I’ve seen silicone caulk/glue as an anti vibration adhesive to hold wire bundles in place and at connectors to help prevent them separating. It is sometimes used with fine wires to secure them as opposed to wire ties that can pinch and chafe.
So do we have a problem? Drones that 'fly away'
- Thread starter Scott_in_Colorado
- Start date
Hi Nikono - while sometimes common, silicon rubber, superglue, epoxy, ... are used at times for strain relief of wires, to prevent vibration from breaking the wires. Often when circuit boards are made, modifications are necessary. These modifications appear as wires from point A to point B. This not only (can) happens in products like the Breeze but any electronic product.
Cold Solder Joints, as they are referred to, can still happen but are few and far between these days. Production tolerances are very tight - else many failures and the product gets a bad reputation quickly - and it's difficult for the company to recover.
I do put about 1" of heat shrink on the Breeze feet (1/2" sticking out past the foot bottom) just to cushion the landing a bit, but mainly to raise the Breeze a bot more off the ground for a better IRS reference when flying off grass.
Cold Solder Joints, as they are referred to, can still happen but are few and far between these days. Production tolerances are very tight - else many failures and the product gets a bad reputation quickly - and it's difficult for the company to recover.
I do put about 1" of heat shrink on the Breeze feet (1/2" sticking out past the foot bottom) just to cushion the landing a bit, but mainly to raise the Breeze a bot more off the ground for a better IRS reference when flying off grass.
Wonder what percentage of Breeze flyers have issues, There must be a heck off a lot of Breeze birds out there. Followed this forum since it started and see all kinds of control issues. No doubt the many versions of Android are a main contributor to the issue. I haven't seen many comments about the very real possibility of magnetic interference. My 2 year old Breeze that has flown without any issues (other than several dumb pilot errors). However, recently it went bonkers and did a lot of out of control maneuvers, which the returned to home button resolved. Curious, i went to the 'UAV Forecast' site and found that I was flying with a Kp index of 8!. several days later, with a Kp index down to 2, my bird totally resumed normal flight behavior,
Brings up the question, How much of these types of problems are really caused by unknown interference? I control with an Ipad on IOS. Noticed that the use of the controller adds just another layer of connection problems that can cause control to drop out.
Suggest that pilots check the UAV Forcast, (It's free) before flying to see what external forces could interfere with their control of the breeze.
Brings up the question, How much of these types of problems are really caused by unknown interference? I control with an Ipad on IOS. Noticed that the use of the controller adds just another layer of connection problems that can cause control to drop out.
Suggest that pilots check the UAV Forcast, (It's free) before flying to see what external forces could interfere with their control of the breeze.
This is 100% correct, FYI. I have a B2W Bugs2 (very similar to the Hubsan H501S) and this is a very well-known phenomenon with the RC crowd. TBE (toiler bowl effect) is the result of a messed-up compass, it goes in circles because magnetic north keeps drifting out of position for the drone. I lost my first Breeze drone while flying over a bridge, the drone began circling and crashed into the side of said bridge, destroying it. There was no compass error showing before I launched, but 100% that's what happened to it. I purchased a new Breeze because the price had dropped to $149 and trust me, there is NOTHING with better image quality available under $200 in the drone world.
The compass module sucks in this drone, or the software is glitchy and is failing to register minor compass calibration errors that are still large enough to send the drone into a spiral. Either way, with the new Breeze I re-calibrate the compass constantly, and I've never had an issue with it.
With the Breeze, pulling it out of GPS mode will stop TBE, but that's not super easy with the Breeze app. If it starts circling and you need to instantly get it to stop, your only real hope is to SCRAM the engines (double tap the header of the app in Pilot mode, or click in the control sticks in Controller mode) and hope the crash to the ground is less damaging than the crash that was going to happen when the drone circled into an obstacle.
Last edited:
Knock on wood, I’ve never had an issue with my Breeze compass. I’m so impressed with this little quad. You mentioned the image quality, I’ll add the stability. This little guy is just amazing at what it can handle. It’s my go-to flyer now. So quick to get in the air (even with the extender), and just rock solid. I wish Yuneec would develop this a little farther, could be a contender with the DJI Spark.
Good point on the stability, that's another thing I've simply never seen on a sub $200 drone, optical flow and IR sensors. The Breeze has both and it's super steady because of that.
I was really hoping they would add some new capabilities to the Breeze as well, like maybe extending the range with a controller a la the Spark. This drone with a 1KM+ range? It'd be fantastic. (Wouldn't care about the range going much further than that unless they somehow increased the flight time as well)
The Breeze is intended to be a 'selfie' drone - not a long range reconnaissance drone. Use it for what it's intended and you'll be happy. I started this topic because more often than not, it's a pilot issue, not a Breeze issue. So many will buy for $150 and not bother to learn how it actually works - just go out and push buttons, then report, "my Breeze ran into a tree, house, pole, flew out of sight, (fill in your issue here)...
If the Breeze cost $800 (I think the original price) it would help eliminate people that purchased just for fun - you are not going to spend $800 and not learn it first. Want more, get the Air or the Spark - but pay $1000 for the Fly More pack - so it's a simple issue; go slow, learn the functions of the Breeze and keep it for a long time, or 'think' you know how it works as we'll be reading your posts in the "Help" section soon.
If the Breeze cost $800 (I think the original price) it would help eliminate people that purchased just for fun - you are not going to spend $800 and not learn it first. Want more, get the Air or the Spark - but pay $1000 for the Fly More pack - so it's a simple issue; go slow, learn the functions of the Breeze and keep it for a long time, or 'think' you know how it works as we'll be reading your posts in the "Help" section soon.
Very well put, and right on the money. To me the Breeze is fantastic, but I don’t ask it to do what my Phantom 3 does. It does everything except distance better than my hubsan.
My breeze just flew away on me for the second time today the last time was a month ago and i figured it was because i was too close to the power lines. Today I was in my backyard away from any possible interference and the crash broke an arm off.! I wonder if it has to do with the update for the controller i did yesterday. All i know is Im really upset.
My breeze just took off right away as soon as it left the ground today, I didn't have any controll. The **** thing flew off, circled around and ran into a tree about 100ft away. It had nothing to do with trying to fly around the neighborhood or going on a long range recon. I have 5 other drones and I am an experienced pilot, not someone who just went out and bought this and figured i'd learn as i go. I actually read all the manuals and made sure i knew all the in's and out's before i got started. I've been flying this thing since January
"... I've been flying this thing since January"
My guess, the last hard landing on concrete might have broken something inside. Beside that, nothing was changed except the Android phone's system firmware which got updated from time to time.
My guess, the last hard landing on concrete might have broken something inside. Beside that, nothing was changed except the Android phone's system firmware which got updated from time to time.
Updating the firmware on the controller should not affect the Breeze itself. All that firmware changed was the assignment of the down direction on the d-pad to tilt the camera down.
Also take a look at post #24 in this thread, I’m seeing this type of fly off posted every couple of weeks. Doing the compass calibration while facing magnetic north seems to almost be a must. My Breeze would get squirrelly on me even after doing a compass calibration. Then a came across a thread that suggested doing the cal while facing local magnetic north. The only time I’ve had drifty erratic flight since then was when flying near a large metallic monument surrounded by concrete full of rebar.
Last edited:
A few questions come to mind. How many GPS satellites were you locked on to? Many of us, including me, forget to check this before starting to fly. I now have a note on my controller to check GPS. If your Breeze just took off and did not hover that the predetermined altitude (what was it by the way), then the GPS was not working (my guess). If the GPS was not working, I recall the height limitation of 6-8' (but I don't recall specifically). Clearly that did not happen - as it flew up high.
It's very hard to determine what happens 'when' - but develop a start up routine and ALWAYS stick with it. It's easy to forget to check satellites - but make it a habit.
I understand your frustration, and I honestly feel your pain. I am new to drones too, and I recall on my day 2, I was in the backyard, just hovering between my house and a tree - about 20' apart, but I was not going to be flying high, so I did not care. I pushed the RTH button to see what would happen (THAT WAS A KEY MISTAKE!! I should of known what would happen !!!) - the Breeze shot up, like 20', straight up, higher than my roof top - I had no idea what to do, I was helpless. It came straight back down and landed right where it took off, but it scared the crap out of me. At that point, I decided to fly in open fields and KNOW what will happen whenever I push a button.. good luck.
It's very hard to determine what happens 'when' - but develop a start up routine and ALWAYS stick with it. It's easy to forget to check satellites - but make it a habit.
I understand your frustration, and I honestly feel your pain. I am new to drones too, and I recall on my day 2, I was in the backyard, just hovering between my house and a tree - about 20' apart, but I was not going to be flying high, so I did not care. I pushed the RTH button to see what would happen (THAT WAS A KEY MISTAKE!! I should of known what would happen !!!) - the Breeze shot up, like 20', straight up, higher than my roof top - I had no idea what to do, I was helpless. It came straight back down and landed right where it took off, but it scared the crap out of me. At that point, I decided to fly in open fields and KNOW what will happen whenever I push a button.. good luck.
Flew today with 14 satellites and using the WiFi repeater recommended here. The repeater does its job as video watch smooth until I reached the geo fencing. The drone was about 60m away when I initiated RTH. It went up to the set height and stated coming back but overshot the takeoff point and was going over my roof and I had to hit the stop button and brought it down manually.
A good thing you knew where the stop button was! It seems your Breeze lost its Home position - or you moved from the original take off position. I’ll assume you did not move. Can you try the same test without the repeater? Perhaps only fly out 30 meters, then 40, then 50, not 60. Do it in the same spot you flew above. Would be interesting to know the results. Then try with the repeater again. See if you can duplicate the results.
Before i purchased the repeater i tested the RTH function. It went up as directed and came down about 4 inches to the right of the box it took of from. The difference being in the first incident I initiated RTH when the drone was about 3 meters form the take off location, while in the second incident the breeze was about 45 meters away from the take off point.
Just weighing in on this one. I've never had the repeater/extender change where the Breeze came back to using RTH. I've flown it for eight minutes at a time up to the 100 meter distance and 80 meter height geofences and it always returns within a couple of meters of takeoff point even in 15 to 20 mph winds.
Definitely glad you knew the procedure to halt the RTH!!! Since you had this happen, I would go to an open field and use the procedure Scott outlined above to test the reaction of the Breeze. The only thing I could suggest at this point is that you were getting reflected GPS signals around your house. If everything goes well in the open field, try again from your yard and see if you get the weird results again.
I, too, have done RTH many times at 100-300’ with no issues so it’s puzzling to me why yours did not work.
Sounds like the optical sensor couldn't see the ground for some reason.
EDIT: I should have said the IRS sensor
Last edited:
Similar threads
