Drone falls out of sky

[FlyingRaleigh]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and hope this is the right place to ask this question. I photograph real estate and had my Phantom 4 Pro drop shut off and drop out of the sky last week. It is a few weeks out of the warranty period. From what I can gather, others who have had this happen never find out what caused it, just if DJI considers it pilot error or not, and I don't want to waste money sending it to them because of this. Obviously they won't replace anything out of warranty. I don't think it even had 50 hours on it.

Anyway, my question is is this an issue specifically with the 4 Pros? Or, have others had issues with their DJI drones that weren't 4 Pros? I'd like to continue offering aerial photos in my business, but I'm not too happy about spending $1500 (actually $3000 since I bought 2 of them), and only having it last a year.

I completely understand that electronic products will fail at some point, but I guess I'm looking for a $1500 drone that will last longer than a year or 50 hours.

 

[Fly Dawg]

Anyway, my question is is this an issue specifically with the 4 Pros? Or, have others had issues with their DJI drones that weren't 4 Pros?

This has happened with all P4 models....the quantity is more than you would think, but not to the excess of being rampant so to speak. Generally speaking from the data that I and others have reviewed it appears to be battery related. Whether that is unsecured battery, faulty latch, or a general power failure is still any ones guess at this point. I will point out however, after the numerous reports of this, DJI themselves added a latch sensor to the Phantom V2's. This could be co-incidental or something that they were taking future precautions for. If your aircraft will power up (assuming you recovered it ) you can extract the aircraft .dat log file and post that here for review. If you would like to proceed in that, see the link below for instructions. You will however need to upload the file to a share site such as drop box, Google drive, etc... and place the link back here to that.

Retrieve V3 Dat

 

[Drestin Black]

“Latch sensor?”

 

[FlyingRaleigh]

Thank you, Fly Dawg. Do you know if I send my other one to them if they can "update" it? This is killing me to think I have a brand new $1500 paperweight, and worse than that, now I don't know what drone to buy for my business.

This incident happened in a downtown area. Thank God I wasn't flying over people or cars. There's a reason the FAA tells you not to do that.

 

[Meta4]

Thank you, Fly Dawg. Do you know if I send my other one to them if they can "update" it? This is killing me to think I have a brand new $1500 paperweight, and worse than that, now I don't know what drone to buy for my business.

The best place to start would be to find out what caused the incident or at least eliminate some possibilities.
The simplest place to start is with the recorded flight data in the app.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Thank you, Fly Dawg. Do you know if I send my other one to them if they can "update" it? This is killing me to think I have a brand new $1500 paperweight, and worse than that, now I don't know what drone to buy for my business.

This incident happened in a downtown area. Thank God I wasn't flying over people or cars. There's a reason the FAA tells you not to do that.

I don't think they have an update. If they did, they would have to admit that something was wrong. Some people diy their own fix if it was a loose battery. They use tape or Velcro to make sure the battery stays in.

Mavic 2 Pro could be a possible replacement.

 

[Ansia]

“Latch sensor?”

Yes, the v2.0 now bring a sensor that wont let you take off if the battery isn't secured.

 

[Ansia]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and hope this is the right place to ask this question. I photograph real estate and had my Phantom 4 Pro drop shut off and drop out of the sky last week. It is a few weeks out of the warranty period. From what I can gather, others who have had this happen never find out what caused it, just if DJI considers it pilot error or not, and I don't want to waste money sending it to them because of this. Obviously they won't replace anything out of warranty. I don't think it even had 50 hours on it.

Anyway, my question is is this an issue specifically with the 4 Pros? Or, have others had issues with their DJI drones that weren't 4 Pros? I'd like to continue offering aerial photos in my business, but I'm not too happy about spending $1500 (actually $3000 since I bought 2 of them), and only having it last a year.

I completely understand that electronic products will fail at some point, but I guess I'm looking for a $1500 drone that will last longer than a year or 50 hours.

There are some great drones out there that aren't as expensive as a new Phantom. If you just take real estate photos and don't fly far, the Mavic Air will do a great job. You can also get a Mavic Pro. Not as good as the Mavic 2 Pro, but like I said, get's the job done. You can look at the competition, which have some nice drones, but IMO DJI is ahead of the competition.

 

[wa5tef]

On my new P4 V 2.0 I noticed the batteries slipped in with some resistance compared to my P4 and that if I gently put both thumbs on it and pushed I could hear a softer “click” which indicated the fully seating the battery. Apparently the latching sequence has changed from the older Phantom models.

Hope you find the cause and another repair place other than DJI to repair your drone!

Good luck
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[DennisS58]

Does anyone know if they made adjustments for the battery issue on the Obsidian ?
Thanks
Dennis

 

[Fly Dawg]

“Latch sensor?”

 

[drvrbobob]

Did you have drone insured?

 

[Forgotten_Fox]

As has been mentioned, Phantoms have long been plagued by improperly seated batteries. Sometimes the *click* doesn’t lock all the way leading to the battery vibrating free in flight. As has been stated, you should be able to recover the flight logs assuming you can still power the drone up. The logs will help you determine if there was indeed a battery disconnect, or if it was a battery fault. To answer your question of buying an expensive paperweight, there are rumors of a phantom 5 to release sometime this year, which will result in p4p prices dropping considerably. Assuming you still have one working p4p, I’d personally hold off to see if the p5 has what you want, and if not, buy a discounted p4p. Keep in mind the p4p was released in 2016, so if you are looking for a more recent reliable model, the mavic 2 pro seems to be the new front runner for portability, reliability, and capability.

If you are interested in the Mavic compared to the phantom, here is a well thought out review by dronedj Including what drones are best for what professions: Mavic 2 Pro vs. Phantom 4 Pro - read this before buying - DroneDJ

DroneDJ recommended the mavic 2 zoom for real estate due to the x4 zoom feature, so that is something to consider, as well as the price ($1,249), which is cheaper than a phantom.

 

[sar104]

The best place to start would be to find out what caused the incident or at least eliminate some possibilities.
The simplest place to start is with the recorded flight data in the app.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.

But bear in mind that if this was a power disconnect then the txt flight log will simply stop - it won't show any data about the event. To see that event requires the on board DAT file, as mentioned by @Fly Dawg in post #2.

 

[BigAl07]

Thank you, Fly Dawg. Do you know if I send my other one to them if they can "update" it? This is killing me to think I have a brand new $1500 paperweight, and worse than that, now I don't know what drone to buy for my business.

This incident happened in a downtown area. Thank God I wasn't flying over people or cars. There's a reason the FAA tells you not to do that.

Any model/brand of sUAS can fail and many do. DJI is the industry leader (by far actually) and because they have the largest # of aircraft flying they also have the largest # of failures. With that being said, they do build a very nice aircraft for the price point you've paid.

Since you bought 2 of them you have a backup and your business shouldn't be affected except for repair/replacement costs. I would stick with what you have while also trying to see if you can provide any more DATA to help diagnose what happened.

Hopefully you have the aircraft fully insured so it's just a matter of filing a claim, providing the proof required, and then buying a new "back up" aircraft.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

Does anyone know if they made adjustments for the battery issue on the Obsidian ?
Thanks
Dennis

No there was no adjustment made an the latch did not really solve the issue 100%

We made this video showing just how vulnerable the Phantoms can be:
We solved the issue with the Phantom Wet Suit by creating a better Seal for the Battery and much more water resistant..

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Phantomrain.org

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[Florida Drone Supply]

Have you considered using a parachute system like the SafeAir from ParaZero? It's a great system, and only requires 31.2 feet to fully deploy. We'll be testing and reviewing this new system tomorrow, and getting it onto our youtube page by the weekend. They're well priced and can keep you out of a bad spot in a time of need.

 

[Fly Dawg]

We solved the issue with the Phantom Wet Suit by creating a better Seal for the Battery

You may want to rephrase that just a bit, since it has never been definitively resolved that the issue is with the latch or the battery seating. There is still the possibility of an electrical issue that this will not do anything for. A preventative measure certainly so, but not a "solution".

 

[FlyingRaleigh]

Wow! Thank you all for the wealth of information.

Just to answer a few of your questions:
Yes, I do have my drones insured.

I haven't tried to power up the drone again since the incident. Yes, I do have the back-up and will use it (albeit with a not-so-good feeling in my stomach). I'm going to put gaffer tape on the battery/drone every time it goes up just in case it is a faulty latch issue. That'll make sure I positively push the battery in all the way, AND the tape will secure it. (All of this assuming that it wasn't a power failure due to a faulty battery)

I'll definitely check out the dronedj reviews. I haven't looked into any of the Mavics yet. A zoom would be REALLY nice to have for what I do.

Didn't even know a parachute system existed. Very interested in that!

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Wow! Thank you all for the wealth of information.

Just to answer a few of your questions:
Yes, I do have my drones insured.

I haven't tried to power up the drone again since the incident. Yes, I do have the back-up and will use it (albeit with a not-so-good feeling in my stomach). I'm going to put gaffer tape on the battery/drone every time it goes up just in case it is a faulty latch issue. That'll make sure I positively push the battery in all the way, AND the tape will secure it. (All of this assuming that it wasn't a power failure due to a faulty battery)

I'll definitely check out the dronedj reviews. I haven't looked into any of the Mavics yet. A zoom would be REALLY nice to have for what I do.

Didn't even know a parachute system existed. Very interested in that!

Thanks again for all of your help!

You are welcome!