Battery went from 49% to 0% and drone lands right where it was.

[Bigmike613]

So it is my first day with the drone (aside from one quick flight in my backyard). It’s my fourth flight of the day. 2nd on battery number 2. I am 6:02 into the flight and I get a critical battery warning and the drone starts to land.1 second before, my battery was at 49% and I had 4:30 of flight time left before RTH. So the drone lands and it is probably a thousand feet from where I started my flight. It landed on fenced in private property. Luckily I was able to flag down a staff member on the property and he found and returned my drone. Furious, I head home. I charge the battery fully and take off and just hover in my backyard. I can watch the battery level decrease by the second. The whole flight lasted 3 minutes on a full charge. So I think it has to be a bad battery. Also, when I start the drone after the unscheduled landing, I get “gimbal motor overload” error and cannot move the gimbal.

I am going to contact DJI on Monday but I just wanted to post here to see:
1. If anyone has had a similar situation occur.
2. Warn you to test new batteries so you can be confident they won’t do this to you.

 

[sar104]

Was this a DJI or third party battery? If you want a more in depth assessment of what happened then you will need to post the flight log.

DJI Flight Log Viewer - Phantom Help

 

[Starz]

Check that the gimbal wasn’t moved off it’s mounts by the fence?
Sounds like you ended up with a bad battery. DJI brand? A few more details here may help. Ac? Brand new or used hardware?

 

[Bigmike613]

DJI brand battery. Both drone and battery were brand new. Gimbal seems to move freely when power is off. The drone didn’t hit the fence and I have video of the landing and it seems the gimbal wasn’t forcefully moved. I will post the flight data in a minute.

 

[Bigmike613]

Flight record:

 

[sar104]

Looks like the smart battery lost its mind. The cell voltages look fine relative to the load:

 

[Bigmike613]

Looks like the smart battery lost its mind. The cell voltages look fine relative to the load:

View attachment 55444

i would have to agree with you, that was my thinking before even seeing any data. Do you think DJI will help me out being that it wasn't user error? also, how did you make this graph?

 

[sar104]

i would have to agree with you, that was my thinking before even seeing any data. Do you think DJI will help me out being that it wasn't user error? also, how did you make this graph?

That's reporting as a new battery, and so they should replace it free of charge.

The flight data were analyzed and displayed using Igor Pro.

 

[JoelP]

One of the 3 batteries that came with my Mavic Air Fly More package did exactly this 5 days short of 6 months. This happened to me on a long Litchi mission with no chance to make it home, but I recovered the MA 1200 ft from the home location safely landed in grass.

Encouraged by another post I contacted DJI. They asked me a litany of questions which required me to send photos and more, but they issued an RMA for me to return it to be examined. After the review they sent me a new battery.

 

[Bigmike613]

One of the 3 batteries that came with my Mavic Air Fly More package did exactly this 5 days short of 6 months. This happened to me on a long Litchi mission with no chance to make it home, but I recovered the MA 1200 ft from the home location safely landed in grass.

Encouraged by another post I contacted DJI. They asked me a litany of questions which required me to send photos and more, but they issued an RMA for me to return it to be examined. After the review they sent me a new battery.

Joel, thanks for your input. So the battery was good for six months before this incident? We’re there any signs of an issue? Also, did you have to send in the drone or just the battery?

 

[JoelP]

No signs at all. It just suddenly died. It was never in a crash, never stored by me hot, and never flown in the rain. I saw no signs of swelling. Between the map and the video I was fortunate to even find it.

No, I only returned the battery, not the drone.

I didn’t have much of a log since I was flying in Litchi so it only showed my flight plan rather than the actual flight. I learned more from the video it shot.

Before flying again I ran a hover test on all of my batteries to be assured they would perform. Also, I no longer rely on the smart battery to auto discharge for storage. I take each battery to just under 50% before putting them away. I try to never fly below 30%, but ocasionally to 20%.

 

[sar104]

No signs at all. It just suddenly died. It was never in a crash, never stored by me hot, and never flown in the rain. I saw no signs of swelling. Between the map and the video I was fortunate to even find it.

No, I only returned the battery, not the drone.

I didn’t have much of a log since I was flying in Litchi so it only showed my flight plan rather than the actual flight. I learned more from the video it shot.

Before flying again I ran a hover test on all of my batteries to be assured they would perform. Also, I no longer rely on the smart battery to auto discharge for storage. I take each battery to just under 50% before putting them away. I try to never fly below 30%, but ocasionally to 20%.

FYI - Litchi records a fairly comprehensive log - similar to the GO app.

 

[JoelP]

I tried to recover that log, but failed miserably, so any pointers would be appreciated.

 

[sar104]

I tried to recover that log, but failed miserably, so any pointers would be appreciated.

They are in the Litchi flightlogs directory. Were you not able to see the device file system? Android or iOS?

 

[JoelP]

Yes, I looked in the flight log directory, but what I found was my waypoint plan and not what the drone actually did. I use iOS.

 

[mjbok]

If you were using Litchi aren't you pretty much boned for help from DJI? I thought that was a huge drawback in that DJI warranty is not enforceable when using 3rd party apps.

 

[JoelP]

I am hearing that they still support their warranty when flying with Litchi. In my case I recovered my battery and they covered the replacement since it was less than 6 months old by 5 days.

 

[John MacAulay]

Pretty scary stuff when you fly mostly over salt water, like I do.
A failed battery and forced landing would almost definitely lead to an unrecoverable aircraft and no hope of using refresh for me.

 

[Bigmike613]

Pretty scary stuff when you fly mostly over salt water, like I do.
A failed battery and forced landing would almost definitely lead to an unrecoverable aircraft and no hope of using refresh for me. View attachment 55703

I agree. I was over water 2 minutes earlier in the flight.

 

[John MacAulay]

I agree. I was over water 2 minutes earlier in the flight.

Wow, close call.
I love these forums for updates and info but I have to confess, sometimes they scare me into second guessing my practices. But... living in Nova Scotia, where the heck would you fly if not over the water. It's where all the beautiful scenery is and provides rock solid connections. Oh well... just hope for the best I guess.
Glad you recovered your bird.