My first "pucker" moment!

[Thrasher]

Hi all,

Had my three week old P3P out today in some open rural country and decided to try and actually fly it out a ways further than I have been. I made it out to the mile point and only had a couple of moments of low signal.

I got back to almost to my landing spot and had been testing RTH a bit and decided to let it land itself again. However, I decided to cancel that mid-way through as I hadn't done that and I'm trying to practice some of these things in case I ever actually need to use them.

All was good.

I decided to bring it in and land manually and was watching the drone but heard a loud beep and looked down and the controller said "Critical Battery Warning". It had over 50% battery left and I thought that was weird. Then, I noticed two more errors on the screen after this, "Motor Idling (loose or missing propeller)" and "Motor Obstructed". It was approximately 20 feet off the ground so I started walking near it in case I needed to catch it! All the while, bringing it in to land ASAP.

It handled fine during this and nothing seemed wrong. I see where some others have had similar things happen, but I never really found a reason. Anyone had this happen? I'm on 1.6.00.40.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters - healthy drones link.

I'm really enjoying this thing, it's truly awesome, I really don't want to crash it!

At least this all happened after getting back from my first mile out and back!

Thrasher

 

[Traveler]

I had this happen once but only after making some quick and shape turns. I too landed without issue, but I was on edge for a few. To date I thought that I caused the error to happen with my aggressive flying.
I have not flown that way sense.

 

[Trackman1]

From log.
J 11m 15s 41.2 m 16 m Warning Warning:The aircraft enters altitude limited mode.

Wonder what that is?

 

[Thrasher]

I had this happen once but only after making some quick and shape turns. I too landed without issue, but I was on edge for a few. To date I thought that I caused the error to happen with my aggressive flying.
I have not flown that way sense.

Yeah, I try to be careful and not fly aggressively and for sure I wasn't when this happened, but I'm still confused.

From log.
J 11m 15s 41.2 m 16 m Warning Warning:The aircraft enters altitude limited mode.

Wonder what that is?

I saw that as well and don't know. I did an IMU calibration prior to flying and I calibrated my compass due to some interference.

Did you notice that battery in the HealthyDrones report? I have read where that info is a bit suspect but it's basically showing where only one of the four cells is active. Weird.

 

[Reed L]

Yeah, I try to be careful and not fly aggressively and for sure I wasn't when this happened, but I'm still confused.




I saw that as well and don't know. I did an IMU calibration prior to flying and I calibrated my compass due to some interference.

Did you notice that battery in the HealthyDrones report? I have read where that info is a bit suspect but it's basically showing where only one of the four cells is active. Weird.

Actually from what I saw, the battery is in good shape. All of the 0's are good, meaning no deviations between the different cells.

 

[Trackman1]

If it was mine.
I'd check IMU.
Check motors by hand.
If all seems good do not go for a fly.Just hover it at 5ft or so for at least 50% of battery as that is the point it screwed up before. Then land and check it over. If all is well try flying on the next battery.
For while keep it where you can retrieve it in a crash. As it would be a warranty issue and you
can't warranty a bird you can't find.

 

[Zerone]

Are you using a genuine DJI battery, because your Healthy Drones battery info has a few bits missing, from what I remember. No external, or internal serial number and no manufacture date. Also, it only shows one charge cycle, so I presume it's never been used before this flight.

I haven't used Healthy Drones since last year, so I could be wrong.

 

[4wd]

They reduced the info a bit to free users so that's normal.

 

[Thrasher]

If it was mine.
I'd check IMU.
Check motors by hand.
If all seems good do not go for a fly.Just hover it at 5ft or so for at least 50% of battery as that is the point it screwed up before. Then land and check it over. If all is well try flying on the next battery.
For while keep it where you can retrieve it in a crash. As it would be a warranty issue and you
can't warranty a bird you can't find.

Good point. I will calibrate the IMU again.

When you say "check the motors by hand", what are you looking for exactly? I looked over the whole bird really closely and never saw anything. All four motors move the same and visibly look fine. Anything else I can check on?

Are you using a genuine DJI battery, because your Healthy Drones battery info has a few bits missing, from what I remember. No external, or internal serial number and no manufacture date. Also, it only shows one charge cycle, so I presume it's never been used before this flight.

I haven't used Healthy Drones since last year, so I could be wrong.

Yeah, I do have three batteries but this one has been cycled down to 50% three times I think. It is genuine as far as I can tell. I did buy this one in Amazon but got the one that was "sole and fulfilled" by Amazon and it's identical in every way to the two I got at Best But. I was wondering the same though after the HD report but it was my first time using it and the next gent is right, they limit info for free users and the battery is part of it I think.

Thanks for the replies!


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[Trackman1]

I meant rotate the motors to see if the feel the same. Just do IMU check (for error).

You had some kind of glitch. Hopefully doesn't happen again. But if it were me I would keep it close and low the next time out.
Just in case. Until you get some confidence in it again.

 

[Thrasher]

I meant rotate the motors to see if the feel the same. Just do IMU check (for error).

You had some kind of glitch. Hopefully doesn't happen again. But if it were me I would keep it close and low the next time out.
Just in case. Until you get some confidence in it again.

Thanks Trackman, I did that, I actually went to great efforts to make sure the bird was as level as I could get it and did a new IMU calibration. I then calibrated the gimbal (the horizon was TERRIBLE yesterday) and kept it low the first flight. Everything was completely normal, then put two more batteries through it (still keeping it mostly in sight) and all was perfectly fine. I think it was just a glitch but will keep an eye on things for a while.

Anyone know if something happens and I'm not on the latest firmware if that causes issues with DJI?

 

[Trackman1]

When ever I get everything powered up. But before motor start, I look at the sensor screen. Just make sure everything looks normal.
On 2 or 3 occasions there have been not values on the sensor screen. Shut down and restart app and all is well. Would it have made a difference? I don't know. But if anything looks out of wack I don't fly.

I have noticed from reading all the crashed & fell out the sky threads that nearly all happen within the first 60 to 90 seconds of engine start.
So I start engines and stay on ground for 45 secs. Then spend 45 secs in low hover. If all looks good I'm fly'n. Gives the GPS a chance to settle out
and warms the battery a bit. Can't hurt.

Glad to here everything worked out for you.

 

[Kevin87]

Been in the same boat 450' and a good distance out also trying out the RTH and the motor errors came up manually flew it back landed with no issues and flew it low and close never seen it again I have since flow it out a good ways with no problems not sure what caused mine either. But I have since gotten insurance on it that will put me a little more at ease.


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[Zerone]

They reduced the info a bit to free users so that's normal.

Well, it doesn't look normal to me. I just tried a test record and the battery data is still included.

 

[CafeRacer]

I think I just may look at mine on occasion, just fly using the simulator and get the 4K video by holding it. Lol! Every other post I read is uh oh this and crashed like that. Even one where video shows fish swimming by it and another in a nest stolen mid flight by an eagle. I have a P3P and have only had about 6 or 7 flights, none being over 10 min or out of my line of sight. Hell, if I had a P4 id be a freaking basket case!


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[Thrasher]

Well, it doesn't look normal to me. I just tried a test record and the battery data is still included.

View attachment 48642

I will have to try again and see if something messed up. I agree it looked more like something is "wrong" than "limited". I did charge it up and ran it down to 50% (two more times) and the battery looked perfectly fine in the DJI app.


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[Thrasher]

I think I just may look at mine on occasion, just fly using the simulator and get the 4K video by holding it. Lol! Every other post I read is uh oh this and crashed like that. Even one where video shows fish swimming by it and another in a nest stolen mid flight by an eagle. I have a P3P and have only had about 6 or 7 flights, none being over 10 min or out of my line of sight. Hell, if I had a P4 id be a freaking basket case!


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Funny you say this. I can't agree more. Finally, after all this, I put the three batteries I have through it again and everything seemed perfectly fine. I charged them all again and eventually used a batter to do a 1.5 mi out and back. So awesome.

I'm just going to do everything I can to take the necessary precautions to have a successful flight and then just enjoy. That's why I spent the money and I just can't keep worrying about everything. I started the weekend with 8,393 feet in flight and ended with 124,649.

I can't wait to check everything out really well and get out again. Thanks for the response!


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[Hondo76251]

I got a "Loose or missing prop" warning the other day was well...

I slowed to a hover, did a slow 360, a few zig-zags, and continued flying... Didn't get it again. It was windy and I was flying hard so that's what I blamed it on.

After some thought I'm betting I have a slightly unbalanced prop. Not a problem under normal conditions but doing hard flying in the wind might have triggered the "loose prop" warning.

I have a tool to check the balance but i've been too busy flying to bother with it yet! I've read about a few guys that have balanced and say that even the DJI props can be a bit off.

I have some carbon fiber props and I've never had a loose prop message with them. They are balanced so that's what makes me suspect the prop balance on my other set...