Crashed MA2. Too much damage??

[Max L]

So i had a serious crash yesterday. Was around 300' up and got a brief motor error, drone almost immediately began tumbling, screen went white, then remote disconnected. I found the drone with only one prop still on place, gimbal dangling, one arm broken, controller will not connect, and when the drone is powered up the fan sounds like crap. Think it landed on my neighbors garage roof and rolled into his yard. Props maybe on his roof idk... i think debris go into the right rear motor through the top cause when i found it all motors spun freely except that one. It was rough to turn and only after a little compressed air does it now spin like the others. Attaching pics. Just curious if i should even waste my time sending it in for repairs or just move on. I think i attached the flight record files. Im new to all this so bear with me please.

 

[Ice_2k]

So i had a serious crash yesterday. Was around 300' up and got a brief motor error, drone almost immediately began tumbling, screen went white, then remote disconnected. I found the drone with only one prop still on place, gimbal dangling, one arm broken, controller will not connect, and when the drone is powered up the fan sounds like crap. Think it landed on my neighbors garage roof and rolled into his yard. Props maybe on his roof idk... i think debris go into the right rear motor through the top cause when i found it all motors spun freely except that one. It was rough to turn and only after a little compressed air does it now spin like the others. Attaching pics. Just curious if i should even waste my time sending it in for repairs or just move on.

sounds like a warranty issue, just contact DJI and send them the flight logs. Also, attach the flight logs here.

 

[Max L]

I guess this would be the latest log lol

 

[slup]

So i had a serious crash yesterday. Was around 300' up and got a brief motor error, drone almost immediately began tumbling, screen went white, then remote disconnected. I found the drone with only one prop still on place, gimbal dangling, one arm broken, controller will not connect, and when the drone is powered up the fan sounds like crap. Think it landed on my neighbors garage roof and rolled into his yard. Props maybe on his roof idk... i think debris go into the right rear motor through the top cause when i found it all motors spun freely except that one. It was rough to turn and only after a little compressed air does it now spin like the others. Attaching pics. Just curious if i should even waste my time sending it in for repairs or just move on.

Are you sure that it was the rear right that was blocked ... looking at the MA2 with the front facing away from you ?

Asking this as the log indicate a blocked rear left motor ... at 90,2sec in the chart the MA2 suddenly lose 8m in height (red) & together with that the FC command the rear left to 100% (purple). Just a half second later both current (blue), motor command (purple) & rpm for that motor dives down ... just to immediately sky rocket another half a second later.

From where the markers are located in the chart (at 91,6sec) ... the rear left motor is commanded to 100% (purple), but in turn gives a falling rpm (green), at the same time the current for that motor peaks. All this indicate a blocked motor in the rear left. After this the MA2 is spiraling down ...



@BudWalker & @sar104 ... here is another MA2 .DAT with huge chunks missing from the log (or was it lost connection that were regained when he approached the MA2 later on?) & Csvview saying that the craft is unknown.

 

[Max L]

Are you sure that it was the rear right that was blocked ... looking at the MA2 with the front facing away from you ?

Asking this as the log indicate a blocked rear left motor ... at 90,2sec in the chart the MA2 suddenly lose 8m in height (red) & together with that the FC command the rear left to 100% (purple). Just a half second later both current (blue), motor command (purple) & rpm for that motor plums down ... just to immediately sky rocket another half a second later.

From where the markers are located in the chart (at 91,6sec) ... the rear left motor is commanded to 100% (purple), but in turn gives a falling rpm (green), at the same time the current for that motor peaks. All this indicate a blocked motor in the rear left. After this the MA2 is spiraling down ...

View attachment 103384

@BudWalker & @sar104 ... here is another MA2 .DAT with huge chunks missing from the log (or was it lost connection that were regained when he approached the MA2 later on?) & Csvview saying that the craft is unknown.

View attachment 103387

 

[Max L]

I did approach with remote still on and in hand. As far as i could tell it never reconnected but its possible.. should i upload the log from the flight immediately before? Thanks for your help.

 

[Max L]

Maybe it was the other side im at work now so cant check.

 

[slup]

I did approach with remote still on and in hand. As far as i could tell it never reconnected but its possible.. should i upload the log from the flight immediately before? Thanks for your help.

If the flight before was problem free it will not show anything unfortunately ... but the log clearly show that something obstructed the rear left, no mystery there I think. And if you approached the MA2 with the remote still on that explain the big gap with no data in the middle of the log, thank's.

 

[BudWalker]

.....

& Csvview saying that the craft is unknown.
...

That'll be fixed in 3.7.7

 

[bumper]

If no outside debris had the opportunity to enter the motor and jamb it, I wonder if one of the magnets in the rotor could have come loose to do the deed. The magnets are bonded to the inside of the rotor (upper housing that rotates).

 

[Max L]

If no outside debris had the opportunity to enter the motor and jamb it, I wonder if one of the magnets in the rotor could have come loose to do the deed. The magnets are bonded to the inside of the rotor (upper housing that rotates).

.

I have no idea. I have a feeling it wont be covered under warranty, and then how much will repairs be? I have a feeling repairs will exceed the cost. Which makes me wonder if its even worth mailing in for repairs.

 

[Max L]

Are you sure that it was the rear right that was blocked ... looking at the MA2 with the front facing away from you ?

Asking this as the log indicate a blocked rear left motor ... at 90,2sec in the chart the MA2 suddenly lose 8m in height (red) & together with that the FC command the rear left to 100% (purple). Just a half second later both current (blue), motor command (purple) & rpm for that motor dives down ... just to immediately sky rocket another half a second later.

From where the markers are located in the chart (at 91,6sec) ... the rear left motor is commanded to 100% (purple), but in turn gives a falling rpm (green), at the same time the current for that motor peaks. All this indicate a blocked motor in the rear left. After this the MA2 is spiraling down ...

View attachment 103384

@BudWalker & @sar104 ... here is another MA2 .DAT with huge chunks missing from the log (or was it lost connection that were regained when he approached the MA2 later on?) & Csvview saying that the craft is unknown.

View attachment 103387

The motor that was hard to turn was actually front right (facing away) sorry for the confusion. Im certain because the 2 torx screws the hold the spring and prop lock are scared a little from me taking said parts off in hope to get a little better access. Once I realized that wouldn't release the "cup" off the stator i used compressed air and it cleared it. Then put the springs, prop locks, and 2 torx screws back in. The left rear arm is the one thats broken and the only arm that still had a prop on it when i got to it.

 

[bumper]

As others have mentioned, you'll want to post the flight log and .dat files here. There are true experts on the forum who can diagnose what went wrong and help you determine if it should be covered under warranty. At first blush, and I'm no expert, it sounds like it well may be.

 

[Max L]

As others have mentioned, you'll want to post the flight log and .dat files here. There are true experts on the forum who can diagnose what went wrong and help you determine if it should be covered under warranty. At first blush, and I'm no expert, it sounds like it well may be.

I thought i did post them ill edit and attach thanks.

 

[Dmascot]

Does getting debris in the engine happen often?

 

[bumper]

To a large degree, that depend on the surface you operate from. Consider that when a drone propeller is pushing air down, most all of that air hits the ground and initially moves outward. Then some of that air moves upward, outside the propeller arc and then inward again above the propeller, and finally back down through the prop arc again . . . along with dirt and debris picked up off the ground. Some of this will likely enter the motor.

The above is simplified, there are other dynamics at work too, like tip vortices off the propeller blades. Those tip vortices will suck up dirt to cause erosion to taxiing aircraft props*, though I don't think they behave in a negative manner on drones (except to detract from prop efficiency).

And finally, if you drag a magnet through sandy soil, you will most often end up with a clump of black "iron filings". If enough of that stuff finds it's way into the motor, it will no doubt cause problems. I don't think compressed air would get it all out.

*You can see this when an airplane is stationary on wet pavement with engine running. Little "tornadoes" are visible as the water gets sucked up and entrained ro the bottom of the prop arc.

 

[slup]

As others have mentioned, you'll want to post the flight log and .dat files here. There are true experts on the forum who can diagnose what went wrong and help you determine if it should be covered under warranty. At first blush, and I'm no expert, it sounds like it well may be.

The .DAT log is already attached in post #3

The motor that was hard to turn was actually front right (facing away) sorry for the confusion. Im certain because the 2 torx screws the hold the spring and prop lock are scared a little from me taking said parts off in hope to get a little better access. Once I realized that wouldn't release the "cup" off the stator i used compressed air and it cleared it. Then put the springs, prop locks, and 2 torx screws back in. The left rear arm is the one thats broken and the only arm that still had a prop on it when i got to it.

Then I think that motor have suffered from the crash ... this as the logs definitely show that something fishy is going on with the left rear ...

If we first look at the AC pitch, roll & yaw ... the movement that the MA2 does at 90,5sec indicate the left rear, this as the roll goes negative, AC starts to lean to the left (green), it pitches nose up & positive (blue) & yaw CCW, meaning one of the CCW props/motors have lost rotation & no longer generate torque CW (either left rear or right front). As seen later after that the AC return the sudden movement but creeping back in the same pattern & hell break lose at approx 94sec ... the AC spiraling down. All this indicate a lost thrust from the left rear.



Then if we take a look att the motor RPM's. Again something happens at 90,5sec ... for all motors. But later on the rear left (light blue) clearly distinguish itself by only produce around 100rpm when all the other rev between 4000-7000rpm.



If we look at how the motors was commanded by the FC ... again we can see that the rear left (light blue) should rev to 100%, and all others much lower. This means that the FC want the rear left to rev faster to keep the control of the AC ... but the actual rpm's doesn't max out anyway as seen in the chart above.



Then a last check on the motor currents as a peak value there for any motor indicate that it's stuck. And again the rear left stands out with 4 times higher current draw then the others (purple).



All this together indicate that something happened the rear left motor at 90,5sec that got disastrous at approx 94sec when the rear left grinds to a halt & the AC starts to lose height in a spiraling motion.

If this is a warranty ..? Hard to say, if nothing obvious is found in the motor that comes from the AC itself (lose magnet for instance) it's hard to point on hardware failure, it can also have been some debris blown up from the take off spot that jammed the motor.

 

[Max L]

The .DAT log is already attached in post #3


Then I think that motor have suffered from the crash ... this as the logs definitely show that something fishy is going on with the left rear ...

If we first look at the AC pitch, roll & yaw ... the movement that the MA2 does at 90,5sec indicate the left rear, this as the roll goes negative, AC starts to lean to the left (green), it pitches nose up & positive (blue) & yaw CCW, meaning one of the CCW props/motors have lost rotation & no longer generate torque CW (either left rear or right front). As seen later after that the AC return the sudden movement but creeping back in the same pattern & hell break lose at approx 94sec ... the AC spiraling down. All this indicate a lost thrust from the left rear.

View attachment 103425

Then if we take a look att the motor RPM's. Again something happens at 90,5sec ... for all motors. But later on the rear left (light blue) clearly distinguish itself by only produce around 100rpm when all the other rev between 4000-7000rpm.

View attachment 103426

If we look at how the motors was commanded by the FC ... again we can see that the rear left (light blue) should rev to 100%, and all others much lower. This means that the FC want the rear left to rev faster to keep the control of the AC ... but the actual rpm's doesn't max out anyway as seen in the chart above.

View attachment 103427

Then a last check on the motor currents as a peak value there for any motor indicate that it's stuck. And again the rear left stands out with 4 times higher current draw then the others (purple).

View attachment 103428

All this together indicate that something happened the rear left motor at 90,5sec that got disastrous at approx 94sec when the rear left grinds to a halt & the AC starts to lose height in a spiraling motion.

If this is a warranty ..? Hard to say, if nothing obvious is found in the motor that comes from the AC itself (lose magnet for instance) it's hard to point on hardware failure, it can also have been some debris blown up from the take off spot that jammed the motor.

Thanks for your evaluation! Going to call DJI and see what they come up with.

 

[Capt KO]

Another case for Care Refresh. Wish more new (and old, like me) pilots would purchase it. Even if DJI decides not warranted, worth sending back for repair. Most likely will get a new one back at a substantial discount. Repair/replacement usually costs much less than people expect and it doesn’t cost anything to try.
Good luck, ?

 

[G Randy Brown]

I don't want to hijack this thread but quick question...I do I make sure my MA2 is recording my log...is it just cache being switched to on and if so is 2GB sufficient?
Thanks,
Randy