Another motor pod failure.... and so many more issues.... Gimbal, Solo App, GoPro...

[Andrew McCuaig]

Ok, I need to blow off steam. I think I must be cursed.

1. Gimbal never centered straight ahead since purchase - (3DR told me in writing that it should)
2. Gimbal was also never perfectly level.
3. Repeated random camera control loss, some corrupted files. Does not happen when the GPH4B is not in Solo.
4. Solo app repeatedly and randomly disconnecting from Solo "Solo app disconnected" error.
5. Camera Roll function on Android worked ONCE out of about a dozen flights. 3DR told me in writing this function works on Android
6. Finally yesterday I was given the gift of a failed #1 motor pod at lift off and subsequent violent flip.

I had done level and compass calibrations that per the controller and mobile device were successful.

I am currently begging 3DR to take back both my gimbal and Solo for replacement with new units. They did say they would RMA the gimbal but were not clear if they would be providing a new one or refferbing...

Frankly I don't want refurbished anything! This is a total investment past the $2800.00 mark Canadian funds with my Gopro in there....

Anyways, to say I am disappointed is an understatement... well... RANT OVER..

I hope they come through, this is a lot of money.

 

[Chuck]

Sorry to hear about your issues. Let's hope they come through for you. Hopefully you sent in your logs so all that occurred can be seen and dealt with. Good luck.

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

Sorry to hear about your issues. Let's hope they come through for you. Hopefully you sent in your logs so all that occurred can be seen and dealt with. Good luck.

Yep I have sent in 3 different logs, including the one right after the crash. I hope so too. Honestly for this amount of money, this many issues is simply unacceptable. I think the product is awesome, but I need a fully working Solo and gimbal. I also need one that won't have a motor crap out after 12 flights.... Thanks for the good luck wishes

 

[SteveReno]

3dr always did the right thing, when it came to replace things on Solo, When ever it a manufacturing error. Twice i seen that even replaced a GP Hero4, cause the crash messed it up.

Hope this helps...

 

[Maddog]

I had to RMA my Solo a while back. The "refurb" unit that came back looked brand new- could not tell it wasn't new.
The refurb units are fully tested by techs who are looking for problems.

I don't think the quality control on the new units coming out of China is very good- possibly why people are having so many problems right out of the box.

 

[Jubalr]

Ok, I need to blow off steam. I think I must be cursed.

1. Gimbal never centered straight ahead since purchase - (3DR told me in writing that it should)
2. Gimbal was also never perfectly level.
3. Repeated random camera control loss, some corrupted files. Does not happen when the GPH4B is not in Solo.
4. Solo app repeatedly and randomly disconnecting from Solo "Solo app disconnected" error.
5. Camera Roll function on Android worked ONCE out of about a dozen flights. 3DR told me in writing this function works on Android
6. Finally yesterday I was given the gift of a failed #1 motor pod at lift off and subsequent violent flip.

I had done level and compass calibrations that per the controller and mobile device were successful.

I am currently begging 3DR to take back both my gimbal and Solo for replacement with new units. They did say they would RMA the gimbal but were not clear if they would be providing a new one or refferbing...

Frankly I don't want refurbished anything! This is a total investment past the $2800.00 mark Canadian funds with my Gopro in there....

Anyways, to say I am disappointed is an understatement... well... RANT OVER..

I hope they come through, this is a lot of money.

You don't have the GP WiFi on do you?

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

You don't have the GP WiFi on do you?

No Sir. Made sure of it over and over :-(

 

[Troiano27]

Had issue with my brand new solo (motor pod #4 failure). Expect mine was at 150 feet when it failed. The RMA'd the whole thing. Thought they'd ship me new equipment. Received notice I'd be getting a refurbished unit. I was annoyed as well. And the same thing pointed out to me. The engineers here in the states have throughly gone over these refurbished units, and they might be better then new. I will receive my replacement today or tomorrow, so we shall see.

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

3dr always did the right thing, when it came to replace things on Solo, When ever it a manufacturing error. Twice i seen that even replaced a GP Hero4, cause the crash messed it up.

Hope this helps...

I hope this ends up being the way I am treated too. I am really really bummed. I think this thing is absolutely great and just want it to work properly.

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

I had to RMA my Solo a while back. The "refurb" unit that came back looked brand new- could not tell it wasn't new.
The refurb units are fully tested by techs who are looking for problems.

I don't think the quality control on the new units coming out of China is very good- possibly why people are having so many problems right out of the box.

You may very well be onto something concerning the "brand new" units. It's really a shame if that's the case. That would really not be doing the product justice.. If this was a money issue, perhaps it would have been wise further delay release of the product while putting together a relatively inexpensive accessories package or something to appease clientele.

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

Had issue with my brand new solo (motor pod #4 failure). Expect mine was at 150 feet when it failed. The RMA'd the whole thing. Thought they'd ship me new equipment. Received notice I'd be getting a refurbished unit. I was annoyed as well. And the same thing pointed out to me. The engineers here in the states have throughly gone over these refurbished units, and they might be better then new. I will receive my replacement today or tomorrow, so we shall see.

I wish you luck bud!

I am very very disappointed to be reading countless "motor pod failure" threads here and elsewhere on the web. It's more than clear there is an issue. The ESC units need to be changed. Frankly, if someone can figure out what could be put in place of the stock units that would be great, EVEN if they require mounting on the exterior of each boom... I have serious doubt that this has anything to do with the motor itself, though I may be well out in left field here.

 

[pyrate]

are you focusing only on the bad because of your experience
Could it be your countless reports of pod failures are trumped by endless successful flights and you just did not notice those?

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

are you focusing only on the bad because of your experience
Could it be your countless reports of pod failures are trumped by endless successful flights and you just did not notice those?

Pyrate, I am very happy for those that have had success and are enjoying the product as a result of it functioning well for them. I have spent many many hours reading here and elsewhere about how wonderful Solo is. which is why I wanted one in the first place. I do take a little offence to your comment - I very obviously "noticed the endless successful flights" why would I have bought a Solo if I had not??? Though I may be happy for others who are doing well, regardless if 5 people are successful, or 5000000 are, the fact remains that I have had a terrible experience so far, that Sir trumps everything. I was just blowing off steam, and listed a most of the problems I have had in hopes some folks might have a magic cure for them.

Pertaining to the "motor pod failures", if anyone thinks this is normal, I really beg to differ. You must admit that there are a lot of poor folks reporting the exact same issue.

Honestly Pyrate, if you look at the other's posts in my thread, they are trying to be helpful - insinuating that I am blind to the multitude of successful flight is not helpful to me.

If I have misinterpreted you, please explain as I don't see a different meaning.

 

[pyrate]

I simply asked a question
As someone who works in the consumer electronics repair business, the only way you can honestly state there is an issue is with numbers I am sure you do not have.
You can speculate, you can have a hunch, you can even have a theory, but you cannot know

Take offense if you must, there was no offense intended. People often times associate broader failure to a product if they themselves experience the failure.
It is human nature.

But here is the emotionless cold hard facts
Unless you know the true failure rate, Number of Failures / Number of units in service, over a set period of time. then you are speculating based on a forum where it is very natural for people to post problems more than success.

Now does that mean there is no room for improvement on the motors, nope
does it mean that 3DR is doing something internally to improve motors over time to reduce support costs, I would hope they are

It is perfectly fine by the way to speculate the motors are bad, it is also perfectly fine to challenge that speculation, it is even ok for you to be offended. but that is not he intent

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

I simply asked a question
As someone who works in the consumer electronics repair business, the only way you can honestly state there is an issue is with numbers I am sure you do not have.
You can speculate, you can have a hunch, you can even have a theory, but you cannot know

Take offense if you must, there was no offense intended. People often times associate broader failure to a product if they themselves experience the failure.
It is human nature.

But here is the emotionless cold hard facts
Unless you know the true failure rate, Number of Failures / Number of units in service, over a set period of time. then you are speculating based on a forum where it is very natural for people to post problems more than success.

Now does that mean there is no room for improvement on the motors, nope
does it mean that 3DR is doing something internally to improve motors over time to reduce support costs, I would hope they are

It is perfectly fine by the way to speculate the motors are bad, it is also perfectly fine to challenge that speculation, it is even ok for you to be offended. but that is not he intent

Alright Pyrate,

I understand what you are saying, and it makes sense. I must say though that I never said I knew for fact or had any statistical data.

I presume there is an ESC issue, which is what the engineer at 3DR mentioned to me - this is why I mentioned it.

Given my experience and frustration, I simply didn't like being told that I didn't notice all the successful flight. Like I said, I did, this is why I bought a Solo.

"Could it be your countless reports of pod failures are trumped by endless successful flights and you just did not notice those?"

That bothered me, that is an arrogant and belittling question to ask. I did not join this forum to be chastised for being disappointed about technical problems out of my control.

I also understand that one will see a lot of "problem threads", but in this community, I see many threads of folks having a great time with a great product.

I am not dumping on 3DR, their service or products, I am, as I said just blowing off some steam and hoping someone has insight that they might be so kind as to share.

Anyways, I am not here to argue, offend anyone, or otherwise have non-constructive conversations.

In closing, if you go to the top of the thread and read my list of issues with my purchase, one should understand my dismay.. I apologize for being "bummed out" about this whole thing Pyrate.

 

[Maddog]

@Andrew McCuaig- just FYI, the camera roll function on my Nexus 7 has never worked. I don't need it so I've never looked into it.

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

@Andrew McCuaig- just FYI, the camera roll function on my Nexus 7 has never worked. I don't need it so I've never looked into it.

I have a funny feeling, that like most apps, the original was developed for Apple products and the ported to Android. I'm sure 3DR is working on it. In their defence there are so many different Android devices out there that it must be rather difficult. If that has an impact. I hope they figure it out as the low res camera roll images and videos are great for quickly showing off raw media to family and friends if you don't have time for editing right away

 

[fpvsteve]

Camera roll was introduced with the last Solo app update end of last year and works perfectly fine for me with the Nexus 7/2013.
Actually all the App-work for Arducopter started with Droidplanner on native Android a few years back, and iOS was just added for Solo so your "funny feeling" is pretty incorrect.

I understand your frustration Andrew but your comments and long list of issues are somehow hard to believe.
I have my Solo now for 7 months (gimbal for 6 months) along with a GP4B in very regular use, and never experienced any noteworthy issues.
Zero defects except 2 broken props after accidentally hitting a tree.

But I am building drones and other RC aircraft for a number of years, maybe that makes a difference

 

[Andrew McCuaig]

Camera roll was introduced with the last Solo app update end of last year and works perfectly fine for me with the Nexus 7/2013.
Actually all the App-work for Arducopter started with Droidplanner on native Android a few years back, and iOS was just added for Solo so your "funny feeling" is pretty incorrect.

I understand your frustration Andrew but your comments and long list of issues are somehow hard to believe.
I have my Solo now for 7 months along with a GP4B in very regular use, and never experienced any noteworthy issues.
Zero defects except 2 broken props after accidentally hitting a tree.

But I am building drones and other RC aircraft for a number of years, maybe that makes a difference

Hi Steve, I believe you man.

I understand it can perhaps be hard to believe for someone who's having little to no issues.

I can assure you that I am not making things up for fun. I have better things to do, trust me. I am just looking for help with the problems I am having.

I would like to think I'm not completely out to lunch. RC has been a hobby of mine since being a little boy. I also enjoy building water cooled, SLI, heavily over-clocked gaming PC rigs, and lately have become quite capable of basic road vehicle ECU tuning.

I stand corrected about the the development of 3DR's apps, I did not know this. I was going on what used to be typical for most apps when the Iphone line and Android phones were rather young. Usually the Apples apps for pretty much anything were far more "polished" than their Android counterparts back then.

I am glad to hear everything works great for you. Maybe I should look into a Nexus 7.

 

[Maddog]

Camera roll was introduced with the last Solo app update end of last year and works perfectly fine for me with the Nexus 7/2013.
Actually all the App-work for Arducopter started with Droidplanner on native Android a few years back, and iOS was just added for Solo so your "funny feeling" is pretty incorrect.

I understand your frustration Andrew but your comments and long list of issues are somehow hard to believe.
I have my Solo now for 7 months (gimbal for 6 months) along with a GP4B in very regular use, and never experienced any noteworthy issues.
Zero defects except 2 broken props after accidentally hitting a tree.

But I am building drones and other RC aircraft for a number of years, maybe that makes a difference

How odd- I have the same Nexus 7, but I've never been able to get the GoPro feed to record. The slider is "ON" but nothing ever records.