Fall from sky? What happened!?!

[AH-1G]

All LiPo that I have destroyed up to now, there nothing in but wires.

On the upper side of the processor board is an ARM STM32F405.
View attachment 11065

On the bottom side, there is 'something' that I could not identify, maybe only cooler pad.
View attachment 11067

br HE

@h-elsner
Why would a cooling pad have ribbon attached to it? If it is a cooling pad. Some type of sensor is my guess.
The processor has a Programmable voltage detector, PVD.
Is it possible somebody made a slight miss calculation in programing the voltage detector?
Look at the last paragraph

 

[DarienR1]

Just a quick related question. The battery was damaged in the fall and seems like it has exploded just a bit. When Yuneec asked me to return the aircraft, I was supposed to hold on to the batteries. Do they plan on shipping new batteries when they replace, or do I get a handle that myself?

 

[DarienR1]

I experienced the same problem. However I had just taken off from a boat in the San Francisco Bay, took it up to about 200 feet and out about 100 feet when it came home on its own. I was not in "HOME" mode. about 5 feet from the bow the Typhoon decided to land. It hovered about 6 inches off the water, but out of reach. Then it dropped onto the surface and sank like a rock. The last thing I saw on the controller was that it had lost contact with all GPS satellites both on the controller and the aircraft. Total loss.

****. I've been afraid of that as well and I've flown over the ocean quite a few times. I understand there is an item I can put on the drone that floats the unit to the top of the water. I haven't found it just yet but I have to go to a dive shop to look for it. I guess that will be on my list of things do eventually when I get the unit back.

 

[Ty Pilot]

@DarienR1 and others, just to be clear, Toophless was NOT flying a Plus, and in fact was not even flying a Typhoon H, his aircraft was a Q-500.

The item for recovery is called a 'Getterback' it is a fishing rod recovery system originally but now they market to our industry as well. I have been flying with one for almost two years and never had to use it but it does give piece of Mind. The way it works is; you mount it to your aircraft securely and should it fall in the water, a chemical reaction deploys the flotation bobber and it comes to the surface attached to a 100 foot Kevlar line to allow you to retrieve. Here is where I have one mounted on my standard Typhoon H.

 

[DarienR1]

@DarienR1 and others, just to be clear, Toophless was NOT flying a Plus, and in fact was not even flying a Typhoon H, his aircraft was a Q-500.

The item for recovery is called a 'Getterback' it is a fishing rod recovery system originally but now they market to our industry as well. I have been flying with one for almost two years and never had to use it but it does give piece of Mind. The way it works is; you mount it to your aircraft securely and should it fall in the water, a chemical reaction deploys the flotation bobber and it comes to the surface attached to a 100 foot Kevlar line to allow you to retrieve. Here is where I have one mounted on my standard Typhoon H.

View attachment 11093

Very nice. Is that a velcro strap that holds it on there? What is the appox cost?

 

[Ty Pilot]

Yes it is Velcro, the cost used to be 15.00 bucks but now it is around 40.00.

 

[DarienR1]

Thank you: Good to know. Will add it to the drone fund....

 

[per.strandqvist]

@DarienR1 and others, just to be clear, Toophless was NOT flying a Plus, and in fact was not even flying a Typhoon H, his aircraft was a Q-500.

The item for recovery is called a 'Getterback' it is a fishing rod recovery system originally but now they market to our industry as well. I have been flying with one for almost two years and never had to use it but it does give piece of Mind. The way it works is; you mount it to your aircraft securely and should it fall in the water, a chemical reaction deploys the flotation bobber and it comes to the surface attached to a 100 foot Kevlar line to allow you to retrieve. Here is where I have one mounted on my standard Typhoon H.

View attachment 11093

Nice thing. But, what is the expectation of repair possibilities after having drowned the computer boards and electronics? Will the repair be cheaper than a new one? Anyone has experience?

 

[NorWiscPilot]

Nice thing. But, what is the expectation of repair possibilities after having drowned the computer boards and electronics? Will the repair be cheaper than a new one? Anyone has experience?

Not necessarily for repair purposes, but rather recovery. Parts salvage, perhaps.

Depending on damage, the shell and most non-electrical parts could be worth the trouble. Also, it’s good to recover regardless of condition.

Jeff

 

[Ty Pilot]

Yes, pretty much what Jeff says. I would want it back for parts.

 

[DarienR1]

I agree. If I had to choose between coming home with a damaged unit or coming home with No unit....the damaged one wins every time.

 

[Toophless]

****. I've been afraid of that as well and I've flown over the ocean quite a few times. I understand there is an item I can put on the drone that floats the unit to the top of the water. I haven't found it just yet but I have to go to a dive shop to look for it. I guess that will be on my list of things do eventually when I get the unit back.

Darien...I once saw a video where a guy took a foot of those foam hollow tubes that kids use as flotation devices in swimming pools and cut them in about 6" lengths. Then using a knife he sliced only one half and then snapped them over the horizontal feet of the drone. He was landing and taking off from a swimming pool with no apparent problems. I thought about this the morning I left my house for the water shoot. I decided the weight would shorten my flight time so I abandoned the idea....bad idea

 

[DarienR1]

I hear you. I'm wondering at this point why no one has called me. Its been over 7 days since i shipped it and they said it was gonna take 6 days...no word from them....

 

[Barton]

I hear you. I'm wondering at this point why no one has called me. Its been over 7 days since i shipped it and they said it was gonna take 6 days...no word from them....

Don't expect Yuneec CS/repair to be proactive in communicating with you. They appear to be overwhelmed so you have to initiate the discussions.

When I sent my system to them, I knew from the tracking record when they received it. I gave them three days to provide some feedback - nothing. Then on the fourth day, just before I was going to contact them, I got a UPS shipping notice that the unit was headed home ! Still, no communication from CS. I finally had to log into my Yuneec account and rummage through some of the case information to determine what happened - and the info provided was at the barest level possible.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Just a quick related question. The battery was damaged in the fall and seems like it has exploded just a bit. When Yuneec asked me to return the aircraft, I was supposed to hold on to the batteries. Do they plan on shipping new batteries when they replace, or do I get a handle that myself?

Just to address this question... nope, battery replacement will fall on you... yes, pun intended

UltraX Typhoon H Batteries

 

[DarienR1]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[DarienR1]

Okay, here is the update; I just received my Typhoon H plus from UPS yesterday. The unit is brand new and as you can see in the picture attached, they're shipping out the units in the retail boxes. There was no message or letter included stating if they found anything wrong with the unit that I sent them. It looks like they simply just stuck a new one in a Box and sent it to me. The interesting thing is that they sent new batteries with the unit as well, so they replaced the one that I was concerned about earlier. At this point I don't know what to say about the failure, and I spent last night updating the firmware up to whatever the current version is as the controller says there are no more updates to be found (it says that the unit is up-to-date). Was this the best course of action, or should I not have updated the firmware? I'm really not sure at this point.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Have you tried to fly it? Did you notice what firmware it was on when you got it and what version it is on now? At this point it is done and you may be okay. I typically like to establish that it works as purchased, or in your case; as replaced. It is more rare that a new-from-the-factory Typhoon would not be functioning properly. In the case with the first firmware update the update added the problem (gimbal shake). I would boot up, let it sit for a and get good RC and GPS connections and see how everything works.

 

[biltno]

Like ty pilot mentioned it really depends also on what exact things the firmware fixes. If it is minor things like camera related it’s always good to fly it first. I may be wrong but supposedly the H+ units are all test flown before shipment. People have seen this in telemetry

 

[DarienR1]

Actually I did not test fly it yet. I'm wating until its insured on Monday before taking it up. I also don't know what firmware version it was on when I did the update. I figured since the 1st thing it asked me as I turned it on was to do the update that I would just get it over with. I did power it on and let it sit for a while though and it acquired all its satellites and seem to work properly with the camera. I will post more once I fly it on Monday.