Mini 3 pro problems

[Daytona500]

I have several problems, first the auto focus was going in and out of focus , I landed rebooted the drone and still did same thing landed and rebooted a second time and then controller told me aircraft was upside down. rebooted again then all was fine took off ran the battery down and landed. then it would take a charge. unplugged and had coffee then plugged in and now its charging .
Thing is even tho its all ok now how do I trust this drone? its 3 days old and really I can't trust it.

 

[akdrone]

definitely return it for an exchange

 

[MS Coast]

I have several problems, first the auto focus was going in and out of focus , I landed rebooted the drone and still did same thing landed and rebooted a second time and then controller told me aircraft was upside down. rebooted again then all was fine took off ran the battery down and landed. then it would take a charge. unplugged and had coffee then plugged in and now its charging .
Thing is even tho its all ok now how do I trust this drone? its 3 days old and really I can't trust it.

It's common for the auto focus to "hunt" briefly when panning the camera. Was it doing so for more than a second at a time? Repeatedly with the drone stationary?

Batteries should be allowed to cool before charging. If you'd been flying aggressively, it's possible that the battery was hot and the charger wouldn't proceed. Were there any lights illuminated on the battery and the charger?

Do you recall the specific message you received about the drone being upside down?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I have never seen the upside down message, would like to see that but agree that the Drone should go back .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mini 3 Pro in the Rain.

 

[Daytona500]

this is crazy as my first drone went back for no vidieo, now this.
the in and out focus just kept doing it weather hover or flying . when trying to charge the far right light kept blinking. drone was warm , like i said everything has straighten it self out now but for how long

 

[YVRGUY]

definitely return it for an exchange

Ditto

 

[bsmorgan]

See the table, Battery Protection Mechanisms, on page 35 of the DJI_Mini_3_Pro_User_Manual. Far right light blinking at 3 times per second indicates Charging temperature is too high.

The text under the table says for abnormal temperatures (there's a temperature too low indication as well). the battery will start charging when the temperature returns to normal without unplugging and plugging.

I have a small battery powered fan I place in front of my Mini 3 Pro (with the gimbal cover removed) when I'm charging the battery or updating the firmware.

 

[Daytona500]

thanks for that info must have missed when reading the manual. fans a good idea

 

[PaJi]

Link to inexpensive battery operated fan:

Mini Clip On Fan - Tiny Personal Fan Clips Onto Cell Phones, Tablets, Laptop Computers - Cordless, Battery Operated - Portable Cooling For Travel, Bed

 

[bsmorgan]

That's the fan I use!

 

[Daytona500]

thanks

 

[CanadaDrone]

I have several problems, first the auto focus was going in and out of focus , I landed rebooted the drone and still did same thing landed and rebooted a second time and then controller told me aircraft was upside down. rebooted again then all was fine took off ran the battery down and landed. then it would take a charge. unplugged and had coffee then plugged in and now its charging .
Thing is even tho its all ok now how do I trust this drone? its 3 days old and really I can't trust it.

You never really want to be using autofocus on a drone outside of some very specific conditions. For 99% of the shooting people do, you want to just set MF with focus peaking and leave it. I haven't touched the focus on my M2P since 2018. I finally got my M3P yesterday and I will be doing exactly the same thing.

The reason you don't want to use autofocus is twofold. First, at normal flying distances, everything is in focus from a couple feet in front of the drone to infinity at all times. This is due to both the actual distance as well as the relatively tiny sensor sizes - depth of field is enormous. Second, as you seem to have discovered, AF is a nightmare when shooting video because anytime the focus hunts, that footage is instantly ruined. Focus hunting is unavoidable, especially because most drones rely on contrast detect AF, which is literally a "guess and check" algorithm by design, meaning it works by hunting.

To me, the focus thing is a total non-issue, but if you're having problems charging it I hope you can get that sorted out.

 

[akdrone]

See the table, Battery Protection Mechanisms, on page 35 of the DJI_Mini_3_Pro_User_Manual. Far right light blinking at 3 times per second indicates Charging temperature is too high.

The text under the table says for abnormal temperatures (there's a temperature too low indication as well). the battery will start charging when the temperature returns to normal without unplugging and plugging.

I have a small battery powered fan I place in front of my Mini 3 Pro (with the gimbal cover removed) when I'm charging the battery or updating the firmware.

There is a temperature too low indicator also? I have flown my FPV and my Mavic three at 20 below and colder without getting any indication of it being too cold. I wonder if the Mini3 will be different

 

[CanadaDrone]

There is a temperature too low indicator also? I have flown my FPV and my Mavic three at 20 below and colder without getting any indication of it being too cold. I wonder if the Mini3 will be different

Other DJI drones have a low temperature warning so I assume the M3P does as well.

It's really important that the batteries stay warm, and are kept warm prior to flying either with a heater or against your body. It's generally not advisable to fly in temperatures that low and that is well outside of DJI specification. Also make sure you RTH very early as the cold temperatures will make them drain much more quickly and also unpredictably (I.e. you might have 60% one minute and 0% the next). Lithium batteries REALLY do not like being cold (it decreases the chemical activity within the battery), especially when they're low and in use, and it's a great way to lose your drone if you aren't careful. Another thing that can happen in the cold is if you make the drone work too hard, you can get a voltage drop and your drone will fall out of the sky. If you must fly in the cold, hover the drone for a few minutes first or fly it very gently close to the takeoff point until it can warm up. Keep an eye on your battery temps in the app.

Basically any temperature extreme is a bad idea with a LiPo. They swell or rupture if they get too hot, ruining the battery, and they can simply die unexpectedly in the cold while in use, and you lose your drone.

Another thing that can happen if it's really cold is you can get ice on the props or other areas of the drone if there is moisture or a build up of condensation, and you can imagine how that might end You also don't want condensation inside the drone or inside the camera lens, so you need to take additional precautions when bringing the drone from your warm car out into the cold or from the cold back into a warm environment - putting it in a plastic bag helps but it's better to just avoid such extreme temperature scenarios if possible.

 

[akdrone]

While all of that is true, if I didn’t fly at 20 below I would only be able to fly for four months of the year so it is what it is
for me. I do return back with at least 20% battery and am careful of that and I never start a flight with batteries that are at the temperature. Typically I’m flying from inside my car when it gets that cold. So far no problems. My additional reality is that 90% of the flights I make in the winter are over terrain that make it impossible for me to recover the drone even if it was a quarter-mile away it would be as good as gone.

 

[bsmorgan]

There is a temperature too low indicator also?

The referenced table, Battery Protection Mechanisms, says LED4 blinks twice per second to indicate charging temperature is too low. LED4 blinks three times per second to indicate charging temperature is too high.

I don't believe this has anything to do with the flying conditions.

 

[CanadaDrone]

While all of that is true, if I didn’t fly at 20 below I would only be able to fly for four months of the year so it is what it is
for me. I do return back with at least 20% battery and am careful of that and I never start a flight with batteries that are at the temperature. Typically I’m flying from inside my car when it gets that cold. So far no problems. My additional reality is that 90% of the flights I make in the winter are over terrain that make it impossible for me to recover the drone even if it was a quarter-mile away it would be as good as gone.

Risk tolerance is certainly up to each individual. Personally I am not willing to risk thousands of dollars unless I am flying for money, and even then I take every precaution. Where I am in Canada, we have a bit longer of a flying season, probably closer to 7-8 months, maybe longer depending on the year. I do most of my flying on vacation though where it's rarely if ever below freezing, but heat can be an issue at times, so I run into the opposite problem. For me, no vacation photo is worth $3,000, so I just don't fly if it's too hot.

If you're flying in -20C or colder, that is so far below DJI's battery specifications, I would be returning with a lot more than 20% but of course that's your decision.

 

[CanadaDrone]

The referenced table, Battery Protection Mechanisms, says LED4 blinks twice per second to indicate charging temperature is too low. LED4 blinks three times per second to indicate charging temperature is too high.

I don't believe this has anything to do with the flying conditions.

There is a cold temperature warning that can appear on-screen in the app during or before flight.