Phantom 4 hardware or software problems

[efrieb]

I bought a lightly crashed phantom 4 standard drone, no real physical damage and hope someone out there might have some insight on repairs.

• Video comes on when powered up with no fan noise.
• When video is on gimbal will not respond to controller ( fan is off )
• When video disconnects gimbal will responder to controller ( fan is on )
• Video shuts down when fan starts.
• No battery info. Low battery warning in red which blinks on left side of screen.
• GPS is grayed out
• Drone flies great with controller.
• Warning comes up with a “ processer chip critically overheated. The aircraft will power off in 30 seconds. ( although it never does )
• SD card ( no sd card although one is installed and formatted )
• Flight sensors seem to function properly when flying
• I get a ( Aircraft Encoder Error 0x2800020 ) when camera shuts down.
• Replaced all of the ribbon cables except yaw arm gimbal flat ribbon cable which Looks great on inspection.

I have included screen shots showing the errors, my thoughts are that a pc board has failed.

 

[Recoveryone]

You bought something that was more than lightly crashed, send it in for a full inspection from a dji repair facility

 

[efrieb]

My P4 did have a light crash, although I have read multiple blogs about P4s having the same symptoms and have not found any blogs that had a solution. If I knew the function of each board and a wiring diagram I could trace the problem or find the solution from someone who has already repaired theirs with similar errors.

 

[Recoveryone]

My P4 did have a light crash, although I have read multiple blogs about P4s having the same symptoms and have not found any blogs that had a solution. If I knew the function of each board and a wiring diagram I could trace the problem or find the solution from someone who has already repaired theirs with similar errors.

All I'm saying is start from a clean slate, then you will know what you have instead of guessing

 

[efrieb]

My drone is a standard 4 drone that I bought for the cost of a battery. I spent 4 years in the Airforce trained in diagnostics and repair on crypto equipment . This is more of a puzzle for me that I should be able to repair. If I can it will alot of pilots on our website with the same issues.

 

[Recoveryone]

My drone is a standard 4 drone that I bought for the cost of a battery. I spent 4 years in the Airforce trained in diagnostics and repair on crypto equipment . This is more of a puzzle for me that I should be able to repair. If I can it will alot of pilots on our website with the same issues.

No one is doubting your ability, but just like a puzzle you need to have the right tools (picture on the box) to have a clue what you are looking for. You already said you changed out the ribbon cable and checked other things, so why would it be so hard to let the PROFESSIONAL! take a crack at it, or is it a pride thing?

 

[efrieb]

No not really, and why pay for something that could be easily fixed by our group through similar issues with used or new boards available. Not everyone can afford to pay for sending your equipment in having the diagnostics and marked up parts repair. If we work together we can fix many of these problems that are shown ourselves.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving

 

[DaveD]

Have you tried calibrating the IMU and or relinking the aircraft and controller?

 

[efrieb]

Hi David
Yes, I had recalibrated the IMU and relinked the controller without any change in symptoms. My next step will be to reapply thermo grease which might cure the overheating error.

 

[Timinator]

Sounds like thermal damage has been done. Your clue is that the fan runs inconsistently and you have error messages regarding processor chip overheating. Unless you want to start replacing chips on the board, you'll need to replace the board outright. Personally, I would consider this aircraft not to be airworthy and not to be flown. Sometimes there are limits as to what we can do and in this case I wouldn't think twice about shipping this thing out for repair.

 

[efrieb]

PROBLEM SOLVED
Two separate problems repaired successfully.
SOFTWARE: DJI GO 4 software will not work completely using a Samsung S21 running Android 12. I downloaded the software on my wife's iPad and everything works great, gps, battery info now shows in app.

HARDWARE: I replaced the Gimbal Camera Motherboard and video now works correctly and SD card now shows on screen. I was able to format the SD card and update the fermware successfully after the board replacement. Prior to this updates would stop at 55 percent.

Hope this helps others with similar issues .

 

[Recoveryone]

Now my question is how much in parts and time did you spend?

 

[efrieb]

The software issue was very frustrating and took alot of time because I figured it was a hardware issue. After the software problem was taken care of it took around 30 minutes to replace the board and $120.00 in parts.

This project was a puzzle that I loved working on and solving, a little sad its over. I just hope it will help others with similar issues.

 

[Recoveryone]

Now you may understand my position, I fly commercially and having a down aircraft could cost me a job (money). It is more prudent for someone like me to send it off for a repair that I am not able to figure out quickly. Just had one of my P4P having compass issues, I did all the things to correct it from a yeoman's level, but I can't afford to have a bird down for extended period. I sent it in and 5 days later my drone was repaired and ready to go for my next job this week.

 

[Bernie C]

Now you may understand my position, I fly commercially and having a down aircraft could cost me a job (money). It is more prudent for someone like me to send it off for a repair that I am not able to figure out quickly. Just had one of my P4P having compass issues, I did all the things to correct it from a yeoman's level, but I can't afford to have a bird down for extended period. I sent it in and 5 days later my drone was repaired and ready to go for my next job this week.

Hey Recoveryone..
I've seen alot of your videos on YT. You do quite a bit more work than I do but even with the comparatively small amount of work, I wouldn't want my P4P down any longer than necessary. I don't have the troubleshooting ability efrieb so greatly explained in this post.
Where do you send your DJI products when they need service?

 

[Recoveryone]

I have used 2 companies, one I found on this site (I think it call Drone Repair) they are on the east coast and I found one about an hour away from me on the west coast. As my workload increased I need to have a shop close. This last checkup was over my P4p not holding compass calibration and I was worried about having a fly away. My Phantoms are aging and I'm looking for something that will take me down the road. The M3 and Evolve II are at the top of my list, but have to wait for the SDK file release and the final outcome of RID

 

[Bernie C]

Obviously, all of us hoping not to need them for anything more than PM. I will look up Drone Repair. I am in Central Maryland and east coast makes sense.

I won't go far off course but how do you like the XDynamics unit? I really like their dual screen for the cam operator, and the HDMI out, like the DJI pro controller. How about 3rd party app support?

The mechanical shutter on the P4Pv2 camera makes for great 3d mapping but I've done none of that recently-everything has been photo and vid.

 

[Recoveryone]

Obviously, all of us hoping not to need them for anything more than PM. I will look up Drone Repair. I am in Central Maryland and east coast makes sense.

I won't go far off course but how do you like the XDynamics unit? I really like their dual screen for the cam operator, and the HDMI out, like the DJI pro controller. How about 3rd party app support?

The mechanical shutter on the P4Pv2 camera makes for great 3d mapping but I've done none of that recently-everything has been photo and vid.

I have high hopes for the Evolve II, with the ability to switch out lenses is key and the price point. I know they had a rough coming out and maybe should have waiting a bit longer, but after almost 2 years in development they should have been able to have 90% of the bugs worked out. They just added ProRes and I'm sure they SDK file will be release most likely within a few more months. Now for Dji, They had this fly app out for over a year and still have not released the SDK file that would make it work with mapping software across the board. I have heard of beta versions of litchi half working, but nothing yet from Dronedeploy or Pix4D. The Mavic 3 is just as capable as the older Mavic 2 (wish they would have went with a mechanical shutter), but the electronic shutter issue with detailed mapping can be a drawback and that is where the Evolve will move forward down the road. Time will tell, so for now I need to keep my Phantom's up and running.

 

[Bernie C]

Appreciate your perspective.

Have you utilized the Smart Controls on the E2's ground station? I like that it has its own Waypoint mode baked in, one of the biggest disappointments with my P4P and M2Zoom..

 

[bsartist]

Now you may understand my position, I fly commercially and having a down aircraft could cost me a job (money). It is more prudent for someone like me to send it off for a repair that I am not able to figure out quickly. Just had one of my P4P having compass issues, I did all the things to correct it from a yeoman's level, but I can't afford to have a bird down for extended period. I sent it in and 5 days later my drone was repaired and ready to go for my next job this

Now my question is how much in parts and time did you spend?

Yeah. Good work. Even better that you persevered against the headwinds of others who, instead of just answering your questions, just offered “advice” on why not to do what you wanted to do. No shortage of that. Good on you.