Mavic Mini dropping

[grahamjohnson10]

I'm not sure why he is not posting the logs anywhere, oo wait it would probably show he is just click biting.
I could probably recreate this in my backyard.
leave the battery in -10C load up some weight on the MM, do not wait for GPS lock, cover bottom sensors or fly over white snow in S mode up then down hit the snow and post just the clip of MM hitting the snow gracefully. I have trust issues those days on the internet.
I have flown MM in cold in wind in snow, it is behaving exceptionally well for what it is and how light it is.

I emailed Steve yesterday and he shared the Airdata flight log with me, but not the one where you can download the original flight log.
I then emailed him back but he was not willing to share the full Airdata log where I could download the original flight log !!!!

 

[Chucky21022002]

I had a similar issue happen to me yesterday. Conditions were about 40 degrees F., 5 to 10 mph winds and partly to mostly cloudy. On three occasions during the flight, the Mavic Mini just started descending on its own from about 125 feet even though I was frantically trying it to get it to go up through stick input. The first time it came down near a house and almost seemed to bounce off some adjacent tree branches or possibly a roof overhang and then I was able to get it back up to 125 feet. Then, within a minute, it went down again and nearly landed but it bounced up to about 25 feet and then flew about 75 feet while I was trying to get altitude, but it again started a descent by itself and landed in a agricultural field. Talk about scary!!! Stick input did not work to gain altitude. It had a mind of its own. Mine is only 10 days old with 9 flights, so I am sending it back and asking for a refund! This should not happen!!!!

Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lQX1z5DhmQ

REPLY

Just a quick question, do you have the prop guard on? Reason being is, as soon as it hits the branch it should have crashed, but it continously flew upward again. If Im not mistaken with the prop guard on, the mavic is limited to a specific height and distance it could fly with payload activated.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I have yet to fly my Mini, but saw on you tube an owner talking about his Mavic inexplicably dropping touching the ground and then going back up again. In the comments section other owners were mentioning similar.
I am hoping there isn't an issue with this model which is just coming to light.

We spotted this problem right away on the MINI that the Bottom sensor were very tricky to light , dust ,debris and I think people have underestimated the problem with landing sensors that cannot be turned off.

For safer flights we block the sensors using the Plug on the Mavic Mini Wet suits which is working really well .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your mavic in and out of the storm
Coal

 

[grahamjohnson10]

Just a quick question, do you have the prop guard on? Reason being is, as soon as it hits the branch it should have crashed, but it continously flew upward again. If Im not mistaken with the prop guard on, the mavic is limited to a specific height and distance it could fly with payload activated.

In payload mode there is no height or distance restrictions, only speed.

 

[Chucky21022002]

In payload mode there is no height or distance restrictions, only speed.

Apparently there is. Attached is a screen shot taken from from dji website pertaining to mini.

 

[Deleted member 109934]

I had a similar issue happen to me yesterday. Conditions were about 40 degrees F., 5 to 10 mph winds and partly to mostly cloudy. On three occasions during the flight, the Mavic Mini just started descending on its own from about 125 feet even though I was frantically trying it to get it to go up through stick input. The first time it came down near a house and almost seemed to bounce off some adjacent tree branches or possibly a roof overhang and then I was able to get it back up to 125 feet. Then, within a minute, it went down again and nearly landed but it bounced up to about 25 feet and then flew about 75 feet while I was trying to get altitude, but it again started a descent by itself and landed in a agricultural field. Talk about scary!!! Stick input did not work to gain altitude. It had a mind of its own. Mine is only 10 days old with 9 flights, so I am sending it back and asking for a refund! This should not happen!!!!

Here is the video:

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REPLY

wow, that looks a bit scary, do you mind uploading logs to airdata.com or post it here?

 

[Capt KO]

Hey Chucky
Thanks for that attachment showing the limitations of the Mini, with load attached. Did not know

 

[TJBC]

No, I did not have the prop guard on - have not even taken that out of its box. How the Mavic Mini avoided getting stuck in those tree branches and crashing on the first descent is beyond me, but somehow it did. BTW, in case you are wondering, the battery level for the first incident was at about 31% and when it landed for the third time it was at 26%, so my low battery warning, which is set for 25% was never reached. I am standing near the red barn so I was heading home when all this started, no RTH, just manually flying home. Thankfully, not above water when this happened or in heavily wooded area where the MM could have gotten stuck at the top of a tree. Finally, I did use the "Find my Drone" feature in the app and it worked well since I did not see exactly where it landed as I was looking at the FPV screen when it went down to try and guide it somewhat to a soft landing. Since the Mavic Mini tends to blend in because of its light color, found it right away using the app feature.

 

[Capt KO]

No, I did not have the prop guard on - have not even taken that out of its box. How the Mavic Mini avoided getting stuck in those tree branches and crashing on the first descent is beyond me, but somehow it did. BTW, in case you are wondering, the battery level for the first incident was at about 31% and when it landed for the third time it was at 26%, so my low battery warning, which is set for 25% was never reached. I am standing near the red barn so I was heading home when all this started, no RTH, just manually flying home. Thankfully, not above water when this happened or in heavily wooded area where the MM could have gotten stuck at the top of a tree. Finally, I did use the "Find my Drone" feature in the app and it worked well since I did not see exactly where it landed as I was looking at the FPV screen when it went down to try and guide it somewhat to a soft landing. Since the Mavic Mini tends to blend in because of its light color, found it right away using the app feature.

Sorry to say, looks like you’re in that percentage that’s going to have to return and get a new one. Hopefully they’re doing that with all of this publicity? I wonder what that percentage will be, low I hope. I have only updated to the original mini firmware released after purchase. Is this problem related to 003?

 

[TJBC]

Yes, it is going back after the incident yesterday and I am leaning towards not replacing it with another Mavic Mini. Been flying drones for four years and never had unexplained/unexpected descents like that. I bought it as a travel drone for backpacking and other types of trips, but after this incident and some issues I had with it in moderate winds (10 to 15 mph), I do not think it is well suited to fly in marginal conditions. The size and weight are great for travel, but that also is a limitation if conditions are not just right, which often happens when you are at a beautiful spot that may be a bit windy and you need to get the drone up then or you miss the shot. Last thing I want to do is go hunting for a drone that got caught in the wind or decided to land on its own accord in an unfamiliar place. Might look at a Mavic Air, but not set on anything yet.

 

[TDZHDTV]

Yes, it is going back after the incident yesterday and I am leaning towards not replacing it with another Mavic Mini. Been flying drones for four years and never had unexplained/unexpected descents like that. I bought it as a travel drone for backpacking and other types of trips, but after this incident and some issues I had with it in moderate winds (10 to 15 mph), I do not think it is well suited to fly in marginal conditions. The size and weight are great for travel, but that also is a limitation if conditions are not just right, which often happens when you are at a beautiful spot that may be a bit windy and you need to get the drone up then or you miss the shot. Last thing I want to do is go hunting for a drone that got caught in the wind or decided to land on its own accord in an unfamiliar place. Might look at a Mavic Air, but not set on anything yet.

I’ve been flying the legs off mine in low temps and high winds, up to now it’s held it’s own and I’m confident to take it on my hiking trips (assuming it not going to be too windy to launch). Coming from a Mavic Air I’d just advise you do your homework as as great as they are, they are noisy with reduced flight time, you can’t charge them on the go either. I’ve been following these issues and only hope DJI resolve this very soon with a firmware update.

 

[TJBC]

Yes, you hit the two downsides of the Mavic Air. That is why I chose the Parrot Anafi a year ago over the Mavic Air. The Anafi has a ton of flight modes and a decent zoom, comparable battery life with the Mavic Mini and is QUIET. Unfortunately, quality control is not one of its best attributes as I went through 4 Anafi's in 13 months (my original and three covered by warranty) and after a very scary Anafi flyaway about 6 weeks ago, I gave up on the Anafi and bought the Mavic Mini. I like the size and portability, but you do give up a lot of options, but that is OK for how I was going to use it. But I cannot tolerate any issue in a drone that could compromise safety or losing the drone. If this descent issue was just a one off, I would send it in and ask for a new one. But..... this seems to be happening to a lot of people and I do not want to take the chance of losing the drone when my travels resume in January and February. Personally, I think the motors work very hard to keep the drone in the air and may be overmatched in certain situations. Question, TDZHDTV, did you have the MasterScrew low noise props on the Mavic Air? If you did, was there a difference? From the videos I watched on the Mavic Air, it seems like there would be. Thanks for your comments.

 

[TDZHDTV]

Yes, you hit the two downsides of the Mavic Air. That is why I chose the Parrot Anafi a year ago over the Mavic Air. The Anafi has a ton of flight modes and a decent zoom, comparable battery life with the Mavic Mini and is QUIET. Unfortunately, quality control is not one of its best attributes as I went through 4 Anafi's in 13 months (my original and three covered by warranty) and after a very scary Anafi flyaway about 6 weeks ago, I gave up on the Anafi and bought the Mavic Mini. I like the size and portability, but you do give up a lot of options, but that is OK for how I was going to use it. But I cannot tolerate any issue in a drone that could compromise safety or losing the drone. If this descent issue was just a one off, I would send it in and ask for a new one. But..... this seems to be happening to a lot of people and I do not want to take the chance of losing the drone when my travels resume in January and February. Personally, I think the motors work very hard to keep the drone in the air and may be overmatched in certain situations. Question, TDZHDTV, did you have the MasterScrew low noise props on the Mavic Air? If you did, was there a difference? From the videos I watched on the Mavic Air, it seems like there would be. Thanks for your comments.

No experience of other props, I can’t imagine they improv the MA significantly. I’m going to hold out with the Mini

 

[RaoulDuke]

bit of an update on this:

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