Sounds like a lot of problems with DJI drones. My guess is there are more oper. errors than problems with DJI. Most people can't drive a car and that is only 2 dimensional.

So what is your point?  You are reading a user forum.  This is a very small, select community of users of DJI quads.  You are going to hear more negative here than positive just by the nature of the beast - human nature.  Personally, I have three DJI quads and I am 100% happy with all of them.  When I started with DJI quads (I already had 38 years experience flying RC craft) it was with the P2V+ and in that forum I honestly tried to express as many positive experiences as I could in threads.  I know a lot of other people did as well.  But there, as here, the negative just seem to outweigh the positive.  Probably a good reason why I have not been as active here as I was over there when it was relevant.  

I know people want to blame a lot of problems on the firmware or this or that.  But I just don't see it that way and it pains me to see what could be a very useful tool and a very informative community being reduced to the experienced ones basically telling the newbies to just Read The Manual and learn the vehicle before you try to fly it.  Or, we seem to have a 'healthy' percentage of the other ones who just because they have flown the Phantom of some flavor successfully have 'knowledge' that is beyond refute.  That I see as even more dangerous at times.

Of course, all of what I say is only my opinion.  But I honestly feel that A LOT MORE people should take the time and effort to educate themselves before they claim themselves experts/experienced/knowledgeable enough to give others advice on flying.  There is a lot of unnecessary paranoia (look at the thread titles) and new people to the arena just don't understand this.

Phantom 3 Pro' here, never had one single issue, and still have zero screw pocket fractures. ;-)
So, go figure. I come here to try and share my good experiences and basic drone knowledge.

RedHotPoker

I own  3 drones and DJI makes the best.  These forums are of course going to talk about challenges.  This is as nrgwise put it " the nature of the beast"  I have been flying RC aircraft and Helicopters for 25 years now and can tell you hands down DJI support and products are  excellentt.    For the most part there are usually small problems  that are resolved quiicky IF the person is willing to listen and do some Due Dillegence on there own.

Very pleased with My Phantom 3 Professional

Cheers Donnie

Hi .  Is there anything wrong about your DJI product ? Most people are having fun with it !

I am a Newbies pilot (but already fly 25-30km distance) and I am happy with DJI my P3p and the forum. And off course there are complains but read between the lines and learn from it.

nrgwise Posted at 2016-1-8 10:57
So what is your point?  You are reading a user forum.  This is a very small, select community of use ...

The only experience I have with RC aircraft is my wife buying me an RC plane 10 years ago for my birthday. I promptly took it out a destroyed it.

When I became interested in drones, I read A LOT about the various models and my choice was pretty obvious about which model to buy. When my wife bought my P3P for my birthday this year, I was very nervous about flying it, but I read all I could, followed a lot of good advice here on this forum and made my first few flights with no issues. To me, this platform is amazing. It let's a total newbie like me enjoy flying RC aircraft. Something I've always wanted to do.

As I said earlier, I am very new to this hobby and DJI, but I'll bet the ratio of hours of flight time that end in crashes caused by equipment malfunction and happy flying hours is extremely low.

I am very happy with my purchase!

I've had literally thousands of flights with various DJI drones with very few problems.
Be careful, study the manual and enjoy your 3D hobby!

Flyin'Bryan Posted at 2016-1-7 22:34
I would say 90% of them ARE user errors, I've owned two DJI drones thus far in the last 2 years., an ...

I'm in exactly the same frame of mind. Every time I buy something "new fangled" (like something that wows me in electronics), I seek out either a user group or user forum and start collecting hints, tips, comments, etc.

Many of the gadgets I've purchased in the last few years have had on-line .pdf manuals. Not so much with DJI, although lately DJI-Tim (and a couple of others, I think) has put together a series of videos that have already gone a long way to creating a manual. I still wish some would have created an online, down-loadable actual manual for the GO app. There's a lot of info there and to the many beginners, it's somewhat overwhelming.

I'm definitely in the same boat with you on my Phantom "crashes." The scrapes I've had have been totally pilot error (sometimes panic error!).

Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

Thank you for your respon. My point, that wasn't clear is, in my opinion most of the problems are with the pilot not the product. I also have been flying RC for 30 years. Drones have many more things going on at one time than a RC airplane. People seem to be under the impression that the computer will solve all of their mistakes. This is highly unlikely.  I am a average pilot with RC airplanes but, not even close in the realm of DJI drones. It is a great sport but people need to be educated, learn the product and pay attention to the complexity of the product.
Thanks again and thanks to DJI.
Bill

How can you tell if your unit has old or new motors?

Had my P3A since June, all firmware updates went well, operates well.  Rarely post on  the forum but read a lot of  the  discussions.  I have to say, to date I am very please with my Phantom 3 Adv.  I used it for recreation and capturing family get-togethers.

I have had 2 P3P units since October of last year.... the first one was the older lot run, like morph was saying. Ran for about 2 weeks, never had any issues with it until one day the Gimbal started to make strange noises. Now we know that the set screw at the top of the unit would have fixed it just fine, but the support guys had me take it back and replace the unit. (gotta love Best Buy)

the new unit has been in the air every day since then for at least 4 batteries worth. Updated the firmware 3 times, and have had nothing but FUN.... any issues I have had was Me trying to be Clever, and that never ends well. SO yes User error is a big deal.

once I have gotten to know the Aircraft, NO Issues, Unless I push things. Oh and you know we do. Error on the side of People safety first, then have fun. My motto. and I have had a blast with it. Now if I could only figure out how to post a video to show everyone what I have been having fun doing. Oh well, more user error. LOL

Fly save and have fun.

Like any other item the forums are all about whats wrong you rarely hear from guys with no problems , most are out enjoying the item and having fun .

A question for the long time flyers and the Phantom 3 pro  , how are you guys using your batteries what is your procedure ?

What bothers me is the emphasis on having 100% charge every time you take off  , how do you deal with multiple short flights in the same day if the first flight is 5 minutes and the battery is lets say 70% do you guys put another 100% battery in for another fly an hour later , recharge the 70% battery keep using it an run it down  what exactly do you guys do  , it appears like Im gunna need 4-5 batteries to fly the way I need to , very costly .

I dont have my bird yet will arrive next week cant wait and I live in a hot climate its never cold here in Northern Australia if that effects the batteries or not .  

RodB Posted at 2016-1-8 18:32
Like any other item the forums are all about whats wrong you rarely hear from guys with no problems  ...

I have read a lot of the posts/threads about the battery and 100% charge before take off.  Quite frankly, I put no stock in any of it.  I have flown hundreds and hundreds of flights more than my battery charges would indicate.  Why?  I fly multiple flights on each battery.  Out of 100 flights, I would say maybe 6 or 7 are the duration of the battery charge on average.  Meaning, multiple 'flights' on the same charge (landings with power down and power up with take-offs).  Even with location changes in between.  Only the first one had 100% charge at the start.  I have never once, with my P2 or my P3, have I been concerned that my battery was not 100% at the time of take off.  Just my experience.  But I am also very particular about my battery care and charge saturation.

All batteries are 100% charged before leaving for a flight excursion.
Fly battery until 2 solid bars, then land and replace (may entail multiple take-offs and landings before replacement).
During regular flying months, storage/recharging/use is frequent enough to not worry.
During the coldest weather months - too cold for safe flying, let batteries discharge to two solid bars, charge up to three solid bars, repeat.
Before first flight in Spring, deep cycle discharge batteries.  After 20 normal charges, deep cycle batteries.
Use a full saturation charger exclusively.  Rapid chargers are worst for your batteries.  Rapid chargers may give every indication that the battery is fully charged, but in reality, the charge saturation is not 100%.  This could lead to sending what you thought was a 100% fully charged battery into flight when in fact the current driving the force is not there, only the voltage was which shut off the charger.  Hence your battery has all this voltage, but very little current to drive it so the flight is going to be short.  Very short.  Also, never recharge a battery right after flight.  Even if it feels 'cool' to the touch.  Charging a battery too soon after discharge, especially if it is at all warm, will degrade the life of the battery.  Rapid charging and charging right after flight are probably two of the worst things for the life and stability of this type of battery.

RodB Posted at 2016-1-9 10:32
Like any other item the forums are all about whats wrong you rarely hear from guys with no problems  ...

Hi, also in Australia, but down in eastern Victoria. Can get just as hot down here as up north. I fly with 3 batteries, and I carry an aftermarket car charger which can work in a pinch to charge the batteries.

I figure there is no point in risking my investment, so I never take off with a partially charged battery, and I never fly it down to low levels, I always return home when the battery goes under 50%.

I may need to make several flights a day, but use a fresh battery each time. AS long as the battery does not get too hot, I recharge it after a flight so I have it fresh for the next one, usually while driving along, using the car charger.

I also only charge my batteries the night before I plan to go out flying, I do not charge them days before. Nor do I charge them when I get back unless I am flying the next day.

I believe there is something in the reports of people crashing their drones on takeoff with partially charged batteries, so I don't let myself get into that situation. Another rule I follow is also not to do aggressive take offs, high current consumption may trigger the loss of the aircraft.

nrgwise Posted at 2016-1-9 10:53
I have read a lot of the posts/threads about the battery and 100% charge before take off.  Quite fr ...

'Use a full saturation charger exclusively.'

Just a small point, this does not apply to a P3 intelligent battery, the charger is simply a raw power supply, all the smarts controlling the charge are taken care of in the battery, so it does not care what charger you connect to it. All it wants is 17.5 volts and sufficient current applied to it.

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-8 19:13
'Use a full saturation charger exclusively.'

Just a small point, this does not apply to a P3 intel ...

Well, that is just not correct.  You can believe/understand what you want.  I would be willing to bet my batteries far outlive/outperform yours.  This I know from experience, education, engineering background.  But I also will not argue in the forums.  From now on I will be sure to preface all my posts with the fact that it is just my opinion.

nrgwise Posted at 2016-1-9 12:40
Well, that is just not correct.  You can believe/understand what you want.  I would be willing to  ...

Sorry, but it is fact, not a case of 'believing what I want'. Open up a battery and have a look, all the charging circuitry is in the battery. The supplied charger is simply a fairly standard switched mode power supply. I have one of those simple car chargers you buy on eBay, and there is no charger circuitry inside it at all, just a simple voltage doubler circuit. And if you want to try further, just connect the battery to a bench power supply set to 17.5 volts DC and watch it charge all by itself.

Your P2 battery would certainly have benefitted from a decent charger, as there was nothing particularly clever inside it, but the P3 battery is quite different.

Yes, 90% is user error.
If everyone read the manual and looked at all the tutorial videos in the app it would really help a lot.

Yes, 90% is user error.
If everyone read the manual and looked at all the tutorial videos in the app it would really help a lot.

no problems here

Thank you for your input.

Thanks guys for shedding your personal experience on using the battery  I feel a lot better about it now .