Gimbal failure (x4) - causes crash - fighting with DJI to get this resolved

[jwadsworthza]

Am I the only one who finds DJI support atrocious? Late September 2018 I had a Gimbal failure during flight (x3 the same afternoon). Logged a issue on the APP but have yet to get feedback on this. The following day it happened again during flight (Sport mode) and I could not navigate with no video feed, colliding with a tree. I have uploaded the video showing the video feed going blurry, then the Gimbal went haywire. It eventually recovered. DJI conclusion is Pilot Error for the crash, even though I have video proof of Gimbal failure. Subsequently to this my drone has been repaired, with the entire Gimbal / camera assembly (including circuit board). Right rear motor arm has also been replaced.

 

[sar104]

Why did you not put the aircraft into RTH when the gimbal failed?

 

[jwadsworthza]

Hi there, very good point. 21st September when I had the three failures, I had line of site. I was able to control the drone quite easily. As you can see from the video the Gimbal recovered fairly quickly although the reason for the failure is unknown and very concerning.

But the following day when it took place, I was using the video feed as the drone was quite far out. The time it took for the Gimbal to fail, the drone veered to the right and struck a tree. I simply did not have time to react to press the RTH button.

Rgs
James

 

[sar104]

Hi there, very good point. 21st September when I had the three failures, I had line of site. I was able to control the drone quite easily. As you can see from the video the Gimbal recovered fairly quickly although the reason for the failure is unknown and very concerning.

But the following day when it took place, I was using the video feed as the drone was quite far out. The time it took for the Gimbal to fail, the drone veered to the right and struck a tree. I simply did not have time to react to press the RTH button.

Rgs
James

That's unfortunate. With the the benefit of hindsight, or course, the correct action would be release the sticks and then select RTH. Unless you were already on a collision course with the trees that should have worked fine. That may be the reason for DJI asserting pilot error.

 

[Mossiback]

It looks like an in-flight gimbal reset. I have not had it happen to me but have read many posts about it.

Am I the only one who finds DJI support atrocious?...

No.

...But the following day when it took place, I was using the video feed as the drone was quite far out. The time it took for the Gimbal to fail, the drone veered to the right and struck a tree. I simply did not have time to react to press the RTH button...

This is probably why DJI will claim pilot error. Even though the gimbal reset is the root cause DJI will say that you are supposed to fly by watching the aircraft instead of the display.

I would have pushed the pause button instead of the RTH button. The RTH button requires a press and hold for it to activate whereas the pause button will cancel flying modes and stick inputs and is the quickest way to stop. Then you can hover while planning your next move.

 

[jwadsworthza]

That's unfortunate. With the the benefit of hindsight, or course, the correct action would be release the sticks and then select RTH. Unless you were already on a collision course with the trees that should have worked fine. That may be the reason for DJI asserting pilot error.

Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. According to my logs, I veered off course sharply to the right when I was flying a straight course. Gimbal failed at that point. While it is very easy for DJI to assert pilot error, the Gimbal failure is poor quality and failure, a number of times. They can blame me all they like, but in this instance the Gimbal failure was the root cause in Quality terms, the main course of everything going wrong.

 

[jwadsworthza]

Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. According to my logs, I veered off course sharply to the right when I was flying a straight course. Gimbal failed at that point. While it is very easy for DJI to assert pilot error, the Gimbal failure is poor quality and failure, a number of times. They can blame me all they like, but in this instance the Gimbal failure was the root cause in Quality terms, the main course of everything going wrong.

When you are at the mercy of the video feed and you possibly react to a change in feed, then the cause of the crash is Gimbal failure.

 

[jwadsworthza]

It looks like an in-flight gimbal reset. I have not had it happen to me but have read many posts about it.

No.

This is probably why DJI will claim pilot error. Even though the gimbal reset is the root cause DJI will say that you are supposed to fly by watching the aircraft instead of the display.

I would have pushed the pause button instead of the RTH button. The RTH button requires a press and hold for it to activate whereas the pause button will cancel flying modes and stick inputs and is the quickest way to stop. Then you can hover while planning your next move.

in-flight gimbal reset? That is a cause for concern. If it happens a lot, but not in all instances and not with all owners of Mavic Pros, then there is definitely a product issue which DJI should be concerned about and trying to resolve. DJI can try argue that I am supposed to be watching the aircraft, but as it has long range capability and video feed, then the Gimbal in-flight reset could possibly be a cause of many a drone being destroyed during flight? Just a thought, but not everyone would use RTH function.

 

[ac0j]

The other thing to consider is that when flying using the camera as your eyes there is often a delay from the camera to your screen, and there is no peripheral vision. You should always be higher than the trees and other obstacles when flying like that. It stinks, but it was pilot error.
Dont depend on the camera for flight.

 

[jwadsworthza]

The other thing to consider is that when flying using the camera as your eyes there is often a delay from the camera to your screen, and there is no peripheral vision. You should always be higher than the trees and other obstacles when flying like that. It stinks, but it was pilot error.
Dont depend on the camera for flight.

I don't dispute a delay in video feed but one of the biggest selling points of Mavic Pro and the latest editions is the range. We do not buy a drone to fly it around a garden, but to go exploring. With that in mind we need a reliable video feed and a Gimbal that does not reset itself just because the manufacturer cannot control its quality. If I am to be proportionately to blame in any way, so can DJI. Or we can stick to our gardens because any further our Mavics are not reliable enough to take the chance that these will not be plagued by product failures and never return.

 

[sar104]

I don't dispute a delay in video feed but one of the biggest selling points of Mavic Pro and the latest editions is the range. We do not buy a drone to fly it around a garden, but to go exploring. With that in mind we need a reliable video feed and a Gimbal that does not reset itself just because the manufacturer cannot control its quality. If I am to be proportionately to blame in any way, so can DJI. Or we can stick to our gardens because any further our Mavics are not reliable enough to take the chance that these will not be plagued by product failures and never return.

Gimbal resets are not common, but they happen. Most people do not immediately crash when a gimbal reset occurs. If you are both beyond line of sight and flying close enough and fast enough that any interruption in video feed leads to a crash then I would say that your expectations are simply unrealistic.

 

[DanMan32]

A crazy video feed could cause brief disorientation and subsequently make a wrong move.
I'm sure I made the right decision when my M2 seemed to have a mind of its own, slipping right, then left. I have a topic about it with the flight text file. I was flying mostly VLOS and thought maybe I'm seeing things. Check the video on the tablet. No stick input but the trees are moving.
So I RTH it in. It flew perfectly straight on RTH. I wasn't chancing it over water though. It was windy and clouds were starting to threaten rain.
My gut tells me if I kept flying, she would have gotten completely out of control and crashed into the water.

 

[Thealien]

Am I the only one who finds DJI support atrocious?

Absolutely NOT, I have been dealing with them for a couple of days. Its like talking to India tech support. Did you reboot?

But in this case I get did you try another cable, battery, location, SD card, etc!! I keep telling them I have a zoom and a Pro 2 and using the same tablet, same cable, same batteries, same SD Card and the display picture sucks and I have lousy range, but not with the PRO.

Can you send a video of the screen, UGH@$%&^$#$#!! I want you to fix my less than 30 day old under warranty drone, NOW!!

 

[ac0j]

Absolutely NOT, I have been dealing with them for a couple of days. Its like talking to India tech support. Did you reboot?

But in this case I get did you try another cable, battery, location, SD card, etc!! I keep telling them I have a zoom and a Pro 2 and using the same tablet, same cable, same batteries, same SD Card and the display picture sucks and I have lousy range, but not with the PRO.

Can you send a video of the screen, UGH@$%&^$#$#!! I want you to fix my less than 30 day old under warranty drone, NOW!!

They should just KNOW what the issue is when they pick up the phone, and get a tech on a plane to your house as soon as they answer the phone. That would be the service you want?

 

[sar104]

They should just KNOW what the issue is when they pick up the phone, and get a tech on a plane to your house as soon as they answer the phone. That would be the service you want?

It's really unacceptable that one should even have to call them. The tech should be on scene before the failure occurs¡

 

[jwadsworthza]

Gimbal resets are not common, but they happen. Most people do not immediately crash when a gimbal reset occurs. If you are both beyond line of sight and flying close enough and fast enough that any interruption in video feed leads to a crash then I would say that your expectations are simply unrealistic.

We agree to disagree. 4 Gimbal resets in 2 days for a situation which is not considered common is now a major cause for concern. By your own admission it is not common, by my evidence it is very common. As for my expectation, I bought the drone to have some level of reliability. Statistically my drone with the old Gimbal was prone to error. It has a video feed so the reliability extends to that as well. If my expectations are too high for this product, then the quality of the product, specifically the Gimbal is at a level where DJI has failed to obtain. In South Africa we pay a premium price for the drone so my expectations are that much higher.

 

[sar104]

We agree to disagree. 4 Gimbal resets in 2 days for a situation which is not considered common is now a major cause for concern. By your own admission it is not common, by my evidence it is very common. As for my expectation, I bought the drone to have some level of reliability. Statistically my drone with the old Gimbal was prone to error. It has a video feed so the reliability extends to that as well. If my expectations are too high for this product, then the quality of the product, specifically the Gimbal is at a level where DJI has failed to obtain. In South Africa we pay a premium price for the drone so my expectations are that much higher.

That's fine. I'm surprised that you continued to fly the aircraft after multiple gimbal resets, however.

 

[DanMan32]

It's really unacceptable that one should even have to call them. The tech should be on scene before the failure occurs¡

Right, as soon as they receive your synced flight logs.

 

[jwadsworthza]

That's fine. I'm surprised that you continued to fly the aircraft after multiple gimbal resets, however.

That is why I reported the problem to DJI via the APAP which has never been replied to. That day the drone hasld the 3 resets I had very good line of sight. It them seemed fine so I continued flying. The following day I took off and everything seemed fine. Oh well, the Gimbal failed again. Drone support in South Africa is very limited so I was forced to use DJI support who are so slow to respond. Cost me half the price of a new drone to repair the damage. I have lost all faith in my drone since and wonder if I am going to have it fail again. Yes I can send it in but locally lol, to DJI directly I think not. It took them 2 and a half weeks to send me a report after the crash. Asking me again and again for the same information. I guess it was an expensive experience in buying a poor quality product.

 

[Dragonfly]

Hi there, very good point. 21st September when I had the three failures, I had line of site. I was able to control the drone quite easily. As you can see from the video the Gimbal recovered fairly quickly although the reason for the failure is unknown and very concerning.

But the following day when it took place, I was using the video feed as the drone was quite far out. The time it took for the Gimbal to fail, the drone veered to the right and struck a tree. I simply did not have time to react to press the RTH button.

Rgs
James

If you had three (3) failures that day, why on earth were you out flying again. You put yourself into the situation of that crash already knowing that there was a problem with the gimbal and video.
Should have had it seen to or fixed well before attempting to fly again.