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H520 fell out of the sky like a stone - Sudden powerfailure

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Hello everybody,

on 13.06.2019 my Typhoon H520 fell like a stone from the sky. About the crash and the then until 23.07.2019 following "discussion" with Yuneec I would like to report here.

I am currently documenting progress on a large construction site, including surveying. All necessary permits are available.

In order to measure the construction site, I set up a mission via the DataPilot and also flew it off several times successfully, so I also wanted to measure the construction site on 13.06.2019. We had sunny, slightly cloudy weather and it was almost windless ... perfect flying conditions.

For security reasons, I attach importance to a comprehensive pre-flight check before starting the drone. For this I check the H for visible damage, tightness of the rotors and check whether the battery is locked. Then I started the drone, made sure that the ST16s showed no error messages and rose to about 3 meters to check the clean execution of all control commands. This too was without problems. Then I checked again the parameters of the mission and loaded them without error messages on the H520. So I started the mission.

The H520 rose to its mission height of 45 yards and made its way to its starting point. See below linked logs from the drone.
After feeling 20 seconds, the ST16s began to vibrate and reported a complete connection loss. I had set the drone to perform an RTH in case of lost connection. However, since this did not happen, I began to search the sky, I knew where she should have been. However, I could not discover the drone anywhere. Until I saw the H520 then totally destroyed lying on the ground, about 10 meters from my point of view (starting point) away.
It was noticeable here that the battery was still stuck and just about one cm had slipped out, all the propellers still sat on the engines, just one arm was bent and the H520 crashed almost horizontally. See attached pictures.

After a phone call with Yuneec I applied for an RMA number and sent (14.06.2019) the H520 together with a complete Hergangsbeschreibung (s.o).

On 27.06.2019 I received from Yuneec then the answer that you due to an unusual rotation of the Kopters in the air, the considerable damage traces on the Kopter, the burst battery, but the undamaged battery contact strip in the Kopter, from a non-latched battery and thus one User error went out. Furthermore, Yuneec submitted an offer for a new copter and camera with 20% discount.
Then I phoned the responsible technician again. In addition, I asked by mail to answer some, in my eyes, unanswered questions. Et al I am aware of cases with incorrectly latched battery, which led to the crash, however, the battery was no longer in this case after the crash in the Kopter; Also, I pointed out again that the H was in mission mode at the moment of the crash. I also asked Yuneec to provide me with the log's read out of the copter. (I could only secure the logs from the ST16s.) See the link below. Yuneec promised to review the case again.

On 04/07/2019, I received the answer from Yuneec that the, original for Yuneec incomprehensible and unusual rotation of the Kopter in the air was due to the mission plan. Furthermore, the battery is only a little out of the Kopter herausgerutsch and this probably happened only at the moment of impact. No talk of a non-latched battery. But you can definitely rule out a material / manufacturer error. Ultimately, the user error, which would have led to the crash, could no longer be detected. Yuneec increases his discount to 30%.

On 05.07.2019 I wrote then an email to Yuneec, this time a floor higher (names are in front of me, I would not publish here) pointed to the only apparent from the log's Aufaufäligkeit out, abrupt termination of all records at 3:54, which suggesting a complete breakdown of the power supply at 45 meters altitude. These logs also match the LOGS from the ST16s.
This was also admitted by Yuneec as obvious, but it can not be clarified what could have led to this power failure. It could also have been a consequential damage from any incident in the past. On my suggestion that there are more cases, was answered evasively; Yes, at first glance, there are parallels between your case and the other cases, but after a thorough examination this assumption could not be confirmed. But I was also clearly informed that I would get any information, which was investigated exactly.


08.07.2019 until today.

Multiple phone calls with Mr. XXXX did not change Yuneec's point of view, many of my questions were ignored. The attempt of a common conversation in order to achieve a mutually satisfactory solution was also expressed with the words: "Herr Göhlich, what can this bring?" abgeschmettert.


Please find attached the link to the logs and in the appendix a few pictures:


logs.px4.io/plot_app?log=b919c...67-4338-8669-d35f46146125








Everyone should form their own opinion about the behavior of Yuneec. Personally, I am quite disappointed and can not understand the above behavior. I do not know exactly how to proceed. The H520 was my 4 drone from Yuneec and maybe / probably my last drone from Yuneec.

I find it important to Yuneec's behavior in such a case, luckily no further personal injury or property damage has been incurred to show other owners or prospects.

It's a shame that Yuneec has a good platform with the H and especially with the H520.


Greetings Marc


abgestürzter_H520 - Kopie.jpgabgestürzter_H520_2 - Kopie.jpgabgestürzter_H520_4 - Kopie.jpgabgestürzter_H520_5 - Kopie.jpg
 
Hello DataFlight,

from the first look on the pictures you are right.The real damage is visible on the undersite.

Due to the power of impact directly from the cam (E90) the whole inner and outer frame is broken, the battery case is broken ....
The landing gear mechanism is broken on both legs, one leg is also broken. No idea if the electronic is ok, I doubt that. I would assume the mainboard also is damaged or broken.
The E90 is totally destroyed ....

I guess fixing it will not be easy ... you need at least the following parts:
* Complete Shell Upside and Downside
* Outer Frame (maybe also the inner Frame)
* Maybe Complete new Mainboard
* At lest on new arm
* New E90
* Connecting plate for the camera
* Some more spare parts

.... if this is economic ??? I will see ...

Greetings Marc




IMG_20190613_121740.jpgabgestürzter_H520_5.jpgIMG_20190613_121906.jpg
 
The copter itself - no big deal to repair. But the E90, the most expensive part, is repairable only in very rare cases. That's the problem. I hope Yuneec Europe will change its mind and offer a replacement at least for the cam...
But unfortunately I doubt on that.

be HE
 
Another option, I do not know the chances of it being viable, is to look for another E90 with hit and make of 2 cameras, 1 functional.
 
the under side picture that you posted from my perspective indicates you will need a new mainboard battery internal frame. after a wreck like that new mainboard and fc strongly recommended. what firmware was being used when this happened?
 
Hi terrence,

Don know the exakt Nummer cause the H520 still is ar Yuneec, but I regularly Check for updates, so it was the latent firmware ... the E Version.

Greetings Marc
 
actually I just remembered about a conversation that I hade with mike at terrestrial imaging about sudden power failures on h520 when I went to purchase a extra mainboard battery frame for the h520. He asked me if I I had any issue similar to what some users had about the battery separating from the main plug. My reply was I did not have any such issues and I did not notice anything different about the new frame compared to what I remembered about the first h520 I had. I also noticed at the back of the craft that there are fine felt pads that seem to increase surface friction to aid in holding the battery in place. without them I can see a potential failure point. other than the sonar getting slightly out of place or the main board power plug mount moved by a few millimeter due to the screws that hold that part to the frame loosen up a tad enabling slight movement. I can't name any other points of potential failure to occur.
 
I have had exactly the same experience as Mc-Murph. My H520 was flying fine for several minutes and then dropped out of the sky. The warning came after the crash. The drone was 10m in the air and 10m away from me.
All firmware, etc was up to date. The batteries were fully charged.
 
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I have had exactly the same experience as Mc-Murph. My H520 was flying fine for several minutes and then dropped out of the sky. The warning came after the crash. The drone was 10m in the air and 10m away from me.
All firmware, etc was up to date. The batteries were fully charged.

Yuneec Europe in Germany said:

We suspect that the flight battery was not correctly engaged. Due to the flight manoeuvres and the flight duration the battery was detached.

This begs the question that there is a design flaw in the H520 that you can attach the battery, take off and fly it and then the battery detaches itself.....

Mmm... it sounds like BS to me. Anybody who has loaded a battery in the H520 will know that it needs to click in to power up and fly. And Yes the battery was still in when it crashed.

Worse!! If Yuneec Germany's assertions are true then there is a huge design flaw in the H520. It means that Yuneec's flagship drone and future in the drone industry is doomed.

I asked for the logs proving that the battery had come off in flight due to a manoeurvre but of course they cannot prove their assumption.

There is not log which is showing that the battery is inserted correctly, but the log file is showing a disconnection of power, which could happened to an wrong inserted battery only.

Their answer means that the battery could also be faulty.

It does seem that there is a design flaw with the H520 and/or its batteries.

I hope someone at Yuneec headquarters in China is reading this before it all spirals out of control.

They should just replace the drone and move on. Yuneec Germany's handling of these situations is just making things worse for Yuneec International's future as a drone manufacturer.

It's not for playing devil's advocate, but it's not the first case and it won't be the last of drones that fall like stones for having the battery wrong anchored. In this same forum we have 5 or 6 other cases of other colleagues who also happened.

Actually when you put the battery you have to hear 2 clicks, and not just one. In some H520 is not audible more than one, but regardless of whether it makes noise or not, once introduced the battery and push it to its top, it is good practice to do a little force out without lifting the entire eyelash and check that it is really properly fixed. This operation, which must appear in any checklist prior to flight, must always be done, not only with the H520, with any drone.

Now, if you affirm that you put the battery well, that it remained well fixed, how do they know that it was so? Can they tell you it wasn't like that? NO, can you prove it was like that? NO. So.....................

I agree with you that, given the number of cases that have already happened and taking into account that we have only heard of a few, Yuneec should rethink a better battery anchorage system, is more, even a sensor that determines if it is well fixed. In the end the expense is minimal and we eliminate this problem, which in principle has easy solution but its consequences are deadly necessity for a drone.

Buddy, I'm sorry for your loss, cheer up :(
 
It's not for playing devil's advocate, but it's not the first case and it won't be the last of drones that fall like stones for having the battery wrong anchored. In this same forum we have 5 or 6 other cases of other colleagues who also happened.

Actually when you put the battery you have to hear 2 clicks, and not just one. In some H520 is not audible more than one, but regardless of whether it makes noise or not, once introduced the battery and push it to its top, it is good practice to do a little force out without lifting the entire eyelash and check that it is really properly fixed. This operation, which must appear in any checklist prior to flight, must always be done, not only with the H520, with any drone.

Now, if you affirm that you put the battery well, that it remained well fixed, how do they know that it was so? Can they tell you it wasn't like that? NO, can you prove it was like that? NO. So.....................

I agree with you that, given the number of cases that have already happened and taking into account that we have only heard of a few, Yuneec should rethink a better battery anchorage system, is more, even a sensor that determines if it is well fixed. In the end the expense is minimal and we eliminate this problem, which in principle has easy solution but its consequences are deadly necessity for a drone.

Buddy, I'm sorry for your loss, cheer up :(

Come on arruntus are you being paid by Yuneec??

You should know very well like any Yuneec H520 pilot that it is not possible to fly the drone for 10mns and all of a sudden the battery detaches itself.

First, the battery stayed attached in the drone till the impact of the crash on the ground. There was no detachment.

Second, you could not take off if the battery was not properly inserted.

Third, if there was a bad connection between the battery and the drone.
 
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How am I going to be paid by Yuneec? If I'm the one who pays...................

Don't take it as an attack because it's not. That I would like it more if it had never happened to you, or if it had never happened to me.

Please look for more cases in this same forum, you will see that they put the same thing that you have explained both. You can fly calmly 10 minutes or the whole battery without the battery is well anchored, only with the force that makes the male connector in the female connector. However, without sudden maneuvers, and that does not mean that the battery is well anchored. I do not remember if here or in a Facebook group a colleague told this case.

Second, you could not take off if the battery was not properly inserted.

There is no sensor that prevents takeoff, the only condition we are talking about is that the drone has energy, so it can be badly anchored and you can take off.

Third, if there was a bad connection between the battery and the drone. Then it is PROOF that there is a design flaw in the H520.

It's not a bad design if you push the battery all the way down and make sure it's fixed. What I think is wrong is to have to check this and there is no easier way to know if it is properly set.

All in all keep in mind that this would never be possible with the DJI Mavic 2 Pro for example. You cannot take off without the battery being inserted and the drone powered up.

We're talking about a different anchorage system. Anyway I repeat, in the H520, if you have power can take off and the DJI is an intelligent battery, is different, not the case.

I'm not going to comment on the affirmations you make because I understand that you see it that way, and even more so with the anger you have, I'm exposing it coldly.

I repeat, I feel what has happened to you, I only expose what I believe objectively, and I fear that Yuneec relies on the same thing that I have expounded to reject the replacement. They consider it a human failure and not a hardware or software failure so a manufacturing failure.

Anyway I do not reject that you put the battery correctly, but now comes the problem, how do we prove it? the same can happen to me, I am, like the rest of our colleagues, the first people interested in this never happening to us.
 
When the same problem happens to so many customers at the same time with the same product then you know that there is a problem with the actual product. There is no coincidence.

Maybe the battery is faulty .
 
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What makes matters worse is that their customer service in Germany is so bad and dishonest. Rather than repair it they sent me an invoice to buy a new H520, E90, new RC and batteries for more than what I had paid for the original!

After the crash the E90 was smashed but the H520 was still good apart from the legs and one propeller arm. It switched on and is repairable. The RC is fine. They are just trying to get as much money as possible for a product that is not worth it.

The truth is that I didn't feel comfortable when I contacted them either, a lack of manners that I didn't like at all :(

From what you say, that way of acting is of course not correct and those things have to be told so that they do not act the same way with anyone else. What's this about sending you a bill to buy new things that I don't even have broken? I'm sorry? no wonder you're angry, I'm just looking at this.

I imagine you've refused to buy a new one and you've got yours at home already. Are you going to repair it? what are you going to do? In case you decide to repair it, here are a few phenomena that can help you a lot, especially @terrence davidson , who has become an expert in the guts of the H520 :)
 

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