Expensive Lesson Learned today

[kirkdickinson]

Well, I learned a lesson today. I didn't know about battery temperature and I was getting a warning about it but flew anyways. From 60 feet up, P3 shut completely down and free-fell onto a hardpack gravel road. Hit on props and plastic parts flew everywhere. Airframe is banged up a little. Two blades broke. But the worst thing that happened was that the camera sheared completely loose from the gimbal and ended up 30 feet away.

I found a kit of printed parts that look like they would replace the broken gimbal parts, but am not sure. Camera looks like it is ok.

As hard as it hit, there may be unseen electronic problems inside.

I ordered a new camera assembly today. In the meantime I sent a message to one of the repair places to see about getting this camera/gimbal fixed.

If there is not internal damage to electronics, this is a $600 lesson. Owch.

 

[witold]

There is an actual battery temperature warning? Or do you mean low battery warning?

 

[RodPad]

There is an actual battery temperature warning? Or do you mean low battery warning?

I had battery temperature warnings on P2V+, It was summer and I was bringing back to me against the wind.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Which Phantom? A P3S is only $600 for the entire setup.
What kind of warning? In the go app?

 

[kirkdickinson]

There is an actual warning in the Go app that says: "low battery temperature. "

Like an idiot I waited a little bit and took off anyways. Got 60 feet up and it came 60 feet straight back down.

Asked my friend about it who is in the local RC airplane club, and he says that a battery that is low temperature cannot provide adequate amperage flow like a battery within normal temperature specs. When they fly their electric airplanes in cold weather, they keep their spare batteries warm. Usually in a warm car or tucked into a shirt pocket inside their coat.

Mine is a Phantom 3 professional with the 4K camera. Camera/gimbal, new set of blades, $551. I broke 3 brand new guards also, that I haven't ordered replacements for. I may as well order a shell too at this point since I ain't worth spit as a pilot.

 

[RodPad]

Hum, I guess mine was battery warning of high amperage. Not high temperature. How could I be so stupid.
Looks like your day was worse.

 

[kirkdickinson]

Hum, I guess mine was battery warning of high amperage. Not high temperature. How could I be so stupid.
Looks like your day was worse.

There might be a high temperature warning too. Probably likely.

 

[Bigskyflyer]

There is an actual warning in the Go app that says: "low battery temperature. "

Like an idiot I waited a little bit and took off anyways. Got 60 feet up and it came 60 feet straight back down.

Asked my friend about it who is in the local RC airplane club, and he says that a battery that is low temperature cannot provide adequate amperage flow like a battery within normal temperature specs. When they fly their electric airplanes in cold weather, they keep their spare batteries warm. Usually in a warm car or tucked into a shirt pocket inside their coat.

Mine is a Phantom 3 professional with the 4K camera. Camera/gimbal, new set of blades, $551. I broke 3 brand new guards also, that I haven't ordered replacements for. I may as well order a shell too at this point since I ain't worth spit as a pilot.

Sorry to hear this Kirk, what was the outside temp?

 

[Mario_SB]

Dude, that sucks! Sorry for your loss $$$ but thank you for sharing. Expensive lesson learned and received. Keep a check on those battery temps! Ugh! :/

 

[kirkdickinson]

Sorry to hear this Kirk, what was the outside temp?

We are in Ohio and it got down slightly below 30 last night. Was about 50 when I went to fly, but I had left the batteries and Phantom in the car overnight. Just wasn't thinking about the battery being cold would so adversely effect the performance. Expensive lesson.

 

[Bigskyflyer]

We are in Ohio and it got down slightly below 30 last night. Was about 50 when I went to fly, but I had left the batteries and Phantom in the car overnight. Just wasn't thinking about the battery being cold would so adversely effect the performance. Expensive lesson.

That doesn't seem right to me. I wonder if something was wrong with the battery, possible warranty issue. I live in SW Montana and fly in a lot colder temps than that with very cold batteries and the only difference I see is shorter flight times.

 

[kirkdickinson]

That doesn't seem right to me. I wonder if something was wrong with the battery, possible warranty issue. I live in SW Montana and fly in a lot colder temps than that with very cold batteries and the only difference I see is shorter flight times.

Well, as much as I would like it to be DJI's fault, I stupidly ignored warnings and flew anyways. The battery had been in the car from the day before and was probably near frozen.

 

[Sunfox]

Still doesn't seem right to me either. The manual says "The battery should be used in temperatures of -10°C to 40°C." Was it really that much colder than 14°F where you are?

 

[Mario_SB]

Still doesn't seem right to me either. The manual says "The battery should be used in temperatures of -10°C to 40°C." Was it really that much colder than 14°F where you are?

He clearly said that it was "near frozen" after leaving it in his car. He was also receiving warnings that he ultimately ignored. Unfortunately and I hate to say it but this all adds up to user error and carelessness. Take it for what it's worth and let's all try to learn from his mistake.

 

[Sunfox]

The minimum recommended temperature IS in freezing temperatures. And even with warnings, I've not heard that extending a few degrees below that equals sudden catastrophic failure. Perhaps with the warning he should've hovered a few feet off the ground for a few minutes to warm the batteries up, but I would still be interested to hear whether his temperatures were outlandishly cold compared to the official guidance offered by DJI.

 

[Mario_SB]

The minimum recommended temperature IS in freezing temperatures. And even with warnings, I've not heard that extending a few degrees below that equals sudden catastrophic failure. Perhaps with the warn he should've hovered a few feet off the ground for a few minutes to warm the batteries up, but I would still be interested to hear whether his temperatures were outlandishly cold compared to the official guidance offered by DJI.

I think it's also hard to determine what the battery state/chemistry was after he left it in the car. What was the charge state of the battery before and after being left in the car?

 

[RodPad]

Well, since it was 33F in my garage this morning my phantom and a not fully charged battery (in the garage). Reading the posts with my redneck heating systems on. It was about 42F air temp (15 mins of redneck heating). I decided to take it for a spin.

Anyways the short part, it took about 3 mins before the aircraft to finish "Warm Up". As I was waiting, bouncing through the menus I thought the battery temp was 3C.

Flew fine, took some vid and picts it is still 27F outside now. The sun is just now hitting my house roof.

kirkdickinson, must have had a bad battery. Ignoring the messages, he is probably correct on any warranty repair.
Thank him for posting his issue!

Somebody recently posted that healthy drones was useless.
I think the info they dig out of your flight has a value.
If this link works, click on power, then battery info.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Wild Turkey is best a zeroC

 

[Mario_SB]

I am now checking my battery temps before, during and after the flight thanks to kirkdickinson. Expensive lesson indeed. On a side note, I cycled/drained my battery to about 10% the other day, thinking 8% was too much but anyway now when I fully charge the battery it will only reach 98%! Ugh... it was on it's 22nd battery recharge cycle.

 

[Mario_SB]

Happy Turkey Day!

 

[kirkdickinson]

After Gobbling until I could barely Wobble, I got the P3 out and tried to download the flight logs. It may be more messed up than I first thought. It appears to work minus the camera, but when I go into flight data mode, it never makes itself available to the computer to download. I have tried two different cables and both mac and pc. It doesn't show up as a drive.

I had looked at this article:
How to download flight data logs from the DJI Phantom 3 and Inspire 1

I don't think I missed any steps.

Since I am pretty new to this, I haven't ever downloaded the logs before and just assumed that it would pop up as a usb drive to download the logs.

Am I doing something wrong, or is there a possibility that there is more wrong with the P3?

It will connect to the remote and power up commands work. I haven't tried to fly since the crash.

Thanks for all the help here.

Kirk