Solo won't start up... any ideas?

Kampy · Jun 29, 2015

Hi everyone... this is my first post here... I submitted a ticket to the 3DR help desk already and their auto-reply says they are extremely busy and I might not hear from them for 3 days. So I thought I'd post what I wrote on the ticket here to see if anyone has suggestions:
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Hi. I bought a Solo 10 days ago, and last weekend took it on it's first flights, flew through 2 batteries, seemed to work OK except for some connection issues (lost connection with controller a few times, despite being fairly close by in wide open area with direct line of sight). This weekend I went to fly it again, and I can't get the Solo to connect... Solo battery, controller and iPhone are all fully charged, iPhone is connected to Sololink wi-fi, GoPro is connected and turned on, etc... but it just says "Waiting for Solo" forever. When I press the power button on the Solo battery, it (the battery indicator) lights up and shows it's power level, but does not "power up" the vehicle... no sounds/chimes, no beacon lights, etc...

I tried to send a support ticket from the app, but it just says "getting logs from Solo" indefinitely.... and nothing else ever happens.

I've reviewed all the instructions I could find carefully to make sure I'm powering things up in the right order, etc... all to no avail...
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[UPDATE] After submitting the above, I tried pushing in the "pair" reset button on the bottom of the Solo with a straightened paper clip, and that brought Solo back to life... the beacon lights turned on, it went through it's whole update/pairing process, and then said it was ready to fly... so I packed it up and drove back out to the park for a flight... and then it wouldn't work again. It's almost as if the battery is not fully connected to the bird, but it is... and I have two batteries and tried them both.

Anyone have any ideas beyond just waiting for 3DR to respond?

–Kampy

Raybro · Jun 29, 2015

Have you tried the factory reset procedure on page 48 of the manual? Also, remove the battery tray and look at all the connections to make sure they are secure. That is on page 45.

rrmccabe · Jun 29, 2015

Kampy said:
-------------------
[UPDATE] After submitting the above, I tried pushing in the "pair" reset button on the bottom of the Solo with a straightened paper clip, and that brought Solo back to life... the beacon lights turned on, it went through it's whole update/pairing process, and then said it was ready to fly... so I packed it up and drove back out to the park for a flight... and then it wouldn't work again. It's almost as if the battery is not fully connected to the bird, but it is... and I have two batteries and tried them both.

Anyone have any ideas beyond just waiting for 3DR to respond?

–Kampy

Have you looked at the no fly zone map to make sure there is not something nearby?

Kampy · Jun 29, 2015

Raybro said:
Have you tried the factory reset procedure on page 48 of the manual? Also, remove the battery tray and look at all the connections to make sure they are secure. That is on page 45.

I did go through the factory reset of both controller and Solo. That is when it seemed to come back to life, when I stuck that paper clip in the "pair" hole... although, I don't remember seeing the "internal LED adjescent to the Pair button start rapidly flashing orange" (yes, "adjacent" is spelled wrong in the manual) but that doesn't mean that it didn't flash orange... I might not have noticed in my excitement over seeing the beacon lights and hearing startup chimes.

I have NOT tried removing the battery tray to check connections... I'll try that tonight.

rrmccabe: No I haven't looked at a no fly zone map... where can I find that? (Doubt that's the issue anyway, as I was trying all these things in the same exact locations where they worked the weekend before)

Solo58216 · Jul 9, 2015

Kampy said:
Hi everyone... this is my first post here... I submitted a ticket to the 3DR help desk already and their auto-reply says they are extremely busy and I might not hear from them for 3 days. So I thought I'd post what I wrote on the ticket here to see if anyone has suggestions:
----------------
Hi. I bought a Solo 10 days ago, and last weekend took it on it's first flights, flew through 2 batteries, seemed to work OK except for some connection issues (lost connection with controller a few times, despite being fairly close by in wide open area with direct line of sight). This weekend I went to fly it again, and I can't get the Solo to connect... Solo battery, controller and iPhone are all fully charged, iPhone is connected to Sololink wi-fi, GoPro is connected and turned on, etc... but it just says "Waiting for Solo" forever. When I press the power button on the Solo battery, it (the battery indicator) lights up and shows it's power level, but does not "power up" the vehicle... no sounds/chimes, no beacon lights, etc...

I tried to send a support ticket from the app, but it just says "getting logs from Solo" indefinitely.... and nothing else ever happens.

I've reviewed all the instructions I could find carefully to make sure I'm powering things up in the right order, etc... all to no avail...
-------------------
[UPDATE] After submitting the above, I tried pushing in the "pair" reset button on the bottom of the Solo with a straightened paper clip, and that brought Solo back to life... the beacon lights turned on, it went through it's whole update/pairing process, and then said it was ready to fly... so I packed it up and drove back out to the park for a flight... and then it wouldn't work again. It's almost as if the battery is not fully connected to the bird, but it is... and I have two batteries and tried them both.

Anyone have any ideas beyond just waiting for 3DR to respond?

–Kampy

The first time out I flew mine I landed on a slop and took off again. That messed with its telemetry (?) and it drifted off to the left and got stuck in a bush. tried to power it down but not fast enough I guess. Would not restart the same as yours.

On powering up the solo I would get a slight vibration in the front right motor, no lights. The support line had me remove that motor and try it. started up, as it should flashing lights and all..
bottom line is
1 a bad motor will keep it from starting at all.
2 by disconnecting the motor and restarting you can find the bad one
fyi, My hold time was 15 minutes. they were very patient with me. talked me through each step over the phone. Checked my log file, I had sent in a couple days ago... still waiting on hearing back about any adjustments that may need to be made and getting a replacement motor.

Kampy · Jul 10, 2015

Yeah... after 3 days, I finally got a response to my ticket, and they mentioned the process of checking each motor, which I did. Now it's been another 3 days and still waiting for another response... this is what I last sent them:
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Thanks for responding to my ticket. Nothing *looks* damaged in any way, everything appears to be in perfect and pristine condition, no scuffs or scratches or anything. I tried all the steps you suggested, and it seems that one of the motor pods IS indeed bad (motor #3, black prop).

I must say though, that I'm a bit suspicious of motor #1 as well (silver prop) just because of the way it smells... it was the last one I re-installed to test, and although it powered up fine (along with motors 2 and 4) I noticed a very faint electrical / burning smell... and after getting my nostrils all up into every nook & cranny of the Solo, I have definitely traced the smell to motor pod #1. It's not a strong smell, very faint, but it's definitely noticeable when you compare to the other 3 motors, which have zero noticeable smell (even the non-working motor #3)...

So, can I get replacement motor pods for both #3 (black prop) and #1 (silver prop)?

Please advise on what I should do next...

Thanks,

–Kampy

bareon · Jul 12, 2015

I've got a similar issue. I got my solo on Thursday, July 9th, 2015. I've flown every day. Will fly several times on one charge. Never flying until the battery dies. Today I flew it once, when I went to fly it again, the battery was on the blitz. It won't power up fully and it's not charging. I've submitted a ticket as well. Best buy offered to swap out batteries (helps to know the manager). I did find the manual flight mode very useful, will program my controller to those settings.

-Bareon

Kampy · Jul 29, 2015

Just to update you all on my issue...

it's been well over a month since I contacted 3DR Support, and I STILL don't have a working SOLO... Each time I would e-mail them, it would take them a few days to respond (despite their promises of replies within 24 hours). Eventually I was able to diagnose that two of my motor pods were faulty. 3DR said I need to ship them the faulty pods, and once they received them, they would send replacements. Their last e-mail to me (13 days ago) said "We will be sending a FedEx return label to you email soon, which you can use to ship us the two faulty SOLO motor pods."

However, I never received ANY emails from them after that, let alone any with FedEx labels attached... and now when I follow up with them, they're saying they're still waiting to receive the pods from me... So now I have asked them again to either send me these elusive FedEx labels they keep referring to, or give me an address to send to so I can just ship at my own expense to hurry things along... needless to say I'm getting frustrated at how long this is taking

Solo58216 · Jul 29, 2015

Kampy said:
Just to update you all on my issue...

it's been well over a month since I contacted 3DR Support, and I STILL don't have a working SOLO... Each time I would e-mail them, it would take them a few days to respond (despite their promises of replies within 24 hours). Eventually I was able to diagnose that two of my motor pods were faulty. 3DR said I need to ship them the faulty pods, and once they received them, they would send replacements. Their last e-mail to me (13 days ago) said "We will be sending a FedEx return label to you email soon, which you can use to ship us the two faulty SOLO motor pods."

However, I never received ANY emails from them after that, let alone any with FedEx labels attached... and now when I follow up with them, they're saying they're still waiting to receive the pods from me... So now I have asked them again to either send me these elusive FedEx labels they keep referring to, or give me an address to send to so I can just ship at my own expense to hurry things along... needless to say I'm getting frustrated at how long this is taking

I just received my pod yesterday. Should of had it on Monday (Fedex could not find me....)
So 2 weeks total from order date to delivery. I only ordered the 1 replacement that I needed. Did not have to send the bad one in. Could be (speculation) that you need to return yours, due to them not fully failing. I had to show proof of purchase. I believe they are making sure that they are only going to those who need them at this point.
Also had I not called it would have gone back to Mexico. I got lucky on that one as 3DR did not send me any shipping info and I was surprised when I found out that it had shipped and was still in S.F.

Kampy · Jul 29, 2015

No, they made it clear to me that they need me to return the 2 motor pods before they'll send me the new ones. The issue is, how do I return them??? They said they have set up an RMA for me, and would e-mail me FedEx shipping label(s) that I should use to ship my pods to them. But they never e-mailed me the labels.... that was 13 days ago... now when I ask them where my labels are, their answer is "We still need you to return the two faulty pods" (??????) So now I just e-mailed them again, telling them to either send me the FedEx labels they said they were going to send, or give me an address to ship to, and I'll pay for the shipping myself... at this point I don't care, I just want to get those new pods ASAP so I can fly this $1000 machine that's been sitting here useless for over a month now!

DodgeP · Jul 29, 2015

Why do you continue to email them? Pick up the phone and call.

Solo58216 · Jul 29, 2015

Have you called the phone # at the bottom of the RMA? I thought I would have to return mine due to getting an RMA vs invoice. But just needed to call and set up payment.

Found 8:30 am to be a good time to call

Kampy · Jul 29, 2015

I have tried calling, but my work environment does not allow me to make personal calls, and I certainly can't sit on hold on a personal call while I am in meeting with a client, which pretty much all I do all day at work. And what do you mean by "call the number on the bottom of the RMA"? I have not received an RMA... that is the point I am trying to make... they say they have set up an RMA for me, which I assume to be a PDF or something with a FedEx shipping label... and their response today said "we have ready RMA584 for you to send us the Solo Motor Pods" but what am I supposed to do with that information? They have not e-mailed me anything that says "RMA" or "FedEx label" or anything remotely like that

DodgeP · Jul 29, 2015

You know what's really interesting? I called on a Saturday and was even in convo with someone from 3DR on the 4th of July..

Kampy · Jul 29, 2015

DodgeP said:
You know what's really interesting? I called on a Saturday and was even in convo with someone from 3DR on the 4th of July..

I'm so happy for you... I'm glad you had such a great customer service experience and that your life allows for you to sit on hold on a personal call during business hours. Unfortunately, my work situation and 3DR CS experience differs from yours.

rrmccabe · Jul 29, 2015

DodgeP said:
You know what's really interesting? I called on a Saturday and was even in convo with someone from 3DR on the 4th of July..

I have had similar experience but the next week it totally sucked. So hit or miss.

DodgeP · Jul 29, 2015

rrmccabe said:
I have had similar experience but the next week it totally sucked. So hit or miss.

I can understand that but, if you're not even calling, it's like playing baseball and standing at home plate without a bat and then expecting not to get struck out.

rrmccabe · Jul 29, 2015

Except that 3DR has a non phone method in place. Some people cant call, wait 20 minutes and get hung up on several times. This is not the OPs problem. This is a 3DR lack of support issue.

Uzoayo · Aug 20, 2015

Kampy said:
Just to update you all on my issue...

it's been well over a month since I contacted 3DR Support, and I STILL don't have a working SOLO... Each time I would e-mail them, it would take them a few days to respond (despite their promises of replies within 24 hours). Eventually I was able to diagnose that two of my motor pods were faulty. 3DR said I need to ship them the faulty pods, and once they received them, they would send replacements. Their last e-mail to me (13 days ago) said "We will be sending a FedEx return label to you email soon, which you can use to ship us the two faulty SOLO motor pods."

However, I never received ANY emails from them after that, let alone any with FedEx labels attached... and now when I follow up with them, they're saying they're still waiting to receive the pods from me... So now I have asked them again to either send me these elusive FedEx labels they keep referring to, or give me an address to send to so I can just ship at my own expense to hurry things along... needless to say I'm getting frustrated at how long this is taking

How did you remove and diagnose your motor pods?

Joshdrone · Mar 21, 2016

Solo58216 said:
Have you called the phone # at the bottom of the RMA? I thought I would have to return mine due to getting an RMA vs invoice. But just needed to call and set up payment.

Found 8:30 am to be a good time to call

What's the #??