p4p fell out of sky

[elsapo2001]

Its amazing how easy it is to lose sight of the drone. Truly a stealth plane. At 200 feet i dont hear it.

 

[Fly Dawg]

@Jenee I don't think that was directed at you. It was a general rant that has been duplicated to death around here and that dead horse was just beaten again. You were not quoted, therefore you take that as a general comment. Just advising you prior to an admin doing so.

 

[Boefinator]

Also, as a good discussion point, 471' is above take off point, not necessarily AGL. The 400' "limit" only applies to Part 107 operations, is AGL and hobbyists are exempt from it. So I would go calling a FSDO quite yet!

 

[Jenee]

@Jenee I don't think that was directed at you. It was a general rant that has been duplicated to death around here and that dead horse was just beaten again. You were not quoted, therefore you take that as a general comment. Just advising you prior to an admin doing so.

Thanks, I deleted my post. I just thought he was a bit over the top.

 

[Fly Dawg]

The 400' "limit" only applies to Part 107 operations, is AGL and hobbyists are exempt from it.

You might want to reconsider your wording. As I said before this subject has been discussed adnausieum. There is no exemption.

 

[sar104]

You might want to reconsider your wording. As I said before this subject has been discussed adnausieum. There is no exemption.

Unless you regard Part 101 as an exemption from Part 107 requirements, as stated in 107.1 (b) (2):

§107.1 Applicability.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, this part applies to the registration, airman certification, and operation of civil small unmanned aircraft systems within the United States.

(b) This part does not apply to the following:

(1) Air carrier operations;

(2) Any aircraft subject to the provisions of part 101 of this chapter; or

(3) Any operation that a remote pilot in command elects to conduct pursuant to an exemption issued under section 333 of Public Law 112-95, unless otherwise specified in the exemption.​

Part 101 says nothing about altitude limits - it simply requires following a suitable safety code. And if you take that to be the AMA Safety Code then it does not have a 400 ft AGL limit. And, finally, the FAA has confirmed in writing that there is no 400 ft limit for recreational flight.

 

[Fly Dawg]

And, finally, the FAA has confirmed in writing that there is no 400 ft limit for recreational flight.

Yes, I knew this. I was referring simply to the term "Exemption". There are no words that explicitly state that point.

 

[sar104]

Yes, I knew this. I was referring simply to the term "Exemption". There are no words that explicitly state that point.

Right - but I think the wording of Part 107 clearly "exempts" recreational flight from the Part 107 requirements, and so I can see why people state it like that. It's arguably correct, at least.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

For what it's worth: At some point after starting to fly my P4P and reading about someone who had their battery drop out, I installed my battery and checked that it snapped into place. Then I turned it over and discovered that the bottom catch, didn't. I experimented several times and the result was that EVERY time I snapped either battery into place and felt that it was secure, the bottom latch NEVER did latch until I adopted the process of giving it a karate chop to get that bottom latch to actually catch. My P2 didn't have that problem. Seems to be a problem with SOME individual machines. I now check it every time I stick in a battery. Only takes once for it to come loose.

We see this problem all the time, this issue is so much more frequent as many people do not even report when there battery falls out , so much of what you are posting rings true for many.

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[onthewave]

You are not alone with this issue, it has happened twice to our companies P4P fleet of 4:
For those of you in this forum: The battery disconnecting is a BIG ISSUE with P4P's in general as over 50 people on this forum alone have reported it. Glad to see PHANTOMRAINSUIT.ORG, with a dual purpose product that prevents it. We will purchase one and test. As for now we are out 1800.00! So right now we have filed a lawsuit against DJI as this is a KNOWN identified and documented defect in design.They are NOT covering it even if you are 1 day out of warranty and will not even look at the data if you send it to them. Is that policy a good way of supporting their customer base who put them on the map? Certainly not and really reveals they know the problem exists. DJI refused to repair this defect in design. Note that V2 of the P4P has a NEW BATTERY SENSOR that will warn and prevent the Phantoms from falling out of the sky scenarios which again clearly reveals they recognize the problem but again are not acknowledging it or supporting us. Remember the GoPro drone had the same issue and all were recalled and refunds issued. If you want to join the long list of those who have had this problem send your eMail/contact info to me at [email protected]. Attached is a picture of the new Battery sensor on the P4P V2's.

Please do not respond to criticize here, I am an FAA IFR rated Fixed wing Pilot and Part 333 /107 drone pilot. I have been flying DJI products for over 7 years with over 3500 flights. Their blatant refusal to acknowledge and WARN all of us regarding this issue is not the way to treat their loyal customer base and is very dis-heartening for me to have to take legal action against them.

 

[msinger]

that V2 of the P4P has a NEW BATTERY SENSOR that will warn and prevent the Phantoms from falling out of the sky scenarios which again clearly reveals they recognize the problem but again are not acknowledging it or supporting us

I don't think this sensor is going to prevent Phantoms from falling out of the sky (if that's even a legit issue). It does nothing more than prevent people from taking off with an improperly installed battery (one of the common pilot errors).

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

You are not alone with this issue, it has happened twice to our companies P4P fleet of 4:
For those of you in this forum: The battery disconnecting is a BIG ISSUE with P4P's in general as over 50 people on this forum alone have reported it. Glad to see PHANTOMRAINSUIT.ORG, with a dual purpose product that prevents it. We will purchase one and test. As for now we are out 1800.00! So right now we have filed a lawsuit against DJI as this is a KNOWN identified and documented defect in design.They are NOT covering it even if you are 1 day out of warranty and will not even look at the data if you send it to them. Is that policy a good way of supporting their customer base who put them on the map? Certainly not and really reveals they know the problem exists. DJI refused to repair this defect in design. Note that V2 of the P4P has a NEW BATTERY SENSOR that will warn and prevent the Phantoms from falling out of the sky scenarios which again clearly reveals they recognize the problem but again are not acknowledging it or supporting us. Remember the GoPro drone had the same issue and all were recalled and refunds issued. If you want to join the long list of those who have had this problem send your eMail/contact info to me at [email protected]. Attached is a picture of the new Battery sensor on the P4P V2's.

Please do not respond to criticize here, I am an FAA IFR rated Fixed wing Pilot and Part 333 /107 drone pilot. I have been flying DJI products for over 7 years with over 3500 flights. Their blatant refusal to acknowledge and WARN all of us regarding this issue is not the way to treat their loyal customer base and is very dis-heartening for me to have to take legal action against them.

For the last year alone Phantom Rain has been warning People of the Battery Problem , video after video showing the problem in detail , post after post of the battery falling out, and or disconnecting .

We also notified them of the GAP problem causing the battery to freeze and let water in almost immediately once it rained. We sound the alarm button, gave the Phantom a beautiful fix for all of the problems .but the Vast Majority of the them went with Popsicle sticks and rubber bands, and hair braids for a fix. lol

Top 3 ways posted on this forum for phantoms 4 series drones to fall out of the sky.

#1 Battery fell out , came loose or disconnected. Pilot Error - and Design Flaw.
#2 Props came off during flight - Pilot error and design flaw
#3 magnetic interference causing a yaw error and the drone going into Atti Mode which than leads to a fly away. Pilot Error - bad take off point.

We have posted this video , which many thought was extreme over kill on the subject and yet it is valid again. The sensor is not a FIX only a thought full reminder to check if the Battery is locked and loaded .

While designing the Phantom Rain Wet Suit and talking with the DJI support team , they were aware that people were forgetting to lock in the second clip on the battery and thus were at risk for the battery to fall out or become loose in flight.

Adding the sensor clip was not a fix but a gentle reminder that you need to lock in the clips on the battery , however the battery still had the gap in the upper right hand side and is just a bit loose.

We solved the issue by creating a Neoprene seal around the battery so the gap would be filled the battery tight, and stop the battery from falling out and or slipping.

We also stopped the water from getting in that gap allowing us to further make the Phantom more water resistant.

This reminds me of the saying , you can lead the horse to the water but blah blah blah

As much as I feel your pain , and understand your thinking on the lawsuit and DJI , the simple fact that they have added the sensor is why you will not win the case , nor will ever go it any further.

That being said had they not put the sensor in , that maybe you would have a leg to stand on but as of now they have already won in the Legal world.

 

[msinger]

We solved the issue by creating a Neoprene seal around the battery so the gap would be filled the battery tight, and stop the battery from falling out and or slipping.

Just curious -- how exactly did adding a seal prevent the battery from falling out? Do you happen to have a video that shows that addition in more detail?

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

So the idea behind the Phantom Rain Wet

When you think of any kind of Seal , you think of Pressure. So by adding the Neoprene around the Ridge of the Battery lip all the way around we were able to add pressure to the battery keeping it snug and closing the gap.

This creates a Snug Battery that fits in tight and will not fit in with one clip as shown in the video above.

The Neoprene seal around the perimeter of the battery acts just like a rubber washer , and in order to be waster resistant has to have added pressure which is induced by the battery clips compressing into it.

Closed Cell Neoprene is stretchy , however it bounces back to its original shape after being compressed , allowing you to use the seal repeatedly as we have shown time and again no matter how many batteries you have.

By the way we had many proto - types , first thinking of a single part that you would add to each battery , the problem was the amount of pressure would soon destroy the seal being held onto the battery and it would detach over time..

That is when we came up with the Idea to Build the Seal within the wet suit itself.
We never looked back..

We than used the same Water Resistant seal on the Props to add pressure to the props locking them in exactly the same way as we did the battery.

Than we moved to the Leg Clips and sealed them also.

After that we needed a way for the drone to Negotiate massive amounts of water being poured down on top of it and the Wet Suit provided us with a BI LEVEL drip system working like a rooftop over the vents which has proven itself in the worst possible rain conditions .

Phantomrain.org

 

[GA_Chef]

Anyone have pictures or video on how to do the popsicle stick/rubber band fix?

 

[DOC 1500]

Anyone have pictures or video on how to do the popsicle stick/rubber band fix?

What's that first time I heard of it?

 

[pmaubo]

was flying my p4p today and it lost all connection at1210 out and height of 471 feet fell like a brick in wide open space completely destoyed it. this was the first flight after the update is anyone else having troubles and what can i do? am i up a creek and im out the cash and drone or is there someplace i can call? i am very new at this and cant believe it happened

 

[pmaubo]

Don't be surprised at these answers regarding cold temps. It can have influence on batteries. Just take those, knowing that others are throwing out suggestions to assist. Some more relevant than others......you get the point. We all want to help.

Cold weather actually improves battery life, it is the other way round...heat is not good...

 

[msinger]

This creates a Snug Battery that fits in tight and will not fit in with one clip as shown in the video above.

I understand that your wet suit will help keep the water out (since it creates a tight seal around the battery). However, I don't think such a wet suit is needed in order to properly insert the battery. People just need to make sure the battery is snapped in on both the top and bottom side (as you show in your video above). Even if the battery is a little loose (as some are), it won't fall out after being snapped into place properly.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

I understand that your wet suit will help keep the water out (since it creates a tight seal around the battery). However, I don't think such a wet suit is needed in order to properly insert the battery. People just need to make sure the battery is snapped in on both the top and bottom side (as you show in your video above). Even if the battery is a little loose (as some are), it won't fall out after being snapped into place properly.

That is 100 percent true about the battery not falling out if both snaps are connected , however a disconnect is not where the battery falls out but just slips for a second , normally do to a hard stop, or hitting a tree branch. This type of sudden stop when going from sport mode to slamming on the brakes can cause the disconnect as we have seen posted on the forums quite a few times.

But the majority of problems come from not snapping the battery in on both clips.
i agree.