able to connect, drone still powered ON ofcourse, but could no start motors. (in his text)

cheers
JJB

Labroides Posted at 7-4 21:32
Read reply #5, the OP stated 300 meters.
He said there was a 300 metre drop, not that the drone dropped 300 metres.
In his thread on the other forum he said:

I only read his post on this forum. So details from over there are a non issue. His 300 ft. drop statement is not clear, but you cleared it with more info. The not right part - even considering the tolerances with altitude reporting,  it seems as though there should have been some negative values?

Mobilehomer Posted at 7-5 08:10
I only read his post on this forum. So details from over there are a non issue. His 300 ft. drop statement is not clear, but you cleared it with more info. The not right part - even considering the tolerances with altitude reporting,  it seems as though there should have been some negative values?

it seems as though there should have been some negative values?
Only if he flew lower than his launch point.
That part of Norway is extremely 3-dimensional.
I'ts quite possible that he launched from a low point, flew up along the edge of the drop and down, but was still a little above his launch point.
Unless he returns and explains more, we're not going to know some details.

JJB* Posted at 7-5 04:11
Hi Bashy,

Had another look, puzzles me as well. (did not looked at the location he was flying)

Thanks, that makes sense, I have also looked on the other forum now and the screen shot shows that the drone did in fact descend more than minus 4ft too

Bashy Posted at 7-5 18:15
Thanks, that makes sense, I have also looked on the other forum now and the screen shot shows that the drone did in fact descend more than minus 4ft too

Not sure where that guy found that number, you'd have to ask him because it's not in the available data.
The last heights in the recorded flight data, are +8.8 ft  and +3.6 ft VPS

The only time the data shows any negative height is for two seconds, halfway through the flight when the lowest height  recorded was -4.5 ft.
All of the rest of the flight was at + height.

Hey folks - apologies for the late response and if my details were not clear enough (this is really my first incident/post).

I can present more details from a visual perspective:
. I launched the drone from the top of the cliff. Flew it out to and above the rock structure as represented by the image posted by JJB
. The height of the drone at this point (relative to the starting point) was about 12-15ft (again, visual estimate)
. Flew the drone a little bit more, capturing different angles
. Tried flying the drone back home, it was coming back yet very slowly. Thought it was perhaps the conditions causing the slow down but I had a good number of satellites and it the wind was nowhere close to being strong/dangerous
. Then I thought that maybe I should reduce the height a little bit and then try my luck (perhaps this is when the log registered the downward push on the left RC stick)
. Not too much movement based on the above, it seemed like the drone was not responding well to the RC commands
. Then all of a sudden, the motors/propellers shut off (suddenly, not gradually) and then drone fell into the chasm below tossing and turning while it did (this could be when the logs regsitered the dramatic pitch and roll angles). There was no collission, it was in the air at least 15ft away from any rock structure/object
. I should clarify that the total chasm drop was 300m, but I think that the drone only perhaps fell a 50-100m (not too helpful I guess but this is a rough estimate). I couldn't visually see the drone anymore but since I was still connected and could see the camera - I could see it was in a pile of snow. Doing a visual check of the chasm, I saw a whole bunch of snow a 100m down
. It defintely did not "land" as some users are suggesting, it was a crash - not sure why the logs would not register as such
. After this "soft crash" (assuming that the gimbal did not shatter since it crashed into a soft surface and I was still connected) - I tried launching it again multiple times but constantly got the obstruction error - I think it was motor obstruction? Sorry can't recall the exact wording

Please let me know if you have further questions

Quick correction on point # 2 above - the height of the drone relative to start point was probably a bit higher - closer to the 25 to 30ft range I'd guess

_faisal_91 Posted at 7-6 08:00
Hey folks - apologies for the late response and if my details were not clear enough (this is really my first incident/post).

I can present more details from a visual perspective:

Hi,

Why not in the log you ask ?  simple, when the motors are stopped / off the FlyApp stop with logging into the flightlog.  read my post #25.

Reasons for dropping out of the air:
1- total power failure.
2- hard crash into something, so motors are stopped automatically.

So what was it ?
1-  not in your flight, as you tried to start your drone after the drop. (still connected you wrote)
2 - not in your flight, as you are sure it did not crashed into an object.

uh, so it will remain a mystery for me   and you.

cheers
JJB

Hey everyone,

After further conversation w DJI, they decided to do a free data analysis and it turns out it wasn't an user error - so they warranted my case and sent me a replacement

They told me that the accident was caused by a possible propulsion issue, resulting in abnormal altitude control.

Thanks again for all the support!

Cheers,
Faisal

_faisal_91 Posted at 8-16 12:17
Hey everyone,

After further conversation w DJI, they decided to do a free data analysis and it turns out it wasn't an user error - so they warranted my case and sent me a replacement

Hi

Happy many landings with your replacement drone.

cheers
JJB

_faisal_91 Posted at 8-16 12:17
Hey everyone,

After further conversation w DJI, they decided to do a free data analysis and it turns out it wasn't an user error - so they warranted my case and sent me a replacement

That it good news.

_faisal_91 Posted at 8-16 12:17
Hey everyone,

After further conversation w DJI, they decided to do a free data analysis and it turns out it wasn't an user error - so they warranted my case and sent me a replacement

Awesome. We're glad it was handled well. You can always reach our DJI Supports whenever you have further concerns. Have a great day ahead.