We lose control and Mavic Pro keeps ascending

Deleted member 18042 · Apr 16, 2017

So we recently bought the DJI Mavic Pro, our first drone.

We flew it for a bit, and most of the time it flies beautifully, but occasionally, it keeps ascending beyond our control, and the only thing we can do is press the left joystick down for 2 seconds to put it into landing mode. We lose all other control of the drone. We removed all stickers from the drone, we tried turning off OA, and tinkered with other settings, but to no avail.

Is there a problem with our drone? What are we missing here?

Do we have to send it in, and if we do, how long will it take to get it back? We live in LA.

We tried to use two different iPhone 7, both same problem.

blackcamo · Apr 16, 2017

Try to analyse the flight log first to see what happened. It sounds like a fault but as this is your first drone there's a big chance that you've overlooked something.

Deleted member 18042 · Apr 16, 2017

Yeah we looked at the log, couldn't find anything. It starts ascending without us touching the controller. We were at a designated Drone sight, and the other Mavic flyers there told us our drone was acting really weird.

alexcannas · Apr 16, 2017

It will ascend to the preset RTH altitude if it loses connection with the RC... When you say you lost control, is the RC still connected?

Robbyg · Apr 16, 2017

Upload the DAT file to Dropbox for one of the flights where this happened and we can tell you why it is happening. Without that everything else is going to be guess work

Rob

Delta0164 · Apr 16, 2017

Good morning guys.

Yesterday I flew my Mavic Pro for the 14th time. After it stated that I need to update to the latest firmware, I just went along and did it. Did all the checks before takeoff and worked fine. All of a sudden, I noticed that the drone was not responding to my remote controller. So I decided to get it back. As I started to fly again, it was descending. Moved to a different position and it was on its voyage again. Again, after about 20 to 25 meters, it started acting weird again and started drifting away till it went out of sight. When trying to control it with the RC, it did nothing but drift further. So I pressed thr RTH button and was saying that it is coming back home. As I was watching the screen on my phone, it was just hovering in the same spot with still 38% battery. I know it was not all that far not to make it with 38% battery. But, as the battery started going down, I was in a panic. In other words, it never made it back and plumited into the sea. I immediately called my provider and asked me to fill in the form with all that happened. I know the site of crash. But, as it's at the bottom of the seabed, I have no idea how deep it is for me to retrieve it back. My provider told me not to worry as we will work it out. I also sent them my username and password on my account to check the flight logs after syncing it.

I know I can see the flight logs on my phone but very minimal. Does anyone know how I can see the full flight log online please?

Thanks in advance.

Brunovic · Apr 16, 2017

Just check controller calibration...may need that...

Cyberpower678 · Apr 16, 2017

Try recalibrating the controller and IMU. That might fix your problem.

Andrew F · Apr 16, 2017

You can also try to turn off landing protection to see if it is a sonar issue. Unfortunately, a lot of things can cause that. RobbyG is correct. The DAT file will be extremely helpful in troubleshooting the issue.

niclariv · Apr 16, 2017

My guess is that if it's ascending on its own, and when you pull down it goes to landing mode even though it's not just above the ground, there's a problem with the downward sensors. It's ascending because it thinks there's an obstacle just below and it's avoiding it by going up. When you pull down it should only go to landing mode when you're just above the ground. If everything's working properly pulling down while up in the air shouldn't do anything special, just make it descend until you let go.

Mad_Angler1 · Apr 16, 2017

Please post the logs and we can have a look.

Juliuscesarfilho · Apr 16, 2017

Friends, for the second time the Mavic between 2 or 3 feet tall shut down the engines falling. Can you help understand what's going on?

Mad_Angler1 · Apr 16, 2017

Juliuscesarfilho said:
Friends, for the second time the Mavic between 2 or 3 feet tall shut down the engines falling. Can you help understand what's going on?

Start a new thread in Help and post the logs from the tablet and craft.

Juliuscesarfilho · Apr 16, 2017

Mad_Angler1 said:
Start a new thread in Help and post the logs from the tablet and craft.

Tkhs

geigy · Apr 16, 2017

It's at the bottom of the ocean and people are suggesting re-calibrating, LOL.

If you are on Mavic refresh, it might be worth hiring a boat and/or diver to get it back for you. If the water is clear, they may be able to hook it out. The log will show the GPS coordinates where it went down, which will make retrieval much easier. As someone suggested, getting the logs and cached video from your phone will also allow us and DJI to determine whether this failure was covered under warranty.

I could imagine one scenario:

1) the initial GPS coordinates were inaccurate at take off time. Usually I check to make sure that the H matches my location on the map. If it does not, your return to home might lose the drone instead of saving it. The log file in your phone will have an indication of the quality of the GPS lock.

2) bad or intermittent controller signal - this could be due to local interference or defective electronics. This would show as reduced signal, and once again the all important log file will indicate whether this was a factor.

3) If 1 and 2 are in effect, then your Mavic may have lost signal, ascended to the RTH height, gone to what it thought was the home location (over the water), detected that landing was not possible, and hovered there waiting for you to intervene.

All of the above is just a guess. The log file is required before anyone can really say what happened, and it is worth some effort on your part to locate it and attach it to a reply in this thread. This is a file located on your phone. Attach it to your next post if you are able.

for ios records: connect itunes, DJI GO/Documents/FlightRecords/FlightRecord_yyyy-MM-DD-[HH-mm-ss].txt

for anroid records: android device sdcard, /sdcard/DJI/dji.pilot/FlightRecord/FlightRecord_yyyy-MM-DD-[HH-mm-ss].txt

It is an awful experience to lose your drone like this - I think I speak for the group when I say that you have all of our deep sympathy and I hope you continue in your pursuit of this wonderful hobby.

Delta0164 · Apr 17, 2017

Brunovic said:
Just check controller calibration...may need that...

Did that too before it sank lol. Can't do that now can I?

Delta0164 · Apr 17, 2017

geigy said:
It's at the bottom of the ocean and people are suggesting re-calibrating, LOL.

If you are on Mavic refresh, it might be worth hiring a boat and/or diver to get it back for you. If the water is clear, they may be able to hook it out. The log will show the GPS coordinates where it went down, which will make retrieval much easier. As someone suggested, getting the logs and cached video from your phone will also allow us and DJI to determine whether this failure was covered under warranty.

I could imagine one scenario:

1) the initial GPS coordinates were inaccurate at take off time. Usually I check to make sure that the H matches my location on the map. If it does not, your return to home might lose the drone instead of saving it. The log file in your phone will have an indication of the quality of the GPS lock.

2) bad or intermittent controller signal - this could be due to local interference or defective electronics. This would show as reduced signal, and once again the all important log file will indicate whether this was a factor.

3) If 1 and 2 are in effect, then your Mavic may have lost signal, ascended to the RTH height, gone to what it thought was the home location (over the water), detected that landing was not possible, and hovered there waiting for you to intervene.

All of the above is just a guess. The log file is required before anyone can really say what happened, and it is worth some effort on your part to locate it and attach it to a reply in this thread. This is a file located on your phone. Attach it to your next post if you are able.

for ios records: connect itunes, DJI GO/Documents/FlightRecords/FlightRecord_yyyy-MM-DD-[HH-mm-ss].txt

for anroid records: android device sdcard, /sdcard/DJI/dji.pilot/FlightRecord/FlightRecord_yyyy-MM-DD-[HH-mm-ss].txt

It is an awful experience to lose your drone like this - I think I speak for the group when I say that you have all of our deep sympathy and I hope you continue in your pursuit of this wonderful hobby.

Thanks in taking most of your time to speak your mind. I do apprciate. However, you are mostly right of lots of factors you pin pointed. There was an indication stating that local interference was popping up on my screen from time to time. However, it was out at sea when that happened. As I was on open grounds with nothing in it's path, I do not suggest that the drone picked up any local interference from beneath the sea unless it detected a Submarine hehe. Remote stick controllers did not allow me to do anything. As I stated, As the drone lifted to about 6ft, It hovered in one place and after took it to about a 100 ft or so, it just had a mind of it's own and drifted higher and far towards the sea. I had no control over it. As I pressed the RTH button at 38% battery, I could see it on my screen coming back very very slow. But then it stopped in one place and would not do anything till the battery went flat and the drone went down. Btw, the funeral service for my drone will be tomorrow at 2pm for any interest parties lol. PS. I'd better laugh then cry at this point.

Delta0164 · Apr 17, 2017

As t

Brunovic said:
Just check controller calibration...may need that...

As the drone is now at the bottom of the sea, I doubt that I can do that now.

geigy · Apr 17, 2017

Two Broskis said:
So we recently bought the DJI Mavic Pro, our first drone.

We flew it for a bit, and most of the time it flies beautifully, but occasionally, it keeps ascending beyond our control, and the only thing we can do is press the left joystick down for 2 seconds to put it into landing mode. We lose all other control of the drone. We removed all stickers from the drone, we tried turning off OA, and tinkered with other settings, but to no avail.

Is there a problem with our drone? What are we missing here?

Do we have to send it in, and if we do, how long will it take to get it back? We live in LA.

We tried to use two different iPhone 7, both same problem.

Watch your controller signal strength. It should be a full 5 bars when the drone is within reasonable range - 100 meters or more. If it's not, then there is some sort of issue with your signal strength. Make sure your controller antennas are vertical. I've made this mistake a few times, LOL, so please don't be insulted if I make the same suggestion to you. If the controller signal strength is jumping up and down, it's more likely an interference issue, or your drone or controller has an electronic or antenna problem. Very likely the log file will point out some of what is happening, and whether the signal strength is low, or bouncing around.

There are at least two people posting problems to the same thread here. People - myself included, are responding to Delta0164 even though you are the original poster. Confusing.