Sudden power loss Mini 2

[Whitefalcon]

Hi. I have had a sudden power loss in a new mini 2. New out of box. Second time I'd turned it on after charging the batteries, linked software and updated as per instructions. Lasted maybe a minute or so just testing outside my house in a hover. Around 10ft high if that suddenly all power lost and drone dropped to the ground (unfortunately on concrete driveway) and damaged the gimbal which was not happy registering a "stuck gimbal" and unable to calibrate. On a second test in my garden over softer ground (just on case I accidentally performed an emergency stop manoeuvre in error) with a different battery, the drone flew OK for 5 minutes cautiously around a square at 6 ft at the most and 20 ft away. Brought the drone back to me 1 m away at around 5 ft high left in the hover to see what happened. After 1 minute it suddenly lost all power again and dropped to the floor. I was not touching the control sticks at this point so cannot have executed the emergency stop manoeuvre.
I wondered if it could have been something to do with my phone but on contacted a DJI registered repair company I was told that the phone has little to do with this and most of the work is done by the controller plus the second flight was with a different phone. The drone is on its way to the Netherlands now for replacement (have DJI care) but I would be interested to hear if anyone else has heard of this problem with mini 2's. I did see one YouTube video where someone was flying in a canyon and they lost control of their drone that descended without warning before they regained control after a minute or two.
I have seen this problem reported with other Mavics in the past. I will be very cautious I think when my replacement comes, with no flying over water at least until I've had it flown for a number of hours.

Has anyone heard of this in the mini 2?

Also if anyone is interested in how the replacement process goes I can report afterwards. It's not been plain sailing so far.........

 

[djitigger]

Sounds like it was a bad drone (built on a Monday). The Mini over the canyon was believed to be an airflow issue (air in the canyon).

 

[Whitefalcon]

Sounds like it was a bad drone (built on a Monday). The Mini over the canyon was believed to be an airflow issue (air in the canyon).

Many thanks for your reply. Interesting to hear what happened in the canyon. I'm itching to fly this thing so hopefully won't be too long till I get it back. My Mini 2 has done more airmails than me this year travelling from China to Uk and now to Holland!!

 

[Lastrexking]

I think this is the first problem I’ve read about on here with the Mini2. When the first one came out the forum was flooded. You’d need to share your flight logs for someone to be able to help you figure out what went wrong.

 

[Meta4]

Sounds like it was a bad drone (built on a Monday). The Mini over the canyon was believed to be an airflow issue (air in the canyon).

Youtube drone videos are a great source of misinformation.
If you can provide a link to the canyon video it might help work out what really happened there.

 

[icecoldgin]

Not sure its related but for all its worth, I am sharing my experience with my Mini 1 on this issue which I posted in this forum.

It crashed last week and this was due to "Motor unable to rotate." Analysis of the flight records here point to some kind of electrical failure on the front right motor.

 

[burma419]

Sounds like it was a bad drone (built on a Monday). The Mini over the canyon was believed to be an airflow issue (air in the canyon).

Actually it turns out the Mini 2 over the canyon had a bad control board and was sent back to DJI for repair. I keep up with that channel on YouTube.

 

[Repaid1]

To the OP, you would have been wise to post your logs to this thread instead of jumping right to DJI Care. If you had a factory defect it would have been replaced under standard warranty. As it is now you "wasted" one of your replacements and had to pay money that more than likely you wouldn't have to had spend. Best to not invoke any DJI Care request at first regardless. Send it to DJI let them check logs and let them make the call on "their" fault or "yours" and then use a Care Refresh option if needed.

 

[drone_dh]

I'm curious as to how long DJI would keep a drone that was sent to them. After paying this much money for these things, I'd be pretty pissed at not having my new, expensive toy for very long. Just curious...

 

[hiflyer201]

I'm curious as to how long DJI would keep a drone that was sent to them. After paying this much money for these things, I'd be pretty pissed at not having my new, expensive toy for very long. Just curious...

I know the feeling. It's always one of those..I want it done yesterday things with a drone. That's why I have two Sparks.
you'll be checking the DJI support page hourly to see if it's shipped..Don't worry..you'll enjoy it even more once it returns.

 

[Youser]

To the OP, you would have been wise to post your logs to this thread instead of jumping right to DJI Care. If you had a factory defect it would have been replaced under standard warranty. As it is now you "wasted" one of your replacements and had to pay money that more than likely you wouldn't have to had spend. Best to not invoke any DJI Care request at first regardless. Send it to DJI let them check logs and let them make the call on "their" fault or "yours" and then use a Care Refresh option if needed.

I was going to advise the same. Definitely a warranty issue from what the OP describes.

would he still have access to the logs now that the drone has been sent away?

 

[Yogi053]

Hi. I have had a sudden power loss in a new mini 2. New out of box. Second time I'd turned it on after charging the batteries, linked software and updated as per instructions. Lasted maybe a minute or so just testing outside my house in a hover. Around 10ft high if that suddenly all power lost and drone dropped to the ground (unfortunately on concrete driveway) and damaged the gimbal which was not happy registering a "stuck gimbal" and unable to calibrate. On a second test in my garden over softer ground (just on case I accidentally performed an emergency stop manoeuvre in error) with a different battery, the drone flew OK for 5 minutes cautiously around a square at 6 ft at the most and 20 ft away. Brought the drone back to me 1 m away at around 5 ft high left in the hover to see what happened. After 1 minute it suddenly lost all power again and dropped to the floor. I was not touching the control sticks at this point so cannot have executed the emergency stop manoeuvre.
I wondered if it could have been something to do with my phone but on contacted a DJI registered repair company I was told that the phone has little to do with this and most of the work is done by the controller plus the second flight was with a different phone. The drone is on its way to the Netherlands now for replacement (have DJI care) but I would be interested to hear if anyone else has heard of this problem with mini 2's. I did see one YouTube video where someone was flying in a canyon and they lost control of their drone that descended without warning before they regained control after a minute or two.
I have seen this problem reported with other Mavics in the past. I will be very cautious I think when my replacement comes, with no flying over water at least until I've had it flown for a number of hours.

Has anyone heard of this in the mini 2?

Also if anyone is interested in how the replacement process goes I can report afterwards. It's not been plain sailing so far.........

I would be interested in your replacement progress, thank you.

 

[DanMan32]

Unless you request Express, DJI will automatically evaluate and advise if covered under warranty. They evaluated my M2Z for possible warranty when I even told them I had accidentally backed over it with my car.

 

[keys2heaven]

Hi all. New here and I ordered a Mini 2 as my Xmas present. Wanted to get a leg up on real-world experiences and/or issues with the Mini 2. Just curious how prevalent this loss of power issue is? I bought a set of landing skids that I hope would somewhat protect the drone if this issue occurred, and will most likely fly in wide-open, grassy areas to begin with.

 

[Whitefalcon]

Thanks everyone for your replies. All good advice. Apologies I can't find the link to the canyon video (it came up in my feed before) as the whole world and their dog appears to be posting mini 2 advice videos. Perhaps burma419 could let us know the link. Unfortunately I'm too impatient and couldn't be doing with the excessive wait so have written off the DJI replacement. As the drone is off to the Netherlands I can't upload the logs. I'll chalk it up to experience I guess.
I can report that communication with DJI could be better though. I have had discussions and contact through many different sources including the email service, the forum on DJI itself, the resales chat bot and someone who telephoned me from DJI. They all contradict each other and give different advice which leads to a sense of unease which is not helpful. It feels like unless the thing is actually in my possession anything can happen and they will not accept any responsibility. I had this feeling from first ordering it as it got held up in shipping that took longer than expected.
As hiflier201 says I'm checking on its progress regularly to make sure it gets to its destination. I do not feel confident that DJI (and I fully understand I'm just one anonymous person who has paid their money and they probably would prefer out of their hair) really care what happens here as they have my money. I have asked for them to check my drone but have paid for the express service. They have already sent me a message stating that the express service is a "privilege" and I can either have that or the drone inspection service (I have pointed out that the fact I have paid for the service does not make it a "privilege" and they actually save money at their end if they do not even inspect the drone afterwards: I'd hate to think someone gets that one not checked as refurbished but with a new gimbal).
Trying not to make this a rant as it's not usually my nature. but thought it might be helpful to people such as Yogi053 who has asked.

I've seen it in so many other forums. Good drones (when they work) but support could be improved and all in all this is leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth.

From now on I will be buying direct from a shop where I can visit, pay and have it physically in my hands plus there is someone to talk to directly if there are any problems.

Will keep everyone updated if you want.

Lets hope in a couple of weeks I'll be looking back on this and wondering what the fuss is about and starting to post my own how high, how fast, how wind resistant........videos.

Thank you again to all of you who have responded. All very valid points and I fully accept that my impatience is my downfall.

 

[Whitefalcon]

Hi all. New here and I ordered a Mini 2 as my Xmas present. Wanted to get a leg up on real-world experiences and/or issues with the Mini 2. Just curious how prevalent this loss of power issue is? I bought a set of landing skids that I hope would somewhat protect the drone if this issue occurred, and will most likely fly in wide-open, grassy areas to begin with.

Hi,
From my very limited but unfortunate experience landing skids would definitely have saved my gimbal that hits the floor when the drone drops. It didn't take a lot as it dropped from around 6-10ft and doesn't weigh a lot.

 

[Whitefalcon]

I know the feeling. It's always one of those..I want it done yesterday things with a drone. That's why I have two Sparks.
you'll be checking the DJI support page hourly to see if it's shipped..Don't worry..you'll enjoy it even more once it returns.

Many thanks. I seem to be obsessed with checking UPS tracking pages since Nov 4th. Looking forward to tracking my drone eventually via the controller.

 

[Whitefalcon]

To the OP, you would have been wise to post your logs to this thread instead of jumping right to DJI Care. If you had a factory defect it would have been replaced under standard warranty. As it is now you "wasted" one of your replacements and had to pay money that more than likely you wouldn't have to had spend. Best to not invoke any DJI Care request at first regardless. Send it to DJI let them check logs and let them make the call on "their" fault or "yours" and then use a Care Refresh option if needed.

Yep, I'll take that on the chin. I'm in the UK and the UK centre (dronedoctor) were extremely helpful but unfortunately do not have access to any mini2 parts until 2021. As the thing is off to the Netherlands and involves a more complicated journey I folded and decided I'd take the hit and just get the replacement and get it back before the Christmas rush started. I had a bad experience with a delivery from Europe going missing in a distribution centre for 2 months this year so I'd rather it just get dealt with and returned ASAP. DJI certainly couldn't be less interested.
I'm glad no-one else is experiencing this loss of power issue though as I'd be wary of my replacement doing the same.
As you can guess I'm new to this hobby so not yet up to seed to getting the flight logs.
Thanks again for your comment.

 

[Whitefalcon]

Actually it turns out the Mini 2 over the canyon had a bad control board and was sent back to DJI for repair. I keep up with that channel on YouTube.

Yikes!
So I may not be the only one. Watch your minis

 

[Yogi053]

Thanks everyone for your replies. All good advice. Apologies I can't find the link to the canyon video (it came up in my feed before) as the whole world and their dog appears to be posting mini 2 advice videos. Perhaps burma419 could let us know the link. Unfortunately I'm too impatient and couldn't be doing with the excessive wait so have written off the DJI replacement. As the drone is off to the Netherlands I can't upload the logs. I'll chalk it up to experience I guess.
I can report that communication with DJI could be better though. I have had discussions and contact through many different sources including the email service, the forum on DJI itself, the resales chat bot and someone who telephoned me from DJI. They all contradict each other and give different advice which leads to a sense of unease which is not helpful. It feels like unless the thing is actually in my possession anything can happen and they will not accept any responsibility. I had this feeling from first ordering it as it got held up in shipping that took longer than expected.
As hiflier201 says I'm checking on its progress regularly to make sure it gets to its destination. I do not feel confident that DJI (and I fully understand I'm just one anonymous person who has paid their money and they probably would prefer out of their hair) really care what happens here as they have my money. I have asked for them to check my drone but have paid for the express service. They have already sent me a message stating that the express service is a "privilege" and I can either have that or the drone inspection service (I have pointed out that the fact I have paid for the service does not make it a "privilege" and they actually save money at their end if they do not even inspect the drone afterwards: I'd hate to think someone gets that one not checked as refurbished but with a new gimbal).
Trying not to make this a rant as it's not usually my nature. but thought it might be helpful to people such as Yogi053 who has asked.

I've seen it in so many other forums. Good drones (when they work) but support could be improved and all in all this is leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth.

From now on I will be buying direct from a shop where I can visit, pay and have it physically in my hands plus there is someone to talk to directly if there are any problems.

Will keep everyone updated if you want.

Lets hope in a couple of weeks I'll be looking back on this and wondering what the fuss is about and starting to post my own how high, how fast, how wind resistant........videos.

Thank you again to all of you who have responded. All very valid points and I fully accept that my impatience is my downfall.

I believe the canyon video was from Marcus Crawford's YouTube channel.