H520 dropped out the sky from 100ft without warning!

[AH-1G]

I did that once, (thought I had installed it correctly) my propeller flew off, never could find it???

For those that need extra assurance their battery is slotted in correctly;
Create a feeler gauge the thickness of only one click of the battery insertion.
So now when your out and about flying and in a hurry, check to see if you have the battery inserted correctly, with your new custom feeler gauge.
To start, use business cards to crate the the thickness of the gap; (between the body of the aircraft and one click insertion of the battery).

 

[Wingman]

I can see unsecured batteries are becoming a problem. I think to avoid it one can put velcro strip over it.

Just use three squares of one part of a velcro, put one above a battery compartment one(may be even over the whole height of a battery) on a battery itself and one square below. Then once a battery is inserted into a craft secure it all with another longer strip of a velcro sitting on all three squares.

At least it will be a very cheap solution and it will not add any significant weight.

 

[AH-1G]

like this
Velcro to hold battery, just in case!

 

[Drones.scot]

I am on my third H520. Yuneec have replaced my H520 on each occasion without question. My first was a IMU board failure (not battery) My second according to Yuneec was a complete failure of the system software. The first hovered in place until the battery ran down and it dropped into a river. The second dove it's self into the ground just after take off. Yup it flew into the ground a meter away from me from 22m up. There is more wrong than they are letting on.

 

[Rodwil]

Many pilots are not aware of the two clicks you generally hear when the battery fully locks into place. If the battery isn't perfectly flush with the airframe, the battery isn't locked even though you may have heard a click. A second push will complete the lock. This has been reported on the H as well in many threads.

I'm a bit worried now as I can only hear one click when inserting the battery although it looks as though it's in fully.
I've tried it a few times with the same result. I've got a survey tomorrow and slightly panicking!

 

[Steve Carr]

I'm a bit worried now as I can only hear one click when inserting the battery although it looks as though it's in fully.
I've tried it a few times with the same result. I've got a survey tomorrow and slightly panicking!

I have found the double click varies. Sometimes the first click is very subtle and sometimes non-existent. If the battery is flush with the aircraft after you hear the click then it is locked. To check it, lift the latch slightly and try to pull it out. If it's locked it will not move.

 

[Peggy]

There is only one click on the batteries but I have still applied the Velcro trick to both my 520 and h Plus.

 

[javier Olalla González]

It is sad to have to make these homemade fixes in a device that is supposed to be professional.

 

[AH-1G]

There is only one click on the batteries but I have still applied the Velcro trick to both my 520 and h Plus. View attachment 12216View attachment 12217

Nice!

 

[Peggy]

I have never had any indication that my batteries are working loose but the prevention is purely out of panic about the batteries working loose. However I have yet to actually see this happen.

 

[AH-1G]

I have never had any indication that my batteries are working loose but the prevention is purely out of panic about the batteries working loose. However I have yet to actually see this happen.

It's sometimes better to be overly cautious. It's like an automobile hood latch protector.

 

[10-8]

There is only one click on the batteries but I have still applied the Velcro trick to both my 520 and h Plus. View attachment 12216View attachment 12217

There certainly nothing wrong with a safety strap, but I still don't understand the issue. The battery is either secured in place or it isn't. For the 1/2 dozen or cases of power loss in flight we don't know for sure that they were ; A) properly secured or B) they were properly secured and still cause of power loss in flight. ie; failure of another component. I have been flying the + and 520 longer than most and haven't seen the issue.

 

[Peggy]

There certainly nothing wrong with a safety strap, but I still don't understand the issue. The battery is either secured in place or it isn't. For the 1/2 dozen or cases of power loss in flight we don't know for sure that they were ; A) properly secured or B) they were properly secured and still cause of power loss in flight. ie; failure of another component. I have been flying the + and 520 longer than most and haven't seen the issue.

Come on 10-8 we need you to spill some beans on what we can expect in 1.6
We know 1.5 has poi and a few other goodies but let’s hear about 1.6 [emoji6]

 

[Steve Carr]

For the 1/2 dozen or cases of power loss in flight we don't know for sure that they were ; A) properly secured or B) they were properly secured and still cause of power loss in flight. ie; failure of another component.

My take on the power shut downs is simple. If the telemetry stops recording, the battery came loose. If it keeps recording while falling, the FC has failed. I believe the later has happened on a small number of 520's and perhaps a couple of H's and those aircraft were quickly replaced by Yuneec.

 

[arruntus]

I agree with everything you say, but on this occasion, I think we are frightening people by making them believe that it is necessary to put the Velcro strip. The double click system? or whatever you want to call it, I think it works correctly. Maybe sometime has failed, by human error, maybe sametime has physically failed the system, but I think that this time we are putting fear on a physical system, something very simple that can only fail mechanically and that is easy to check its proper functioning.

To push the battery, are two steps, to push it until it offers resistance, to push it again until it is totally introduced. Of course always do a safety check, without lifting the tab completely push the battery out, if it does not come out, is well placed. Push the battery back to the bottom again.

Get used to making this procedure so simple always in the same way and being aware that it can be a point of failure, keeps us alert and allows us to do well. Not long ago, despite always double check, with a propeller that flew out at the time of takeoff makes me even more alert. It's a matter of procedure, something we talk about so much, but to do it many times makes us lose our way. Always alert

 

[NorWiscPilot]

I agree with everything you say, but on this occasion, I think we are frightening people by making them believe that it is necessary to put the Velcro strip. The double click system? or whatever you want to call it, I think it works correctly. Maybe sometime has failed, by human error, maybe sametime has physically failed the system, but I think that this time we are putting fear on a physical system, something very simple that can only fail mechanically and that is easy to check its proper functioning.

To push the battery, are two steps, to push it until it offers resistance, to push it again until it is totally introduced. Of course always do a safety check, without lifting the tab completely push the battery out, if it does not come out, is well placed. Push the battery back to the bottom again.

Get used to making this procedure so simple always in the same way and being aware that it can be a point of failure, keeps us alert and allows us to do well. Not long ago, despite always double check, with a propeller that flew out at the time of takeoff makes me even more alert. It's a matter of procedure, something we talk about so much, but to do it many times makes us lose our way. Always alert

Have to admit it when it happens, arruntus... I agree with your points, especially the 'frightening the masses'.

Alerting to the need for diligence is one thing...

However, I must also agree that those who wish to employ whatever makes them feel "safer" should certainly be allowed to do so without reprisal of any kind, unless it is portrayed as a "must do" without official recommendations from manufacturers or other "oversight" bodies.

Jeff

 

[AH-1G]

The idea of Velcro is a 2nd step, making sure you followed up on double clicking the battery (properly installed).
How many times have we done something, only to realize later we've forgotten a step or two?
Many aircrafts have crashed do to pilot error, mechanical failure, and mechanics not doing their job properly.
It's not for everyone.
Nothing is fail-safe!

 

[Wingman]

I agree with everything you say, but on this occasion, I think we are frightening people by making them believe that it is necessary to put the Velcro strip

1) it is just a precaution
2) if you add a velcro solution and your drone drops from sky you know for sure it cannot be a problem with a loose battery.

It has never happened to me apart from small accident when I could still land it. However I will still add velcro next time I am going to fly mine.

As for my accident I believe there may be something wrong with hot swapping batteries. If you do it without reconnecting a ST16s to a drone again after inserting a new battery it may be tricking a pilot into thinking they are flying with a good GPS signal while it is just some kind of residue data from flight on a previous battery.

Anyway If I need to fly on two batteries I will be always reconnecting my st16s with my drone after swapping.

 

[arruntus]

1) it is just a precaution
2) if you add a velcro solution and your drone drops from sky you know for sure it cannot be a problem with a loose battery.

It has never happened to me apart from small accident when I could still land it. However I will still add velcro next time I am going to fly mine.

As for my accident I believe there may be something wrong with hot swapping batteries. If you do it without reconnecting a ST16s to a drone again after inserting a new battery it may be tricking a pilot into thinking they are flying with a good GPS signal while it is just some kind of residue data from flight on a previous battery.

Anyway If I need to fly on two batteries I will be always reconnecting my st16s with my drone after swapping.

I don't mean to criticize anyone, just give my opinion. Feeling safe when you fly I think it's essential, if you feel better with the velcro, go ahead

Ever when you changed the battery, the ST16S has not warned you that you have lost the connection? I ask because of what you said, what makes you think that there can be residual data that can not be real?

I tell you how I see it, when you have exhausted the battery the drone lands and at the time of landing has a certain GPS position data. You remove the battery and put another one in the same location and a short time later, maybe 5 or 10 minutes maximum? When you turn on again, the H520 recheck its position, is part of the ignition process, check that it has all the data stored of that position, that everything coincides, that the response you get from the satellites give good accuracy and therefore quickly takes back the same position much faster than when you go to a new location.

When you are in a new position, the GPS downloads a small file with the more or less position of the GPS satellites of which you have coverage in the zone in which you are. With an internet connection you can speed up the process with certain applications and download the file directly instead of through the GPS, is faster. On the phone I've done it many times. This accelerates the verification that makes the device to determine, by triangulation, that the position in which it is correct and the margin of error that it has, we usually look at the HDOP which is the horizontal error, the vertical can be up to 2.5 times the horizontal. This, in turn, determines the accuracy of a GPS device. A common type GPS today gives you an HDOP of 1.5 meters, an error of 1.5 meters in horizontal, a system RTK or PPK of type L1, those that are installed today in the drones can give you an HDOP of 2.5 cm and a system L1 / L2 that can give you an accuracy of 1 mm or more.

That's how I was taught, broadly speaking, how satellite positioning works. I had to change directly in the device some parameter to work better with the Pixhawk. I think I explained it well, here we have topographers who study the subject a lot and can explain the operation better than me. Thus, we all learn more

P.D.: When I speak of GPS, I speak of satellite positioning, the GPS satellite network is the most famous but there are others that our positioning devices are also able to take advantage of, such as Glonass or Beidou for example.

 

[AH-1G]

@arruntus, I didn't look at your reply as criticism, you're ok.