Sate Farm offers insurance on drones, I pay $60 a year. That covers loss, damage due to falling from sky or running into something, if it is stolen it is also covered. I also got DJI care, for little things... but it's really comforting knowing that if the drone falls into a body of water and is lost that State Farm will replace it.
No deductibles!, I put insurance on the drone before I took it to the sky... That way I felt 100% confident that if it was destroyed I could get a check cut for a new one. $60 is their flat rate... that covers the drone and a bit of additional gear. Give them a call and see what they can do for you. I have a couple other items that I will be adding to this policy in the near future.
BariProductions no problem! Also want to note that they only cover drones being used for personal/recreational use... if you mention business use they will not cover you.
Yes. Since I got a replacement Mavic I always worry something will go wrong so when It comes back and lands, I also breathe a sigh of relief. "Once Bitten ..."
I've flown over Hog's Back a few times. Once flew a Phantom 3 too low and it was pushed backwards by the water/wind but survived. With drones, anything can happen. Did you also have your video cache off? No footage of the incident on your tablet?
Yes there is footage of both flights in my tablet. I'll make an episode of its dying moments when I am off work Monday. It's sad for me to watch. Like watching your child slip below the water.
Check out this thread, it seems like the guy had the same error as you and similar behaviour: mavicpilots.com/threads/mavic-crash-battery-overcharge.6249/
If you do fly in the cold just warm up your battery/ries thats what i do with a air drier or just have them near your car engine for like 3minutes that does the trick since they are already warmed they won't loose power while trying to warm up in flight :)
Don't let this experience discourage you from flying over water unless it's too cold or hot. I like the warming up idea by LOYC JOE, but I fly over water often.. Early on my 350QX hit the pool twice (Repaired and back up in the air)... two drones later, I have not even come close to that happening again.
Ronald Rivet I flew 46,000' the other day @ 22° with a Mavic (20% remaining), a P3 Advanced (17%), & a P4 (28% standard battery, 40% with high-capacity battery)
Bummer. All the flying in below-spec temps finally took its toll. Both of you KNOW & SEE the iPhone battery performance being subpar in below Apple specifications for Operating Temperature. The Mavic battery is no different. Glad you have insurance on the Mavic! :)
Yea, why did it HAVE TO do that RIGHT THEN??? Lame... Craig, would you mind uploading your flight to Healthydrones & sharing the link? It tells you how to do it on their website, except go into DJI GO 4, then flight records. That sort of drop out of a warmed up battery is BS. Again, super bummer.
Wow, I've read through these comments and I enjoy this crowd! So many helpful people. Thanks for your channel. Your vlog is one of the big reasons I am now saving for a Mavic. Good luck!
Thanks TeeTime. I have to agree whole heartedly. The show of support on here is awesome. That is why I do this channel. It was hopes of building a community around sailing and travel videography. The people who follow and comment on here are exactly the type of people I want have in the community. Of course anyone on RUclips will tell you there are always the hateful angry people. You can't avoid that. There is Crazy and there is hate in this world and RUclips is an easy place for them to spew their hate. But I see less than 1% of that type of person on here. I just delete their comments and block them if they post more than once. No need for crazy hateful people in your life. It is a very very small number though. Thanks God.
I have another Mavic fly more combo new in box, at least you could get it in time for your trip. two of my preorders came through at the same time so I have a spare.
Wow. Tempting AJ. I am hoping I can get a Mavic from DJI that is just the drone. So I dont have to pay for another controller etc that I already have. But you offer is very nice. I will wait a day or so on DJI to see what they offer. Even if they said they could send me a Mavic (no controller) but quickly. I'd probably take it just to have it for the BVI
So sorry for your loss. While I have zero experience with drones, I do run video equipment now and then on my snowmobile where I live in Minnesota, and I can attest to the fact that the cold sucks batteries dry fast, especially in the windchill of forward motion on a snowmobile. I've been so surprised how quickly I run out on a cold day. I am so excited to get a Mavic, and I can imagine the loss is heartbreaking. Hopefully things all pan out in the long run. Just think how awesome it will be for the archaeological crew when they find her in 1000 years! 😄
heart broken for you, Craig. we're all rooting for ya. Keep it going, I'm sure you'll have something in time for BVI. Besides you have all that sailing and beautiful weather to look forward to.
Thanks John. Yes we will have fun no matter what. Just was looking forward to the Drone footage for the viewers. The timing was what really broke my heart. Had this happened after the BVI trip it would have been a slap to the face, not a kick to the gut feeling.
I know. It would have felt better if I just was doing something stupid. Like fly backward into a tree or something . Then I could just be mad at myself for being an idiot. Watching it slowly sink into the water was the worst way to go.
Crusing off duty....I don't usually comment but I have enjoyed your videos on the Mavic Pro. Got mine mid December and love it. One of my friends speculates that the cold temps and mist from the falls could have begun to freeze around your motors or propellers causing batteries to overheat. Guess we will never know but for what it's worth my heart goes out to you for the loss of the drone. Keep us posted with your plans.
Thanks Gil. Ya. The more I analyze it, I think those factors were the cause. Hard lesson to learn. Just wish Mavic had given me the battery error warning sooner. By the time it hit my screen, it was going down.
Sorry for your loss. Anyone who has been in this hobby for any length of time will most likely experience loss of a bird due to pilot error, environmental conditions or firmware/GPS malfunctions. In flying my quads I have lost a phantom, an XK350 air dancer race quadcopter and a Syma X5c. I hope DJI understands and work out a deal with you. Cold weather does have an effect on lithium battery chemistry. Never had a chance to experience that [here in Florida] but I hope things work out for the best. Great videos by the way.
Sad day indeed. Sorry to hear about your Mavic Pro loss, but.... it is unfortunately something that should be anticipated at some point. I have flown RC for so long now that I have come to learn that one must expect to lose a model every now and then. What goes up has to come down. On the bright side, no way was hurt and a drone can always be replaced. This incident is also be a wake up call for any drone flyer who think these drones are perfect. Anyways, cheer up, you are about to go to the BVI! Enjoy! Bring back lots of videos and enjoy the sunshine away from the snow.
Thanks SMD. Yep. I expect the odd hard landing. having it go down in a little sliver of open water was really really bad luck and bad timing (before the BVI trip).
I recently read of a Mavic crash caused by prop icing. If I recall, the pilot stated that his only warning was battery over current draw, as the icing props motor tried to max rpms to provide necessary RPM to remain level. Would it be far fetched to think that flying over the mist in freezing weather, might have resulted in a prop icing situation involving one or more motors? If it were more than one motor that began icing, that might explain both the battery over current and the controlled decent. Any moisture (including fog) contacting a subfreezing blade spinning at 3000 rpm will ice instantaneously. I understand disruptive airflow can happen very quickly and is irreversible once started. So, even if your facts do not support my theory at this point, keep it in mind for future flights in similar conditions. Just my two cents, and sorry for your loss, as I lost an expensive octocopter in a lake once.
Anything is possible. As I explain in EP39 I spent way more time hovering over the water in the first (all good) flight than the second ("Houston, we have a problem") flight. So that would be strange that if happened then.
Craig! Oh no!!!!! Man, what a major bummer, my friend! I absolutely hate to hear that. I know exactly how you feel as I once lost a Phantom 1 in a lake and it was entirely not my fault and was malfunction! :( I hope you get to take your buddy's Mavic or can talk your wife into getting a new one before your upcoming trip! Keep pumping out the videos. Love them!
Thanks Dylan. I will get another one. One way (DJI) or another (fork over more dough). I have all the extra gear to go with the Mavic so I can't just let it go. I see you are pumping out the videos fast and furious. Do you work? I am not sure how you find the time to pump them out that fast. Maybe you don't sleep. ha ha. Good luck to you bud! Lets go flying some time down the road.
Do I work? Ha! That's a low blow man! Haha. I work my butt off 24/7. I've just been editing video for many years, so luckily, I can pump out edits really quick. I also do graphic design and other various media work for a living... so I have a LOT of practice! I'm glad to hear you will get yourself another Mavic, as I really enjoy your Mavic videos! I enjoy all of your videos. Keep up the great work and for sure, it'd be fun to go flying together! Hopefully you won't get any more faulty batteries! :(
Ha Ha. It wasn't meant to be a slam. Im sure you work. I just see you posting a video almost every day and I wonder how you find the time. Good for you if you have it down to a quick process. My editing takes me a ton of time. When Casey Neistadt said how hard it was for him to produce a video every day and he only had the one job. Filming and editing his Vlog. So I figure its hard to do. Just figure you must not sleep much. :-)
Very sorry for you man, but look the positive side.... at least it didn't fell on people, cars or whatever, causing an accident.... If I may ask, can you tell me how did you create those cool text boxes that were tracking the footage? Thanks
i'm really so sorry for you Craig :-( !! what happened was totally out from your control and i think it's what scares most of the people having a drone.. when you are just doing things right but then you can't recover it ! Good luck , i hope to see your amazing videos back as soon as possible !!!
The battery cannot keep up with current draw when it is very cold out, Ive had this same issue when flying at -10 celsius. The cold affects the battery's ability to discharge at the required current.
It was -5 and mostly sunny with no wind. Not severe cold. The first battery had no issues and flew for 19+ minutes. Second battery crapped out. Same weather. Same flying characteristics.
ThePaintedCar its best to keep them warm until flight, then it will stay warm during flight, that will explain why the first worked fine and it failed on the second battery IF the battery was left in the case out in the open the time he spent using his first battery.
Sorry for your loss. I hope I don't ever get that battery error. I've had 5% battery life before on the MavicPro & it came back to my designated return to home location.
So sad, Craig. It's like loosing a family memeber like a pet. I would guess the frost and humidity near the rapids have caused some icing building up on the props, by that increasing the drag. Also the icy humid ambience is a real culprit for onboard circuits, which are prone to mulfunctioning when put in extreme conditions to operate. There are more MPs out there, so it's not a problem, it is just extra expenses. Wish you all the best with your drones in future.
Always sad to see a lost drone. Not sure if this has been mentioned but if you were flying with the DJI Go app footage from your flight is stored on your device for the time you had contact. The flight log is also there so you can playback & see what sort of errors you may have gotten before she went down.
I was thinking , you don't really see any drone only sales and when you're getting into the £500 + range it's an obvious option that should be available. Any saving is welcome.
Thanks Reid. I appreciate everyone's well wishes. I really wanted to bring you all some awesome drone footage in the BVI. I think that was as much or more of what the shocked look on my face was from. Sure I just dropped a $1K drone into freezing water, but, I just realized I probably wasn't going to get a new Mavic before I go to the BVI. I had promised it and I didn't want to let people down. Not just you the viewers but the other 5 people on the Catamaran with me.
So sorry, l had a similar feeling, when lost my Canon camera... But it's just best to put it in the past, forget about it and still enjoy life. Hope your new one cones soon for your trip. Your new friend is so kind to trust you with his precious drone, after only knowing you a few hours. Paul Rose Bolton UK
I crashed my Drone this past summer, hard to describe the heart breaking feeling but your music in this vid comes close...lol...doubtful DJI will replace the drone due to the temperature at the time of the loss. Here's wishing you better luck with your new drone...!
Sorry to see your drone go away :(. Quick question..what software you used to did the comments on the video when you showed the clear Dome glass. That was very cool. I'll appreciate if you can let me know. Thanks
SO SORRY! I cant believe that happened it just shows with all the technology the drones have they can still fail. Your mavic videos have been great. I always look forward to your videos. I really hope DJI does something for you, even though there costumer service seams horrible half the time. Keep us updated on what they say.
Thanks a lot Kevin. Its nice to hear. I will keep everyone posted. Not having High hopes, Yesterday they said they would send me an email telling me where to send my flight logs etc and still no email today. I told them I had a trip coming up and at this point speed or replacement was paramount. But, I don't think they care. We are all just numbers. Plus the Mavic is still hard to get so they are not worried about disappointing a few "unfortunates" that lost their drone. Even if it was their defective battery that caused it.
One thing I notice from the great videos you take is that you take off from the pavement. The DJI Mavic has small ports that need to be clear to intake and exhaust air from the drone. There is a fan that blows air on the circuit boards in the copter. If moisture gets into these ports from taking off from a wet surface it can cause the electronics to have problems. The results are often unpredictable and will not follow a preset pattern or failure. To prevent this I use a launch pad that is clean and dry for my takef-offs and landings. Just a thought to save you a few bucks and help all have more fun in the future.
I know this was horrible for you but for me this is a great video. As you can understand, this is a lesson that I needed to see and learn from. Being near Houston I do not fly in the cold, but I live along Texas' largest river and sometimes fly upstream and downstream as far as I can. I am hoping that someone comes up with light weight and aerodynamic floaties as an accessory. BTW, in one of Casey's videos, his contact with DJI revealed that a drone under water should still send it's GPS location, which I am guessing is that lower-left image on the phone.
OMG Craig, that is awful news!!! I cannot image the feeling you felt as it was going down, and so slow where you had time to think about it! Ok, next thing to buy is a flotation device, not that it might have helped with rapids but at least have a bit of reassurance that over calmer waters you do not lose your drone. Feel so bad for you!! P.S.: Rich your a hell of a patron to offer your Mav for his trip!
And I am anxious to see if the low temperature had something to do with it. Maybe the combination of the mist of the water and the cold may have contributed to the failure of the battery, as one viewer touched on. Good warning for us all, but very unfortunate for you losing your drone for that lesson learned.
Wow man, .............. Now i'm double thinking flying over this valley i've been eyeing,........ You think the failure of the battery had anything to do with the temperature??
I asked about the temperature, because you said you changed batteries, i'm assuming it was in the case, if the case was outside with you instead of the vehicle maybe the weather affected it , you know wasn't insulated enough?? anyways , sorry for your loss bro. I figure if i lose mines,i will be willing to buy one more because i really like this thing hahaha But i'd have to draw a line somewhere, they are not cheap
Sounds like the first battery was warm from the home/car, and the second battery had a chance to get cold before the flight. If you'd been flying for a few minutes, then that batter might have had a chance to warm up. However, the mist from the falls may have helped keep it cold or even made it colder. Lastly, the Mavic may have sucked in a lot of mist from the falls thereby causing a short. You'll get the same error message with a short.
Well it was only -5 and sunny and the battery was inside my black hard case. Inside the car felt warm when I got in to change batteries because of the sun. I had flown around on the second battery for a while before it went down so I don't think it was a cold battery. Mist, maybe, but the first flight I was hanging over the rapids for much longer than the 2nd flight. But its all old news now anyway. DJI replaced it as they deemed it a battery failure.
Oh man! :( Im in tears sorry for your loss. I just order mine a week ago I guess I will fly it in a warm condition it might be the weather. Your buddy is awesome!
Thanks Enrico. He was a nice guy for offering. Check out ep39. I show the actual footage of the 2 flights. I don't think it had anything to do with the cold. Rich was flying his Mavic in the same exact cold. I've flown before in much colder. The 2nd flight was not nearly as close to the open water as the first flight. Now that I have reviewed the footage. It is clearly a Battery Malfunction. This could happen (and has happened) to people in warmer climates too.
Cruising Off Duty I live in Edmonton Alberta and its pretty cold! But I cant wait to get my mavicpro and go to Coron Palawan to test it out with my family. I will check ep39
Sounds like the battery was defective. I hope DJI can rush you one. Be sure to mention your channel and what good PR this could be for them taking care of their customers and dealing with manufacturing issues.
Hi Jason. You know, every email I have sent mentions the channel and how I have done a ton of Mavic tutorials and raving about the Mavic which is a ton of free advertising for them. So far I really don't think they care or no one is actually reading the emails. Too busy filling orders to read them I guess.
Keep hope alive brother! Perhaps you just need to change your avenue of approach. Have you tried e-mailing their other offices and perhaps starting a twitter campaign? I have had great luck in tweeting to the company about an issue, much more than I do with e-mailing or calling. I wasn't able to respond to your on duty video, but I wanted to say that I completely understand. There is a grey area when making videos like that. Glad your department supported you but think it was a good call to avoid the attention. Karma is back on sale and the Autel looks like it might be good also, but honestly nothing beats a mavic for sensors, features, and portability.
Sorry to hear about it. It would be interesting to know what caused that problem. Does the app or controller has any useful logs that can show any info about it?
Oh man! That's a major bummer...I'm very sorry this happened to you, Craig. And just before your BVI trip too! I hope you will be able to replace it soon. Maybe the Mavic company people will cut you a break...
That's tragic, Craig. I would feel exactly the same if my Mavic took a dive. Perhaps I will "run in" all three of my batteries over safe terrain before venturing too far, initially. Hope you can obtain another Mavic before your trip.
Smart move. Fly each one at least once over land. Probably if you are flying in cold like me, dont venture out over open water. I wish I saw a video like this one a week ago. I wouldn't have flown where I did. This is like a public service announcement. ha ha
That really sucks Craig. What most likely happened was that you had icing on the blades flying over the rapids lots of moisture in the air plus below freezing temps, the mavic had to provide more power/current to keep it flying till it hit more than the battery could provide. On a side note you should have the footage on your tablet. Doesn't even look like you could fish it out with a fishing pole and a big hook/weight... Sad day for sure!!!
Hey Bob. Someone else suggested that. It could be right. Log file says Battery error. So lets go with that for DJI purpose. I am still hoping for a discounted replacement but I probably wont fly over a waterfall in winter in the future. :-)
Theres thread on MavicPilots ( tinyurl.com/MavicOverCharge ) about other crash where mavic started landing then have fallen from 4' like a brick. Conclusion after data analysis was same as what Bob Gubbins said. Icing on the blades -> More Power needed -> Battery fail. So for future I'd scratch off the list flying in/over cold fog as well. Consider writing about it on DJI forums as well, from what I heard DJI forum staff tends to speed things up if they take intrest in the case.
I feel your loss bro! You looked gutted. I do a lot of landscape photography (SLR) and in cold climates the lithium batteries die in super quick time-I always keep them in my pocket until i need them. As someone else commented the point at where your drone died seemed to be over a waterfall-might be possible the mist fogged the bottom sensors-hence the auto land screwing up. Without sounds too goulish i'll look forward to any footage you recover! All the best with DJI.Rob -UK
Im pretty sure you got a bit too close to the cold water and it cause a bit of frosting on your blades. This then caused your blades to lose lifting power, which lead to your motors to over work themselves which lead to a battery over current alarm which caused it to land due to low voltage. Sadly its user error and very unfortunate, but there are exact stories such as this on mavicpilots.com forum. I watch your drone videos from time to time and was bummed out that you lost your drone. Better luck next time GL
How long was the second flight before the crash and where was the second battery before you put it in the drone and started flying? Was it sitting in the cold wile you where flying with the first battery? The reason I am asking that is because when I fly in cold temperatures I use to grab the battery at room temperature pop it in the drone and take off from my backyard but I would lose about 40% of flight time and get voltage drop outs thru out the flight. Now I got a battery heating bag and I worm up the battery for 15 minutes to 30 degrees Celsius and never had problems again.
sucks, sorry.... but what a testament for the Mavic. There was NEVER a question to buy or not to buy another one. You just get another and move one, hopefully learning something along the way. I know I'd order another asap if it happened to me. What a toy that thing is!
Yes, I still love the Mavic. Its not it's fault that the battery just started dieing at an extremely accelerated rate. Like I have said in other comments. Just really bad timing for me. Had it happened over a snowy field it would have just landed softly. No issues at all.
I think someone nailed it in an earlier post.. you need to keep the batteries as warm as possible before flying in the cold. Even the instructions say only fly between 30° and 100° roughly.
Thinking about getting a MP so looking at videos and came across this. Must have been so heartbreaking in the moment! But this video's amazing moment happens at 9:00. That's worth a lot! If you can't get yours in time, take Rich up on his offer while your new one is being delivered. If you lose his since you're prone to dunking drones (sorry...couldn't resist :-) ), then you can replace his.
Craig - sorry to hear about your Mavic. I watched your video last night and today when I was flying mine over a small lake got a red screen warning "Battery Overcurrent During Discharge" I'd never heard of that error and never had in over 75 flights and then after you mentioned it - it happened to me. Lucky for me I had just taken off was in sports mode and full throttle up and full pitch forward. So I was over 250FT. The craft stopped abruptly but then recovered. I ran that battery down to 5% and will re-charge it. I had no problems for the rest of the flight (however I kept over land and close to the ground). Crazy that it happened to me after hearing about your issue. Power of suggestion? Searching the web it seems that there are quite a few post about that error mostly on the Phantom 3 series. Funny thing is that Health Drones shows the error - but all the battery stats look fine and during the time of the error shows the battery at normal levels. If you were using the DJI GO 4 app you can sync and then use the healthy drones sync app to upload your flights and see what errors you had. It will show if you had any battery anomalies as well. We are all waiting to hear what DJI will do for you - because we know it will happen to someone else. Good Luck!
fridmani1 was it also cold when this happened to yours. just reading comments due to I'm getting one. want to know if this was a DJI problem or user problem. thanks .
Thanks. Yes I hear its usually when the battery is under heavy load. Sport mode is usually when it happens. Mine was probably due to freezing up from the moist cold air freezing to the props.
Thanks Karen. Gutted is a good word. Its how I felt yesterday. Actually how I still feel today. Just wish DJI would contact me like they said they would.
Wow, so sad. If I had one I'd loan it to ya bro, as I know the feeling of vacations ruined from unexpected events. I think the cold n build up of cold mist may have been a factor? I am waiting for when all the bugs are out for Inspire 2 n hopefully DJI will offer the CrystalSky as well. You obviously have more experience than I do presently. As I am a rookie just getting my feet wet per se. Happy ya wife is understanding as with generously sweet. I don't think I'd have that support, she'd never let me go loosing a toy as this nor I2. Yep, I know now I really fkd up some there. But she saved my life with Gods helping hand. Only game in town as they say. Be dead n gone in 5 yrs they say,,, Blessings to your new Mavic bro,,, Ty
Subscribed. Your videos are well made and pleasure to watch. Watching most of your videos and knowing now the dream/goal you have makes your channel very interesting. Gotta see this through how it goes in the future. Most youtubers have a youtube role they play. I feel you are who you are in your videos. Sorry for loosing your drone man! Greetings from Finland - it is icy here too.
Thanks a lot Ville. That is really nice things to hear. I am just being myself. Although sometimes in the Tutorial videos I am a bit more serious than I am with my friends. I like to joke around. You see it in a few of the older sailing videos and as I go to the BVI and get more into a Sailing Vlog style this coming summer, you will probably see more of the goofiness. My sailing friends and I always have a blast when we are rafted up together. Mavic Tutorials don't lend them self to me goofing around. :-)
Keep making and I will keep watching and recommending your channel. Your tutorials are great, those are the ones that brought me in. Keep going. My wife and kids have stolen our tv so I watch a lot of youtube on my laptop. And I see channels getting popular and makers ditching their true self in order to please the audience. That is where the most fail eventually. You say your channel is growing because people far away like to see how sailing and scenery is in Canada. No. It is the informative content and the way you present it that does the job. And the effort you make in post production.
So I called Best Buy and I went there, they had 8 on Monday and now they have absolutely none left. She checked other stores in Montreal and everything is sold out. There a lot for sale on Kijiji but they are priced a bit more expensive but it's all about how bad do you really want it. I bought mine of Kijiji for 2250 with fly more combo plus a extra battery.
Ya. I hope to never be desperate enough to resort to Kijiji and paying above market. I guess if DJI leaves me hanging I will order one and borrow a mavic for my trip. The new Mavic would be here by the time I am back.
Lowest was probably 15' above the water. First flight I was flying much higher. Im guessing Icy props did have something to do with it. Just wish the controller warned me there was a battery issue before it was descending into the water. :-(
Cruising Off Duty. Icing severely reduce prop efficency fast. As the mavic tries to maintain lift and altitude it rapidly increase engine speed -which in turn accellerate icing. In the end the end this overloads the batteries and the craft looses power. The battery error is probably not the cause of your crash, but an effect of the icing. In damp or wet conditiona and close to freezing temperatures ice can build up so fast that there is no way a craft witout a de-icing system can recover.
tal polano There could be multiple reasons for that. Shorter flights, avoiding water spray, staying out of the shadows and in the sun and flying higher above the water I guess.
Feels terrible just watching the Blog Unfold I have Aspire 1, two pantom 3s , two Breeze , and a phantom 4. I would feel terrible losing any one. So far I am such timed flyer. I feel for you!
Very sorry for your loss. I have flown Phantom 3 pro, 4, 4+ and now Mavic. I have experienced this error when the drone is "asking for more energy than the battery can provide". Usually seen in Sport mode full throttle and and right stick forward. I suspect props developed an issue probably icing. If you please your case with DJI they may offer you at least 30% discount on your next $700 purchase and if you badger/sweet talk them enough may even send you a new one .
Thank Marino for writing your experience. I hope you are right about DJI helping. For all the free advertising DJI has received from my channel the least they could do is give me a discount on a new one. Since I did get a battery issue warning way too late to save the drone. If they actually took the time to read my emails and realize that I need a drone to go to BVI so I can make a ton more free advertising for them they should be contacting me to come up with a fair price and sending the drone now. But, they seem too busy to care to read any of my emails. Or they just don't care that much if they get free advertising because they are selling like hotcakes anyway. I think that is probably more the case.
Sorry for your loss. What device were you using when you flew? Maybe the flight log can be recovered so you can show it to DJI and hopefully they'll see your side. Also, did you have any other insurance on it? In the US State Farm covers drones so I have a policy with them. The nice thing is that if it's lost, stolen, or broken they replace it...with no deductible. So hoping you have something similar. Again, sorry for your loss.
Hey Gat App. Thanks. Yes the Tablet has the log file and it shows all the telemetry and error codes. In my case a battery error before it went down. Its stored in the DJI Go 4 app. No, I had no special insurance.
Do you use healthy drones website? I find that you can look at the voltage information for the battery and see if there was any issues. Also, was there mist in the air from the water? That could have caused a short in the electronics as well. Always sad to lose a drone. Hopefully DJI can help you out.
Mavics are quite prepared for less then perfect weather, electronics are coated so mist, fog, water splashes or even light rain shouldn't cause any shorts. What they can't handle is total submersion in water and extreme cold. Just like any electronics.
Daaang that sucks. :( And right before your trip too. Condolences. (Side note, I messaged you back, in case you didn't see it. YT message notifications can be weird)
Hey Ryan. Yes, major bummer and bad timing. I will check the messages. I tried to find an email for you but couldn't. Email me at CruisingOffDuty@Gmail.com and we can talk more that way instead of on here. Cheers.
Oh noooo Graig. So sorry to hear. A scary scenario. It makes me worry when I hear about all those mavic crashes on youtube. However most of them are human mistakes. But it doesn't seem to be in your case. I hope Dji can help you. Great that Rich will lend you his mavic. You must be extra carefull with that in BVI :-) keep up the channel. We want to hear from you.
Keeping the dome on will make the Mavic run a bit hotter because the dome encapsulate the cooling port vent. Hopefully DJI will improve the cooling vent intake by relocating it to a better spot.
Cold lipo batteries don't perform at all. The cold restricts current flow within the lithium ion chemistry . Keep them warm at room temperature for the duration of the day to avoid weird issues with the battery voltage.
Not sure what your equivalent to FAA is but I'm sure that if you wrote DJI and expressed to them that due to their product malfunctioning you lost control of it and it went down, thankfully not in a populated area, you felt compelled to notify the appropriate regulatory agency of a potentially serious defect in the product line that might pose a public safety concern, you might receive a reply.
Thanks. I am still holding out some hope DJI will come through. I really only need the Mavic. Not a new controller. Only DJI seems to ship just the Mavic alone.
i live i florida, and 50degree weather caused a battery warning, so being there is snow in ur video! its very safe to say it went doit because ur battery was frost bitten! haha sucks hope u get back flying soon!!
Well..here's an update on my drone crashing into the water..DJI said I was too low to water and barometric pressure was not read properly and they say it's not a malfunction. I started the drone at 13ft above the water and was in sport mode...I didn't change the altitude at all on my end but the drone couldn't hold at 13 ft apparently because it decided to just drop into the water while coming back for no reason except that it thought it was too high and decided to lower itself. I'm going to a Spark Launch event in Toronto today and hopefully reps from DJI will be there to address this situation because the 3rd party tech support is horrible and also not a toll free call. A week worth of jumping through the same hoops over and over to end up hearing that they will not consider false barometer readings as a problem on their end.
Oh, sorry to hear that. I never fly in sports mode. And certainly not over water now that I have had my issue. Sport mode feels like it is just pushing the drone to its limit. Hope you get something worked out at the DJI event
The "malfunction" is the cold. I've seen this error mentioned before and it's always connected to the cold. Major bummer. I live in "lake country" Idaho and will not fly over water until I have a solid recovery method.
So sad, sorry about your loss... and that you have to try and deal with DJI Customer Service.. If you've shared already I'm sorry for the repeat questions, but perhaps this watery grave was caused by the cold?... How long was the "fresh" battery sitting in cold before being used? What was the outside temp? Does it show the battery temp in the log?
Must add, I really appreciate your time into your channel regarding the Mavic and even more so sharing this horrible experience so perhaps answers are found for future flights.
Thanks. I never got the usual cold weather warning on the battery. The battery was in my car in side the hard case so I think it stayed pretty warm It wasn't that cold of a day. The battery was freshly charged from home. Maybe flew 2-3 minutes on it.
Cruising Off Duty, thanks. I get pretty nervous flying in the cold and/or high fog/mist. I've flown in -15C and just below fog which is pretty nerve racking once flights are complete with concern of moisture once back inside to warmer temps. With the high humidity of your location, and the cold, perhaps when you changed batteries there was a little moisture at the connection... Guess we'll truly never know, but hope you get #2 shortly for some epic footage on BVI. Cheers
Yes. Looking like DJI is too busy to read emails explaining things like this. So far no one has even asked to have me send them my flight log. Now I found the footage from the tablet too. But, so far no interest in looking into it. :-(
A similar incident occurred to my Mavic on trip to Ireland in Cork. I got "Magnetic Interference" prompts while flying over the river in town and I went down. DJI claimed the flight record never shows this event and that I "flipped" my drone into the water. I purchased another like yourself. Must say DJI has some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced. We need more competitors to wake them up.
Sorry man! That is a bummer and makes me not want to fly near water. Hope DJI makes this right for you. At least nobody was hurt. Just money... and you can always make more of that. Great video and thanks for sharing.
Ya. Its probably stored somewhere in the buffer. DJI still hasn't contacted me. They are suppose to get a download of my flight log and whatever footage may have been stored in the 2GB buffer on my tablet. I looked at the flight log and it does show a battery error before the final contact a few seconds latter. Not happy that DJI just took my info and is now leaving me hanging. Time is running out on BVI.
Yes. I was caught off guard by the offer. I think you can see that in my face. I would really like to avoid borrowing someone else's Mavic. That adds a whole other layer of pressure when it is someone else's drone you are flying.
so sorry Craig! although I didn't have the mavoc pro, I have experienced that same feeling, my phantom 2 did the exact same thing, just started landing in the woods, I was a lot luckier than you as I was able to retrieve mine, after 4 hours of searching... feel so terrible for you. Who ever does the logic in programming, needs to redesign that function. if an error occurs, return to home... for crying out loud, never just land where it is! or at least try to return to home!
Oh and the canon's audio was better but that is probably because of the proximity of it to you. Hero had a lot better high end frequencies. Bass response on the canon was better. Visually, it looked about the same, the hero has a little wide angle rounding effect. It would be better to have the camera’s side by side to get a true comparison.
Yes. My complaint as well. If the props were starting to ice up and the batteries were draining because of it, it should have warned me sooner. By the time I got a warning it was just drifting down as if it was self landing. Pushing up or hitting RTH did nothing to change it. Had it warned me something was a miss sooner I could have flown home.
Also the G7X has awesome audio everywhere I take it. Sometimes I swear it is better than my GH4 with a shotgun Mic. The two cameras were not that much farther from me than the other. The super wide angle of the Hero 5 made it look like it was way way farther than it was. My summary is the G7X is better sound and the best low light camera I have ever had but its not waterproof with an external Mic like the H5. So the Hero 5 will be used whenever it is raining or we are anywhere that we could get wet and the G7X is my go to VLog camera in every other way. I also have a GH4 that I can Vlog with as I do have a wide angle lens and it is awesome with multiple lenses. So now I am completely set for cameras gear for a while. Although the new GH5 that was just announced looks so sweet and it would use all my existing lenses. Now I just have to convince Janice that she needs to become more hands on with the filming (ie she takes the GH4) and I could get the GH5. I know, I have a spending problem when it comes to gear . ha ha
LOL I think I suffer from that as well, but mine is boats... I have a power boat, but I really want a bigger sailboat, I had an '85 hunter 22, and I really enjoyed it, but no one else in the family liked it as much as I did. especially the wifey, and you know what they say about happy wife, happy life. so I sold it a couple of years back. but man do I mess it! we live about 2 hours from the gulf of mexico, so it would be great to have one down there, am I right?
I am very curious to see if DJI gives any insight to what went wrong. Pretty concerning behavior considering I regularly fly above water... did you have the lost signal setting set to Return to Home? Even if you didn't, it doesn't seem to explain what happened since connection wasn't lost.
Ya. Everything was set to RTH. I even hit RTH when it started sinking and pushing the joystick up didn't help. Nothing. It just kept drifting straight down.
Did a quick Google Search on the error you mentioned "Battery Overcurrent" or current overload. It seems that people related that to flying the drone in cold weather. One person described the same loss of control and decent but he was lucky enough to be over land. He mentioned that when he got to the drone that there was a thin layer of ice on it, potentially leading to the control failure. Given you were shooting close to rapids with spray in below freezing temperatures (?) maybe you experienced icing too? forum.dji.com/thread-72992-1-1.html
P.S. Such a bummer this happened. I have been really enjoying your videos and could tell how psyched you were about this drone as many of us are. I hope DJI helps make this right.
Hola form Spain Ive watched all your vids and encouraged me to order a MAVIC in September , still hadn't arrived in December so I cancelled and bought the P4 from Apple here, great piece of kit very reliable good in wind... But I still hankered for the MAVIC because of its size, for travelling which I like to do with just a small rucksack....so I returned the phantom within time in as new condition and just had an email from DJI they've sent the MAVIC that I ordered 20th January In the meantime bought the Yuneec typhoon G for €400 with gopro connected, goes well but phantom flew better especially in wind.... Sad to loose yours can't think that turning downward sensors off when you fly over water should stop you from pushing sticks up and it not reacting, downward sensors are surely to stop it hitting anything while its descending like a tree....I liked the lake shot best you did when you first got it, Simon in Spain
Hey Simon. It sounds like you have a few drones to play with. Like you I bought the Mavic just for the ability to travel with it and throw it in any backpack.
that sucks man... I just wanted to say I flew my phantom 2vision+ over those falls in winter with no problems.... but I took the video off of Utube because that is a no-fly zone .. too close to the airport to be legal unless you have a SFOC. (Special Flight Operator Certificate) from Transport Canada. I was told that they would have no problem fining people after the fact (or flight)... Your video is just proof you did it. Then I lost it in the Ottawa river months later in the summer. Now I have a Phantom 4 pro and I think it is the most awesome drone ever made!!.. (in my biased opinion... lol)
I have the Hero 5 black and when in its case/holder any kind of movement sound goes straight into the mics. WIthout that case its ok but when in the case the sound vibrations from movements etc seams to go straight into the mic causing a rattle sound. The only way around this I found was the buy the 3.5 mic adaptor ( Not cheap ) from GoPro. Worth it though as you get much better sound with the adaptor.
I can't wait to get it out to fly, I'm from London uk and it just been raining most of the time , anyway keep your chin up and have a good holiday as we say in the uk.
That sucks.. I think my next quad will be the Mavic. I purchased a cheap Hubsan H501S for my motorcycle club rides. Have had nothing but problems with it. However, losing a $240 quad in the drink is one thing.. Losing a thousand dollar quad is another. Good Luck and best wishes from Ohio..
Ha, I can see myself calling the wife and telling her I just dropped a grand in the drink;) That said, I guess after placing three kids through college I'm still recovering from that expense. Let's just say for what I've spent I could have purchased a real helicopter.. Well used of course...
Thank you for the reply, I plan on getting a Mavic and want to know all I can about it. Currently I have the Phantom 3, fly with iPad mini cellular, and save videos as they happen into the app, it saves at 720p, and obviously also have the drone saving to is SD card. At least you tried all you could instead of doing nothing.
I feel your pain I lost my phantom 3 pro last year over water falls lost control and caught a tree branch and never seen it again only has it 3 weeks. 1800 Canadian for a new one just carried on never looked back love the sport now more experience going to buy a Magic soon they look more cool than my Phantom.
Sate Farm offers insurance on drones, I pay $60 a year. That covers loss, damage due to falling from sky or running into something, if it is stolen it is also covered. I also got DJI care, for little things... but it's really comforting knowing that if the drone falls into a body of water and is lost that State Farm will replace it.
Hmmm. I wonder if that is available in Canada. Too late now but its an option for the next drone.
No deductibles!, I put insurance on the drone before I took it to the sky... That way I felt 100% confident that if it was destroyed I could get a check cut for a new one. $60 is their flat rate... that covers the drone and a bit of additional gear. Give them a call and see what they can do for you. I have a couple other items that I will be adding to this policy in the near future.
I just want to say thank you for sharing this knowledge I truly love you.
BariProductions no problem! Also want to note that they only cover drones being used for personal/recreational use... if you mention business use they will not cover you.
thank you will do this
I can't imagine the feeling losing a drone. Every time I fly my Mavic and she comes home safely there is this overwhelming sense of relief.
Yes. Since I got a replacement Mavic I always worry something will go wrong so when It comes back and lands, I also breathe a sigh of relief. "Once Bitten ..."
I've flown over Hog's Back a few times. Once flew a Phantom 3 too low and it was pushed backwards by the water/wind but survived. With drones, anything can happen. Did you also have your video cache off? No footage of the incident on your tablet?
Yes there is footage of both flights in my tablet. I'll make an episode of its dying moments when I am off work Monday. It's sad for me to watch. Like watching your child slip below the water.
Check out this thread, it seems like the guy had the same error as you and similar behaviour: mavicpilots.com/threads/mavic-crash-battery-overcharge.6249/
Don't fly your Mavic in the cold! Lipo batteries don't like cold weather! They even state in the manual. 32-104 degrees.
Yep. Probably best practices. Definitely not over rushing water.
If you do fly in the cold just warm up your battery/ries thats what i do with a air drier or just have them near your car engine for like 3minutes that does the trick since they are already warmed they won't loose power while trying to warm up in flight :)
Don't let this experience discourage you from flying over water unless it's too cold or hot. I like the warming up idea by LOYC JOE, but I fly over water often.. Early on my 350QX hit the pool twice (Repaired and back up in the air)... two drones later, I have not even come close to that happening again.
Ronald Rivet I flew 46,000' the other day @ 22° with a Mavic (20% remaining), a P3 Advanced (17%), & a P4 (28% standard battery, 40% with high-capacity battery)
I flew my at 5 deg F with no problem, you just need to make sure that your battery is warm before you use it.
Bummer. All the flying in below-spec temps finally took its toll. Both of you KNOW & SEE the iPhone battery performance being subpar in below Apple specifications for Operating Temperature. The Mavic battery is no different. Glad you have insurance on the Mavic! :)
Yes. Cold weather issues. Had it happened over a snowy field. It would have been a minor hick-up. Just really bad timing all the way around.
Yea, why did it HAVE TO do that RIGHT THEN??? Lame... Craig, would you mind uploading your flight to Healthydrones & sharing the link? It tells you how to do it on their website, except go into DJI GO 4, then flight records. That sort of drop out of a warmed up battery is BS. Again, super bummer.
Wow, I've read through these comments and I enjoy this crowd! So many helpful people. Thanks for your channel. Your vlog is one of the big reasons I am now saving for a Mavic. Good luck!
Thanks TeeTime. I have to agree whole heartedly. The show of support on here is awesome. That is why I do this channel. It was hopes of building a community around sailing and travel videography. The people who follow and comment on here are exactly the type of people I want have in the community. Of course anyone on RUclips will tell you there are always the hateful angry people. You can't avoid that. There is Crazy and there is hate in this world and RUclips is an easy place for them to spew their hate. But I see less than 1% of that type of person on here. I just delete their comments and block them if they post more than once. No need for crazy hateful people in your life. It is a very very small number though. Thanks God.
I have another Mavic fly more combo new in box, at least you could get it in time for your trip. two of my preorders came through at the same time so I have a spare.
Wow. Tempting AJ. I am hoping I can get a Mavic from DJI that is just the drone. So I dont have to pay for another controller etc that I already have. But you offer is very nice. I will wait a day or so on DJI to see what they offer. Even if they said they could send me a Mavic (no controller) but quickly. I'd probably take it just to have it for the BVI
So sorry for your loss. While I have zero experience with drones, I do run video equipment now and then on my snowmobile where I live in Minnesota, and I can attest to the fact that the cold sucks batteries dry fast, especially in the windchill of forward motion on a snowmobile. I've been so surprised how quickly I run out on a cold day. I am so excited to get a Mavic, and I can imagine the loss is heartbreaking. Hopefully things all pan out in the long run. Just think how awesome it will be for the archaeological crew when they find her in 1000 years! 😄
Ha Ha. Thanks Josh. Maybe someone in 1000 years can see my awesome footage too. :-)
Best Buy has plenty in stock in Montreal, you can order from them.
Good to know! I'd drive 2 hrs each way to get one in a store. Thanks
Ordered my Mavic direct from DJI on 1/26 and its scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! Good luck getting back in the air mate!
Which store? I just checked, all stores in Montreal area show out of stock.
OMG, I am so sorry, Cant even begin to imagine how you fell. Sorry for your loss.
Thanks DOC. Thanks for writing.
Most likely ice formed on your props causing too much draw on the battery. Sad news.
Thanks. I am thinking that was it too.
heart broken for you, Craig. we're all rooting for ya. Keep it going, I'm sure you'll have something in time for BVI. Besides you have all that sailing and beautiful weather to look forward to.
Thanks John. Yes we will have fun no matter what. Just was looking forward to the Drone footage for the viewers. The timing was what really broke my heart. Had this happened after the BVI trip it would have been a slap to the face, not a kick to the gut feeling.
f*#k ! every drone owners worst nightmare
I know. It would have felt better if I just was doing something stupid. Like fly backward into a tree or something . Then I could just be mad at myself for being an idiot. Watching it slowly sink into the water was the worst way to go.
Crusing off duty....I don't usually comment but I have enjoyed your videos on the Mavic Pro. Got mine mid December and love it. One of my friends speculates that the cold temps and mist from the falls could have begun to freeze around your motors or propellers causing batteries to overheat. Guess we will never know but for what it's worth my heart goes out to you for the loss of the drone. Keep us posted with your plans.
Thanks Gil. Ya. The more I analyze it, I think those factors were the cause. Hard lesson to learn. Just wish Mavic had given me the battery error warning sooner. By the time it hit my screen, it was going down.
Sorry for your loss. Anyone who has been in this hobby for any length of time will most likely experience loss of a bird due to pilot error, environmental conditions or firmware/GPS malfunctions. In flying my quads I have lost a phantom, an XK350 air dancer race quadcopter and a Syma X5c. I hope DJI understands and work out a deal with you. Cold weather does have an effect on lithium battery chemistry. Never had a chance to experience that [here in Florida] but I hope things work out for the best. Great videos by the way.
Thanks. Keep watching. Good news comes.
Sad day indeed. Sorry to hear about your Mavic Pro loss, but.... it is unfortunately something that should be anticipated at some point. I have flown RC for so long now that I have come to learn that one must expect to lose a model every now and then. What goes up has to come down. On the bright side, no way was hurt and a drone can always be replaced. This incident is also be a wake up call for any drone flyer who think these drones are perfect. Anyways, cheer up, you are about to go to the BVI! Enjoy! Bring back lots of videos and enjoy the sunshine away from the snow.
Thanks SMD. Yep. I expect the odd hard landing. having it go down in a little sliver of open water was really really bad luck and bad timing (before the BVI trip).
Sorry for your loss Craig... You know what? You found a great pal in Rich! Super cool dude!
Yes. He seems like a great guy.
I recently read of a Mavic crash caused by prop icing. If I recall, the pilot stated that his only warning was battery over current draw, as the icing props motor tried to max rpms to provide necessary RPM to remain level. Would it be far fetched to think that flying over the mist in freezing weather, might have resulted in a prop icing situation involving one or more motors? If it were more than one motor that began icing, that might explain both the battery over current and the controlled decent. Any moisture (including fog) contacting a subfreezing blade spinning at 3000 rpm will ice instantaneously. I understand disruptive airflow can happen very quickly and is irreversible once started.
So, even if your facts do not support my theory at this point, keep it in mind for future flights in similar conditions.
Just my two cents, and sorry for your loss, as I lost an expensive octocopter in a lake once.
Anything is possible. As I explain in EP39 I spent way more time hovering over the water in the first (all good) flight than the second ("Houston, we have a problem") flight. So that would be strange that if happened then.
Craig! Oh no!!!!! Man, what a major bummer, my friend! I absolutely hate to hear that. I know exactly how you feel as I once lost a Phantom 1 in a lake and it was entirely not my fault and was malfunction! :( I hope you get to take your buddy's Mavic or can talk your wife into getting a new one before your upcoming trip! Keep pumping out the videos. Love them!
Thanks Dylan. I will get another one. One way (DJI) or another (fork over more dough). I have all the extra gear to go with the Mavic so I can't just let it go. I see you are pumping out the videos fast and furious. Do you work? I am not sure how you find the time to pump them out that fast. Maybe you don't sleep. ha ha. Good luck to you bud! Lets go flying some time down the road.
Do I work? Ha! That's a low blow man! Haha. I work my butt off 24/7. I've just been editing video for many years, so luckily, I can pump out edits really quick. I also do graphic design and other various media work for a living... so I have a LOT of practice! I'm glad to hear you will get yourself another Mavic, as I really enjoy your Mavic videos! I enjoy all of your videos. Keep up the great work and for sure, it'd be fun to go flying together! Hopefully you won't get any more faulty batteries! :(
Ha Ha. It wasn't meant to be a slam. Im sure you work. I just see you posting a video almost every day and I wonder how you find the time. Good for you if you have it down to a quick process. My editing takes me a ton of time. When Casey Neistadt said how hard it was for him to produce a video every day and he only had the one job. Filming and editing his Vlog. So I figure its hard to do. Just figure you must not sleep much. :-)
Thanks Craig, will keep watching,as the filming is great! Keep up the good work! 👍🇬🇧
Thanks a lot. Always nice to hear.
Very sorry for you man, but look the positive side.... at least it didn't fell on people, cars or whatever, causing an accident....
If I may ask, can you tell me how did you create those cool text boxes that were tracking the footage?
Thanks
Hey Jose. Ya. I guess you are right. No one got hurt. So it could have been worse. I use FCPX for my editing.
i'm really so sorry for you Craig :-( !! what happened was totally out from your control and i think it's what scares most of the people having a drone.. when you are just doing things right but then you can't recover it ! Good luck , i hope to see your amazing videos back as soon as possible !!!
Thanks Simi. So nice of you to say
The battery cannot keep up with current draw when it is very cold out, Ive had this same issue when flying at -10 celsius. The cold affects the battery's ability to discharge at the required current.
It was -5 and mostly sunny with no wind. Not severe cold. The first battery had no issues and flew for 19+ minutes. Second battery crapped out. Same weather. Same flying characteristics.
Sorry. For you Americans. Not -5f Its -5c. Just a bit below freezing.
ThePaintedCar its best to keep them warm until flight, then it will stay warm during flight, that will explain why the first worked fine and it failed on the second battery IF the battery was left in the case out in the open the time he spent using his first battery.
Sorry for your loss. I hope I don't ever get that battery error. I've had 5% battery life before on the MavicPro & it came back to my designated return to home location.
Yes. There was no low battery warning and clearly the battery died quick.
So sad, Craig. It's like loosing a family memeber like a pet. I would guess the frost and humidity near the rapids have caused some icing building up on the props, by that increasing the drag. Also the icy humid ambience is a real culprit for onboard circuits, which are prone to mulfunctioning when put in extreme conditions to operate. There are more MPs out there, so it's not a problem, it is just extra expenses. Wish you all the best with your drones in future.
Thanks a lot Nickie. Yes I will get another one. Lesson learned.
Always sad to see a lost drone. Not sure if this has been mentioned but if you were flying with the DJI Go app footage from your flight is stored on your device for the time you had contact. The flight log is also there so you can playback & see what sort of errors you may have gotten before she went down.
+Dirty Bird. Thanks. Yes I saw the logs right away but I have also located the footage. I'm gonna make an episode showing it's last moments.
Cruising Off Duty Glad you have the video. I look forward to seeing the footage & hope you figure out why she went down.
I was thinking , you don't really see any drone only sales and when you're getting into the £500 + range it's an obvious option that should be available. Any saving is welcome.
Yes. Im kind of surprised DJI doesn't just have a Mavic only option for sale. Strange.
Sorry for your loss man , don't give up hope ur flying again soon...
+Go Fast . Thanks.
I am sorry for your loss. I would absolutely go nuts. R.I.P mavic
Thanks.
Damn, sorry to hear that. Hoping for the best outcome for you!
Thanks Reid. I appreciate everyone's well wishes. I really wanted to bring you all some awesome drone footage in the BVI. I think that was as much or more of what the shocked look on my face was from. Sure I just dropped a $1K drone into freezing water, but, I just realized I probably wasn't going to get a new Mavic before I go to the BVI. I had promised it and I didn't want to let people down. Not just you the viewers but the other 5 people on the Catamaran with me.
So sorry, l had a similar feeling, when lost my Canon camera... But it's just best to put it in the past, forget about it and still enjoy life. Hope your new one cones soon for your trip. Your new friend is so kind to trust you with his precious drone, after only knowing you a few hours.
Paul Rose Bolton UK
Yes. It was very nice of him to offer.
I crashed my Drone this past summer, hard to describe the heart breaking feeling but your music in this vid comes close...lol...doubtful DJI will replace the drone due to the temperature at the time of the loss. Here's wishing you better luck with your new drone...!
Thanks Barry. Even if I have to buy a new Mavic from DJI, I just want to not have to buy the whole kit with controller again.
Sorry to see your drone go away :(. Quick question..what software you used to did the comments on the video when you showed the clear Dome glass. That was very cool. I'll appreciate if you can let me know. Thanks
+HowTo Do it I use FCPX and mCallouts.
SO SORRY! I cant believe that happened it just shows with all the technology the drones have they can still fail. Your mavic videos have been great. I always look forward to your videos. I really hope DJI does something for you, even though there costumer service seams horrible half the time. Keep us updated on what they say.
Thanks a lot Kevin. Its nice to hear. I will keep everyone posted. Not having High hopes, Yesterday they said they would send me an email telling me where to send my flight logs etc and still no email today. I told them I had a trip coming up and at this point speed or replacement was paramount. But, I don't think they care. We are all just numbers. Plus the Mavic is still hard to get so they are not worried about disappointing a few "unfortunates" that lost their drone. Even if it was their defective battery that caused it.
Sorry to hear about your loss. Bad day.
Thanks.
One thing I notice from the great videos you take is that you take off from the pavement. The DJI Mavic has small ports that need to be clear to intake and exhaust air from the drone. There is a fan that blows air on the circuit boards in the copter. If moisture gets into these ports from taking off from a wet surface it can cause the electronics to have problems. The results are often unpredictable and will not follow a preset pattern or failure. To prevent this I use a launch pad that is clean and dry for my takef-offs and landings. Just a thought to save you a few bucks and help all have more fun in the future.
I have one on the way. So I shall be using one. Thanks
I know this was horrible for you but for me this is a great video. As you can understand, this is a lesson that I needed to see and learn from. Being near Houston I do not fly in the cold, but I live along Texas' largest river and sometimes fly upstream and downstream as far as I can. I am hoping that someone comes up with light weight and aerodynamic floaties as an accessory. BTW, in one of Casey's videos, his contact with DJI revealed that a drone under water should still send it's GPS location, which I am guessing is that lower-left image on the phone.
+Bob Black Yes. I wish I had seen this video before I lost my drone. Learning lesson.
Man that sucks! I am so sorry! I really hope you can get something figured out soon...
Thanks Brad. I'll figure something out.
OMG Craig, that is awful news!!! I cannot image the feeling you felt as it was going down, and so slow where you had time to think about it! Ok, next thing to buy is a flotation device, not that it might have helped with rapids but at least have a bit of reassurance that over calmer waters you do not lose your drone. Feel so bad for you!! P.S.: Rich your a hell of a patron to offer your Mav for his trip!
Thanks Roger. Yes Rich blew me away with his offer. I am going to do everything I can to get my own before then. But super nice offer.
And I am anxious to see if the low temperature had something to do with it. Maybe the combination of the mist of the water and the cold may have contributed to the failure of the battery, as one viewer touched on. Good warning for us all, but very unfortunate for you losing your drone for that lesson learned.
Losing your Mavic the way you did has to be my biggest fear when flying my Mavic. Good luck with DJI and hope they resolve
Thanks Wade. Yep, a slow death is a painful way to see your mavic go.
Wow man, .............. Now i'm double thinking flying over this valley i've been eyeing,........ You think the failure of the battery had anything to do with the temperature??
I asked about the temperature, because you said you changed batteries, i'm assuming it was in the case, if the case was outside with you instead of the vehicle maybe the weather affected it , you know wasn't insulated enough?? anyways , sorry for your loss bro. I figure if i lose mines,i will be willing to buy one more because i really like this thing hahaha But i'd have to draw a line somewhere, they are not cheap
Sounds like the first battery was warm from the home/car, and the second battery had a chance to get cold before the flight. If you'd been flying for a few minutes, then that batter might have had a chance to warm up. However, the mist from the falls may have helped keep it cold or even made it colder. Lastly, the Mavic may have sucked in a lot of mist from the falls thereby causing a short. You'll get the same error message with a short.
Well it was only -5 and sunny and the battery was inside my black hard case. Inside the car felt warm when I got in to change batteries because of the sun. I had flown around on the second battery for a while before it went down so I don't think it was a cold battery. Mist, maybe, but the first flight I was hanging over the rapids for much longer than the 2nd flight. But its all old news now anyway. DJI replaced it as they deemed it a battery failure.
Oh man! :( Im in tears sorry for your loss. I just order mine a week ago I guess I will fly it in a warm condition it might be the weather. Your buddy is awesome!
Thanks Enrico. He was a nice guy for offering. Check out ep39. I show the actual footage of the 2 flights. I don't think it had anything to do with the cold. Rich was flying his Mavic in the same exact cold. I've flown before in much colder. The 2nd flight was not nearly as close to the open water as the first flight. Now that I have reviewed the footage. It is clearly a Battery Malfunction. This could happen (and has happened) to people in warmer climates too.
Cruising Off Duty I live in Edmonton Alberta and its pretty cold! But I cant wait to get my mavicpro and go to Coron Palawan to test it out with my family. I will check ep39
Sounds like the battery was defective. I hope DJI can rush you one. Be sure to mention your channel and what good PR this could be for them taking care of their customers and dealing with manufacturing issues.
Hi Jason. You know, every email I have sent mentions the channel and how I have done a ton of Mavic tutorials and raving about the Mavic which is a ton of free advertising for them. So far I really don't think they care or no one is actually reading the emails. Too busy filling orders to read them I guess.
Keep hope alive brother! Perhaps you just need to change your avenue of approach. Have you tried e-mailing their other offices and perhaps starting a twitter campaign? I have had great luck in tweeting to the company about an issue, much more than I do with e-mailing or calling. I wasn't able to respond to your on duty video, but I wanted to say that I completely understand. There is a grey area when making videos like that. Glad your department supported you but think it was a good call to avoid the attention. Karma is back on sale and the Autel looks like it might be good also, but honestly nothing beats a mavic for sensors, features, and portability.
I agree with everything you just said. :-)
Sorry to hear about it. It would be interesting to know what caused that problem. Does the app or controller has any useful logs that can show any info about it?
Thanks. Yes the Log file shows a battery error before the Mavic lost contact (went into the water).
Oh boy..I feel your pain. sad news. But it's a note to self. Mind out flying near water. Good friend..what a nice chap.
Yes he is very nice.
Oh man! That's a major bummer...I'm very sorry this happened to you, Craig. And just before your BVI trip too! I hope you will be able to replace it soon. Maybe the Mavic company people will cut you a break...
Thanks and lets hope they can arrange a replacement in time and a Break would be nice.
That's tragic, Craig. I would feel exactly the same if my Mavic took a dive. Perhaps I will "run in" all three of my batteries over safe terrain before venturing too far, initially. Hope you can obtain another Mavic before your trip.
Smart move. Fly each one at least once over land. Probably if you are flying in cold like me, dont venture out over open water. I wish I saw a video like this one a week ago. I wouldn't have flown where I did. This is like a public service announcement. ha ha
That really sucks Craig. What most likely happened was that you had icing on the blades flying over the rapids lots of moisture in the air plus below freezing temps, the mavic had to provide more power/current to keep it flying till it hit more than the battery could provide. On a side note you should have the footage on your tablet. Doesn't even look like you could fish it out with a fishing pole and a big hook/weight... Sad day for sure!!!
Hey Bob. Someone else suggested that. It could be right. Log file says Battery error. So lets go with that for DJI purpose. I am still hoping for a discounted replacement but I probably wont fly over a waterfall in winter in the future. :-)
Theres thread on MavicPilots ( tinyurl.com/MavicOverCharge ) about other crash where mavic started landing then have fallen from 4' like a brick. Conclusion after data analysis was same as what Bob Gubbins said. Icing on the blades -> More Power needed -> Battery fail.
So for future I'd scratch off the list flying in/over cold fog as well.
Consider writing about it on DJI forums as well, from what I heard DJI forum staff tends to speed things up if they take intrest in the case.
so where is the update about this whole situation? did DJI replace it or not?
Keep watching. I explain it all in the following episodes. But, yes.
sorry, i'm stupid, new here and did not notice that this story took few episodes. Congratulations man
Thanks
I'm really sorry! Great people here!
Thanks. Yes. Some really nice supportive people on here. It's nice to hear.
I feel your loss bro! You looked gutted. I do a lot of landscape photography (SLR) and in cold climates the lithium batteries die in super quick time-I always keep them in my pocket until i need them. As someone else commented the point at where your drone died seemed to be over a waterfall-might be possible the mist fogged the bottom sensors-hence the auto land screwing up. Without sounds too goulish i'll look forward to any footage you recover! All the best with DJI.Rob -UK
Be prepared to be quenched of your Goulish tendencies. New Episode is done with found Mavic footage. Uploading Tuesday morning.
Sickening ! Will look forward to DJI's reply because I've just ordered mine (gonna stay away from waterfalls tho)
Sorry for your lost, my condolences
Thanks. Keep watching. Things get better. :-)
Im pretty sure you got a bit too close to the cold water and it cause a bit of frosting on your blades. This then caused your blades to lose lifting power, which lead to your motors to over work themselves which lead to a battery over current alarm which caused it to land due to low voltage. Sadly its user error and very unfortunate, but there are exact stories such as this on mavicpilots.com forum. I watch your drone videos from time to time and was bummed out that you lost your drone. Better luck next time GL
+Neal Henderson . Thanks Neal.
How long was the second flight before the crash and where was the second battery before you put it in the drone and started flying? Was it sitting in the cold wile you where flying with the first battery? The reason I am asking that is because when I fly in cold temperatures I use to grab the battery at room temperature pop it in the drone and take off from my backyard but I would lose about 40% of flight time and get voltage drop outs thru out the flight. Now I got a battery heating bag and I worm up the battery for 15 minutes to 30 degrees Celsius and never had problems again.
The second flight was only a few minutes long (
Sorry about your drone. I think the cold factor reeked havoc with the smart battery. Hope to see more of your flying though! Cheers my friend!
Thanks. Somehow I will get a replacement Mavic and be back flying.
sucks, sorry.... but what a testament for the Mavic. There was NEVER a question to buy or not to buy another one. You just get another and move one, hopefully learning something along the way. I know I'd order another asap if it happened to me. What a toy that thing is!
Yes, I still love the Mavic. Its not it's fault that the battery just started dieing at an extremely accelerated rate. Like I have said in other comments. Just really bad timing for me. Had it happened over a snowy field it would have just landed softly. No issues at all.
I think someone nailed it in an earlier post.. you need to keep the batteries as warm as possible before flying in the cold. Even the instructions say only fly between 30° and 100° roughly.
Thinking about getting a MP so looking at videos and came across this. Must have been so heartbreaking in the moment! But this video's amazing moment happens at 9:00. That's worth a lot! If you can't get yours in time, take Rich up on his offer while your new one is being delivered. If you lose his since you're prone to dunking drones (sorry...couldn't resist :-) ), then you can replace his.
Thanks Mark. Hopefully I can get my own. But it's nice to know I have offers to borrow one until my new one arrives.
Craig - sorry to hear about your Mavic. I watched your video last night and today when I was flying mine over a small lake got a red screen warning "Battery Overcurrent During Discharge" I'd never heard of that error and never had in over 75 flights and then after you mentioned it - it happened to me.
Lucky for me I had just taken off was in sports mode and full throttle up and full pitch forward. So I was over 250FT. The craft stopped abruptly but then recovered. I ran that battery down to 5% and will re-charge it. I had no problems for the rest of the flight (however I kept over land and close to the ground).
Crazy that it happened to me after hearing about your issue. Power of suggestion? Searching the web it seems that there are quite a few post about that error mostly on the Phantom 3 series.
Funny thing is that Health Drones shows the error - but all the battery stats look fine and during the time of the error shows the battery at normal levels. If you were using the DJI GO 4 app you can sync and then use the healthy drones sync app to upload your flights and see what errors you had. It will show if you had any battery anomalies as well.
We are all waiting to hear what DJI will do for you - because we know it will happen to someone else.
Good Luck!
fridmani1 was it also cold when this happened to yours. just reading comments due to I'm getting one. want to know if this was a DJI problem or user problem. thanks .
No not cold it was cool mid 50s here in Texas
Thanks. Yes I hear its usually when the battery is under heavy load. Sport mode is usually when it happens. Mine was probably due to freezing up from the moist cold air freezing to the props.
hey guys if craig just fly it for a couple minutes and it makes the battery heat itself will it still malfunction???
So sorry to see this video & your loss, hope you manage to get sorted before your trip.. Don't think I dare fly over water now. Gutted for you.
Thanks Karen. Gutted is a good word. Its how I felt yesterday. Actually how I still feel today. Just wish DJI would contact me like they said they would.
Wow, so sad. If I had one I'd loan it to ya bro, as I know the feeling of vacations ruined from unexpected events. I think the cold n build up of cold mist may have been a factor? I am waiting for when all the bugs are out for Inspire 2 n hopefully DJI will offer the CrystalSky as well. You obviously have more experience than I do presently. As I am a rookie just getting my feet wet per se. Happy ya wife is understanding as with generously sweet. I don't think I'd have that support, she'd never let me go loosing a toy as this nor I2. Yep, I know now I really fkd up some there. But she saved my life with Gods helping hand. Only game in town as they say. Be dead n gone in 5 yrs they say,,, Blessings to your new Mavic bro,,, Ty
Thanks.
Subscribed. Your videos are well made and pleasure to watch. Watching most of your videos and knowing now the dream/goal you have makes your channel very interesting. Gotta see this through how it goes in the future. Most youtubers have a youtube role they play. I feel you are who you are in your videos. Sorry for loosing your drone man! Greetings from Finland - it is icy here too.
Thanks a lot Ville. That is really nice things to hear. I am just being myself. Although sometimes in the Tutorial videos I am a bit more serious than I am with my friends. I like to joke around. You see it in a few of the older sailing videos and as I go to the BVI and get more into a Sailing Vlog style this coming summer, you will probably see more of the goofiness. My sailing friends and I always have a blast when we are rafted up together. Mavic Tutorials don't lend them self to me goofing around. :-)
Keep making and I will keep watching and recommending your channel. Your tutorials are great, those are the ones that brought me in. Keep going. My wife and kids have stolen our tv so I watch a lot of youtube on my laptop. And I see channels getting popular and makers ditching their true self in order to please the audience. That is where the most fail eventually. You say your channel is growing because people far away like to see how sailing and scenery is in Canada. No. It is the informative content and the way you present it that does the job. And the effort you make in post production.
Thanks a lot Ville. I appreciate hearing that!
So I called Best Buy and I went there, they had 8 on Monday and now they have absolutely none left. She checked other stores in Montreal and everything is sold out. There a lot for sale on Kijiji but they are priced a bit more expensive but it's all about how bad do you really want it. I bought mine of Kijiji for 2250 with fly more combo plus a extra battery.
Ya. I hope to never be desperate enough to resort to Kijiji and paying above market. I guess if DJI leaves me hanging I will order one and borrow a mavic for my trip. The new Mavic would be here by the time I am back.
My guess is that you got icing on the props. That would cause the exact symptoms you describe. How close to the water did you fly?
Lowest was probably 15' above the water. First flight I was flying much higher. Im guessing Icy props did have something to do with it. Just wish the controller warned me there was a battery issue before it was descending into the water. :-(
Cruising Off Duty. Icing severely reduce prop efficency fast. As the mavic tries to maintain lift and altitude it rapidly increase engine speed -which in turn accellerate icing. In the end the end this overloads the batteries and the craft looses power. The battery error is probably not the cause of your crash, but an effect of the icing. In damp or wet conditiona and close to freezing temperatures ice can build up so fast that there is no way a craft witout a de-icing system can recover.
Per-Ø Pettersen hey man why rich's MP seems ok??
tal polano There could be multiple reasons for that. Shorter flights, avoiding water spray, staying out of the shadows and in the sun and flying higher above the water I guess.
Feels terrible just watching the Blog Unfold I have Aspire 1, two pantom 3s , two Breeze , and a phantom 4. I would feel terrible losing any one. So far I am such timed flyer. I feel for you!
Thanks Jerry. You have a lot of drones!
Very sorry for your loss. I have flown Phantom 3 pro, 4, 4+ and now Mavic. I have experienced this error when the drone is "asking for more energy than the battery can provide". Usually seen in Sport mode full throttle and and right stick forward. I suspect props developed an issue probably icing. If you please your case with DJI they may offer you at least 30% discount on your next $700 purchase and if you badger/sweet talk them enough may even send you a new one .
Thank Marino for writing your experience. I hope you are right about DJI helping. For all the free advertising DJI has received from my channel the least they could do is give me a discount on a new one. Since I did get a battery issue warning way too late to save the drone. If they actually took the time to read my emails and realize that I need a drone to go to BVI so I can make a ton more free advertising for them they should be contacting me to come up with a fair price and sending the drone now. But, they seem too busy to care to read any of my emails. Or they just don't care that much if they get free advertising because they are selling like hotcakes anyway. I think that is probably more the case.
Sorry for your loss. What device were you using when you flew? Maybe the flight log can be recovered so you can show it to DJI and hopefully they'll see your side. Also, did you have any other insurance on it? In the US State Farm covers drones so I have a policy with them. The nice thing is that if it's lost, stolen, or broken they replace it...with no deductible. So hoping you have something similar. Again, sorry for your loss.
Hey Gat App. Thanks. Yes the Tablet has the log file and it shows all the telemetry and error codes. In my case a battery error before it went down. Its stored in the DJI Go 4 app. No, I had no special insurance.
Do you use healthy drones website? I find that you can look at the voltage information for the battery and see if there was any issues.
Also, was there mist in the air from the water? That could have caused a short in the electronics as well. Always sad to lose a drone. Hopefully DJI can help you out.
Mavics are quite prepared for less then perfect weather, electronics are coated so mist, fog, water splashes or even light rain shouldn't cause any shorts. What they can't handle is total submersion in water and extreme cold. Just like any electronics.
Daaang that sucks. :(
And right before your trip too. Condolences.
(Side note, I messaged you back, in case you didn't see it. YT message notifications can be weird)
Hey Ryan. Yes, major bummer and bad timing. I will check the messages. I tried to find an email for you but couldn't. Email me at CruisingOffDuty@Gmail.com and we can talk more that way instead of on here. Cheers.
Oh noooo Graig. So sorry to hear. A scary scenario. It makes me worry when I hear about all those mavic crashes on youtube. However most of them are human mistakes. But it doesn't seem to be in your case. I hope Dji can help you. Great that Rich will lend you his mavic. You must be extra carefull with that in BVI :-) keep up the channel. We want to hear from you.
+Mike Santis Thanks Mike. I plan to keep the channel going so don't worry. 😃
Looks interesting.
Keeping the dome on will make the Mavic run a bit hotter because the dome encapsulate the cooling port vent. Hopefully DJI will improve the cooling vent intake by relocating it to a better spot.
Yes. I dont fly with dome on. That was Rich's Mavic that had the dome on.
Cold lipo batteries don't perform at all. The cold restricts current flow within the lithium ion chemistry . Keep them warm at room temperature for the duration of the day to avoid weird issues with the battery voltage.
I did keep them warm in my car in the sun but, next time I will put them in my pant pockets next to .... well you know what. ;-)
Not sure what your equivalent to FAA is but I'm sure that if you wrote DJI and expressed to them that due to their product malfunctioning you lost control of it and it went down, thankfully not in a populated area, you felt compelled to notify the appropriate regulatory agency of a potentially serious defect in the product line that might pose a public safety concern, you might receive a reply.
Ha Ha. Play hard ball. Got it. :-)
I feel for you. That's so depressing. Hope you get another one soon.
Thanks Peter
Not sure if Best Buy in Canada stock as well as Best Buy in the states, but they restock almost every week or so and the shipping pretty fast.
Thanks. I am still holding out some hope DJI will come through. I really only need the Mavic. Not a new controller. Only DJI seems to ship just the Mavic alone.
i live i florida, and 50degree weather caused a battery warning, so being there is snow in ur video! its very safe to say it went doit because ur battery was frost bitten! haha sucks hope u get back flying soon!!
Yes. Hopefully I get back flying soon.
Well..here's an update on my drone crashing into the water..DJI said I was too low to water and barometric pressure was not read properly and they say it's not a malfunction. I started the drone at 13ft above the water and was in sport mode...I didn't change the altitude at all on my end but the drone couldn't hold at 13 ft apparently because it decided to just drop into the water while coming back for no reason except that it thought it was too high and decided to lower itself. I'm going to a Spark Launch event in Toronto today and hopefully reps from DJI will be there to address this situation because the 3rd party tech support is horrible and also not a toll free call. A week worth of jumping through the same hoops over and over to end up hearing that they will not consider false barometer readings as a problem on their end.
Oh, sorry to hear that. I never fly in sports mode. And certainly not over water now that I have had my issue. Sport mode feels like it is just pushing the drone to its limit. Hope you get something worked out at the DJI event
they said it was pilot error..offering 20 percent on replacement...I'm not done fighting them
Have you figured out what actually happened? Also what video editing software do you use to have those wonderful pop up talking points?
DJI didn't say exactly. But keep watching. Many answers in the episodes that follow.
Just wondered over current discharge" error because you are probably going both sticks fully forward in sport mode. Let me know.
I was not in sport mode. Check the footage I was mostly hovering in place filming.
The "malfunction" is the cold. I've seen this error mentioned before and it's always connected to the cold. Major bummer. I live in "lake country" Idaho and will not fly over water until I have a solid recovery method.
Yep. Cold bad. Over water while it is cold. Very bad. Lesson learned.
So sad, sorry about your loss... and that you have to try and deal with DJI Customer Service..
If you've shared already I'm sorry for the repeat questions, but perhaps this watery grave was caused by the cold?... How long was the "fresh" battery sitting in cold before being used? What was the outside temp? Does it show the battery temp in the log?
Must add, I really appreciate your time into your channel regarding the Mavic and even more so sharing this horrible experience so perhaps answers are found for future flights.
Thanks. I never got the usual cold weather warning on the battery. The battery was in my car in side the hard case so I think it stayed pretty warm It wasn't that cold of a day. The battery was freshly charged from home. Maybe flew 2-3 minutes on it.
Cruising Off Duty, thanks.
I get pretty nervous flying in the cold and/or high fog/mist. I've flown in -15C and just below fog which is pretty nerve racking once flights are complete with concern of moisture once back inside to warmer temps. With the high humidity of your location, and the cold, perhaps when you changed batteries there was a little moisture at the connection...
Guess we'll truly never know, but hope you get #2 shortly for some epic footage on BVI.
Cheers
Thanks. Let's hope
DJI has less than 10 day turnaround right now, but I'm sure they won't warranty it in time. It's awesome that he offered his as a loaner.
Yes. Looking like DJI is too busy to read emails explaining things like this. So far no one has even asked to have me send them my flight log. Now I found the footage from the tablet too. But, so far no interest in looking into it. :-(
A similar incident occurred to my Mavic on trip to Ireland in Cork. I got "Magnetic Interference" prompts while flying over the river in town and I went down. DJI claimed the flight record never shows this event and that I "flipped" my drone into the water. I purchased another like yourself. Must say DJI has some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced. We need more competitors to wake them up.
+adrianos k Damn shame. Sorry to hear that.
Sorry man! That is a bummer and makes me not want to fly near water. Hope DJI makes this right for you. At least nobody was hurt. Just money... and you can always make more of that. Great video and thanks for sharing.
Thanks BigFish. Ya, no injuries so I guess that is good.
DUDE.THAT.SUCKS....Chin up man, fingers crossed for a quick replacement.
Thanks so much Jeff!
Sorry to see this fella, I really hope things turn out well in the end. Rich is ace!
Thanks Mick. Yes Rich seems like a quality guy. I just met him in person that day.
Doesn't the DJI app save the footage? Obviously the footage on the drone sd card is gone. But the app footage should be intact.
Ya. Its probably stored somewhere in the buffer. DJI still hasn't contacted me. They are suppose to get a download of my flight log and whatever footage may have been stored in the 2GB buffer on my tablet. I looked at the flight log and it does show a battery error before the final contact a few seconds latter. Not happy that DJI just took my info and is now leaving me hanging. Time is running out on BVI.
ATWDigital it saves it unless you turn caching off, i turn it off because you get smoother footage
Cruising Off Duty So bummed about your Mavic, your friend is a really classy guy for letting you borrow his. Hope you get a replacement soon!
Yes. I was caught off guard by the offer. I think you can see that in my face. I would really like to avoid borrowing someone else's Mavic. That adds a whole other layer of pressure when it is someone else's drone you are flying.
Sorry to hear about the loss....how are you liking the ACER tablet? Going to pick one up based on your suggestion.
It works perfectly. It has a bit of a glare in the sun but I think an Ipad would too. A sun hood will solve that
Cruising Off Duty if you ever get a sun hood, please link where you got it from.
I ordered my Mavic Pro from Newegg a month ago. It only took two weeks to get it.
Great. That's pretty quick.
so sorry Craig! although I didn't have the mavoc pro, I have experienced that same feeling, my phantom 2 did the exact same thing, just started landing in the woods, I was a lot luckier than you as I was able to retrieve mine, after 4 hours of searching... feel so terrible for you. Who ever does the logic in programming, needs to redesign that function. if an error occurs, return to home... for crying out loud, never just land where it is! or at least try to return to home!
Oh and the canon's audio was better but that is probably
because of the proximity of it to you. Hero had a lot better high end
frequencies. Bass response on the canon was better. Visually, it looked about
the same, the hero has a little wide angle rounding effect. It would be better
to have the camera’s side by side to get a true comparison.
Yes. My complaint as well. If the props were starting to ice up and the batteries were draining because of it, it should have warned me sooner. By the time I got a warning it was just drifting down as if it was self landing. Pushing up or hitting RTH did nothing to change it. Had it warned me something was a miss sooner I could have flown home.
Also the G7X has awesome audio everywhere I take it. Sometimes I swear it is better than my GH4 with a shotgun Mic. The two cameras were not that much farther from me than the other. The super wide angle of the Hero 5 made it look like it was way way farther than it was. My summary is the G7X is better sound and the best low light camera I have ever had but its not waterproof with an external Mic like the H5. So the Hero 5 will be used whenever it is raining or we are anywhere that we could get wet and the G7X is my go to VLog camera in every other way. I also have a GH4 that I can Vlog with as I do have a wide angle lens and it is awesome with multiple lenses. So now I am completely set for cameras gear for a while. Although the new GH5 that was just announced looks so sweet and it would use all my existing lenses. Now I just have to convince Janice that she needs to become more hands on with the filming (ie she takes the GH4) and I could get the GH5. I know, I have a spending problem when it comes to gear . ha ha
LOL I think I suffer from that as well, but mine is boats... I have a power boat, but I really want a bigger sailboat, I had an '85 hunter 22, and I really enjoyed it, but no one else in the family liked it as much as I did. especially the wifey, and you know what they say about happy wife, happy life. so I sold it a couple of years back. but man do I mess it! we live about 2 hours from the gulf of mexico, so it would be great to have one down there, am I right?
I love boats too. Unfortunately, unlike you, I can't sail for 5 months a year. Can't wait to be somewhere we can sail 12 months a year.
I don't get it, your friend was flying his Mavic in identical weather conditions and had no problems.
Yep. It was determined to be a battery issue by DJI.
OK, thanks for the update, this accident makes more sense now.
I am very curious to see if DJI gives any insight to what went wrong. Pretty concerning behavior considering I regularly fly above water... did you have the lost signal setting set to Return to Home? Even if you didn't, it doesn't seem to explain what happened since connection wasn't lost.
Ya. Everything was set to RTH. I even hit RTH when it started sinking and pushing the joystick up didn't help. Nothing. It just kept drifting straight down.
Did a quick Google Search on the error you mentioned "Battery Overcurrent" or current overload. It seems that people related that to flying the drone in cold weather. One person described the same loss of control and decent but he was lucky enough to be over land. He mentioned that when he got to the drone that there was a thin layer of ice on it, potentially leading to the control failure. Given you were shooting close to rapids with spray in below freezing temperatures (?) maybe you experienced icing too? forum.dji.com/thread-72992-1-1.html
P.S. Such a bummer this happened. I have been really enjoying your videos and could tell how psyched you were about this drone as many of us are. I hope DJI helps make this right.
Thanks Nicholas. Yes the more I analyze it I am thinking frost on props could be an issue.
How was your screen for the g7x Mark ii below the camera? Did you have it upside down?
Ya. The suction cup I crewed in into only allowed me to mount it upside down. Then in FCPX I just flipped the footage back over. :-)
Hola form Spain Ive watched all your vids and encouraged me to order a MAVIC in September , still hadn't arrived in December so I cancelled and bought the P4 from Apple here, great piece of kit very reliable good in wind... But I still hankered for the MAVIC because of its size, for travelling which I like to do with just a small rucksack....so I returned the phantom within time in as new condition and just had an email from DJI they've sent the MAVIC that I ordered 20th January In the meantime bought the Yuneec typhoon G for €400 with gopro connected, goes well but phantom flew better especially in wind....
Sad to loose yours can't think that turning downward sensors off when you fly over water should stop you from pushing sticks up and it not reacting, downward sensors are surely to stop it hitting anything while its descending like a tree....I liked the lake shot best you did when you first got it, Simon in Spain
Hey Simon. It sounds like you have a few drones to play with. Like you I bought the Mavic just for the ability to travel with it and throw it in any backpack.
that sucks man... I just wanted to say I flew my phantom 2vision+ over those falls in winter with no problems.... but I took the video off of Utube because that is a no-fly zone .. too close to the airport to be legal unless you have a SFOC. (Special Flight Operator Certificate) from Transport Canada. I was told that they would have no problem fining people after the fact (or flight)... Your video is just proof you did it. Then I lost it in the Ottawa river months later in the summer. Now I have a Phantom 4 pro and I think it is the most awesome drone ever made!!.. (in my biased opinion... lol)
Luckily I got a replacement. Learning lesson.
I have the Hero 5 black and when in its case/holder any kind of movement sound goes straight into the mics. WIthout that case its ok but when in the case the sound vibrations from movements etc seams to go straight into the mic causing a rattle sound. The only way around this I found was the buy the 3.5 mic adaptor ( Not cheap ) from GoPro. Worth it though as you get much better sound with the adaptor.
Thanks for letting me know this Ozzie. I was wondering what was causing that rattle. Now I know.
wow sorry to here the news man,I no its a lot of money but your come again, I've had my mavic a week know and I would cry if that happened to me
Yes. Tough pill to swallow. Best of luck with yours! It is a fun drone.
I can't wait to get it out to fly, I'm from London uk and it just been raining most of the time , anyway keep your chin up and have a good holiday as we say in the uk.
That sucks.. I think my next quad will be the Mavic. I purchased a cheap Hubsan H501S for my motorcycle club rides. Have had nothing but problems with it. However, losing a $240 quad in the drink is one thing.. Losing a thousand dollar quad is another. Good Luck and best wishes from Ohio..
You will like the Mavic. Just hope you don't have a battery issue like I did. Especially if you just happen to be over water at the time.
Ha, I can see myself calling the wife and telling her I just dropped a grand in the drink;) That said, I guess after placing three kids through college I'm still recovering from that expense. Let's just say for what I've spent I could have purchased a real helicopter.. Well used of course...
Yes the hobby can be expensive. Especially if you drop your drone into a river.
Sorry for your loss.... Sounds like you tried just about all you could. Did you try to fly in manual mode, or did the software not allow that either?
I was flying in manual mode. Joystick stopped responding to me pushing up. Hit the RTH just in case it would snap it out of its fall. It did not. :-(
Thank you for the reply, I plan on getting a Mavic and want to know all I can about it. Currently I have the Phantom 3, fly with iPad mini cellular, and save videos as they happen into the app, it saves at 720p, and obviously also have the drone saving to is SD card. At least you tried all you could instead of doing nothing.
I feel your pain I lost my phantom 3 pro last year over water falls lost control and caught a tree branch and never seen it again only has it 3 weeks. 1800 Canadian for a new one just carried on never looked back love the sport now more experience going to buy a Magic soon they look more cool than my Phantom.
Big learning lesson. I know now not to fly over open water in the winter. Expensive lesson.