Water crash P4 Just dropped!! Hardware Malfunction...

Dangerous Dave · Jun 2, 2016

Was out flying last Sunday at Lake Havasu, AZ testing out my new Polar Pro filters when my beloved P4 suddenly dropped down to 0 ft according to the flight data lot into the water. I was flying at 20 ft filming a boat then decided to break off, tried to make a turn to the left to come back around but suddenly I got an alarm, beeping sound and then more beeping sounds. This all happen very fast. At that point it dropped to 0 ft and dunked the camera for about 4 to 5 seconds. I hit the RTH the P4 did climb to my set altitude of 40 meters or 130 ft. It did come back and I took over the landing because the shore line was small. The P4 acted very erratic during the landing. I pick up the P4 and water poured out of the camera area and under the quad. I did not have tools with I dried off best I could and let it set out on the rocks in the sun. Temp was about 99 deg. pretty warm. When got back to the house I did remove the lens cover and I did drop down the lower cage assembly. Did not see water or any condensation. At this point, the camera gimbal does not function. It does turn on but do not want to fly until things are corrected.

The distance was maybe .1 to .2 mi. and both RC and bird had full bars.

I show the following errors in the Overall Status:

Gimbal Roll Error
Hardware Malfunction. Contact DJI Support for repairs.
Gimbal Yaw Error
Hardware Malfunction. Contact DJI Support for repairs.

View attachment 55822

Also this is the second flight since I did a IMU calibration. The first flight the RC screen would flicker and same for the second and last flight.

Anyway suggestions as to what may have happened? I have a video clip but so far cannot figure out how to up-load to show....

Thanks for any and all support. This was my 11th flight, the only advanced option I have tried was the Around Me. I had a P3P for about a month and it flew great.

eyecon82 · Jun 2, 2016

Probably had to do with the sensors. Water confuses it. DJI still needs to give us an option to turn VPS off like the p3

zivalfred · Jun 4, 2016

Mate I have seen drone falling like this. Are using gimbal protector? If yes thats
the problem. The drone sensor will think that she is already on the ground.

Dangerous Dave · Jun 4, 2016

zivalfred said:
Mate I have seen drone falling like this. Are using gimbal protector? If yes thats
the problem. The drone sensor will think that she is already on the ground.

No, no gimbal protector. Not sure what the alarm was but at that time is when she just dropped. I am guessing that there was something wrong and needed to land, but it was water. Because then I had more alarms. I am thing that this was the obstetrical sensor going off because it was dipping in the water. Luckily the RTH worked and brought her home.

chris digata · Jun 4, 2016

its a VPS error due to the boat making waves and you would have had full control to correct... this is another reason why to keep a direct vision of the craft when flying low over water.
the craft is set to drop altitude to stay at the same height over terrain so I agree with eyecon that VPS should be turned off over water.
So DJI should fix your craft because you could not turn it off.
Tell then you tried to turn it off before flight but could not see the option but it can be turned off as I do when low over water, it is combined with obstacle avoidance so when you turn that off VPS is off also.
Phantom 4 over Water? Cannot Turn Off VPS

Dangerous Dave · Jun 4, 2016

chris digata said:
its a VPS error due to the boat making waves and you would have had full control to correct... this is another reason why to keep a direct vision of the craft when flying low over water.
the craft is set to drop altitude to stay at the same height over terrain so I agree with eyecon that VPS should be turned off over water.
So DJI should fix your craft because you could not turn it off.
Tell then you tried to turn it off before flight but could not see the option but it can be turned off as I do when low over water, it is combined with obstacle avoidance so when you turn that off VPS is off also.
Phantom 4 over Water? Cannot Turn Off VPS

It must had been something like that. I did also remember that I believe on the same flight, I was hovering off the the side near our boat and it did move around, drop a few inches then return. Normally over land the drone is very steady. I had flown over the water the day before with no issues but I believe it was always 70 feet or up to 250 ft. We go out to the lake a lot, I would just like to take videos of our boats powering along at not just high altitudes but also at lower altitudes.

I have an RMA for DJI North America repair facility in Carson CA, it real close to were my customer base is so I plan to drop off this Monday. Hopefully they fix everything...

zander lane · Jun 4, 2016

...dunno, but to me it looks like the classic "p4 dip" at the end of a fast run...seems like you were off after the boat at high speed and then stopped and turned left suddenly...whenever my p4 goes fast then stops, it always dips, sometimes up to ten feet...over water I am very careful to keep an eye on it and gradually bring up the altitude at the end as I stop...hope it can be brought back to life...please keep us up to date on that whole process...I'm sure most of us will be sending our birds in for work sooner or later!

msinger · Jun 4, 2016

Dangerous Dave, if you upload your TXT flight log here, it should indicate why your Phantom tried to land in the water.

chris digata · Jun 4, 2016

msinger said:
Dangerous Dave, if you upload your TXT flight log here, it should indicate why your Phantom tried to land in the water.

good point

Dangerous Dave · Jun 4, 2016

msinger said:
Dangerous Dave, if you upload your TXT flight log here, it should indicate why your Phantom tried to land in the water.

Wow..... This is great. I didn't know how to see or view the complete flight data. Pretty mind boggling that the DJI Phantoms record so much and is available, this just shows how High Tech this unit is. Now that I see the data I see where the three alarms went off when it was in the water. Lost down link three times. After this not sure how to decipher the data.

Anyway, thank so much for posting this link how to view flight data....

Dangerous Dave · Jun 7, 2016

FYI: I received an RMA to return the P4 to the North American facility here in Carson, Southern Calif. I was up in the area today for business and decided to just drop off the P4 and RC unit and was out side the black high gated building. There were electric gates that you had to go through. I called and was told that I had to mail the P4 in even though I was just right outside the building... Lucky it was only about 10 miles for my customer Raytheon in El Segundo.

uav.hans · Jun 9, 2016

Hope they'll help so you can get back flying!

Dangerous Dave · Jun 26, 2016

Just an up date on this. DJI did not fix things for free, the cost was a little over $227.00. Took almost 3 weeks go get back. They said it was because I flew over water.

But not P4 will not up date firmware and RC will not connect. I think there is something still wrong with the P4 micro SD connector?