Received today - DOA - Help!

cratica · Aug 25, 2017

I ordered the package deal from B&H and it arrived a couple of hours ago.

I followed all the setup instructions on the guide but nothing at all happens when trying to turn on the Solo. (transmitter works fine). There are no lights that come on on the battery itself when pressing and holding the on button. (before or after charging)

When charging the solo battery, the green light on the charger emits but again, no lights on the battery itself..

I tried to call the 2 support numbers on the setup guide but they are off the hook apparently (constantly busy)
I emailed support but no help yet.

Super disappointed as I ordered this so I could use it this weekend.

Anyone else have this issue? What was the resolution? How can I contact support?

Thank you,

Curtis

jimloss · Aug 25, 2017

cratica said:
I ordered the package deal from B&H and it arrived a couple of hours ago.

I followed all the setup instructions on the guide but nothing at all happens when trying to turn on the Solo. (transmitter works fine). There are no lights that come on on the battery itself when pressing and holding the on button. (before or after charging)

When charging the solo battery, the green light on the charger emits but again, no lights on the battery itself..

I tried to call the 2 support numbers on the setup guide but they are off the hook apparently (constantly busy)
I emailed support but no help yet.

Super disappointed as I ordered this so I could use it this weekend.

Anyone else have this issue? What was the resolution? How can I contact support?

Thank you,

Curtis

If battery lights don't come on when the power button is depressed even off of Solo, then the battery is defective.

Two options:

Return to B&H
Email 3DR at [email protected] and wait for a response - it may take some time. They'll need all your contact and mailing address, a description of the problem, and a copy of your receipt - include this information on you initial contact so that it doesn't slow down the resolution.

cratica · Aug 25, 2017

Yes, battery is completely dead. So not happy. Thanks for the reply.

DaveB · Aug 25, 2017

while u wait hold down the battery button as u plug in the charger. also check output of charger.

JBAlaska · Aug 25, 2017

DaveB said:
while u wait hold down the battery button as u plug in the charger. also check output of charger.

Nice DaveB! I assume that overrides the "low or no battery detected safety" on the charger?

I hope that gets your battery charged cratica, but even if it starts to charge have it on a fireproof surface and abort if the starts to get hot!, in any case that battery is damaged and must be replaced!
Good luck and safe flying!

DaveB · Aug 26, 2017

Very good advice JB, yes it should reset the battery logic. I've seen them work fine after this.

cratica · Aug 28, 2017

Hey all, thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, holding the button down when plugging in the charger made no difference. It still has no lights when depressing button and stays cool when "charging". I get 16.72 volts out of the charger. Still fighting with B&H on getting them to send me a good battery. They want me to send unit back first. Waiting to hear from 3DR.

Gary Burch · Aug 28, 2017

Bad battery

skyhax · Aug 28, 2017

3DR charger does not heat the batteries. If your battery dropped below a certain voltage, the charger will not charge the battery. If you raise the battery voltage using a trickle charger, chances are the 3DR charger will start working. Very often the battery will work for a while but got permanently damaged because of the voltage dropping too low.
I would order another battery from beards and hats. When it arrives return this bad battery too get a refund. I would only ever do this when all items are from the same seller and of equal value,
Make a connector to trickle charge:
http://www.voltaicsystems.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Solo-Cable-alone.jpg

DaveB · Aug 28, 2017

I'm sorry my little trick didn't work but I have returned things to B&H and they sent a shipping label good luck and having a spare is a good thing.

cratica · Aug 30, 2017

UGH!!!!! This just keeps getting worse. So I purchased a replacement battery. It came in today. It's lights lit up (something the other never did) Got all excited. Followed the setup guide again. Solo came to life! Wifi connected, got to step 8, press "fly solo" button to view HD video from gopro on my iPhone 6. No feed. I then saw the message "required first-flight update" and clicked to get firmware updated. After 5-10 minutes, it competed successfully. However, when starting the solo back up, it locks up on "calibrating sensors...please wait".

It should NOT BE THIS DIFFICULT to get this thing in the air for the first! Insanely frustrating.

So I call both support numbers again... and they are still off the hook. I emailed support about 3 hours ago and crickets.

Can anyone tell me why solo started up fine before updating firmware but now after updating it won't boot up and gets stuck on "calibrating sensors"? Sorry to be so frustrated but thankful for any help.

cratica · Aug 30, 2017

(and how to get this fixed so I can fly it for the first time?) I read on the forum about possibly resetting/rebooting might be a fix but also nervous about doing anything until I talk to 3DR support. thx

cratica · Aug 30, 2017

UPDATE: I turned on the solo and transmitter WITHOUT the app running and this time it gave me a level error and said to fix it using the app. I was then able to open the app and calibrate the level... then solo worked. Clearly, the programming on the Solo needs to have a timeout after X seconds and then give you the same message if the app is running at same time, rather than just lock up entirely.

Did a quick test flight in the yard and it seemed to work fine. I did hit the home button to see what it would do and it took off into the sky and the voice said "careful or warning" or something like that. So that was a little concerning but I was able to get control back and land it. Not sure what happened there.

Hope this helps the next person.

XevetS · Aug 31, 2017

cratica said:
UPDATE: I turned on the solo and transmitter WITHOUT the app running and this time it gave me a level error and said to fix it using the app. I was then able to open the app and calibrate the level... then solo worked. Clearly, the programming on the Solo needs to have a timeout after X seconds and then give you the same message if the app is running at same time, rather than just lock up entirely.

Did a quick test flight in the yard and it seemed to work fine. I did hit the home button to see what it would do and it took off into the sky and the voice said "careful or warning" or something like that. So that was a little concerning but I was able to get control back and land it. Not sure what happened there.

Hope this helps the next person.

Do your research before hitting buttons and not knowing what to expect why do you think the solo shot up when you hit the home button? (hint its suppose to do that).....Just read the manual there is a lot to be learned...

JBAlaska · Sep 3, 2017

Since this option has the possibility of flying the bird into something or someone, The man has to know...and even though the graphics you will see if you RTFM, will explain better than I can... But no way I want you to crash your new solo, so:
1 launch
2 take the bird straight up until your alt is above any obstacles around "home", the solo when called home might fly up (normal) if it's below the min alt you set after launch, huh.. Yup XevetS to hard to explain the "cone". Quickly Solo will not "as "stock" do object avoidance, so if you call it home and something is in the way....take control or hit pause. But really since this is not a game console and WILL crash if you don't RTFM So please do, cuz it haz pijures and I have a date with my Solo and gotta get to the River. The RTH pijures will school ya on this ASAP

Enjoy and fly safe!