Possibly a loose battery?
Hope DJI can figure it out for you? Good luck to you and hope you get it sorted
Hope DJI can figure it out for you? Good luck to you and hope you get it sorted
Crashed p3p...power died moments after takeoff
- Thread starter chriseparent
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 6
- Age
- 55
Thanks very much. I have looked at the logs and seen distance and time, but I will look more carefully for more data
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 6
- Age
- 55
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 6
- Age
- 55
When did you charge it? Had it been sitting at full charge for awhile? There is a self discharge feature...which kind of scares me thinking about...
Was there any indication of power after it crashed? Or was it completely dead? ex... lights blinking or gimbal movement?
Related to "TheRealNick's" post.....
Some people think a battery that was charged several weeks ago is "fully charged". After 10 days the battery will self discharge and go into storage mode all by itself. What did the app say? Did you look at it before you flew?
Seems there are lots of crashes where the operator suggests they took off with a battery at less than full charge (usually around 50%) and then the Phantom dies and crashes shortly after takeoff. Seems to be a pattern. In this case, the OP says the battery was fully charged.
We don't yet have logs to verify this however.
Pure suspicion, but it could be a combination of the batteries electronics not reading the voltage correctly since a battery can show it's at full charge yet have a reduced capacity......and the operator not charging the battery right before flight. I can, for example, charge a car battery with one dead cell to 13 volts. The voltage is there, but the capacity to supply current is not. In a case like this, the Phantom just might climb for a few seconds then unexpectedly exhaust it's capacity (which was improperly indicated to begin with). Voltage still might appear to be within acceptable range.
I'm wondering if there's some kind of bug in the battery firmware that is giving false battery voltage readings....well....ok, correct VOLTAGE readings maybe, but not fully considering CAPACITY.
I think load testing your battery every once in a while (clamped down to a bench and run at full speed until it hits the low voltage warning) might help in some cases. You could at least measure the time it took to go from indicated full charge to low voltage warning. A bad battery will have a much shorter time to go from full to low voltage under those circumstances. (Loaded voltage test)
I don't know what electronics are inside the P3 battery but I would think it contains resistors to carry out an internal load test...or at least a calculated load test by measuring the indicated voltage vs time to discharge / recharge the battery against a data table.
However, in any case, the Phantom should not simply lose power and fall from the sky with no warning. It would seem that an error would have to be in the battery firmware that misjudges the battery voltage. The logs might (or might not) reveal this. Or, a connection loss at the battery terminals. Again...the logs should show a sudden total loss of data.
Not sure if any of this applies...just thinking about the problem here. Seems to happen often enough.
Until an operator posts up the logs, I tend to lean toward user error. Nothing personal Chris.
Some people think a battery that was charged several weeks ago is "fully charged". After 10 days the battery will self discharge and go into storage mode all by itself. What did the app say? Did you look at it before you flew?
Seems there are lots of crashes where the operator suggests they took off with a battery at less than full charge (usually around 50%) and then the Phantom dies and crashes shortly after takeoff. Seems to be a pattern. In this case, the OP says the battery was fully charged.
We don't yet have logs to verify this however.
Pure suspicion, but it could be a combination of the batteries electronics not reading the voltage correctly since a battery can show it's at full charge yet have a reduced capacity......and the operator not charging the battery right before flight. I can, for example, charge a car battery with one dead cell to 13 volts. The voltage is there, but the capacity to supply current is not. In a case like this, the Phantom just might climb for a few seconds then unexpectedly exhaust it's capacity (which was improperly indicated to begin with). Voltage still might appear to be within acceptable range.
I'm wondering if there's some kind of bug in the battery firmware that is giving false battery voltage readings....well....ok, correct VOLTAGE readings maybe, but not fully considering CAPACITY.
I think load testing your battery every once in a while (clamped down to a bench and run at full speed until it hits the low voltage warning) might help in some cases. You could at least measure the time it took to go from indicated full charge to low voltage warning. A bad battery will have a much shorter time to go from full to low voltage under those circumstances. (Loaded voltage test)
I don't know what electronics are inside the P3 battery but I would think it contains resistors to carry out an internal load test...or at least a calculated load test by measuring the indicated voltage vs time to discharge / recharge the battery against a data table.
However, in any case, the Phantom should not simply lose power and fall from the sky with no warning. It would seem that an error would have to be in the battery firmware that misjudges the battery voltage. The logs might (or might not) reveal this. Or, a connection loss at the battery terminals. Again...the logs should show a sudden total loss of data.
Not sure if any of this applies...just thinking about the problem here. Seems to happen often enough.
Until an operator posts up the logs, I tend to lean toward user error. Nothing personal Chris.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 6
- Age
- 55
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 6
- Age
- 55
I appreciate what you posted. I am aware of the discharge feature for the battery- I set mine to 2 days, and I keep my batteries fully charged before flight.
I agree with your die to bench test batteries. Mine are brand new and are just at the 10th charging time so it didn't occur to me it could be faulty.
I'm sure that the air temperature had everything to do with what happened.
Just to be clear, the SD card with the log files is internal. I.e., it's not the SD card in camera
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 6
- Age
- 55
internal to the aircraft? the p3p is at the repair shop, not in my possession for a couple weeks.
Yes, internal to the A/C. Maybe it'll still be the same SD card when you get it back. But, if they replace the board probably be a new SD card.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2015
- Messages
- 3,534
- Reaction score
- 2,041
- Age
- 48
Pm me how to post the logs please, if uou got time. This same thing happened to me two days ago! Just took off heading forward and fell straight down battery still attached and full charged
Dropbox - death of my phantom.csv
Last edited:
I just had the same thing happen to my P3P today...twice. Was flying my drone at about 12 feet filming my kids playing in the snow when suddenly I saw the motors just shut down and it dropped like a rock. I DEFINITELY did not do a CSC.
Luckily no damage. I checked that the battery was still firmly inserted and powered the Phantom back on while in my home. I gave her some throttle up and she was hovering about 16 inches above the kitchen floor when the motors just cut off again in mid flight. Battery level was at about 32% capacity at this time and I had the Phantom indoors for about 20 minutes before I decided to try this. I'll have to research my log also. Anything I should focus on looking at within the log?
UPDATE: Just uploaded my data at healthydrones.com and upon reviewing the various info the only thing of note is that the battery status graph has cell #4 column completely highlighted in red indicating major voltage deviation in this cell when compared to the other 3 cells within the battery. Additionally I checked a short while ago on the battery, I plugged it in to recharge hours ago, and found the 2nd led segment away from the batteries power button to still be flashing green. I tried unplugging it from the charger, waited a few moments and replugged it into the charger and it is once again flashing green this same l.e.d. segment. This battery has only been power cycled maybe 3 or 4 times since I purchased my Phantom in the second week of December of 2015. Could it be that this battery has some sort of defect? I'm not sure how anyone can access the data that I viewed on healthydrones.com regarding my flight data but if you would like to review it let me know how to make it accessible to you (screencapture, etc)
Update 2: Here is a link to my healthydrones.com summary: http://healthydrones.com/main?share=MTg0NQ
Thanks msinger for the info/help.
Luckily no damage. I checked that the battery was still firmly inserted and powered the Phantom back on while in my home. I gave her some throttle up and she was hovering about 16 inches above the kitchen floor when the motors just cut off again in mid flight. Battery level was at about 32% capacity at this time and I had the Phantom indoors for about 20 minutes before I decided to try this. I'll have to research my log also. Anything I should focus on looking at within the log?
UPDATE: Just uploaded my data at healthydrones.com and upon reviewing the various info the only thing of note is that the battery status graph has cell #4 column completely highlighted in red indicating major voltage deviation in this cell when compared to the other 3 cells within the battery. Additionally I checked a short while ago on the battery, I plugged it in to recharge hours ago, and found the 2nd led segment away from the batteries power button to still be flashing green. I tried unplugging it from the charger, waited a few moments and replugged it into the charger and it is once again flashing green this same l.e.d. segment. This battery has only been power cycled maybe 3 or 4 times since I purchased my Phantom in the second week of December of 2015. Could it be that this battery has some sort of defect? I'm not sure how anyone can access the data that I viewed on healthydrones.com regarding my flight data but if you would like to review it let me know how to make it accessible to you (screencapture, etc)
Update 2: Here is a link to my healthydrones.com summary: http://healthydrones.com/main?share=MTg0NQ
Thanks msinger for the info/help.
Last edited:
msinger
Approved Vendor
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2014
- Messages
- 32,157
- Reaction score
- 10,917
- Location
- Harrisburg, PA (US)
- Website
- phantomhelp.com
Raymond V, just a few bits of advice for you:
- Make sure you're not running firmware 1.5. There is a known issue that can cause the Phantom to shut off mid-flight when the battery is low.
At 32%, your battery was pretty low. If your battery cells are not leveled out, then it was probably lower than you thought. - Check out this thread for tips on monitoring the battery voltage.
Is the first segment also lighting up? Under normal charging conditions if the battery is above 25% charged, segment one will light up, then segment two, then all will go out and repeat. When the battery reaches 50% charged, the lights will light up as 1-2-3 then out and repeat. When 75% is reached, all four will flash etc. But you know this?
Raymond....
What FW version are you (or were you) running at the time?
What version of the GoApp?
This post brings a possibly useful tip.....
Don't wait for a crash to check your batteries history.
Check it frequently regardless and look for cell variations that might tell the story of a possible impending battery problem(s)
Also, I know these are called "smart" batteries...but judging by all the seemingly battery related incidents, I question just how "smart" they really are. For instance....they may know voltage...but capacity is actually far more important. Your Phantom could have full voltage, and fall from the sky due to no capacity.
What FW version are you (or were you) running at the time?
What version of the GoApp?
This post brings a possibly useful tip.....
Don't wait for a crash to check your batteries history.
Check it frequently regardless and look for cell variations that might tell the story of a possible impending battery problem(s)
Also, I know these are called "smart" batteries...but judging by all the seemingly battery related incidents, I question just how "smart" they really are. For instance....they may know voltage...but capacity is actually far more important. Your Phantom could have full voltage, and fall from the sky due to no capacity.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 6
- Age
- 55
I got a completely new replacement. No info from the original, in case someone is following this thread...
Similar threads
