Hi all had my phanton 5.8ghz fc40 for 3 - 4 days done 6-8 flights and today have seen red lights all the time unsure why??

I have 3 batterys all were fully charged as i have a volt tester showed 12.5v

After 3-4 mins flying i saw the red light flashing none stop so came near me and landed, changed battery and went up again after 3-min max red lights again? last battery and same maybe 2 mins

When i initially started up had yellow red flashing lights so was aware this had something to do with compass so i moved well out the way in field callibrated compass and all lights were as normal yellow green flashed 4 green the red red red green until 1 red and green and then 20 green again. I went out 30' and turned round and tried home lock (2 down) and came back to me as should but never stopped went over my head.

I landed near me and tried to resest failsafe lock put s2 left toggle up down 10 or so times but no lock came on maybe to near previous position not sure but anyway decided to stay very low and go a bit further out thats when i started seeing the red lights? so came back to land. changed battery twice and all seemed to boot up fine green red and 20 green very quick then red red green until another 20 green.

Got home checked voltage and 11.9, 11.8, 12.1 the battery with one battery the phantom would not even take off not enough power in motors even though 11.9v now in battery.

Pluged in laptop and naza says no errors (or where do i look to see them??) all buttons work on transmiter and move in naza says IMU doesn't need calibrating? shows 0.2 + -3 on gyroscope. and -239, 84, 298, 1329 on  compass and mod.

Oh my transmitter just beeped twice while in naza flshed green i have duracell in them and only done a few flights? only other thing is callibrate transmiter?? but all buttons seem to work fine??
Battery voltage says 11.7 and is set at default 11.55 and 11.10 no load and loaded?

What could it be all i can think to do that i have not done is magnets over the compass but i don't even know if this has anything to do with it. The compass is fine when i do the callibration pre flight yellow then green and then starts flashing as it should.

Just been in back garden and same only when in air red lights come on when land goes back to red green. Apart from 1 battery which was flashing red all the time.

Any ideas???

Thanks

Are all three batteries stock DJI batteries?

Are you using the stock DJI charger or a generic balancing charger?
Not that it's a big difference, but all my DJI batteries charge up to 12.6v each time.

Do you have any excess weight on the machine (modifications, prop guards, etc.)?
How cold is it outside?
Reset failsafe lock? What's that?

I think

Hi my batterys  are DJI and are 3-4 days old i only have stock fc40 camera fitted. i have stock charger that came with it.

It all starts correct colours etc when starting after 2 mins on a ful battery i have a tester you plug in and shows 12.5v 4.1 etc on each cell. after 2 mins red lights come on i plug into nazam with red lights showing and it says low volatege error even though nazam says 11.8v and my warnings are set at 11.55 and 11.10. i get 4 mins hovering in back garden at 6 foot high. The batterys are cold and will not even take of the ground when down to 11.4v. Before i got 10-12 min aggressive flying and the batterys were warm when i took them out.

Im starting to think there is a problem with the phantom . Its only 4-5 days old so will be able to exchange or have it fixed if its broken. I have 3 batterys all with 3-4 flights max all show correct vaults etc. but red lights start flashing at 11.9, 12.1, 11.8v on each battery i tested.

Only other thing maybe i charged on Life instead of Lipo at 3am, could this have done it?

Im not near fly zone etc im in UK north west

Thanks
Jay

Hmm, if you charged all three batteries with the wrong mode it's possible that's the problem!

LiPo batteries get messed up very easily. I messed up a couple just charging them without a balancer once or twice.

If I were you I'd try two things....
1. Get a new battery - and try it just to be sure.
2. Buy a balancing battery charger like the accucell 6 - which probably does a much better job than the stock unit. It may even be able to reconstitute your old batteries.

All of your symptoms point to bad batteries.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-2-15 22:29
Hmm, if you charged all three batteries with the wrong mode it's possible that's the problem!

LiPo  ...

Jay where in the North west are you if your close enough you could try one of my Batteries

I'm between Manchester and Burnley

Has anyone found a solution to this problem?  I have the exact same issue with the latest Phantom 1.1.1 NAZA V2.  I know. This is an older phantom but I bought it new a few months ago.  I can add one symptom.  When the after 2 to 3 minutes seems to not have enough power (flashing red) when in GPS or ATAtI mode. But if you put it in manual mode the motors spin like a new battery!  Of course you now need to be an expert pilot!  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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HerlocherR@aol. Posted at 2015-7-20 12:41
Has anyone found a solution to this problem?  I have the exact same issue with the latest Phantom 1. ...

HerlocherR,
Has it done this from the beginning or is this something that started recently?
What are you using to charge the batteries?

jason.kirkman.y,

It sounds like bad batteries.
If these are not new batteries then you have no idea how they've been treated or how old they are.
What are you using for a battery charger?   The one that came withthe Phantom or an aftermarket?

I use the SkyRC iMAX B6 Mini Professional Balance Charger/Discharger
SkyRC iMAX

Never discharge your LiPo below ~ 40% (in my opinion)
Battery Voltage does not always tell you the true condition of a battery.
What's critical is "Capacity"
Does your charger show you load capacity?
If you are fast charging your batteries and they get hot, that will drastically reduce the capacity with ever over heat.I try not to ever let my batteries get hot.

DroneFlyers gave you excellent advice in post Number 4.

The drone is brand new from older inventory; purchase May 15, 2015.  The batteries (6 in total) are all new and only charged with the DJI charger. Also only charged 3 times each, since May 20th, 2015.   The drone worked perfectly for a month while I waited for my Phantom 3 to be delivered. The "Phantom 1" drone did not receive much use fromJuly 1st-15th as I was playing with the new P3.   I believe the batteries are ok because if you change from GPS mode thru ATTI mode to MANUAL mode the motors exhibit full power with the throttle at full but significantly slower if the controller was in GPS. This makes me believe it is a NAZA hardware or firmware issue.  The batteries were always left to cool before charging. Does any know how Jay resolved his issue?

Are you giving the Phantom time to lock on to GPS/Satellites?

Yes, it takes a couple minutes and and the light is flashing green. Then after takeoff 20 seconds or 2 minutes it starts flashing red. Exactly like the description above, started by Jay.

The only new information is that my motors will spin fast like on a fully charge working system if you switch from GPS mode to Manual mode. The problem only starts after takeoff. I can stay on the ground idling with green LED flashing. Only after take does LED start flashing red.  Typical in less than a minute but as long a 3 minutes.

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Cessna172 Posted at 2015-7-20 20:05
HerlocherR,
Has it done this from the beginning or is this something that started recently?
What a ...

It worked perfectly for the first few weeks.  6 new batteries.  Everything is DJI factory new.  Bought from SureRC.com  This is a DJI dealer.

The probably just occurred after 2 week of no use.  I pulled it out to let a newbie use it.  I have been using my other newer DJI Quad-Copter.

Cessna172 Posted at 2015-7-20 20:12
jason.kirkman.y,

It sounds like bad batteries.

six brand new batteries all charged with DJI supplied charger on LiPo low current setting.  Each battery has never been taken belwo 40% and they have been allowed to cool before being placed back on the charger.  I have only flown 8 to 10 times and the batteries have only be charge 2 to 3 times each.  

The batteries act as if they are low charge after a few minutes in GPS Mode.  This is after the RED LED starts flashing so I can see how everyone thinks this is a battery issue.  However, if I land, switch to Manual Mode from GPS through ATTI mode I can make the motors run at full speed for 5 or more minutes.  This is what makes me think the issue it NAZA or firmware related.

I think the fact that you can fly for 5 more minutes in ATTI mode rules out the batteries.
I can't see how not using it for a few weeks could have caused an issue either.

Like you said, it seems the Naza is telling it to do this.  Seems a data logger for the P1 is needed in these cases to see what commands the Naza is sending to the controller board.

If it's not under warranty, what about opening it and re-plugging all the connectors to make sure something not making a loose connection?

It also sounds sort of like an issue where something is getting hot maybe?   You didn't cover the vents did you?

I wonder what would happen if you put the Phantom in the refrigerator for 10 minutes then immediately try it again after taking it out?
Would it fly longer or would the red light start blinking at about the same time?   If it took longer after refrigeration then it might tell you something is overheating maybe?

Cessna172 Posted at 2015-7-21 10:04
I think the fact that you can fly for 5 more minutes in ATTI mode rules out the batteries.
I can't s ...

Interesting.  Its still under warranty.  But I will try chilling the electronics later.

In the NAZA v2 PC software there is Battery Voltage warning level settings page.  What are your or a typical value for both  "Load" inputs ... both the low/warning level and critical/land-now level.

I am thinking if these values are incorrect maybe they are forcing the NAZA to land the Quad-Copter.  However, this is not explaining the general in drift about a given hover point (6 foot radius as compare to 1 foot when working properly)

Thanks Roy

The video at this location will help you solve issue that I have been having with my Phantom 1.  I was using the battery level monitoring protection that can be setup in the NAZA software.  When batteries change their characteristics or you add weight to your Phantom 1 (i.e. Gimbal, rocket launcher, etc.) you may need to adjust the - No-Load/Loss/Loaded values for both the first and second warnings.  You get to these setting by connecting your Phantom to the computer and starting you NAZA software.  Choose ADVANCED/VOLTAGE setup.  I measure my battery better to make sure it match the value being displace.  I then choose various value of Loss until my Phantom started giving me 7 to 8 minutes of flight time.  It seem that I have loss me 9 to 10 minutes (with Gimbal and camera) that I had previously.  

Good luck if you end up here in search of solution this same issue.



FYI - I love DJI products, but they need to invest into more service personnel or better trouble shooting guides.  I spent way to much time working this out.  Yes, I lost my "geek edge" years ago! ;-)