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One possible cause of sudden motor shutdowns

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I just posted this message on the DJI forum, FYI, all...

About a year ago i purchased an M210 RTK - version 1. I let it sit for months before "activating" it, and enjoying an afternoon of test flights with TB50s and no external camera (no problems). Then i let it sit for months in anticipation of choking up the cash for an XT2. I did get an XT2 and only recently purchased a couple sets of TB55s, meaning i once again had to do a little testing just to make sure these very expensive batteries were functioning properly.

Since I do not yet have the battery station that accomodates the TB55s (in order to discharge them) and I know this thing will be sitting again for quite some time I've been discharging the batteries for storage by simply turning on the aircraft - and that takes a long time when you're not flying. It occurred to me to run the motors - without the props mounted, of course, to expedite the discharge a little bit; and that meant using the controller.

After just a few minutes with the motors running they suddenly stopped WITH NO INPUT FROM ME and I saw that the radio controller was now showing the "CANNOT TAKE OFF" message. I switched off the RTK link in order to re-start the motors - something I had already done in the first place in order to engage the motors without the RTK system.

I don't know if the mysterious crashes that I've read so much about in the last year could be attributed to this - I assume this would only be an issue for the M210 RTK - but if my aircraft had been in the air when this happened it would certainly have been catastrophic. I might very well overlook that "cannot take off" message while pouting over the wreckage. The controller was the Cendence, which was part of the package.
 
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Were the Batteries freshly charged to 100% ??? Let these sit and they discharge, sounds like they sat for awhile.
If you don't have the Airdata.com Application, get the free account. It will show the battery drop off.
I had an Inspire 1 battery that had bot been fully charged (it was new to me) do the same thing but in the air ~ 1 foot off the ground - no damage.
The battery initially showed a good charge but after 30 seconds they dropped off a cliff in the airdata report.
Always make sure they are fully charged and each one has the firmware updated.
Matrice 210 RTK v1 - I have had my battles with the RTK turning on when i had shut it off, this happens apparently. But i have never had a problem with either the TB50's or TB55's.
The firmware battery update is easy enough, just leave they bird running while you change out batteries and each new set will have the pop up telling you to update the firmware.
 
Were the Batteries freshly charged to 100% ??? Let these sit and they discharge, sounds like they sat for awhile.
If you don't have the Airdata.com Application, get the free account. It will show the battery drop off.
I had an Inspire 1 battery that had bot been fully charged (it was new to me) do the same thing but in the air ~ 1 foot off the ground - no damage.
The battery initially showed a good charge but after 30 seconds they dropped off a cliff in the airdata report.
Always make sure they are fully charged and each one has the firmware updated.
Matrice 210 RTK v1 - I have had my battles with the RTK turning on when i had shut it off, this happens apparently. But i have never had a problem with either the TB50's or TB55's.
The firmware battery update is easy enough, just leave they bird running while you change out batteries and each new set will have the pop up telling you to update the firmware.
The batteries were brand new and I had just fully charged them, which was one of the reasons why I running the aircraft - to test the batteries (paying attention to individual cell status) and be sure I didn’t have expensive duds.
I also wanted h to be alert for any obvious firmware problems. Maybe that’s what I found! (???)
 
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The batteries were brand new and I had just fully charged them, which was one of the reasons why I running the aircraft - to test the batteries (paying attention to individual cell status) and be sure I didn’t have expensive duds.
I also wanted h to be alert for any obvious firmware problems. Maybe that’s what I found! (???)
Try that Airdata free account and see what comes up under the battery cells etc. There very well could be a problem in this case!
Also, check the production date etc. in the Go4 App as well as firmware numbers.
 
I do not think there is anything wrong with the aircraft. Put each set of batteries in the aircraft and do a factory reset. Then charge them and fly it as long as you are positive batteries and aircraft is up to date. Look at the batteries in the app and check that all cells are very close together in voltage.
 
I just posted this message on the DJI forum, FYI, all...

About a year ago i purchased an M210 RTK - version 1. I let it sit for months before "activating" it, and enjoying an afternoon of test flights with TB50s and no external camera (no problems). Then i let it sit for months in anticipation of choking up the cash for an XT2. I did get an XT2 and only recently purchased a couple sets of TB55s, meaning i once again had to do a little testing just to make sure these very expensive batteries were functioning properly.

Since I do not yet have the battery station that accomodates the TB55s (in order to discharge them) and I know this thing will be sitting again for quite some time I've been discharging the batteries for storage by simply turning on the aircraft - and that takes a long time when you're not flying. It occurred to me to run the motors - without the props mounted, of course, to expedite the discharge a little bit; and that meant using the controller.

After just a few minutes with the motors running they suddenly stopped WITH NO INPUT FROM ME and I saw that the radio controller was now showing the "CANNOT TAKE OFF" message. I switched off the RTK link in order to re-start the motors - something I had already done in the first place in order to engage the motors without the RTK system.

I don't if the mysterious crashes that I've read so much about in the last year could be attributed to this - I assume this would only be an issue for the M210 RTK - but if my aircraft had been in the air when this happen it would certainly be catastrophic. I might very well overlook that "cannot take off" message while pouting over the wreckage. The controller was the Cendence, which was part of the package.

I have had my M210RTK V1 since early 2018 and in the beginning I was not able to take off or start the motors without first disabling the RTK on the GO4 app, (which I had to do if I was not using the Datalink ground station). In the past, I have had to always disable the RTK regardless of which ever app I was using and this became my Preflight checklist SOP. When you experienced this anomoly what app were you using?

Last month I was training in North Carolina for T&D power line inspections and using my M210RTK and immediately noticed that I stopped getting the "cannot take off" on the DJI GO4 app. The aircraft would start and take off without me having to disable the RTK. I will see if this anomaly is the same on DJI's Pilot app.

Because I use a preflight inspection checklist before each flight, I am still disabling the RTK before I start the motors but it appears something has changed in the GO4 app that will allow takeoff without disabling the RTK. After reading your thread, I am very glad that I continued disabling the RTK before each takeoff. I really do not want the motors to stop in mid-flight and destroy my aircraft.

My first steps now will be to delete GO4 App and reinstall to see if this fixes the issue. If not I will contact DJI. If you have already contacted DJI - please post their response on this thread. Thank you for sharing as I did not know someone else had experienced this anomaly.

Regards,
JD
 
I have had my M210RTK V1 since early 2018 and in the beginning I was not able to take off or start the motors without first disabling the RTK on the GO4 app, (which I had to do if I was not using the Datalink ground station). In the past, I have had to always disable the RTK regardless of which ever app I was using and this became my Preflight checklist SOP. When you experienced this anomoly what app were you using?

Last month I was training in North Carolina for T&D power line inspections and using my M210RTK and immediately noticed that I stopped getting the "cannot take off" on the DJI GO4 app. The aircraft would start and take off without me having to disable the RTK. I will see if this anomaly is the same on DJI's Pilot app.

Because I use a preflight inspection checklist before each flight, I am still disabling the RTK before I start the motors but it appears something has changed in the GO4 app that will allow takeoff without disabling the RTK. After reading your thread, I am very glad that I continued disabling the RTK before each takeoff. I really do not want the motors to stop in mid-flight and destroy my aircraft.

My first steps now will be to delete GO4 App and reinstall to see if this fixes the issue. If not I will contact DJI. If you have already contacted DJI - please post their response on this thread. Thank you for sharing as I did not know someone else had experienced this anomaly.

Regards,
JD
I was using the Pilot app.
 
As it turns out, my radio controller did need a firmware update, which I have completed. I have no idea whether that will solve the problem or whether there is a problem yet to be solved.
 
It may not be the software but hardware related: look at the quality of the contacts, both on the battery side as well as on the phantom. After a while corrosion may make contacts unreliable - regularly clean them. BTW In the past I "repaired" electronics (digital camera's for instance) just ny cleaning the contacts...

One other thing to note is the age of the batteries. "New" may mean "unused", but if they have been laying around for a while they may get internal damage, especially if they were stored with full charge or, worse, got fully discharged over time.
Charge batteries to about 50%, store them at room temperature and every few months recharge them to about 50% to avoid a full discharge. Drone batteries may come with a charge level indicator (my Mavic 2 has 4 LED's) but if that is not the case, measure the voltage and make sure it is a multiple of 3.8V.
 
It may not be the software but hardware related: look at the quality of the contacts, both on the battery side as well as on the phantom. After a while corrosion may make contacts unreliable - regularly clean them. BTW In the past I "repaired" electronics (digital camera's for instance) just ny cleaning the contacts...

One other thing to note is the age of the batteries. "New" may mean "unused", but if they have been laying around for a while they may get internal damage, especially if they were stored with full charge or, worse, got fully discharged over time.
Charge batteries to about 50%, store them at room temperature and every few months recharge them to about 50% to avoid a full discharge. Drone batteries may come with a charge level indicator (my Mavic 2 has 4 LED's) but if that is not the case, measure the voltage and make sure it is a multiple of 3.8V.
Again, I appreciate the response. I still see no connection between a fault with the batteries and a simultaneous "Where in the heck is your RTK Ground Station" condition of the radio controller. If it was just the batteries (or a battery) on the aircraft I don't think I would have had to deactivate the RTK link on the controller - out of the clear blue - a second time.
 
Again, I appreciate the response. I still see no connection between a fault with the batteries and a simultaneous "Where in the heck is your RTK Ground Station" condition of the radio controller. If it was just the batteries (or a battery) on the aircraft I don't think I would have had to deactivate the RTK link on the controller - out of the clear blue - a second time.
Just to let you know - I am working with DJI on this issue. I have had to make videos etc., so they understand what is happening on both GO4 and Pilot Apps. So far nothing from DJI as to why we no longer receive in the App "cannot start motors" when not using the GS but in fact we now can start the motors and fly without turning off RTK.
 

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