Breeze 4K Update

[Deltacounty2]

I thought I would update my experience with the Yuneec Breeze 4k drone in reference to the last post I made back in Aug. To recap, I went through two Breeze 4k drone in two weeks and I said I was done with the Breeze. On Aug 20th I decided to give the Breeze another chance (try). They say, third times a charm, or maybe the pilot pays more attention. Although the Breeze 4k is not a $1000 drone, it has features that only come on the more expensive drones.

Well, with the 3rd Breeze, I have flown it numerus times and I have not had one minute of problem out of it. It takes wonderful pictures and yes it seems we need just a little more distance then the GEO fence gives us, but, the description of the drone is clear and the specs on the out side of the box it gives the height and distance this drone will fly so, we are well warned. I believe if it would give us another 10 feet we would wont another 20 feet. It is just what it says it is, a selfie drone and it is fine for me at this time. Yes, one day I would like to venture out but, as for now this one is doing just fine. I'm not in a commercial business nor do I use it in a business or for business (Heck I'm retired). It is just a fun hobby for me. It is easy to keep it in eye sight and I have taken the drone to several locations and have not had any issues with it.

I know the first drone was defective. It had an issue with the battery. Although the battery was fully charges the battery indicator would show a rapid drain of the battery and with each charge it would only last two to four minutes. So, thanks to DoomMeister knowledge and advice I returned it and exchanged it for another Breeze 4k and the battery trouble was salved (it was the drone with the problem and not the battery).

Now, the second drone did just fine until about the 3rd flight it went crazy and accelerated straight up and crashed back to the ground at high accelerated speed and ended up in ,well, lets say more than two or three pieces. I was frustrated and was "done" with the Breeze at that time. After a few days, I decided to try the Breeze 4K one more time and I guess it was because of the camera that kept drawing me back to the Breeze. How could a drone with this nice of camera be that bad.

I don't know if it was pilot error or not. It very well could have been. I will admit I am by no means perfect and I make mistakes. So the 2nd Breeze very well could have been pilot error but, I did not see it, and that could be because I over looked the error some how. All I know, I am more cautious when I fly. I do check after check before take off and I have found each and every time I have flown my Breeze 4k, I have not had any issues at all. I could not ask for a better flying drone then this one. I have enjoyed it and that is what its all about. I have a iPhone 7plus and the Breeze Cam app works very well by it self or I use the supplied controller which also works very well.

Hope everyone has good luck with their drones, as I know first hand how frustrating it can be to have trouble with them. Just remember, check and double check and then check again.

Have fun
Deltacount2

 

[DoomMeister]

Thanks for the update and glad you are having the experience you deserve with your 3rd Breeze.

As I said before, your first Breeze was a bum right out of the box and I suspect a bad ESC board the way it would eat battery power. The second Breeze exhibited behavior of a bad connection on the IR sensor (several were reported in older posts around the beginning of 2018). I attribute both to poor quality control at the factory. I am well versed in manufacturing, especially with electronic circuitry.

Now that you are out flying and enjoying your Breeze, make sure you get in on our Pilot’s Picture Game in the Photos and Videos section.

 

[Skip11161936]

I have had two similiar experiences with my Breeze 4K.
1.) I took it up to 100', it lost the WIFI connection and hung there unresponsive to any command and crashed due to battery depletion.
2.) IWas flying at 20' and battery indicated 25%. I hit Return Home and the Breeze took off straight up at max speed. It got to about 150' when I hit Land which saved the day. The Breeze did a controlled landing with 15% battery remaining. Has anyone else had the Return Home issue?

 

[DoomMeister]

RTH was doing exactly as it is programmed to do. You set the RTH height in Drone Settings.

When RTH is activated at or above the set height, the Breeze travels straight back to the takeoff position and lands. If it is below the RTH setting when activated, it will ascend up to the set height and then return to takeoff position and land.

So if you launch with something overhanging your takeoff point, an RTH will cause a crash on landing as the Breeze descends into the obstruction. If you activate an RTH below an obstruction that is at a lower elevation than your set RTH height, your Breeze will crash as it rises into the obstruction. If you set the RTH height lower than obstructions in the area you are flying, you could have a crash during an RTH if an obstruction is between the Breeze and the takeoff position.

The first problem you mentioned does not tell the whole story. At loss of connection you can’t control the Breeze because there is no connection. It would hover at its position for 30 seconds waiting for reacquisition of wifi, then failing that an auto RTH would take place returning the Breeze to the takeoff point and landing 30 seconds later if wifi connection was not established.

The problem you describe in the first scenario has you ascending to 100 feet without enough power to safely return in the event of a loss of WiFi signal. When the second low battery alarm happened the Breeze would have auto landed, but from 100 feet it ran out of power before a safe landing.

The lesson here is be a responsible pilot and learn the capabilities and systems of your aircraft before you take it out and find yourself in a position where you end up crashing.

A good rule of thumb for remote pilots:

Fly your UAS like you were actually sitting in it!!!

 

[Deltacounty2]

I have had two similiar experiences with my Breeze 4K.
1.) I took it up to 100', it lost the WIFI connection and hung there unresponsive to any command and crashed due to battery depletion.
2.) IWas flying at 20' and battery indicated 25%. I hit Return Home and the Breeze took off straight up at max speed. It got to about 150' when I hit Land which saved the day. The Breeze did a controlled landing with 15% battery remaining. Has anyone else had the Return Home issue?

I'm not sure, but my brother-n-law purchased one (Breeze 4K) and he was also having trouble. He did have a "pilot error mishap where the bottom plastic cover with the glass covers for the ir sensor and optic flow come un-snapped from the body. Well, he snapped it back together and he started having trouble with it going straight up and down and could not get it to stop and it was hitting the ground pretty hard. We finely get it to land and we look it over, do a re calibration and tried it again. It would take off just fine, hover for a bit and then it would start going up and down again. Again we would finely get it to land.

After looking it over we notice a small blade of grass in one of the optical sensors glass. We unsnapped the bottom, cleaned it out and blew in it to make sure there was no more dust or small particles left inside.
After cleaning it out, it flew just fine. I guess the small spec of grass was moving around causing trouble with the sensor(s). I'm not sure if that was the problem or not, but I do know after removing the bottom cover and cleaning it out it worked just fine. So, you might want to check and see if there might be any dust or small dead pieces of grass in side getting in front of the sensors... The Breeze has small holes all in the bottom and I'm sure that is for cooling but, if they come unsnapped due to a hard landing or something it can get debri inside. It might not be a bad idea to get a can of computer air just to have around for such trouble. Anyways I hope this helps and again I am not certain that this would be a fix or not, but it would be worth a try. It does make sense...
P.S. I now do a check every time I fly my drone. I check and then check again to make sure all my calibrations and settings are done before take off...and make sure when you take off you are in a well open area encase you do a return home...Check..

 

[data2000]

I have had two similiar experiences with my Breeze 4K.
1.) I took it up to 100', it lost the WIFI connection and hung there unresponsive to any command and crashed due to battery depletion.
2.) IWas flying at 20' and battery indicated 25%. I hit Return Home and the Breeze took off straight up at max speed. It got to about 150' when I hit Land which saved the day. The Breeze did a controlled landing with 15% battery remaining. Has anyone else had the Return Home issue?

150 feet seems pretty high for a RTH to me I usally set mine to 60-70 feet max. It cuts down battery usage immensely and I I can watch if it it gets crazy

 

[PilotDJS]

I thought I would update my experience with the Yuneec Breeze 4k drone in reference to the last post I made back in Aug. To recap, I went through two Breeze 4k drone in two weeks and I said I was done with the Breeze. On Aug 20th I decided to give the Breeze another chance (try). They say, third times a charm, or maybe the pilot pays more attention. Although the Breeze 4k is not a $1000 drone, it has features that only come on the more expensive drones.

Well, with the 3rd Breeze, I have flown it numerus times and I have not had one minute of problem out of it. It takes wonderful pictures and yes it seems we need just a little more distance then the GEO fence gives us, but, the description of the drone is clear and the specs on the out side of the box it gives the height and distance this drone will fly so, we are well warned. I believe if it would give us another 10 feet we would wont another 20 feet. It is just what it says it is, a selfie drone and it is fine for me at this time. Yes, one day I would like to venture out but, as for now this one is doing just fine. I'm not in a commercial business nor do I use it in a business or for business (Heck I'm retired). It is just a fun hobby for me. It is easy to keep it in eye sight and I have taken the drone to several locations and have not had any issues with it.

I know the first drone was defective. It had an issue with the battery. Although the battery was fully charges the battery indicator would show a rapid drain of the battery and with each charge it would only last two to four minutes. So, thanks to DoomMeister knowledge and advice I returned it and exchanged it for another Breeze 4k and the battery trouble was salved (it was the drone with the problem and not the battery).

Now, the second drone did just fine until about the 3rd flight it went crazy and accelerated straight up and crashed back to the ground at high accelerated speed and ended up in ,well, lets say more than two or three pieces. I was frustrated and was "done" with the Breeze at that time. After a few days, I decided to try the Breeze 4K one more time and I guess it was because of the camera that kept drawing me back to the Breeze. How could a drone with this nice of camera be that bad.

I don't know if it was pilot error or not. It very well could have been. I will admit I am by no means perfect and I make mistakes. So the 2nd Breeze very well could have been pilot error but, I did not see it, and that could be because I over looked the error some how. All I know, I am more cautious when I fly. I do check after check before take off and I have found each and every time I have flown my Breeze 4k, I have not had any issues at all. I could not ask for a better flying drone then this one. I have enjoyed it and that is what its all about. I have a iPhone 7plus and the Breeze Cam app works very well by it self or I use the supplied controller which also works very well.

Hope everyone has good luck with their drones, as I know first hand how frustrating it can be to have trouble with them. Just remember, check and double check and then check again.

Have fun
Deltacount2

 

[PilotDJS]

Delta County? Thanks for sharing I worked and lived in Delta County Michigan so I just wondered if you are in another state or the same, but mostly thanks for sharing your experiences. I am a newbie and today took the Breeze out for my first solo flight...it's been very windy and it's scary when you don't have an expert next to you. I didn't crash on the second flight today, but I thought for sure it was doomed!

 

[Deltacounty2]

Delta County? Thanks for sharing I worked and lived in Delta County Michigan so I just wondered if you are in another state or the same, but mostly thanks for sharing your experiences. I am a newbie and today took the Breeze out for my first solo flight...it's been very windy and it's scary when you don't have an expert next to you. I didn't crash on the second flight today, but I thought for sure it was doomed!

Hello, I hope you're having fun with the Breeze 4k. Although we need to watch how hard the wind is blowing it should do pretty good, but will drain the battery a bit faster because of working in keeping it stabilized and flying in the wind.

I live in another state. That name stuck with me when I retired from LE.