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I knew it would happen eventually, but not like this... :-(

Long story short, was hovering one second getting set up for sunset pic at about 100 ft. off the ground and then the next second she's falling to the ground with no power. Attached to the thread is a picture of the carnage . I already spoke with Yuneec and send them the telemetry, so we will see what happens. Below is a dropbox link to the csv file for the telemetry if anyone wants to take a look.

thanks.

James

Dropbox - Telemetry_00045.csv
I wonder if your face looked like mine, when the EXACT same thing happened to me. And i had the camera attached.
I must say your in good hands, they rebuilt mine.
Theres more to my story but, they did fix it.
 
I wonder if your face looked like mine, when the EXACT same thing happened to me. And i had the camera attached.
I must say your in good hands, they rebuilt mine.
Theres more to my story but, they did fix it.

You can't see the camera in the pic because it's in a million pieces. It was not a good feeling watching that much money literally explode when it hit the driveway. :-(


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Your meter looks quite different from my meter or even my old, trusty multitester unit, but I THINK you want to measure the DCV.mA levels... I think. If that's the case you would select the 5-500 3-position setting with the central switch knob and monitor the readings in the DCV.mA gauge. (It appears that your DC battery reading level only goes up to 9V, which the Typhoon battery well exceeds.) However, perhaps you can set the selector at 50 DC V (upper right of your meter) and get a valid voltage reading in that same region of your meter, using the middle arcing line of numbers within the DCV.mA range.I'd start there.
DON'T use the mA or Amp choices or resistance either for that matter. Testing for amperage across battery terminals is placing a dead short across it - that's bad. At the least you will blow the fuse in your meter if it has one; at the worst you can blow up the battery. And as I said - that's bad. You can check the voltage but it won't be totally accurate because the battery is not under load at the time. The voltage will normally read lower when the battery is under load (being used).
 
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I can't say anything bad about Yuneec support except maybe turn-around time (and UPS adds about 8-10 days round trip to that shipping between MI and CA).

My experience so far has been that Yuneec Support is helpful, friendly and knowledgeable people.
 
DON'T use the mA or Amp choices or resistance either for that matter. Testing for amperage across battery terminals is placing a dead short across it - that's bad. At the least you will blow the fuse in your meter if it has one; at the worst you can blow up the battery. And as I said - that's bad. You can check the voltage but it won't be totally accurate because the battery is not under load at the time. The voltage will normally read lower when the battery is under load (being used).

Yeah, that was a BAD guess and even worse advice on my part. I'm real glad the Mod here caught it and immediately rectified it with the correct answer instead. Those LiPos ARE dangerous, and even blowing a simple fuse in a tester is NOT something I would want to cause to happen for anybody.

Luckily, there ARE people on this forum - such as you - who do know their stuff and know what they are talking about. Thanks for the correction. Now I've learned something new, too. I appreciate it!
 
A bad cell is impossible to detect from my experience. Venom claims warranty support if you registered that battery you could pursue if Yuneec can't help. My Chroma batteries from venom failed on me and crashed my Chroma twice before I figured out it was power. They charge fine and seem fine but would suddenly drop below 10.7 (3 cell) and down she'd come. I still had power enough for lights and warnings but never experienced a shut off. A total shut off is either internal failure, a bad power connection, or heaven forbid the motors received a shut down command somehow. I agree on being mum on the venom when contacting Yuneec. Nothing worse then silence as she falls in slow motion except that crack and snack at impact.


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Just my 2 cents - I had a spare Gifi battery for my Q500. I noticed that the battery low warning did not trigger until the battery was very low voltage. I can't remember off the top of my head right now but, the OEM batteries triggered a warning much sooner. I always used the Gifi as my 4th to use during flights because I never felt confident about it. I have all OEM Yuneec batteries for my H. Not taking a chance since they can be found online for such a low price anyway.
 
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Man, that's a bummer. I've got a pair of Venom batteries for my H, and have used other Venoms for a ton of homebuilts over the last few years. Never had the slightest trouble with them, and I'd trust them over just about anything else out there.

Good luck!
 
I'm very curious to hear back if Yuneec does something if the non-OEM battery is determined to be the issue. Not that I'd expect them to.
 
I will let you know that my H fell from the sky and crashed onto a roof right in front of my eyes..... Yuneec told me it was low voltage on my battery..... LONG STORY SHORT..... I took it to Yuneec U.S.A. since I live close.... they told me the battery was low voltage..... really low and that's why it fell. The problem was the decent while i was trying to land was VERY SLOW not like normal. (i have had over 100 hours of flight time with the H before this) It wasn't normal at all. They made me a deal for 400 dollars for a new one. I didn't argue at all and paid it. The problem was they sold me a NEW one.... i took it home and wanted to fly it but it wasn't new and it was broken. I drove it back the next morning (100 miles round trip) and they fixed the supposed NEW aircraft..... this aircraft was flown 2 times and then it flew away... did not recover it at all..... no telemetry data to help my situation out. Yuneec said I was out of luck. I realized they replaced others but they weren't working with me and basically told me to buy a new one. I disputed the original one with my bank that fell from the sky. Yuneec told me the H auto lands when battery gets low. That didn't happen so I'm disputing it currently. I have spent $3,000 with them so I'm not about to buy ANOTHER H without them stepping up to help. GOOD LUCK. NEESHA is nice to some i see..... she called me sweetheart on the phone and wouldn't help me at all. Not cool. Good luck.

P.S. I have a brand new Typhoon H Wizard for sale with waterproof strap $80 and i have 1 of 5 of my H batteries for sale $60 firm and you get the choice of battery....
 
Man, that's a bummer. I've got a pair of Venom batteries for my H, and have used other Venoms for a ton of homebuilts over the last few years. Never had the slightest trouble with them, and I'd trust them over just about anything else out there.

Good luck!
UPDATE. I spoke with Yuneec over the phone after they had a chance to review my Telemetry data and basically they said that there wasn't anything wrong with the H. I asked them what I should do with the $1000 pile of parts I have in my garage that has nothing wrong with it. So they said to send it in and they would run diagnostics and let me know what they find. They are supposed to call me when they have a verdict. At that point I will know whether anything is covered under warranty and if not how much it would cost to fix.
I figure if nothing is covered I will buy a new H only since i still have the ST16 and then look for another camera. Are there any other cameras I should look for other than the CG03+ that will work with the H?
Thanks. I will be in touch.
 
UPDATE. I spoke with Yuneec over the phone after they had a chance to review my Telemetry data and basically they said that there wasn't anything wrong with the H. I asked them what I should do with the $1000 pile of parts I have in my garage that has nothing wrong with it. So they said to send it in and they would run diagnostics and let me know what they find. They are supposed to call me when they have a verdict. At that point I will know whether anything is covered under warranty and if not how much it would cost to fix.
I figure if nothing is covered I will buy a new H only since i still have the ST16 and then look for another camera. Are there any other cameras I should look for other than the CG03+ that will work with the H?
Thanks. I will be in touch.

As we discussed early in this thread, the telemetry will not provide any information when there is a complete power failure because the telemetry stops at the same time.
The only thing of value will be their inspection of the remains. Hopefully they will find a bad connection or burnt board. If they find nothing they will conclude the battery came loose during flight. At this point you have to trust their findings. I have found them to be fair and lean in favor of the pilot. Still, they need to find some evidence of failure and that is easier in a case such as this.
 
Long story short, was hovering one second getting set up for sunset pic at about 100 ft. off the ground and then the next second she's falling to the ground with no power. Attached to the thread is a picture of the carnage . I already spoke with Yuneec and send them the telemetry, so we will see what happens. Below is a dropbox link to the csv file for the telemetry if anyone wants to take a look.

thanks.

James

Dropbox - Telemetry_00045.csv
I had similar situations with a cold batterie.
My Typhoon H was stored outside at a temperature of about zero deg. Celsius, during one hour.
After a normal take-off and flying for 3 minutes it got weaker and weaker and then it crashed down.
I had two such events with cold batteries.

Co-Pilot
 
Tonight I almost had the same thing happen. Full battery. Prepped for a few minutes. Launched the bird. I was flying w/the wizard, drone was following my (mountain bike) descent down a trail on a mountain ridge. Elevation follow was supposedly on. I felt like it wasn't following vertically really well (it seemed to be getting farther from me, although my video disputes this a bit). When I got to a good stopping point I grabbed the wizard and switched to angle and tried to land (with plenty of battery, as I had been in the air for max 9 min). It took me 5 minutes to get it to come down. It would try to descend and then just sit there. I tried toggling elevation follow off and on. Switching to RTH only made it fly higher up (it was already really high). Finally the battery warning went off. It just wouldn't come down very fast even to the point that it just sat there. I can see this happening on the video. I flipped back to Angle and just kept praying. Jumping up on some rocks to get more elevation (get me closer to the drone). Finally it started coming down and when it was about 5 feet or so, it just dropped to the ground. From an idiotic .125*rabbitspeed down to completely dropping from the air. I was so ticked. It didn't seem to hurt much, but it felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest, punched and then shoved back down my throat. I am so thankful the copter landed. I am so thankful that it didn't just fall from 300' or wherever the heck it got to when I tried RTH. But this is not the kind of stress I want when flying the drone. I came home and immediately filed for an Amazon RMA... Then I looked at the footage... It is incredible. I am now really torn. The footage is almost convincing me to keep it... What to do. Is it a matter of time before the thing just doesn't land at all? Tough call on this one.
 
Tonight I almost had the same thing happen. Full battery. Prepped for a few minutes. Launched the bird. I was flying w/the wizard, drone was following my (mountain bike) descent down a trail on a mountain ridge. Elevation follow was supposedly on. I felt like it wasn't following vertically really well (it seemed to be getting farther from me, although my video disputes this a bit). When I got to a good stopping point I grabbed the wizard and switched to angle and tried to land (with plenty of battery, as I had been in the air for max 9 min). It took me 5 minutes to get it to come down. It would try to descend and then just sit there. I tried toggling elevation follow off and on. Switching to RTH only made it fly higher up (it was already really high). Finally the battery warning went off. It just wouldn't come down very fast even to the point that it just sat there. I can see this happening on the video. I flipped back to Angle and just kept praying. Jumping up on some rocks to get more elevation (get me closer to the drone). Finally it started coming down and when it was about 5 feet or so, it just dropped to the ground. From an idiotic .125*rabbitspeed down to completely dropping from the air. I was so ticked. It didn't seem to hurt much, but it felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest, punched and then shoved back down my throat. I am so thankful the copter landed. I am so thankful that it didn't just fall from 300' or wherever the heck it got to when I tried RTH. But this is not the kind of stress I want when flying the drone. I came home and immediately filed for an Amazon RMA... Then I looked at the footage... It is incredible. I am now really torn. The footage is almost convincing me to keep it... What to do. Is it a matter of time before the thing just doesn't land at all? Tough call on this one.

What was your RTH height set to? It's possible that you have that too high so when you hit RTH it went up per those height instructions. Also, as you've noticed the video is less frantic then your observation at the time. How fast where you riding and how long? It's sounds like you've know how it's supposed to behave and if it was just sitting there that indicates loss of connection. Did the wizard vibrate ever with any warnings and who had the ST? Maybe the area you were in perhaps interfered with your VLOS and it lost it a bit. I believe the wizard even in angle keeps that geo fence from you in place which is maybe why it would not land.
 
no telemetry data to help my situation out.

No telemetry? Really?? You truly don't expect someone to give you a new aircraft if you can't support your claim with evidence, do you???

In any case, I'm calling B.S. If it was flying the ST-16 was recording telemetry. If you had any control at any time there was telemetry recorded. There was something there to review. What happened to it is anyone's guess.
 
What was your RTH height set to? It's possible that you have that too high so when you hit RTH it went up per those height instructions. Also, as you've noticed the video is less frantic then your observation at the time. How fast where you riding and how long? It's sounds like you've know how it's supposed to behave and if it was just sitting there that indicates loss of connection. Did the wizard vibrate ever with any warnings and who had the ST? Maybe the area you were in perhaps interfered with your VLOS and it lost it a bit. I believe the wizard even in angle keeps that geo fence from you in place which is maybe why it would not land.

I never set the height, so it must be the default, which I believe is 60'. Well, it was weird, it wouldn't come down for a while. Then I did the RTH, it went up, then I went to Angle and it came down slower than molassass, then it stopped and just sat, using up the battery. So, at it's highest altitude, I was able to to control it slowly, then as it came down it became less responsive. Which is confusing, if the problem was a loss of connection.

I rode down for probably 6 minutes in total. The rest was camera prep etc. It was in the air about 9min before I tried to bring it down and had the trouble. I got a solid 14min out of the battery -- battery life is a huge disappointment btw. Wizard never vibrated until I had been trying to bring it down for a long time.
 

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