I lost control after Battery Change

[Paul Joy]

I was a little worried there for a while as the fact that ATTI didn't help goes against most of the compass theory I've picked up but if you don't enable multiple flight modes in the advanced MC settings page then the switch wouldn't have any effect.

Whilst it's a good idea to have a check list, even without one it's wise to go to the sensors page before every motor startup to check the mod values are in range. If they are not then you need to try moving the Inspire to see if there's any external influences before making the call to recalibrate.

I think it's important for any operator to enable and understand ATTI mode as early as possible, by not doing so you're 100% relying on an autopilot without learning to control the aircraft manually should you need to do so.

Glad you're Inspire survived, chalk it up to experience.

 

[Aviator]

would that tree parking not be a fault of the inspire 1 and not pilot error??? would sending it in be repaireable on warranty or is that a no warranty issue...

DJI would want to see the flight logs to determine any fault.
It is worth learning how to remount the gimbal and check the cables as it is likely at some point many pilots will have a hard landing that will pull the camera off the rubber mounts and in doing so could damage the cables.
Take a look at this video for instruction on this procedure

 

[MC67]

I had this same experience yesterday in new location, I didn't bother with the compass calibration and just did a normal takeoff. The aircraft took off on a crazy level at full speed, the controls didn't respond properly and it took 10 minutes to get it down for the nearly crash landing.....my buddy jumped off the cab of the truck to grabbed the landing gear. I tried switching the modes while in flight, pressed the home button to see if that would help and I had to get a drink after getting ready for a $3000 crash. Hadn't flown since...

 

[IIIDaemon]

Yeah but you guys also need to read what I said ACTUALLY happened. I do everything the manual tells me to do and more. The simple fact is the manual states that it is necessary to do a calibration ONLY when the App tells you to do so. I do a calibration in each new location, and check the readouts. But I don't normally do a re-calibration after a battery change in the same place and that is when this problem happened ie between batteries the calibration changed. I do follow the instructions but what I am saying is that I believe that they don't go far enough, and that you need to check them before EVRY takeoff, even in the same place and after a battery change.

But I'm getting annoyed by people telling me I'm lazy or not appreciative of the fact that it is a serious investment ($3K - try $5.5K over here!). No-one takes flying these things safely more than me. I just wish there were consistent, absolute must do procedures that will ensure safe flying because the manual is obviously not correct with this one.

.
...John, after reading your post i have little or no doubt that you followed procedure and did the right common sense things.. problem with that is, it doesn't matter.. these crafts are simply not reliable enough.. dont take my word for it, look on DJI's own WebSite.. you see any real parts avail?? short of some plastic and fn stickers? can you guess why? my guess is DJI realizes how unreliable they are and dont want to put themselves into perpetual warranty loop.. they would much rather you go to Ebay.. by some used parts and Void your warranty.. its a crap shoot every-time these things go up, period.. i've got 2 i crashed my 1st, my fault, no doubt and have flown my 2nd 26 Full Batt chg's and approx 12 Partial Chg's, so far so good.. but i know its only a matter of time it started to wigg out on me a coupla weeks ago after takeoff.. i regained ctrl, theres just no telling what caused it.. unless we Inspire owners take charge and bild a database logging these issues with all pertinent data we will always be in the dark, and we'll never really know sht for certain...
.
IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net

 

[Frank508]

just did a normal takeoff.

I was wondering, can you remember after the normal take off precisely when the odd behavior started and what was it? What axis did it move in uncommanded. Also was the camera holding it alignment?
Lastly, when you review the flight on your tablet, does the altitude reading look right, or does is go negative?

 

[Steve Reid]

Yes I have!
I had an almost identical situation, the difference was that I did shut down the RC.
The AC was almost uncontrollable from the moment it took off.
Switching to ATTI mode did not help much..
I managed a hard landing that pulled the camera from its rubber mounts and pulled a pin from one of the ribbon cables feeding the camera,
Like you I will now ALWAYS do a compass calibration before a flight.

 

[Crashnot]

John,
Thank you for the heads up! To this point in time I have not checked the IMU or compass after the first battery, that will change now.
Dennis

 

[Ronable]

A curious question: when you changed batteries was one a 47 and the other a 48? Might explain the impact on the compass.

 

[Steve Reid]

I don't remember about what I took out but I put in a 48. I haven't used it since it happened waiting to hear from DJI in about 4 more weeks. However the guy I spoke with said it could have been the battreys fault.

 

[Father Fly]

Well that's probably why switching to ATTI mode did nothing - I wasn't aware that you had to switch the option on to allow ATTI mode. I just flicked the switch on the controller to the middle setting and it made no difference, but when I saw your reply above, I checked the app, and discovered the option to allow multiple flight modes, which was off. The trouble is, after switching it to on, after I came back to it I noticed it had turned itself back off again. However, I did this quickly and the aircraft itself was not on so maybe it has to actually be all powered up, but it does keep switching back to off.

I have switched to multiple flight mode and found that it turns off and I have to turn it back on to use atti or ioc....

 

[John Casey]

A curious question: when you changed batteries was one a 47 and the other a 48? Might explain the impact on the compass.

Yes, the first one was a 48, and I emptied it down to about 25-30% and landed normally, shut the aircraft down, and fitted a 47 battery which was 100% charged, started and took off from the same position. That's when it went crazy. I've flown it about 5 times since then and it's been fine. But I do a compass calibration every time before takeoff, and check the sensor's settings. I've even re-calibrated the compass when I thought the compass readout was a little low (1420-1500 range) but it flew OK. But to answer your question, yes it was a TB48 followed by a TB47, but that's what I have done many times before.

 

[John Casey]

John,
Thank you for the heads up! To this point in time I have not checked the IMU or compass after the first battery, that will change now.
Dennis

Hi Dennis, Yes, I would check every time because I've assumed that just a battery change in the same location would not require a check, but I nearly lost the whole thing because of it. Cheers, John

 

[John Casey]

I had this same experience yesterday in new location, I didn't bother with the compass calibration and just did a normal takeoff. The aircraft took off on a crazy level at full speed, the controls didn't respond properly and it took 10 minutes to get it down for the nearly crash landing.....my buddy jumped off the cab of the truck to grabbed the landing gear. I tried switching the modes while in flight, pressed the home button to see if that would help and I had to get a drink after getting ready for a $3000 crash. Hadn't flown since...

Yeah that sounds similar to my experience, but I decided I would try to fly almost straight away after doing another compass calibration and making sure it was around the 1500 mark, and it's flown fine.

 

[John Casey]

If you was able to switch to atti, probably could've helped more to gain control.
Surprised that slip by, you seem well informed. i wouldn't start calibrating and imu every flight now. whenever what you describe happen to me, i normally just elevated till i get a gps lock. Haven't had those problem since compass error days.
chalk it up as being more experienced now most folks freak out you controlled it and got it safely down. Never panic and try taking off in atti

Yeah as I said, I wasn't able to switch to ATTI mode - it did nothing ie. it wouldn't change from P-GPS mode. I have flown ATTI mode quite a bit, but I have always taken off in ATTI mode, never switched mid flight. It wouldn't do it during this flight, so I fought it down in P mode. But no, I certainly didn't panic because I was able to get a feel of how much stick it needed to combat each erratic move and then brought it down that way. Wasn't the best landing I've ever done, but safe just the same.

 

[Scotflieger]

Yeah as I said, I wasn't able to switch to ATTI mode - it did nothing ie. it wouldn't change from P-GPS mode. I have flown ATTI mode quite a bit, but I have always taken off in ATTI mode, never switched mid flight. It wouldn't do it during this flight, so I fought it down in P mode. But no, I certainly didn't panic because I was able to get a feel of how much stick it needed to combat each erratic move and then brought it down that way. Wasn't the best landing I've ever done, but safe just the same.

Check that you have Multiple Flight Modes selected in the Pilot App settings. If it is not you won't be able to switch to ATTI in flight.

 

[Aviator]

A curious question: when you changed batteries was one a 47 and the other a 48? Might explain the impact on the compass.

Yes, I did change from a 48 to a 47,,
So do you think the mass of the batteries can affect the compass?

 

[John Casey]

Check that you have Multiple Flight Modes selected in the Pilot App settings. If it is not you won't be able to switch to ATTI in flight.

Yeah thanks - I have since done that due to someone telling me about it. That must be a mode that has been introduced in one of the later versions of the App, because I have never done that before and was able to switch to ATTI mode (never tried it mid-flight though) but I have now switched that on. To be honest, I can't understand why that is there, because we have a switch on the controller to change from P to A mode. Surely that is enough but anyway, I have switched that on. Thanks for the reply anyway.

 

[John Casey]

Yes, I did change from a 48 to a 47,,
So do you think the mass of the batteries can affect the compass?

I guess that is a possible because there is quite a weight difference between the 2 models of battery, and also there is a voltage difference (0.6V) So you may be onto something there.

 

[Aviator]

@Ronable
You could have hit the nail on the head!
It does make perfect sense to me that changing to a battery with a different mass could impact the compass especially with the battery being so close to the compass sensor.

 

[Steve Reid]

@Ronable
You could have hit the nail on the head!
It does make perfect sense to me that changing to a battery with a different mass could impact the compass especially with the battery being so close to the compass sensor.