Crashed Phantom - Learning to fly used Phantom prior to Mavic Air purchase

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

Hi All. I am new to drones and thought I would start out with a used Phantom 3. I was completely successful flying it at a cabin in Eastern WA, where I literally flew it multiple times a half mile distance and took great shots of a lake, tress and cabins. I did lose it twice, but engaged the RTH function knowing that it was essentially flying in a direct obstacle free course back to me.

When I got home I thought I would fly it in my neighborhood which I had successfully performed multiple times. It was not connecting to GPS so I thought I would go ahead and take it for a short flight anyway. Huge mistake. It flew around under control for a minute or so before rocketing towards me and crashing into my garage hard enough to eject the battery and brake 2 props.

I ordered additional props. The props may be slightly different, but very hard to tell.

I checked for any visual damage and do not see anything other than a very small tear in the silicone shocks for the camera. I have re-run the IMU calibration even though it says it is unnecessary.

When I attempt to take off from auto take of the drone struggle to lift off. If I engage the controller to rise the drone has a severe wobble and has to be engaged to stay in the air. I can fly it back and forth, but I need to engage the up stick to keep it in the air.

Any thoughts assistance would be great. Have I destroyed the drone or is it possible for me to repair it? If / when I manage to properly fly this drone I intend to move up to a Mavic Air.

Thank you much,

Stephen

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

The props have handed screw threads, make sure you put the correct prop on each motor, the props have colour coded tops, black and either white or silver ( I can't remember which), the colour corresponds to the colour of a dot on the end of the motor's screw thread or the colour of the screw thread itself.
Genuime DJI P3 props are entirely plastic, I have a set of props that fit the motor screw threads but which, from memory, have metal female screw threads. They do not seat properly on P3 motors, I have often wondered if they are P2 props

Have a look at DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and follow the instructions for down loading the txt flight logs of "DJI Go 3". Download the log for the crash flight and a subsequent attempted flight to your computer then upload those logs to here.

I don't have an P3 to hand at the moment so this is from memory but,..... make sure there is a reasonably charged battery in the drone.
Switch the drone on and arrange a fan or something similar to blow air over the drone.
Connect the phone to the controller, switch the controller on and start the GO app.
Open the control menus and go through the menus and their sub menus until you find something like "Enter/download Flight Data" enable that and you should get a message telling you to connect the drone to the computer.
Connect the drone to your computer via the USB SOCKET ON THE DRONE'S BODY NOT THE USB SOCKET ON THE GIMBAL. The connection point is under the rubber cover on the drone's body that is above the camera.

Once the drone is connected to the computer the drone should show up in WIndows Explorer.
I haven't done this via a Mac or Linux machine so I do not know how they will repond.

Down load the DATs to your computer. They will take a fair while to transfer, the transfer is SLOW, hence the fan to keep the drone cool.

The DAT file names contain a number, if you do not want to download all the DATs wait until the txt's are analysed and you will be told the relevant DAT numbers.
You can then just download the relevant DATs and post then here.

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

I will attempt to do this and post the information. Thank you!

 

[BudWalker]

I will attempt to do this and post the information. Thank you!

Here is another set of instructions for retrieving a P3 .DAT
How to retrieve a .DAT

 

[Capt KO]

If props are different than original, could be the problem. Aftermarket props are notoriously bad. If you have mismatched them with dji props even worse. I’ve seen them brake of fly off on takeoff. Worse, fail at 400’. You may be lucky it won’t fly. Buy DJI oem props. 3rd party say “For” P3 instead of “Original”.

Besides DJI, Master Airscrew props will work

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

The props have handed screw threads, make sure you put the correct prop on each motor, the props have colour coded tops, black and either white or silver ( I can't remember which), the colour corresponds to the colour of a dot on the end of the motor's screw thread or the colour of the screw thread itself.
Genuime DJI P3 props are entirely plastic, I have a set of props that fit the motor screw threads but which, from memory, have metal female screw threads. They do not seat properly on P3 motors, I have often wondered if they are P2 props

Have a look at DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and follow the instructions for down loading the txt flight logs of "DJI Go 3". Download the log for the crash flight and a subsequent attempted flight to your computer then upload those logs to here.

I don't have an P3 to hand at the moment so this is from memory but,..... make sure there is a reasonably charged battery in the drone.
Switch the drone on and arrange a fan or something similar to blow air over the drone.
Connect the phone to the controller, switch the controller on and start the GO app.
Open the control menus and go through the menus and their sub menus until you find something like "Enter/download Flight Data" enable that and you should get a message telling you to connect the drone to the computer.
Connect the drone to your computer via the USB SOCKET ON THE DRONE'S BODY NOT THE USB SOCKET ON THE GIMBAL. The connection point is under the rubber cover on the drone's body that is above the camera.

Once the drone is connected to the computer the drone should show up in WIndows Explorer.
I haven't done this via a Mac or Linux machine so I do not know how they will repond.

Down load the DATs to your computer. They will take a fair while to transfer, the transfer is SLOW, hence the fan to keep the drone cool.

The DAT file names contain a number, if you do not want to download all the DATs wait until the txt's are analysed and you will be told the relevant DAT numbers.
You can then just download the relevant DATs and post then here.

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

Here is another set of instructions for retrieving a P3 .DAT
How to retrieve a .DAT

I am having difficulties down loading the flight data. I am using a PC and have downloaded itunes and logged in. I have left the drone connected for an hour and do not see and data loading in itunes. I have ensured that I am connected to the body of the drone and not the gimble/camera connection. When I "enter flight data mode" and connect the drone to the USB port the drone continues to make a noise the entire time connected, but I am unable to see any new files load in itunes when viewing the PC file manager. Additionally, I do not see that anything has downloaded when checking "downloads" in file manager. I have kept the drone connected for approximately an hour before disconnecting.

I would think that when the drone is connected to the PC that I would be able to view the drone connection in the file manager. I do not see this.

Thank you,

Stephen

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

If props are different than original, could be the problem. Aftermarket props are notoriously bad. If you have mismatched them with dji props even worse. I’ve seen them brake of fly off on takeoff. Worse, fail at 400’. You may be lucky it won’t fly. Buy DJI oem props. 3rd party say “For” P3 instead of “Original”.

Besides DJI, Master Airscrew props will work

The replacement props that I purchased are the Flypig ones with a metal screw on. I found these others on Amazon that say they are original from DJI. I went to the DJI website to purchase to be certain, but the site does not offer P3 props for sale. Thoughts?

Thank you,

Stephen

 

[BudWalker]

I am having difficulties down loading the flight data. I am using a PC and have downloaded itunes and logged in. I have left the drone connected for an hour and do not see and data loading in itunes. I have ensured that I am connected to the body of the drone and not the gimble/camera connection. When I "enter flight data mode" and connect the drone to the USB port the drone continues to make a noise the entire time connected, but I am unable to see any new files load in itunes when viewing the PC file manager. Additionally, I do not see that anything has downloaded when checking "downloads" in file manager. I have kept the drone connected for approximately an hour before disconnecting.

I would think that when the drone is connected to the PC that I would be able to view the drone connection in the file manager. I do not see this.

Thank you,

Stephen

iTunes isn't used to retrieve .DAT files from a P3.

Did you get a dialog box saying the P3 was in flight data mode.

A "disk drive" will mount on the P3 and should appear in the file manager

 

[Meta4]

I would think that when the drone is connected to the PC that I would be able to view the drone connection in the file manager. I do not see this.

Instead of dealing with the .dat fike from your drone, try the .txt file that the app records on your phone or tablet.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file here.

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

iTunes isn't used to retrieve .DAT files from a P3.

Did you get a dialog box saying the P3 was in flight data mode.

A "disk drive" will mount on the P3 and should appear in the file manager

I finally got the .dat flight logs off my iphone. I was being impatient and did not realize that I was not properly selecting my iphone when in itunes on my PC. If you are able to decipher what has occurred that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Stephen

 

[Meta4]

I finally got the .dat flight logs off my iphone. I was being impatient and did not realize that I was not properly selecting my iphone when in itunes on my PC. If you are able to decipher what has occurred that would be greatly appreciated.

If you get me the .txt file as described in post #10, I can look into it right away

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

If you get me the .txt file as described in post #10, I can look into it right away

Attached are the files. I am also loading the DatCon app so I can attempt to decipher this simultaneously..... or learn how to.

Thank you,

Stephen

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

Attached are the files. I am also loading the DatCon app so I can attempt to decipher this simultaneously..... or learn how to.

Thank you,

Stephen

I was able to get .csv files, but not next files.

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

I was able to get .csv files, but not next files.

I found the .txt files.

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

Attached are the files. I am also loading the DatCon app so I can attempt to decipher this simultaneously..... or learn how to.

Thank you,

Stephen

If you get me the .txt file as described in post #10, I can look into it right away

I found the .txt files

 

[TigerWoodsofFishing]

The props have handed screw threads, make sure you put the correct prop on each motor, the props have colour coded tops, black and either white or silver ( I can't remember which), the colour corresponds to the colour of a dot on the end of the motor's screw thread or the colour of the screw thread itself.
Genuime DJI P3 props are entirely plastic, I have a set of props that fit the motor screw threads but which, from memory, have metal female screw threads. They do not seat properly on P3 motors, I have often wondered if they are P2 props

Have a look at DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and follow the instructions for down loading the txt flight logs of "DJI Go 3". Download the log for the crash flight and a subsequent attempted flight to your computer then upload those logs to here.

I don't have an P3 to hand at the moment so this is from memory but,..... make sure there is a reasonably charged battery in the drone.
Switch the drone on and arrange a fan or something similar to blow air over the drone.
Connect the phone to the controller, switch the controller on and start the GO app.
Open the control menus and go through the menus and their sub menus until you find something like "Enter/download Flight Data" enable that and you should get a message telling you to connect the drone to the computer.
Connect the drone to your computer via the USB SOCKET ON THE DRONE'S BODY NOT THE USB SOCKET ON THE GIMBAL. The connection point is under the rubber cover on the drone's body that is above the camera.

Once the drone is connected to the computer the drone should show up in WIndows Explorer.
I haven't done this via a Mac or Linux machine so I do not know how they will repond.

Down load the DATs to your computer. They will take a fair while to transfer, the transfer is SLOW, hence the fan to keep the drone cool.

The DAT file names contain a number, if you do not want to download all the DATs wait until the txt's are analysed and you will be told the relevant DAT numbers.
You can then just download the relevant DATs and post then here.

I finally got to them.

 

[Meta4]

It was not connecting to GPS so I thought I would go ahead and take it for a short flight anyway. Huge mistake. It flew around under control for a minute or so before rocketing towards me and crashing into my garage hard enough to eject the battery and brake 2 props.

Neither of those files is from the flight you described.
One is just climbing and hovering and landing in the same place and the other goes no further than 15 feet or faster than 2 mph.

 

[BudWalker]

I finally got the .dat flight logs off my iphone. I was being impatient and did not realize that I was not properly selecting my iphone when in itunes on my PC. If you are able to decipher what has occurred that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Stephen

Sorry, I can't use those files. If you follow the instructions in either post #2, #4 or #9 the resulting .DAT may help.

 

[March411]

Sorry if this is a lame question but what directory are the correct .DAT and .TXT located in using the DJI FLY app?

I haven't needed them but based on reading this thread I want to start storing them on my HDD.