DJI's reliability is bad to worse ...

coloR blinD said:

Hi,

Just another bad note for DJI. I purchased P3P in Feb 2015 and later added 2 extra original DJI batteries . Things went very smoothly as drone was very sparingly used and no third party stuff was ever used .....untill 5 days back when it dropped from 20 feet height after taking off normally.

The batteries n controller was charged last night. It's broken all over as it fell on concrete. I can only guess for the cause as the net forums are studded with DJI Drop Gate stories ...

It's firmware was automatically uoated number of times since the purchase, ...I can't arrive at any other explanation but only on defective unstable firmware update .....

DJI = Most Unreliable Company in business !

.

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coloR blinD said:

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Will give u some idea of magnitude of this growing problem ...

https://www.dronevibes.com/2016/02/...nspires-and-phantoms-dropping-out-of-the-sky/

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junk1 said:

Not an excuse for any DJI shortcomings:

Ideally, you should store batteries not charged 100% nor 100% discharged. 50% charged (3.85 volts per cell) is idea (15.4V for a 4 cell battery - DJI are 4 cells, right? 11.5V for 3 cells). When you are going to fly, recharge them that day before leaving home is ideal.

The charger I use for my R/C airplanes tells me the voltage of each cell (and total of all cells). I don't own a drone (well, I have one 95% built from parts before RTF drones existed, but lost interest) but have been using lithium batteries for airplanes for years before drones existed.

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LesDMess said:

junk1 said:

Not an excuse for any DJI shortcomings:

Ideally, you should store batteries not charged 100% nor 100% discharged. 50% charged (3.85 volts per cell) is idea (15.4V for a 4 cell battery - DJI are 4 cells, right? 11.5V for 3 cells). When you are going to fly, recharge them that day before leaving home is ideal.

The charger I use for my R/C airplanes tells me the voltage of each cell (and total of all cells). I don't own a drone (well, I have one 95% built from parts before RTF drones existed, but lost interest) but have been using lithium batteries for airplanes for years before drones existed.

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The technology in a today's drones is really amazing - communications, GPS, flight controls, camera, FPV. These are lunar landing advancements compared to the battery powered tethered plane I had decades ago!

I wouldn't doubt that DJI's service lags due to their overwhelming sales position. No company can account for all the possibilities of failures. But "Dropgate - drones falling out of the skies" is most likely just another clickbait headline . . .

Reminds me of the children's folktale The Sky Is Falling

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coloR blinD said:

Hi,

Just another bad note for DJI. I purchased P3P in Feb 2015 and later added 2 extra original DJI batteries . Things went very smoothly as drone was very sparingly used and no third party stuff was ever used .....untill 5 days back when it dropped from 20 feet height after taking off normally.

The batteries n controller was charged last night. It's broken all over as it fell on concrete. I can only guess for the cause as the net forums are studded with DJI Drop Gate stories ...

It's firmware was automatically uoated number of times since the purchase, ...I can't arrive at any other explanation but only on defective unstable firmware update .....

DJI = Most Unreliable Company in business !

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coloR blinD said:

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ZX11 said:

I thought the inherent "prone to falling out of the sky" tendencies of drones is why people aren't flown around on aircraft that rely on quad motors to provide lift. Lots of failure points with the result of a Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber scream all the way to the ground.

--
"Very funny, Scotty! Now beam me down my clothes."
"He's dead, Jim! You grab his tri-corder. I'll get his wallet."

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junk1 said:

The multi-rotor helos that transport humans have many motors on them for redundancy.

Maybe they'll finally be semi-affordable some day, so we have personal air transport. Mechanically much simpler than a traditional helo!

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LesDMess said:

junk1 said:

The multi-rotor helos that transport humans have many motors on them for redundancy.

Maybe they'll finally be semi-affordable some day, so we have personal air transport. Mechanically much simpler than a traditional helo!

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I used to have range anxiety with my fully electric car until I had a better idea of what driving condition means and where the charging stations are. I am also just beginning to appreciate and trust the intelligent driving assistance - braking and lane keeping. But I am certain none of those will compare to the anxiety that will come with a transport drone!

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