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Mavic dropping out of the sky

Mavricbird

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Glenreagh nsw Australia
Last week my Mavic 2 pro dropped out of the sky. Three days before I had a fight, I landed then replaced the battery that was fully charged, then flew for no more than 5 min to finish off what I was doing. This day I turned it on and it said there was a firmware update so I updated it with the battery still 3/4 charged. I then fly straight up because I was to get aerial shots of a building that was to be extended. First photo at about 45 mts then I went to 77 mts my screen went black thinking it would come back on but a mate that was with me said he saw it fall to the ground hitting a old metal stand throwing the battery out hitting more steel and putting it out of shape it was still shown 1/2 battery remaining I consider myself lucky there was no one around . I have had no trouble with the drone and flown it a lot and it's well looked after and maintained it is just out of warranty I have sent it to repairers in Sydney who are sending it on to DJI I do want to know what caused it was it something I did or was there a fault I hope DJI will be transparent with outcome. One more thing I don't know if it would have anything to do with it I was very close to a Optus tower about 50-80 Mts away.
I only hope that I find out what did happen.
 
Last edited:
? mts = meters... just to be clear.
Sounds like a battery disconnect... but...
If you can post your flight log for the flight one of our resident experts will be along to explain the event.
Instructions are here:
 
I turned it on and it said there was a firmware update so I updated it with the battery still 3/4 charged. ... it was still shown 1/2 battery remaining
It probably didn't cause the incident, but it's a bad idea to launch with a partially discharged battery.
The % indicator gives a false reading unless the battery is fully charged.
I hope DJI will be transparent with outcome.
DJI make great drones but aren't great at communicating technical details.
You might get lucky and you might not.
It's further complicated because it can be being difficult to diagnose the cause of fall-from-the-air incidents because they are usually caused by a sudden total power loss and all data just stops when the power goes off.

Sometimes the data is only useful to eliminate some possible causes.
One more thing I don't know if it would have anything to do with it I was very close to a Optus tower about 50-80 Meters away.
The mobile phone tower had nothing at all to do with the incident.
 
? mts = meters... just to be clear.
Sounds like a battery disconnect... but...
If you can post your flight log for the flight one of our resident experts will be along to explain the event.
Instructions are here:
Thanks will do
 
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Until you post your flight data for members to analyze, we can only guess at the cause of your crash.
My best guess is that your battery may have disconnected in flight, which has happened to me on my previous M2Z before DJI sent me a replacement, after determining that it was not due to pilot error.
A lot has been written on these forums regarding "battery swell", a phenomenon where the battery expands in the Mavic until it can no longer fit inside the battery compartment and eventually disconnects or ejects from the drone, causing both to fall out of the sky.
Only your flight data properly analyzed can assist in finding the cause for this crash.
 
My last log I hope you can make some sense out of this thanks
The data shows the drone flying straight at full speed when the data ends.
The pitch and roll data indicate there was no collision and the battery still had plenty of juice.
It looks like one of those frustrating sudden loss of power incidents.
Either the battery became dislodged or there was a rare hardware failure.
 
The data shows the drone flying straight at full speed when the data ends.
The pitch and roll data indicate there was no collision and the battery still had plenty of juice.
It looks like one of those frustrating sudden loss of power incidents.
Either the battery became dislodged or there was a rare hardware failure.
Yes I agree with that the battery was still connected to the drone when it hit the steel frame then dislodge itself that was from a eye witness just have to wait to see what dji findings are
 
To follow up on my post Mavic dropping out of the sky; I sent the drone to Camzilla repair people in Sydney and asked, and paid, to have it forwarded to DJI to find out what caused it to do what it did. The Camzilla people were interested to know, as well, because there was no indication shown on the log.
I was told that DJI did not, or would not, give any reason for it to suddenly stop and crash but for $600.00 they replaced the crashed one for a new one. I was very pleased and grateful for the replacement because it was out of warranty, however I would like to know what caused it to happen so I can prevent it from happening again. I would like to thank Camzilla, for their quick response and assistance with this outcome, and those who commented and helped after my first post.
I am not sure if I will have the same confidence as I did without knowing the cause of it but time will tell.
 
To follow up on my post Mavic dropping out of the sky; I sent the drone to Camzilla repair people in Sydney and asked, and paid, to have it forwarded to DJI to find out what caused it to do what it did. The Camzilla people were interested to know, as well, because there was no indication shown on the log.
I was told that DJI did not, or would not, give any reason for it to suddenly stop and crash but for $600.00 they replaced the crashed one for a new one. I was very pleased and grateful for the replacement because it was out of warranty, however I would like to know what caused it to happen so I can prevent it from happening again. I would like to thank Camzilla, for their quick response and assistance with this outcome, and those who commented and helped after my first post.
I am not sure if I will have the same confidence as I did without knowing the cause of it but time will tell.

Up Date;
After resetting the new drone for flying, I put 1 of the 4 batteries, that I had, in and flew for 15 minutes then landed. I then saw that the battery had dislodged itself and was not clipped in, so I investigated what had happened and I found that the base of the battery was swollen. I could push it in with my fingers so I think I now know what happened to my first drone. When the battery got hot the plastic cover expanded putting pressure on the base and forcing it to dislodge from the aircraft.
Investigating further, I found that, by placing the batteries on a flat surface, the base of two of the batteries were swollen and I could rock the batteries back and forth side ways.
However by applying pressure with my fingers on the plastic covering I found there was a gap indicating that it’s not the battery that is swollen, it's the thin plastic covering that holds the battery in. So to overcome this I now use a zip tie, thin enough to leave it on and by slipping it to the back allow the battery to be replaced and not interfer with the folding arms.
The batteries dated 2019, charges = 32 each & indicating all in good order.
So what I want to know; are the batteries on their way out and is it safe to use them by securing them this way or should I replace them?
I have flown for ½ an hour with no problems.
I think DJI should investigate their batteries because there is a problem with the casing.
I would like to hear from anyone that has had the same problem.
To f
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hvhtsA-iB8vleJ9xW_KE3Z8EQjg70p4pE1ehSxDaPYJCtpYEcrcJ2doz63e1yEd8MSt96auc_RDZbHWCuygUorzaS5CX0rvpHmeYP5PwHjt4Ir1CACvO46XDWOD5UuX55i0AegmO
ind this out has cost me close to $1,000.00 so I hope I can help others.
 
...saw that the battery had dislodged itself and was not clipped in...
...found that the base of the battery was swollen
This is a well known & documented phenomenon with LiPo batteries ... as the chemistry breaks down inside the battery gassing can occur that will make the battery cells inside the plastic casing swell. Particular M2's have been over-represented when it comes to sudden power loss due to this ... either due to being pressed out so they disconnects or even dislodges completely from the craft. Many M2 owners use velcro straps to secure the battery to be able to limp back home if swelling suddenly occurs during flight.

...it’s not the battery that is swollen, it's the thin plastic covering that holds the battery
...are the batteries on their way out and is it safe to use them by securing them this way or should I replace them?
Yes it is ... it's gases inside the battery cells that make them swell. When this happens it's time to take them off flight duty & dispose of them properly ... with this amount of gassing they have started to be very prone for disaster both during use & charging.
 
Yes the same happen to me I posted last month the battery popped out and it crashed it was just out of warranty sent it to DJI and for $650 DJI replaced it with a new one they are now replacing 2 batteries that has swollen at no cost they only had 32 charges (I hope they will be here tomorrow). I will not trust the batteries again to prevent it happening again I have put a plastic zip tire around the body by sliding the tire to the back you can remove and replace the battery and it does not interfere with the folding up of the arms

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