Phantom Vision + debacle 5 weeks and waiting

[glamson]

Received a Phantom Vison + in June. Flew it once and then the gimbal started freaking out every time I tried to start it up. This apparently was a know problem and I sent back the defective unit. After a month and a half I received a new unit. All was well for the first 8 flights and then the new unit did a runner and just took off on its own midflight and crashed about a 1/2 mile away. After 3 hours of searching I was able to find it. Even though I did a navigation calibration before every flight, I went through a thorough calibration of everything. The unit performed fine in a 5 minute test flight. On the next flight the machine behaved normally for about 3 minutes and then it did another runner. This time there was a hard crash on a rocky ridge and the camera gimbal wouldn't operate anymore. Sent the unit in for repair and they receieved it 5 weeks ago. Other than the initial message that confirmed that DJI had received it and placed it in the repair queue I have heard nothing concerning a repair.

All told, in the 4 months that I have "owned" my Phantom Vision +, I have flown it a total of 10 times and actually been in possession of it for about 6 out of the 16 weeks. I can not it good conscience recommend to any one that they purchase one of these units after this debacle. It is really disappointing to see so much potential and so little execution from DJI.

After searching the internet, it is clear I am not alone in my experience. Unfortunately, I am fast coming to the conclusion that this may be a total loss. Now I know what it's like to be on the bleeding edge of a new technology.:upset:

George:upset:

 

[TomWolves]

I know how you feel.I received my phantom vision 2 plus September 7th and only flown it four times,2 of those four times my phantom flew off on it's own.I noticed that when I turned on the video it lost the satellites. I sent it to UAVDirect on October 7th and still nothing.There are many more phantom pilots with the same problem you would think they would put their heads together and figure it out.Like you I wouldn't recommend this to my friends.

 

[glamson]

Tom,

I know your pain. I do have what I hope is good news. I received an email from DJI last week informing me that they had fixed my unit. They said they fixed the camera and replaced the logic boards in the drone an controller. They also cautioned me to calibrate the compass on every flight which I already did. Interestingly, they told me to make sure that I had a minumum of 6 satellites present when I flew. They said something about the unit wouldn't establish the correct "home" position unless there were 6 satellites. They claimed the reason my unit was flying off on its own was that it was flying back to the wrong "home" location when it lost signal. I don't get that one. They also upgraded the firmware. I am supposed to get the unit back today. I will post the results of my test flights. Hopefully I won't have any more problems.

George

 

[TomWolves]

Glad you have good news George.i spoke with Jake from UAVDirect ,he said they went through the whole phantom and still couldn't fix the problem (loses satellites when you turn video on),so now they are going to send it to California DJI headquarters .I spoke with a dji representative who emailed me paper work to fill out so they can expedite my phantom (work sooner on it) as I have already waited over a month from uavdirect to fix it and they can't.They are stumped as to what is wrong.George be careful and pay close attention to the satellites when you turn on your video with your phantom.You do have a "Phantom Vision 2 Plus", don't you? Anyway good luck flying George.
Tom

 

[glamson]

Tom,

No joy for me. I did receive a new Vison + yesterday. After charging every thing up I did a couple of test flights today. Unfortunately it was another disaster. Here is a summary of the two flights

Flight 1 – I did a compass calibration of the unit and everything seemed normal. I had 8 satellites locked on. I flew the unit for about 10 minutes never letting it get more than about 200 yards from me. At about the 10 minute mark the unit just dropped out of the sky. I didn’t even have my hands on the joysticks. When I approached the unit the rotors were still under power. I restarted the unit and it took off OK. I thought maybe there might be something wrong with the battery so I switched to a fully charged battery.
Flight 2 – I recalibrated and again had 8 satellites. Almost the exact same thing happened. At about 12 minutes the unit was flying at about 50 feet about 200 yards from me and it just dropped out of the sky. I tried to apply more throttle to keep it up but the unit continued to fall. After hitting the ground it went back up but it seemed to have completely lost GPS lock. It did respond to throttle down and I was able to land it.

I did not experience this power loss problem before and it obviously makes the unit completely unreliable. After three big strikes and all the complaints I have seen on the internet about the Vision + I have decided that I have had enough aggravation. I am requesting a refund from DJI and will return this unit. I wish you luck with your unit.

George

 

[TomWolves]

George before you give up go through everything, like, did you up grade the app,firmware, and check your new phantom vision plus on the firmware?
If I'm not mistaking the new app has a bad battery detection on the app.Hopefully Dji will refund your money.If and when I get mine back I will do as you (get my money back) if it doesn't work as it should.A friend of mine has a phantom vision 2 plus and he flies his all over the place far distances with no problems .He also set's way points with no problems .
Tom

 

[glamson]

Tom,

Actually they updated the firmware when they "fixed" it this last time. I went through and checked all the calibrations and I was using the latest version of the app. It seemed to me that this latest unit that I received was not as powerful as the two previous models that I had. I noticed that it didn't really climb as well. Why it just lost power and fell is beyond me. The second model that I had actually worked for about 8 flights before it started flying off on its own. I got a beautiful fly over of the South Tufa formation at Mono Lake.

You can see the video at this link: http://vimeo.com/105988414

I am very disappointed that the Vision + has not lived up to its hype I was really excited about getting some great video. I'm not really looking forward to fighting with DJI for a refund. They have already sent me a reply saying I need to send the unit in for repair. I didn't even have the unit for 24 hours and it already crashed twice on me. They have to be crazy if they think I'm going through another 6 week wait for a repair.

George

 

[TomWolves]

Are they paying for shipping?if they are paying for shipping I would keep sending it back.I had to pay 65.00 to send mine to uavdirect.I figure right there I got ripped as it is still under warranty,and they couldn't fix it, uavdirect told me it is possessed.If Dji keeps doing what they are doing that company won't last long.I will check out your video in a bit George.