Dear All, major disaster today, the headline is a bit dramatic I'm afraid but what happened really did shock and disappoint me. I'll keep it short and to the point but would really love some feedback on my next options.
Flew today for about 10 mins, conditions were a little gusty but the quad was coping rather well. Realised that I'd forgot to load the sd card so landed on the grass in my back garden. Touch down uneventful until a gust of wind pick up the front two rotors and the back two struck the ground in flight idle power. The ground was damp and the blades dug in stopping instantly.
This was followed by the most horrendous screeching noise. I immediately applied full ****** on the throttle but noise continued, then applied the diagonal throttle shut down with both sticks again nothing. I also had the rotor obstruction message on the DJI go app. By now I was approaching the machine to see smoke coming from one of the motors. I righted the machine thinking the rotors would start but they didn't and the screening continued with smoke pouring from the motor. I tried to shut the battery down by double pressing the battery, no joy! In the end pulled out the battery and the noise stopped!
Obviously the motor was to hot to touch but by holding the damaged motor rotor you could feel the whole rotor assembly moving thus telling me that the plastic had started to melt!! After leaving to to all cool down I removed the rotors had a good look; you could obviously see heat damage to the coils shown on the photos. I thought I'd remove all rotors and just see if it connected and would fire up! To my amazement it did and all throttle movements seem to make the rotors move in apparently correct fashion. But I did not attempt a test flight due to the extent of apparent damage.
Now to my concerns and actions slash rights with warranty and DJI!
I assumed if the rotors were obstructed it would shut down automatically thus preventing this problem? Right or wrong? Being such an minor incident I thought this would have been standard.
With the obvious damage to not only the motor but also the body shell/plastic I'm assuming a new body is required? Note in the pictures the miss alignment of screws caused by the heat and melting companies to the god side.
Now to my major concern and actions from here! The machine is only 4 months old. Is it covered by warranty for such an incident or will DJI say its pilot error or act of God? If by chance it is covered do I just ring my local DJI rep? Secondly, and worse case scenario (which I'm expecting) if I need to repair it has anyone heard of this type of problem before and can the quad be brought back to life? I'm guessing the alignment of this rotor will now be totally out and thus affect the flight characteristics?
Finally would you suggest me taking it apart and having a look, bearing in mind I've never done this sort of thing before or should I leave it all to the professionals?
All/any advice would be hugely welcome, it's just such a shame as I was just getting really into this fantastic hobby. I hope it's not the end!!
Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
Flew today for about 10 mins, conditions were a little gusty but the quad was coping rather well. Realised that I'd forgot to load the sd card so landed on the grass in my back garden. Touch down uneventful until a gust of wind pick up the front two rotors and the back two struck the ground in flight idle power. The ground was damp and the blades dug in stopping instantly.
This was followed by the most horrendous screeching noise. I immediately applied full ****** on the throttle but noise continued, then applied the diagonal throttle shut down with both sticks again nothing. I also had the rotor obstruction message on the DJI go app. By now I was approaching the machine to see smoke coming from one of the motors. I righted the machine thinking the rotors would start but they didn't and the screening continued with smoke pouring from the motor. I tried to shut the battery down by double pressing the battery, no joy! In the end pulled out the battery and the noise stopped!
Obviously the motor was to hot to touch but by holding the damaged motor rotor you could feel the whole rotor assembly moving thus telling me that the plastic had started to melt!! After leaving to to all cool down I removed the rotors had a good look; you could obviously see heat damage to the coils shown on the photos. I thought I'd remove all rotors and just see if it connected and would fire up! To my amazement it did and all throttle movements seem to make the rotors move in apparently correct fashion. But I did not attempt a test flight due to the extent of apparent damage.
Now to my concerns and actions slash rights with warranty and DJI!
I assumed if the rotors were obstructed it would shut down automatically thus preventing this problem? Right or wrong? Being such an minor incident I thought this would have been standard.
With the obvious damage to not only the motor but also the body shell/plastic I'm assuming a new body is required? Note in the pictures the miss alignment of screws caused by the heat and melting companies to the god side.
Now to my major concern and actions from here! The machine is only 4 months old. Is it covered by warranty for such an incident or will DJI say its pilot error or act of God? If by chance it is covered do I just ring my local DJI rep? Secondly, and worse case scenario (which I'm expecting) if I need to repair it has anyone heard of this type of problem before and can the quad be brought back to life? I'm guessing the alignment of this rotor will now be totally out and thus affect the flight characteristics?
Finally would you suggest me taking it apart and having a look, bearing in mind I've never done this sort of thing before or should I leave it all to the professionals?
All/any advice would be hugely welcome, it's just such a shame as I was just getting really into this fantastic hobby. I hope it's not the end!!
Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
If they do not cover it (operator error so unlikely), I would look into a new shell if the plastic melted (it appears it did), and a new motor. It should be good to go with a little effort on your part if your handy to switch the shells out. You can find post here on how to do that. Also, look up "CSC" for a way to kill the motors in an emergency for future knowledge. Good luck with your repair.
