Typhoon H power cut, free fall from 200 feet

[andyfinsterwald]

Has anyone had an H crash like I did last night?
Explanation: I took my H out to shoot some beautiful storm clouds last night. I checked the battery level, (the one on board the H), and it was 3/4 full. I took off, then ascended to 200 feet. The H just quit...No props spinning, Total free fall. No low battery warning, no landing itself before the battery ran out, and no indication that something was wrong.
I think it may be something to down with a faulty battery?
I'd aprieciate any feedback, posted here, or feel free to message me.

Andy

 

[PatR]

If you had taken some pictures of the H after it hit the ground and before it was moved for review more might be said, but for now all you can do is post the telemetry before any estimations can be made.

This has happened before with the most common cause of being in a hurry to fly and not fully seating the battery. The battery backs out just a little and down it goes.

 

[andyfinsterwald]

If you had taken some pictures of the H after it hit the ground and before it was moved for review more might be said, but for now all you can do is post the telemetry before any estimations can be made.

This has happened before with the most common cause of being in a hurry to fly and not fully seating the battery. The battery backs out just a little and down it goes.

 

[andyfinsterwald]

I'm really careful with batteriesm I don't know...

 

[Steve Carr]

There are a few possibilities. The most common is a battery not fully locked in place. Plug the battery back in the H and see if it will turn on. Check the battery with a meter and read the total voltage as well as each cell. Use a good flashlight and look inside the battery tray to see if the contacts look okay. You can upload the telemetry file here by changing the file extension from .csv to .txt .

 

[PatR]

Sorry, i failed to realize you had taken pictures. You mentioned storm clouds in your original post. Might there be a possibility of electrical activity during that time?

 

[andyfinsterwald]

Sorry, i failed to realize you had taken pictures. You mentioned storm clouds in your original post. Might there be a possibility of electrical activity during that time?

Absolutely no chance at all. The storm were over 50 miles away.

 

[Steve Carr]

Absolutely no chance at all. The storm were over 50 miles away.

Do you know how to access the telemetry file from the ST16?

 

[andyfinsterwald]

Yes. Sure do.

 

[Steve Carr]

Yes. Sure do.

Can you upload it here. It may (or may not) help you determine what the likely cause to be.

 

[andyfinsterwald]

Here it is.

 

[kai_bcn]

Sorry to read about your incident. You also have the real sense module on yours
I am waiting for Yuneec to get back to me, they have my telemetry and they are checking it today I believe. Mine dropped from the sky in hover ( I did have battery warnings and some compass warnings that flight) and when I found it, it was still blinking and making noises, so no battery lock issue, maybe contact issue. I will let you know what they determine as the cause. If the battery is not seated right, that of course is definitely user error and maybe if that happens a lot, it is worth thinking about a way to secure the batteries just in case. The crash sure makes one more careful and methodic in checking the craft and conditions before take-off. I had a blade fly off at take-off once and I was sure that I put them on with care, obviously I didn´t.
My H was quite easy to repair so I am flying without camera since the crash (Camera is in Yuneec Germany) and it is a great way to learn to fly with and without GPS, indoors and so on, less costly if something goes wrong.
I do miss the video I must admit

 

[andyfinsterwald]

Sorry to read about your incident. You also have the real sense module on yours
I am waiting for Yuneec to get back to me, they have my telemetry and they are checking it today I believe. Mine dropped from the sky in hover ( I did have battery warnings and some compass warnings that flight) and when I found it, it was still blinking and making noises, so no battery lock issue, maybe contact issue. I will let you know what they determine as the cause. If the battery is not seated right, that of course is definitely user error and maybe if that happens a lot, it is worth thinking about a way to secure the batteries just in case. The crash sure makes one more careful and methodic in checking the craft and conditions before take-off. I had a blade fly off at take-off once and I was sure that I put them on with care, obviously I didn´t.
My H was quite easy to repair so I am flying without camera since the crash (Camera is in Yuneec Germany) and it is a great way to learn to fly with and without GPS, indoors and so on, less costly if something goes wrong.
I do miss the video I must admit

Thanks for the response. Yes please let me know what they say. My battery is still charged. I was able to put it in the H and turn it on last night, so I'm not really sure....I know I can't really afford a brand new one at full price....

 

[CraigCam]

Was it an OEM battery?

 

[andyfinsterwald]

Was it an OEM battery?

It was the original battery that comes with the H.

 

[Steve Carr]

Thanks for the response. Yes please let me know what they say. My battery is still charged. I was able to put it in the H and turn it on last night, so I'm not really sure....I know I can't really afford a brand new one at full price....

I looked through the telemetry and I could find nothing that would indicate any problems during flight. Was the battery still in the H when you picked it up?
If you haven't already done so, you should contact Yuneec to get a RMA number.

 

[andyfinsterwald]

I looked through the telemetry and I could find nothing that would indicate any problems during flight. Was the battery still in the H when you picked it up?
If you haven't already done so, you should contact Yuneec to get a RMA number.

The battery was still inside, inserted tightly. (Normal tightness) I've sent them all the telemetry. Just waiting to hear back from them. Not sure how long it takes them to look through everything, and get back to me.

 

[PatR]

If the battery is not seated right, that of course is definitely user error and maybe if that happens a lot, it is worth thinking about a way to secure the batteries just in case.

The crash sure makes one more careful and methodic in checking the craft and conditions before take-off.

The thing is, Yuneec does provide a means to assure the battery is locked in place, but people elect to either ignore it, fail to check it, or just don't pay any attention to what they are doing when inserting the battery. If the battery does not "click" during the installation, it may not be fully seated. If a user can see a gap between the rear edge of the battery and the body of the H, it's certainly not fully seated.

The second sentence is all it takes to eliminate most H accidents and issues.

I'm not suggesting either was the cause of this incident but if more people paid more attention to the flight planning and pre-flight processes there would be far fewer broken H's. The H really isn't a toy, aviation is not a game, and neither should be treated that way.

 

[andyfinsterwald]

The thing is, Yuneec does provide a means to assure the battery is locked in place, but people elect to either ignore it, fail to check it, or just don't pay any attention to what they are doing when inserting the battery. If the battery does not "click" during the installation, it may not be fully seated. If a user can see a gap between the rear edge of the battery and the body of the H, it's certainly not fully seated.

The second sentence is all it takes to eliminate most H accidents and issues.

I'm not suggesting either was the cause of this incident but if more people paid more attention to the flight planning and pre-flight processes there would be far fewer broken H's. The H really isn't a toy, aviation is not a game, and neither should be treated that way.

I always make sure it's shoved in there all the way, but I can certainly see them coming back with the argument that it was not...Hopefully that won't be the case.

 

[Steve Carr]

The battery was still inside, inserted tightly. (Normal tightness) I've sent them all the telemetry. Just waiting to hear back from them. Not sure how long it takes them to look through everything, and get back to me.

Did you speak with someone on the phone? I understand their response to emails is rather poor. Things will move a bit more smoothly if you can get a live person to speak with.