Overcurrent during discharge. Anyone lost their drone to this?

[allufewi]

Heyo,

today I got the "overcurrent during discharge" error two times on two different batteries whereas I never before had that error even once. Needless to say it scared me heavily each time, although apparently no damage was done and I remained in control of the vehicle all the time.

Searching this and the official forum the error is not that uncommon. It usually happens when working the drone hard under cold condidtions. I too was using it in sports-mode, but weather was a very nice 20°C on a sunny day.

Now, not being able to run sport-mode for longer than 2-3 minutes before getting forced into pmode/slower movement sounds like inacceptable BS to me.

Any known workarounds? Why isnt the firmaware limiting power drain in the first place in such circumstances?

Im a bit disappointed.

 

[Former Member]

Any known workarounds? Why isnt the firmaware limiting power drain in the first place in such circumstances?

The firmware is just the monitor of your system, the ESC is the one that would limit the power. What your drone is telling you is that it doesnt like being flown that way. Continued overdraw of the battery will certainly shorten it's life, and/or cause it to overload and destroy at least one cell possibly resulting in a system failure of the FC ESC board.

Battery problems usually happen in higher temperatures vs. lower temperatures.

Honestly, think about getting a racing drone if you "feel the need, the need for speed." The Mavic is a camera platform that does it's job very well.

 

[allufewi]

Im not going to race around each and every time.

But do I get this right? This is a potential disastrous error that is not in any way prevented by hard or software and it is also perfectly fine that your average-joe consumer like me gets it just after a few minutes of flying around in best environmental conditions?

Seriously?

 

[Former Member]

I too was using it in sports-mode, but weather was a very nice 20°C on a sunny day.

is also perfectly fine that your average-joe consumer like me gets it just after a few minutes of flying around in best environmental conditions?

The only time I use sports mode for more than 2-3 minutes is if Im in a heavy headwind and need to make it back home so I can land with my planned 30% battery reserve. I think you are more than just an average Joe consumer, because you are asking something from a drone that wasnt designed to do that. Yes there are some pilots who like to fly in sports mode to keep up with a speedboat, or other fast moving object, because your speed is restricted in other modes, but that doesnt mean your Mavic wont complain about it.

I think that if a pilot wants to fly like a bat out of h***, he should buy a racing drone and FPV goggles, or get something like a Traxxas Aton that can do 3d and is meant to be flown fast and bashed. Unfortunately, the Mavic is a little too delicate to be bashed and raced. It's electronics, camera and gimbal just cant keep up with that type of flying.

 

[allufewi]

Sorry, but getting an obscure error after 2-3 minutes (!!) into sport mode isnt "flying like a bat out of hell" or something. There are other sorts of people treatening it much much muuuuch worse, without problems apparently. What I do is using the product like it is advertised, nothing more. If it cannot do that without possibility of sudden death I am going to return it, because it looks like the drone or the batteries are in fact broken.

I do not want nor need any racing stuff, I just need a mavic that can go a straight line in s-mode.

I mean, if you buy an upper middleclass car and after 2 minutes of 100mph it gives you warnings of imminent catastrophy, you dont go like "oh thats cool, should have bought an F1 car for that", right?

 

[Former Member]

How long did you let the Mavic rest in between batteries?

 

[Gary cato]

Sorry, but getting an obscure error after 2-3 minutes (!!) into sport mode isnt "flying like a bat out of ****" or something. There are other sorts of people treatening it much much muuuuch worse, without problems apparently. What I do is using the product like it is advertised, nothing more. If it cannot do that without possibility of sudden death I am going to return it, because it looks like the drone or the batteries are in fact broken.

I do not want nor need any racing stuff, I just need a mavic that can go a straight line in s-mode.

I mean, if you buy an upper middleclass car and after 2 minutes of 100mph it gives you warnings of imminent catastrophy, you dont go like "oh thats cool, should have bought an F1 car for that", right?

flew mine in 34 degree heat for 4 kilometres but straight line with little changes in altitude and heading, other thann that i sometimes do 5 mins in a flight of pure fun in a 200 to 400 m radius. Never had any warning yet

 

[Former Member]

flew mine in 34 degree heat for 4 kilometres but straight line with little changes in altitude and heading, other thann that i sometimes do 5 mins in a flight of pure fun in a 200 to 400 m radius. Never had any warning yet

34c or f?

 

[Gary cato]

34c or f?

i am rubbish with these 34c or around around 93f

 

[allufewi]

How long did you let the Mavic rest in between batteries?

Landing, shutdown, switch battery, having a look at the app, powering everything up again... 3-4 minutes? By the way, the error occured on the very first flight that day also. Probably youre much more knwoledgeable than I am, but to me it doesnt seem like temperature has to do anything with my problem. Most people are having this when its ice cold, but you seem to think it is too hot?

 

[Former Member]

flew mine in 93 degree heat for 4 kilometres but straight line

Do you have any idea what your max battery temp has been after a 4k flight in 93f temp at WOT in sport mode?

I going to do a test this week because Im curious about the battery temps during extreme exertion in warmer temps. It's supposed to get up to 90 here. My test will include before flight at room temperature, before flight in ambient temp, during and then after a 4 minute round trip flight in sport mode.

 

[Lapeer20m]

I have flown entire batteries in just sports mode. I don't think of this as crazy or abusive for the machine.

 

[Former Member]

Landing, shutdown, switch battery, having a look at the app, powering everything up again... 3-4 minutes? By the way, the error occured on the very first flight that day also. Probably youre much more knwoledgeable than I am, but to me it doesnt seem like temperature has to do anything with my problem. Most people are having this when its ice cold, but you seem to think it is too hot?

At what point in the flights were you getting the error messages? If it happens in the first few minutes of the flight with you flying WOT, then it makes more sense because lipos by nature, pack their punch in the first few minutes of flight and dump their charges non-linearly in the last few minutes. You are more likely to get that message within the first few minutes since the battery voltage is much higher than it would be midflight. Higher temperatures will only make the problem worse because although lipos work best warmer, excessive heat caused by overdischarge can cause damage.

 

[allufewi]

I have flown entire batteries in just sports mode. I don't think of this as crazy or abusive for the machine.

I never used sports for more than 5-6 minutes per flight (never had a problem prior to today). But like you, I took it for granted that the machine was designed to operate in s-mode only if so desired by the pilot.

 

[Former Member]

It depends how you use sport mode. You can fly an entire flight in sports mode safely as long as you're not flying WOT. If you fly with WOT the whole flight, thats not what the Mavic and it's delicate high resolution camera and gimbal were designed to do. Thats what a racing drone does. Many racing drones have 2 speeds, off and WOT. Forcing 40-50 mph wind on the gimbal for extended periods of time is another downside of high speed extended flying. Another downside is the attitude the Mavic is flying at to fly full speed. It has to pitch down, and that impeeds the airflow to the cooling fan, making an already hot FC ESC board even hotter.

TD Over and out. Have fun.

 

[allufewi]

At what point in the flights were you getting the error messages? If it happens in the first few minutes of the flight with you flying WOT, then it makes more sense because lipos by nature, pack their punch in the first few minutes of flight and dump their charges non-linearly in the last few minutes. You are more likely to get that message within the first few minutes since the battery voltage is much higher than it would be midflight. Higher temperatures will only make the problem worse because although lipos work best warmer, excessive heat caused by overdischarge can cause damage.

It happened at about 50%. Maybe a little less.

Im also seriously confused now. I thought this error was occuring because the drone was asking for more power than the battery could provide, therefore making the error more probable when theres less juice in the battery.

Edit: Not wanting to be rude or something, but you were as useful as the popes testicles. I gave you the information you requested (resting times, etc) and everything you gave me back was sorts of "dont go full throttle". Wow, thx, very helpful. I bet 90% of people are stressing their machines more than I do (as the only two other posters in this thread give clear evidence of) and they never saw that warning once.

 

[maxb]

i got this warning when in sports mode and flying with both sticks on full so going up fast and forward fast. haven't had it since then

 

[MacIak]

Just imagine pushing the mavic during a climb in sports mode, even normal mode and high winds. There is hardly any airflow and will cause the esc's to go really warm. Sometimes it will give this warning during both sticks full forward after a while in normal mode too. And indeed batteries can be flown empty (4km straight run in sports mode fighting wind) without a single complaint. Just accept, the Mavic is a camera-fun platform, and does not do steroids.

 

[ksull72487]

It can happen in Sport Mode especially with some wind or a full charge. Best case drain the battery some and be careful with high winds and lots of stock input the Mavic will call for more power. If you get the warning back off or go into a hover for a few seconds.

 

[SeaComms]

Interestingly on another thread some real data was accumulated comparing battery drain at different speeds. Anything above 15mph used the same lower power. The most used is in slow flight and hovering. Once at speed the aerodynamics of the propellers add lift and reduce the power required to maintain level flight.

So for excess power to be used and the warning to come up should not be expected in high speed level flight, unless there is a fault in the propeller blades affecting the lift.

High speed and full climb on the other hand would be using a lot more power but I am surprised still that it would be too much. I would suspect there is something not quite right.

My first thoughts would be to try new propellers and see if it makes any difference.