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My New Typhoon H + Doesn't Bounce

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I'm trying to maintain my sense of humor. I purchased a brand new Typhoon H+ this past Saturday, after a year of flying a Parrot Bebop2 successfully. I felt like I wanted better quality photos and video, better customer service, etc. everything that comes with spending more money. I was ready to step-up (so-to-speak.) So I'm not entirely new to drones though I don't consider myself a "pro" per se.

Because of the expense of this drone (compared to the Parrot), I invested a great deal of time in determining what drone I wanted to buy, watching videos about the Typhoon H + on YouTube (before buying and after) and pouring over and highlighting and underlining the PDF manual I printed out. Yes, I'm that anal.

Two days later (tonight) on a low wind evening, I took my new drone far out in the country with no interference or obstacles and slowly and carefully went about acquainting myself with the drone and controller after securing a connection, calibrating the compass and making sure I was following proper procedures.The first flight was short and modest with me just checking out basic functions. The battery started at 84% (I'd done some camera testing without the props installed the previous night. I kept it within 50 yards, ran it down to 34%, landed it easily and safely, no problem, removed the used battery and loaded the second fully charged battery into the drone body.

I know about the battery needing to snap in place and being super paranoid, made sure it did so. I fired it up for second run and further practice. It was set on angle and modest speed. I took it gently straight up, under 100 ft. (landing gear still down I realized in retrospect.) I let it hover as I looked at the transmitter screen and considering pan and angle for the camera. Things were fine. Suddenly the rush of the propellers stopped!!

Time froze, (at least in my mind). My first thought was, something's odd because the sound stopped, not faded. Eyes on the controller, it didn't immediately occur to me that the drone was dropping from the sky. My eyes were scanning the display screen for any information. There had been no warning sound or visuals. In the span of 2-3 seconds from the shut-down the drone dropped straight down to the gravel road below and 15 yards in front of me. It was every bit as horrific a sound as you might imagine.

It was pretty much destroyed. Ironically none of the propellers were broken but the body and camera took a beating. Legs and arms were broken. More than a few scrapes and bruises. The battery was still secure in the body, (if dinged on one corner from the drop) so that ruled out improper insertion. My next fear was that the battery was somehow not charged but, fortunately the connection between the drone and controller was still functioning and it showed 100% charge. The upper right hand switches were in their middle positions. The landing gear was actually still down, as I'd never raised it.

I'm at a loss for words or explanation. I had just watched as $2,000.00 of expensive drone drop to the ground. It was my second flight with the H Plus but as far as I can tell I did nothing wrong.

The controller of course is fine, so I have the telemetry info and I'll be calling the Yuneec folks tomorrow. If, in the meantime, anyone has any constructive thoughts on what might have happened or if you've had a similar thing happen, I'm open to what you think might have gone wrong. A brief Google tells me mine was not the first, but it's still not "common." I had a full controller to drone connection. I was flying from the same spot I'd flown from minutes earlier. There were no high voltage power lines, or cell phone towers or even any obstructions anywhere near.

Frankly, it was a drone pilot's worst nightmare realized. The only think worse would have been someone getting hurt or damaging something it fell onto.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.
 
Turn on the ST16, connect it to your computer using the USB charging cable and access the internal memory. You will see the list of directories as show below. Open the Flightlog directory and then the Telemetry folder. Select and copy the .cvs file with the highest number. Copy that to your computer, add a .txt to the end of the file name and upload it here.

Files on ST16.jpg
 
I feel your pain... had my own "fall from the sky" event in May 17... less damage, as mine was from 75 feet but onto grass. It was ruled to be covered under warranty and repaired. Call them at 8:05 PT... request an appointment callback. You will start a case with them and need to send them the telemetry. Steve has given you the route to retrieve the telemetry files. Given you only have a couple of fights on the bird, the files will be minimal and specific. If they determine it to be a covered crash, from the damage you've described, they'll quite possibly just send you a new unit.
 
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The first couple of flights of any drone, no matter the make or model, are always more prone to something going wrong than after the aircraft has bedded in, so to speak. Often it's because the pilot just isn't used to it and hasn't built the skill set for that particular drone and has a pilot induced crash. Then there's the failure induced by the new aircraft: If something is going to fail it will do so within the first few flights.

For example. In my drone piloting time I've owned 3 aircraft. The first was a P2V which I inevitably crashed within the first few days of owning it. My fault. Minor damage and it was airborne again within a few days. The second was a P2V+ which crashed while I was doing some survey work for a conservation group. It was only it's fourth flight and it just took off into a tree. As far as I could tell it wasn't my fault...a fault with the aircraft and more major damage happened to it than was sustained on my original aircraft. Incidentally, that P2V+ is still being used on a regular basis mainly for when I'm flying recreationally.

I feel for you mate and I hope that Yuneec steps up to the plate for you.
 
Turn on the ST16, connect it to your computer using the USB charging cable and access the internal memory. You will see the list of directories as show below. Open the Flightlog directory and then the Telemetry folder. Select and copy the .cvs file with the highest number. Copy that to your computer, add a .txt to the end of the file name and upload it here.

View attachment 10411
 

Attachments

  • Telemetry_00019.csv.txt
    89.5 KB · Views: 43
Gees I feel terrible just reading about your misfortune..
If anyone can help you , these guys here can, especially finding the cause. I read about so many flight failures after changing the battery. It just can’t be that every instance is caused by improperly installed battery.
I hope Steve and the guys are successful in finding the cause and yuneec helps you
 
Yuneec CS had a 30 minute hold time. I used the chat function on the site and immediately got a customer service rep who was nice, a lady named Angel. Her first response was did I return it to Best Buy. I questioned whether or not Best Buy would be willing to refund me if it was possible that I was in error somehow. But of course that would be the initial go to, as it would, if successful, completely eliminate any problems for Yuneec.

I was prepared for a difficult discussion but to my amazement, she said that they would send me the shipping labels and as soon as they received my drone they would ship me a new one! Wow! She emailed me. I was given a case number. and I gave them my address. She asked for a photo copy of the receipt which I was able to send her.

Right now my problem is getting the files to send in Gmail. I asked her if she wanted all the files in the log and she replied, “yes.“ There are four file folders and I cannot send all four for some reason. (Perhaps they are too big.) I don’t know that I want to start sending each of the individual files within the folders in separate emails as that would take forever. If you have a suggestion for how to get them the log, I would appreciate it. I emailed her back with that question and have yet to hear back from her. I tried the text chat function on the site again and the response I got was that no one was available and to try later.

In our original chat, I asked her if they had had this problem with this model of the Typhoon before. She claimed that mine was the first. I was hoping I would get some response back from someone here on the log information I previously attached but so far, nothing. I do not have the software on my laptop to read it and I’m not sure that if I did I would be knowledgeable enough to interpret it. My concern is if there is something that I did wrong I sure as **** don’t want to do it again with the replacement! The customer service tech understood that and said that they too wanted to see what happened. What are the odds?

I must say, I was blown away by the fact that they were willing, without question, to replace the drone. That says a great deal about this company, unless I got a newbie customer service person who messed up. The only thing that could’ve happened better would have been for them to ship me a new one without waiting to receive my damaged one first. I have heard of this happening on rare occasions but I certainly wasn’t expecting it. I am pleased with their response so far and told her so. Customer service is huge!

Again, suggestions on how to send the log would be appreciated, as I don’t want to have to put them on a flash drive and return it that way if there’s an easier option - perhaps DropBox? Also, anyone who can read the telemetry log I put in this thread and perhaps glean some helpful information, I would appreciate that. I appreciate the responses I’ve gotten and the feeling of empathy. Thanks for being gentle with me.
 
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Yuneec CS had a 30 minute hold time. I used the chat function on the site and immediately got a customer service rep who was nice, a lady named Angel. Her first response was did I return it to Best Buy. I questioned whether or not Best Buy would be willing to refund me if it was possible that I was in error somehow. But of course that would be the initial go to, as it would, if successful, completely eliminate any problems for Yuneec.

I was prepared for a difficult discussion but to my amazement, she said that they would send me the shipping labels and as soon as they received my drone they would ship me a new one! Wow! She emailed me. I was given a case number. and I gave them my address. She asked for a photo copy of the receipt which I was able to send her.

Right now my problem is getting the files to send in Gmail. I asked her if she wanted all the files in the log and she replied, “yes.“ There are four file folders and I cannot send all four for some reason. (Perhaps they are too big.) I don’t know that I want to start sending each of the individual files within the folders in separate emails as that would take forever. If you have a suggestion for how to get them the log, I would appreciate it. I emailed her back with that question and have yet to hear back from her. I tried the text chat function on the site again and the response I got was that no one was available and to try later.

In our original chat, I asked her if they had had this problem with this model of the Typhoon before. She claimed that mine was the first. I was hoping I would get some response back from someone here on the log information I previously attached but so far, nothing. I do not have the software on my laptop to read it and I’m not sure that if I did I would be knowledgeable enough to interpret it. My concern is if there is something that I did wrong I sure as **** don’t want to do it again with the replacement! The customer service tech understood that and said that they too wanted to see what happened. What are the odds?

I must say, I was blown away by the fact that they were willing, without question, to replace the drone. That says a great deal about this company, unless I got a newbie customer service person who messed up. The only thing that could’ve happened better would have been for them to ship me a new one without waiting to receive my damaged one first. I have heard of this happening on rare occasions but I certainly wasn’t expecting it. I am pleased with their response so far and told her so. Customer service is huge!

Again, suggestions on how to send the log would be appreciated, as I don’t want to have to put them on a flash drive and return it that way if there’s an easier option - perhaps DropBox? Also, anyone who can read the telemetry log I put in this thread and perhaps glean some helpful information, I would appreciate that. I appreciate the responses I’ve gotten and the feeling of empathy. Thanks for being gentle with me.
Good for you. I see your point in wanting to know the exact cause. After the guys read your data you will have a good idea if not the exact cause. I would then make yuneec aware of it. It also surprises me on their quick action to replace the drone, and it’s possible they haven’t yet heard of the H+ failing as you described but can guarantee they heard of the Previous model doing it
 
Based on my experience when I had my warranty repair, they will not download them from any 3rd party site... and yes, because of email attachment size limits, you will likely not be able to send all at once... personally, I had to put the files from each folder into a separate zip file and then email each resulting zip file individually.
 
Had a "light bulb" moment. The info they want they can pull from the controller/transmitter unit that I return. Right? No, I won't be getting any immediate feedback from them (since they won't have it) but they've already said they'll replace it and they'll eventually get the info they need and hopefully get back with me. As my wife said, fly the replacement without fear because if it crashes on you too (which doesn't seem likely) you'll have ample grounds to get your money back. She has a point.

Also, the telemetry file I shared looks like "code" (jibberish) on my end here too and I sent it as requested (with the added .txt, so I'm not sure what's going on there. Is it gibberish to everyone else who looks at it here?
 
I do not think they will wait for your controller... if they follow the usual pattern, they will review the telemetry you send to them. Even though they have said they will replace your aircraft, that will not proceed until the telemetry data confirms that in fact, your crash qualifies under the parameters for warranty coverage and replacement. However once they receive your telemetry, the determination will be made quickly.

There are couple of individuals here that look at telemetry that is posted, but of course this is voluntary and on their timeframe... I guarantee that someone on this board will get back to you, likely before Yuneec does.
 
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Business wise your thoughts make sense, I understand, but she didn't really say that, per se. Her response was we'll send you another one and we'd like to see the log. I should have taken screen shots of the conversation, as that may have been misleading. Were I in her shoes, I'd have stated, "We'll have to see the log first and if it shows you were not at fault then we will begin proceedings to replace your drone." So, yeah, :( thanks for a touch of reality.
 
Mehrlin,

The telemetry file you uploaded shows your craft sitting on the ground. Motors were never fired up.

If you go to the folder that Steve Carr pointed to in his post, there should be four folders inside Remote, RemoteGPS, Sensor, and Telemetry. Make a folder on your desktop named My Telemetry and transfer those four folders to it. Now open that folder and select all four folders and right click and select Send To, then Compressed zip folder, and name it My Telemetry.zip.

You can upload that here as is, and can also send that file to Yuneec.
 
Business wise your thoughts make sense, I understand, but she didn't really say that, per se. Her response was we'll send you another one and we'd like to see the log. I should have taken screen shots of the conversation, as that may have been misleading. Were I in her shoes, I'd have stated, "We'll have to see the log first and if it shows you were not at fault then we will begin proceedings to replace your drone." So, yeah, :( thanks for a touch of reality.

Just so you understand, in my specific case my aircraft was being repaired, so they would not send me the RMA and shipping label for repairs until I provided them with the telemetry needed. If you had only 2 flights, you have less data to transfer to them... follow DM's instructions to create the zip file, and send it off to Yuneec CS. If anything is questionable I'm confident that in fact, they will replace it as stated.
 
Mehrlin,

The telemetry file you uploaded shows your craft sitting on the ground. Motors were never fired up.

If you go to the folder that Steve Carr pointed to in his post, there should be four folders inside Remote, RemoteGPS, Sensor, and Telemetry. Make a folder on your desktop named My Telemetry and transfer those four folders to it. Now open that folder and select all four folders and right click and select Send To, then Compressed zip folder, and name it My Telemetry.zip.

You can upload that here as is, and can also send that file to Yuneec.

Why can't I see what you described in the log I shared here (the highest numbered one?) Since the drone and the controller still communicated after the crash and I turned it back on to double check the battery charge, (my first fear), that may account for what you are saying. Something was seriously wrong in more aspects than one if it didn't show the altitude gained. My guess is that the info needed is in the previous file rather than the highest number one. (In this case.)

I'd already done as you suggested regarding the log, but I'm not sure about the compressing part. I'll do some more looking at that. Still no email back from Yuneec.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Just so you are aware... Yuneec has always been notoriously poor at responding via email. You will likely have to follow up by telephone.
 
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