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Not enough force ESC error on Mavic Mini

rhettduke

Well-Known Member
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Oct 16, 2018
Messages
112
Age
57
Well....I’m coming at this with a bad attitude.....suggestions welcome

My first Mavic mini flight was interesting.....I was used to go4 and Litchi from about years worth of phantom 4 and spark flying.
The fly app was uncluttered and easy to take off with.....

of notice was the battery.....flight time left bar across top of ipad 9.7 gen 6 that I had come to trust was not there.

it had a digital timer of flight time left and I took off with firmware updated.....

I noticed that the timer digits were up and down....something at a level never experienced with the spark or phantom.....

I was lulled by the.....it has 30 min of fly time by spec.....so if I get say 25 mins.....that might be real world.....

at about 13 mins time controls had lag.....video link came and went and I turned around to come back home.....landed on a floor Matt pad and said.....I don’t know....seems strange.....but nothing that said eminent danger....

put second battery in.....re booted.....got take off ok.....and up and away......at about 10 and a half minutes it felt flakey again and I turned and came home.....flight time left was all over the place.....but I was coming home.....at distance my lowly Spark with specs of 16 mins had done over and over before.....

I noticed altitude drop......and hit stick to ascend.....it did....then dropped again.......

my brain goes into.....oh my this is what happens when you ignore slash cancel RTH too many times ......been there...done that.....and in that crash.....I learned how to start using the black box telemetry on my android phone to figure out where the bird landed.....even had the data in 3 d on a google earth pro environment......

Well....I landed in a tree about 35 ft off the ground........that single pine tree in a cow pasture provided a soft....or I’m gonna say softer than it could have been if it struck hard ground.

There are issues in the way of getting from the ground to the branch the mini is on......

But with ladder....chain saw.....and cold beer to calm my nerves .....Im about to get to a point that hopefully a 18 ft piece of pvc pipe stretched out will dislodge mini and it will fall onto a kids blow up plastic swimming pool that is upside down.....theory being there will be some cushion if it falls as I hope.....

My neighbors are amused.....local law enforcement are amused......all from the safety of being outside the barbed wire fence .....that is home to livestock that mostly don’t care......with the exception of The Bull.....who becomes less than docile once I get off the tractor.....

I keep a legal Judge side arm chambered with .410 bird shot or 45 Long Colt depending on the day.....

Im becoming more inclined to put the Mavic Mini out of its misery........the Bull.....well it’s his field.....even though he doesn’t pay property taxes there.....

as a reasonable person..... I think his aggressive behavior is ok.....he is just doing his job.....

Now....The Fly app finally got data into my paid version of Airdata and the dreaded not enough force.....ESC errors are clearly seen there.....

my best interpretation is a motor is breaking down after heating up.....could be a prop.....but they felt and looked fine to me.....very fragile feeling like the parrot Anafi series......

I mean no disrespect to the Parrot company or the Anafi......but with cash money in hand I’ve walked away several times......they felt flimsy ....the Mini feels the same......however I pre paid and have 2 of them.....

I would post over in the Mavic Pilots forum.....but that’s another issue.....no many how many times I confirm my email.....I get a not privilidged enough to post screen......

Dji forums are virtually useless......their moderators cut copy and paste canned responses of.....Fly app won’t work with Airdata.....but informed users say it does.....my experience is yes....but it took almost two days to show up.....

Feel my frustration ?
 
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Interesting story with a cliffhanger ending.

So did you get the MM out of the tree, and / or put it out of it's misery?

It's hard to Judge by the story. ;)

Thanks for sharing. :)
 
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To the best of my knowledge it is still in the tree.
Lot of moisture in the air last night and I know that’s not good.
I also know my Spark spent 3 nights upside down on the ground in a wooded area before I figured out how to get data off an android phone and into google earth pro in order to go retrieve it.

That moist experience didnt cost any more than a couple days of time in a warm room with a small fan blowing air through it and one broken prop that I still don’t know if it was the cause of the crash.....or the damage done as it meet the ground.

I did get a call yesterday that my Phantom 4 was ready for pick up......it’s a 2 hour drive away but I’m thinking that maybe some new idea will pop into my mind during the away time.
 
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So... how did it do? Would love to hear how the props/body handled the incident.
In all honesty I’m not sure.....where the bird is in the tree it’s very difficult to see in the sunlight.....the sun blinds me as much or more than it helps in this situation.

At night pointing a 12 dollar flash light at makes it stand out in the pine needles.

My plan is to take my tractor back tonight......it is well lighted with led flood and spot lights that I can adjust to my advantage....or so I hope.

I am concerned about the crash survivability of the craft as it just feels cheap to me.

I also understand from years of mounting accessories to off road machines like 4 wheelers and side by sides....a little bit spring like tension is better than just hard bolting an item down.....

For example.....a beverage cooler secured with ratchet down straps to the rear rack has less survivability than one mounted with what I call Bungee Cords.......in the woods....it’s very possible to get in situations that require backing up....and you might be at an angle that it hits a tree branch.....the Bungee Cords move enough to get your attention where ratchet straps are not so forgiving and now you have a cracked cooler....?

I explained the situation to the tech who has my phantom ready.....his advice was understood and well taken.....

It is a 400 item....don’t get hurt or worse retrieving it.

I don’t have the second mini in my possession.....it’s been taken to a location where it is being looked over and possibly being enhanced for better control in environments where trees get in the way of radio signals......or it might possibly fly further than the DJI specs if one chose to go that route.

Gut feeling is I don’t trust the bird in the tree.....it has ESC errors that didn’t show in Fly but are easily seen in Airdata....ESC errors 13 minutes into its first flight......10 minutes into second.

Is it hardware....or firmware ?

As it did land in a tree.....the Pilot.....me is responsible.

im sure the moisture indicating stickers inside are now showing what they show and that will lead to a canned response of.....Sorry for your loss.....and maybe a discount of sorts if I wanted to purchase another.

Stay tuned.....I’m aggravated and laughing at the same time.

In this part of the country we take gunfire at night seriously....to many illegal night hunters shooting across fields with livestock.....and neighbors that have had their residences struck and penetrated with that type of activity....

That said.....if the time comes to use the Taurus Judge sidearm......I hope there isn’t some particular season I would be in violation of in the Fish and Game regulations......

Time will tell.....?
 
Maybe the story branches off from there ?

Sorry, my attempt at humor, not meaning to make light of your dilemma. Hope you can recover the Mini and all will be well.
Hey....you get it....I’m seeing the humor in the serious real world side of this.

Now....off the internet and on the road to pick up phantom......

more to come tonight......might be a season finale.

Most likely there will be a spin off series?
 
Judging from the number of articles available when Googling "how to retrieve a drone from a tree", this is probably one of THE most common mishaps. I don't know how many address the collateral issue of a territorial bull, though.
 
Using that super artillery is only going to momentarily help with the frustration. Can't you tie a cow to a far off fence or something? (you can tell I live in the city)
The PVC worked for me even though it's a little whippy after adding a couple of extensions and I was looking into the sun with my 80 year old cataracts. In my case I was lucky enough to find an old mattress that some one had conveniently dumped nearby and my Mavic Air plopped down in the middle on it's back with zero damage..
 
It’s down....and so am I....yes we have chest mounted go pro.....but must edit ......audio might be too graphic as I’m climbing that ladder......stretched out with multiple PCs pipe sections.....that said I asked my Creator for safe passage up.....and thanked once down......mini has a visual problem.....most likely caused in pvc induced poking from top of ladder......I take full responsibility for all my actions.....
.....for the past 53 years......

May we all walk away a little wiser when we crashed one.....

May we all get to ride the fast one

May we all Learn a little something from the worst times


Keep hoping that the best one is the last one.....

YEA YOU LEARn To Fly.....or You Just Free Fall

May we All.......
 

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If you have tools...and have some experience working on cell phones......knowing it isn’t covered under warranty......and don’t wanna raise your blood pressure dealing with customer play whack a mole .....permanent hold.......press this press that.....
 

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That's one highly modified Judge you got there. Hope the MM is less damaged than it initially appears and is easily repairable.
 
That's one highly modified Judge you got there. Hope the MM is less damaged than it initially appears and is easily repairable.
Not a Judge.....it’s a night vision rifle that is common around here.....it is legally used to discourage coyotes from coming into live stock pastures .....they prey mainly at night......I’ve never shot one....but have put a few rounds all around one......

They travel in cycles.....following their food supply.....you normally hear them and know which direction they are.....They have every right to eat.....however we try to discourage them from eating the livestock in your area.

Normally I have a 5 round magazine.....that’s more than enough to discourage and make a coyote consider moving on.....

The 80 something round drum is really useless ....so heavy......but it does look cool and people think twice about stealing in a rural environment when the owners could stand a fighting chance if the Zombie Apocolypse just happens to come to their neighbor hood .....make sense?

This was my first drone tear down....and I didn’t have data coverage in that metal shop.....I’ll be researching about the Mini camera and gimble over the next few days......

I also have the SD card....and hope the video....even at night will give insight into what it saw....if anything after landing in tree...

Folks have sent me links to others who are experiencing Mini motor issues....just haven’t pursued them.....

Had to get it down was number one...
 
This was my first drone tear down....and I didn’t have data coverage in that metal shop.....I’ll be researching about the Mini camera and gimble over the next few days......

I had mentioned in another post that _______ was put together, which means it can be taken apart and repaired.

YouTube is an excellent learning tool.:)
 
I had mentioned in another post that _______ was put together, which means it can be taken apart and repaired.

YouTube is an excellent learning tool.:)
Wow......I wish I had seen the YouTube tear down last night.....but I don’t have internet in that building right now.......

Now to search for a parts supplier......right now not seeing mini cameras or gimbal mounts......maybe too soon or I’m not digging deep enough.....getting some DJI parts seems to be who you know....and who they know.....I’ve got someone I can ask tomorrow who has serviced drones for years....any hints or PMs are welcome.
 
Sorry for your troubles rhettduke, that's some bad luck. Good that you got it though and the bull didn't get you. You mentioned about coyotes, have the same here but haven't had many livestock kills in the past few years. Good luck with the repairs.
 

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