DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

First crash.

DTC709

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Messages
112
Reactions
78
Age
33
Hey everyone, 33 hours and over 400km on my Mavic Pro, and I’ve had my first crash. Started with a 57% battery as I was flying close by, at around 40 feet altitude, 10 feet away from me. I usually land at 30% battery, but being so close by I decided to push it a bit.

At 8min03s I hit 20% battery, 8min 10s I got a battery error, 8min 11s I got a Low voltage protection battery error. Then at 8m 19s I got battery remaining enough to RTH notice. A couple seconds after canceled that, to land on my own, the Mavic shut down and fell from the sky with 17% battery left. I have the CSV flight data I pulled from my phone, but I can’t seem to get the proper data log thru DJI Assistant.

At this point I’m just curious as to exactly what happened, seems like battery error to me. Also, I know I need 2 arms, obviously lol. Gimbal loads up fine.

Big question is, will I need a lower body, as you can see a piece that broke off, does that act as a stop for the rear folding arm? Or am I fine without it.

Thanks!

e11dff397455b9a7c485c816e42ab85c.jpg
53599e63c4ffe02ddab55fffdb545d96.jpg
 
Ouch!

It isn't a good idea to start flying with the battery not close to 100%. It can mess up calculating the true percentage or maintaining cell balance.

You'll want to post the TXT file of the flight from the phone.
 
Hey everyone, 33 hours and over 400km on my Mavic Pro, and I’ve had my first crash. Started with a 57% battery as I was flying close by, at around 40 feet altitude, 10 feet away from me. I usually land at 30% battery, but being so close by I decided to push it a bit.

At 8min03s I hit 20% battery, 8min 10s I got a battery error, 8min 11s I got a Low voltage protection battery error. Then at 8m 19s I got battery remaining enough to RTH notice. A couple seconds after canceled that, to land on my own, the Mavic shut down and fell from the sky with 17% battery left. I have the CSV flight data I pulled from my phone, but I can’t seem to get the proper data log thru DJI Assistant.

At this point I’m just curious as to exactly what happened, seems like battery error to me. Also, I know I need 2 arms, obviously lol. Gimbal loads up fine.

Big question is, will I need a lower body, as you can see a piece that broke off, does that act as a stop for the rear folding arm? Or am I fine without it.

Thanks!

e11dff397455b9a7c485c816e42ab85c.jpg
53599e63c4ffe02ddab55fffdb545d96.jpg
I'm not sure if they are for your drone original or for clones but if you find something suitable to repair it the prices seem honest.

 
  • Like
Reactions: DTC709
That seems like an amazing price on the arms if u can wait the 7-16 days.
When replacing the arms make sure u go nice and steady w the soldering
If you prefer we can do it, free inspection free shipping both ways you pay only if you approve the repair quote.

 
Ouch!

It isn't a good idea to start flying with the battery not close to 100%. It can mess up calculating the true percentage or maintaining cell balance.

You'll want to post the TXT file of the flight from the phone.
Agree with @DanMan32
Remember also that battery power use accelerates as total charge decreases.
However, one interesting point is the apparent disputing of the widely posted belief that there is battery power left after “0” .... seems not always, and not predictable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skywatcher2001
Hey, sorry about your crash- it happens to all of us at some point. Your bird doesn't look that damaged; the rear arms are easy to replace. Amazon has them for about $38 each and with Prime you can have them the next day. You'll need a decent quality soldering iron and an RC repair screwdriver set. Easy job to replace arms; three colored wires per arm; the front arms also have antenna's plus LED wires; many YT vids on front arm replacement. Not hard, take your time. Each arm is a unique unit. I've replaced two arms and the gimbal assembly- there are a ton of great YT repair vids on all that.

Can't tell if you need a new body or not- the broken piece looks like it's part of the arm. Need a better photo. Body parts are cheap and not hard to swap, even with the boards.

You'll want to closely inspect the gimbal assembly with a pen light- easily the most delicate part of the craft and it takes a pretty hard smack regardless of how the drone lands. The ribbon cable on the gimbal is often damaged in a crash, and you can't always see where that cable is damaged but if damaged, it'll show up when the gimbal calibrates after your next power up. There are four rubber feet in particular that break. If even one is broken, buy a new vibration board for $10. A gimbal swap is no big deal at all.

PS- I like the red wrap on your unit; nice touch.

Let us know how this all works out for you!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Skywatcher2001
This happened to me as well. I was lucky and the drone was 1m above ground when it shut down at 15% batt. I usually land at above 20%. I got a battery cell error 2 sec before. I noticed that the battery had swelled. Curious to how that could happen I looked at previous logs and found that this battery had actually struggled for a time with cell deviations and the cause was cell collapse. AirData characterized it as a problematic battery and had I checked the logs better I would have seen that and discarded this battery. Since I normally don't push it I had not been a real problem before this flight. Lesson learned- I now keep an eye on my battery logs and making sure that they are maintained properly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DTC709
I had that EXACT same thing happen. I spun up with a spent battery. Fortunately it was late and I just brought it in when I got the battery error.

That is an absolutely beautiful bird! Looks like your in good hands with the needed repairs. I really hope you get her back in the air soon. That color scheme may be problematic for apex predators. Any 'hits' from hawks?

May think she's a cardinal or a parrot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DTC709
I had that EXACT same thing happen. I spun up with a spent battery. Fortunately it was late and I just brought it in when I got the battery error.

That is an absolutely beautiful bird! Looks like your in good hands with the needed repairs. I really hope you get her back in the air soon. That color scheme may be problematic for apex predators. Any 'hits' from hawks?

May think she's a cardinal or a parrot.

No issues with birds, not a lot of hawks in my area. Went with red because I fly a bit on the sunny days when snowmobiling in the mountains. And figured white would be impossible to find and red would be much easier haha
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skywatcher2001
Hey, sorry about your crash- it happens to all of us at some point. Your bird doesn't look that damaged; the rear arms are easy to replace. Amazon has them for about $38 each and with Prime you can have them the next day. You'll need a decent quality soldering iron and an RC repair screwdriver set. Easy job to replace arms; three colored wires per arm; the front arms also have antenna's plus LED wires; many YT vids on front arm replacement. Not hard, take your time. Each arm is a unique unit. I've replaced two arms and the gimbal assembly- there are a ton of great YT repair vids on all that.

Can't tell if you need a new body or not- the broken piece looks like it's part of the arm. Need a better photo. Body parts are cheap and not hard to swap, even with the boards.

You'll want to closely inspect the gimbal assembly with a pen light- easily the most delicate part of the craft and it takes a pretty hard smack regardless of how the drone lands. The ribbon cable on the gimbal is often damaged in a crash, and you can't always see where that cable is damaged but if damaged, it'll show up when the gimbal calibrates after your next power up. There are four rubber feet in particular that break. If even one is broken, buy a new vibration board for $10. A gimbal swap is no big deal at all.

PS- I like the red wrap on your unit; nice touch.

Let us know how this all works out for you!

Thanks for the info! I got the arms ordered and I’ll need to power up to double check the gimbal but no errors the first time I tried after the crash. And will most definitely be using YT videos!
 
That seems like an amazing price on the arms if u can wait the 7-16 days.
When replacing the arms make sure u go nice and steady w the soldering
If you prefer we can do it, free inspection free shipping both ways you pay only if you approve the repair quote.


I ordered the arms before I seen this. It’ll be a month or so wait, not a huge issue as I’m moving into the wet/cold season for my area. Do you do repairs with supplies parts?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skywatcher2001
Ouch!

It isn't a good idea to start flying with the battery not close to 100%. It can mess up calculating the true percentage or maintaining cell balance.

You'll want to post the TXT file of the flight from the phone.

I’ll get that posted this evening hopefully!
 
No issues with birds, not a lot of hawks in my area. Went with red because I fly a bit on the sunny days when snowmobiling in the mountains. And figured white would be impossible to find and red would be much easier haha
I had a hawk come down and check me out yesterday. I believe I got too close to her nest and she wasn't having it.

A month isn't soooo long. You'll be back up and flying in no time. Again . . . a truly beautiful bird.
 
I ordered the arms before I seen this. It’ll be a month or so wait, not a huge issue as I’m moving into the wet/cold season for my area. Do you do repairs with supplies parts?
we stock the parts or you can send them w/ the drone and just pay the labor
should you decide to send it in use "mavicpilots" for $35 off the repair
 

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
134,637
Messages
1,597,108
Members
163,129
Latest member
Ethendrel
Want to Remove this Ad? Simply login or create a free account