Lost drone trying to RTH - 'max power load reached' issue

[MaxE1955!]

thank you for your reply,with regards to pointed statements you stated that the MM is underpowered,how did you reach that observation,is it underpowered in relation to other mavics ,yes, but for its size and weight it has enough power to do what is expected of it
the fly offs as you call them are mainly due to operator error, and a lack of understanding of the drones abilities, we will just have to disagree at this time but you are entitled to your opinion the same as i am

I agree and I’m not trying to be argumentative, I referred to it being Underpowered in regards to high winds. It wasn’t designed to operate in windy conditions as indicated by the many reports of error messages of “Maximum load reached” etc.... my Phantom 4 ADV is more solid flying in higher wind than my Mavic Pros. Given the 249 grams, smaller lighter props and motors I expected the Mavic Mini to be less suited for windy conditions and I will not be flying the MM drone in windy conditions. I’ll use one of my Phantom 4’S for those days as their more suited for those conditions. I for one didn’t expect it to be a ‘windy day” flyer before I purchased mine, so I wasn’t expecting it to be a tank in the air, and I had no illusions for such a diminutive UAV. I will continue to see what others report as I have only flown the MM in still air and experienced better than expected performance from it so far. Thanks for responding.

 

[old man mavic]

I agree and I’m not trying to be argumentative, I referred to it being Underpowered in regards to high winds. It wasn’t designed to operate in windy conditions as indicated by the many reports of error messages of “Maximum load reached” etc.... my Phantom 4 ADV is more solid flying in higher wind than my Mavic Pros. Given the 249 grams, smaller lighter props and motors I expected the Mavic Mini to be less suited for windy conditions and I will not be flying the MM drone in windy conditions. I’ll use one of my Phantom 4’S for those days as their more suited for those conditions. I for one didn’t expect it to be a ‘windy day” flyer before I purchased mine, so I wasn’t expecting it to be a tank in the air, and I had no illusions for such a diminutive UAV. I will continue to see what others report as I have only flown the MM in still air and experienced better than expected performance from it so far. Thanks for responding.

exactly so really we agree on something ,the fact that if you understand it capabilities,then you are not going to fly it ,i guess it does not help when people go on the net, and see videos of them being flown in high winds, at long distances, and believe that it is ok to do that, problem is most of the stuff we see is edited so it appears to be so

 

[mavicn00b]

Wouldnt the Sony VTC5 18650 2600mAh be a better choice of battery than the Samsung 18650 25R battery DJI went with?

Weight wise they're about the same, (Sony slightly lighter), but the Sony is slightly higher capacity and more importantly higher discharge current (30A vs 20A). Perhaps DJI will switch suppliers and roll-out a more suitable/capable battery given all the issue's we're getting?

 

[GerdS]

If I might ever replace cells in my batteries I would select Sony/Murata VTC6 cells.

 

[SecureHttp]

What is the significance of the higher discharge rate? The 30A Vs 20A? I don't know and I'm curious

Thanks

Wouldnt the Sony VTC5 18650 2600mAh be a better choice of battery than the Samsung 18650 25R battery DJI went with?

Weight wise they're about the same, (Sony slightly lighter), but the Sony is slightly higher capacity and more importantly higher discharge current (30A vs 20A). Perhaps DJI will switch suppliers and roll-out a more suitable/capable battery given all the issue's we're getting?

 

[netsonic]

They all seem to be the CE model? Could it have something to do with the technical specifications of that model as opposed to the FCC version?

No! There are indeed different specifications and versions but underneath, they have the same motors, same battery (except the Japan version) and same ESC. It was more or less bad luck that our did manifest and run into issues, however this is just a normal probability question.

Then there is also the fact that we've pushed ours harder than the folks and youtube vloggers who did the reviews. None of them shared any airdata logs or has looked at their logs to see if there is anything wrong with the product. Now when the majority has and logs are coming in DJI got a clue what is wrong and voilà, firmware updates are rolled out.

 

[Deadtillten]

Sorry to all who have lost or crashed their MM's.
My thoughts on the matter is size and power matters when it comes to air currents. I'm sure DJI will iron out any shortfalls on their firmware.
I own 2 x S900's and a Mavic 2 Pro. When it comes to wind being gusty I tend to refrain from flying at all. Some may say I'm over cautious but the expense of replacement overules anything concerning the weather.
In a nutshell the MM is not meant to fly on over windy days and anybody doing so runs the gauntlet.
Once again sorry to those who have lost or broken their MM's.
DJI stuff aint cheap.

 

[DanMan32]

If you want to fly on a windy day, test it out in a controlled environment where you can easily get yourself out of trouble, including an immediate landing before venturing out in risky situations. That's what I did, gradually going higher and further, noting the behavior and warnings.

 

[Quad808]

Can we use a little common sense about flying in windy conditions? Fly this toy into the wind if flying out for any distance. The wind will help you get it back.
Experienced pilots know this and do this on a regular basis, or should at a minimum.
If, and I say IF...after the error of "Max Power Load Reached" occurs after X # of times (this is a guess), the drone goes into ATTI mode, this is a DJI fault all the way in their firmware, or if the set RTH speed is not high enough, this also needs to be addressed.
For now, as others have said...flying back in manual makes the most sense. Use the map, thats what it is for, since we ALL know you flew beyond VLOS, didn't you?

 

[TDZHDTV]

If you want to fly on a windy day, test it out in a controlled environment where you can easily get yourself out of trouble, including an immediate landing before venturing out in risky situations. That's what I did, gradually going higher and further, noting the behavior and warnings.

Ditto, and it’s still exciting when the wind eventually takes the MM even when your expecting it.

 

[mavicn00b]

What is the significance of the higher discharge rate? The 30A Vs 20A? I don't know and I'm curious

Thanks

Batteries can release higher current and fight the wind albeit at lower flight times.

 

[Back Country]

No, I did not lose it, however I was just wondering if I might had the same message, when it drifted.
I've edited the above text to reflect that my mini is ok and I wish you best of luck in finding yours.

Later Edit:
After creating the airdata account and syncing the logs from DJY, I see that I had the same message when mine drifted. I only have it once in a single log from all 4 of the flight logs that i have. Yes, I only flew it 4 times until now.

Not Enough Force/ESC Error (repeated 38 times)

I believe I had this error perhaps 115 times in a single flight before the most recent update. It was super windy and I had to fly the drone back to me against the wind.

 

[Jim Daniels]

Maybe you couldn't find it because it went through the windshield of one of the cars on the highway?
I don't understand, with all the open land in your area, why did you dicide to fly across the highway to begin with, and then possibly crashed into a car on the way back.
And you decided to do this in high winds !!
You never thought "what if there's a problem" ??

It's small mistakes like this that add up and turn catastophic.
Hopefully you got lucky.
Please don't go for a pilot's license, a few bad decisions could kill folks

 

[Nick jowett]

DJI have now analysed the data from my flight where the mini displayed max powerload reached and then just decided to land in the sea. Their response...… "According to the data analysis, the flight accident was due to a possible propulsion issue, which caused that the aircraft lost altitude during flight. There is no pilot's error in this flight and we determine to cover this case under warranty."
So great news, a replacement mini on the way but how can I trust it when so many people are having the same issues.
Does the mini have a big problem and is it unsafe to fly, or, although there seem to be several people with the same issue if thousands of them are flying ok was I just unlucky and maybe shouldn't worry about it.
I think DJI have been very fair, I'm sure they looked in great detail at my flight data and if there was any doubt that it was due to pilot error, weather conditions they would have said so and not replaced the mini.

 

[netsonic]

Does the mini have a big problem and is it unsafe to fly, or, although there seem to be several people with the same issue if thousands of them are flying ok was I just unlucky and maybe shouldn't worry about it.

Nick, the only advice I can give is to register for an airdata account and sync your logs. If there is anything wrong with the Mini, it will show in the logs. After the latest update we have seen a decrease in errors or warnings in the logs. Right now I have zero errors/warnings in my logs and a couple of other users have reported the same. This after the latest firmware update .300

And of course update to the latest firmware once you receive it.

 

[Nick jowett]

Thanks. Fingers crossed the latest firmware has fixed the issue. New mini just arrived so will make sure it's all up to date before taking it out.

 

[WooZie]

otherwise you can't take off, so the app will prompt you to update, if you don't do that, do not fly )

 

[droncek]

I had two similar issues today. Flying at low altitude between 30 and 40 m height in sport mode a mavic mini at 64% battery suddenly began to descend on its own and signalise "max power load reached".

I pushed stick up to ascent and did not help a drone continue descending. The only two things that worked for me in this case was fast switching to C mode and then drone started ascending again on my commands. Or if I initiate RTH and drone began ascending to RTH altitude. Then for a test I canceled RTH and switched back to S mode and flew back manually and at 23% it started again losing altitude by itself and displayed the same message. I managed to came home in C mode then.

It is annoying and frustrating

 

[Sisko.de]

I had an issue today. After around 10 minutes of perfect flight, i got the message (max power load reached aka 30168) and the problem again. So I tried to fly the drone back to me but it didn‘t come back, it seemed to not react to my commands then it directly lost altitude around 2-3 meters. Afterwards it flew up again by itself. The message popped up and the drone was going down. It was maybe 30 meters high in the air and it went down 3-5 meters then went back up again to 5-6 meters. I flew the whole time in c-mode and without the propeller guards. The error messages turned on and off but I could fly the drone slowly but safely back to me. I read from several other users which had the same problem and that they solved the problem when they changed the propellers.

I have flown the Mavic Mini about 27 times and it flew mostly fine about 97% of the time. Today I was flying at 3 degrees celsius with perfect weather conditions; sunlight and no wind. So far I‘ve had no bigger problems like my experience today.

Here is a log of the flight: https://app.airdata.com/share/regvwn

 

[fificap]

Hi, "Max power load reached" error seems due to propellers, check this video and give a try to a new set of propellers & screws ! Give us your feedback...