Solo went out of control again...

[shadymilkman]

Haven't posted in a "while", as I didn't want to interfere or jynx my situation...

I had been flying my Solo by my parents house, when my Solo completely lost control, and went full speed ahead into a concrete wall.

It hit hard, flipped over, landed upside down, and spun until all props were completely broken off down to their "nut".

The body itself looked to be in fine condition, and no props seemed to have motors burnt out - was amazed.

I threw some new props on, and wanted to test whether or not everything looked okay.

I hit "FLY", and it shot up to what seemed to be an unusual height for take-off, and then hovered there while drifting erratically across maybe 5 feet of space....

I got nervous, as there was no wind, so I held FLY to have it land, and instead of landing softly as usual - it slammed into the ground... but the props didn't stop - it went back up, maybe 3 feet off the ground, and then slammed into the ground again... and it did this a few times before it started propelling forward while slamming into the ground.

I ran up, and put my foot on top of it, as quickly as I can as I was scared it would crash into something, be it a house, car, person, or whatever...

Broke another 4 props, though on my shoe.

Immediately sent logs over to 3DR, and they reached out to me within 24 hours.

They asked if they can run tests on my Solo, and I said of course... I certainly didn't feel safe ever flying it again...

They sent me a FedEx label, and I shipped it out to them. They told me turn around time would be a week and a half.

I had not heard anything back from 3DR yet since they received my package, however today I received a brand new Solo in the mail... Full retail package, sealed inside a factory packed case.

I'm curious to know what was wrong with mine specifically - but I did suspect that there was indeed something wrong as I lost control of it now three separate times, all whilst doing nothing advance or using any of the smart shots.

With that said, I'm incredibly happy with the fact that 3DR went above and beyond on solving my issue ASAP, and shipping me a brand new Solo immediately.

 

[DodgeP]

That's their guarantee and mostly why new pilots are / were flocking to them initially.

 

[SteveReno]

If it was a DFI product, I'm sure you would still be waiting for there first reply. LOL

Yours isn't the first case that 3DR sent new Solo quickly , they are quick to replace with new ones.
Haven't read of any that were just repaired & sent back, it's usually they just send a new one.

Good service makes me glad i chose 3DR.

 

[CanadianSolo]

Agreed, im glad I have not had any issues with mine. But im happy to hear that the service support has been really good. I look forward for all of 3DRs improvements and upgrades in the future!

 

[Earldgrayjr]

Dissimilar problem, but similar service and turn around.

My real life comparison is that I sent in Solo and got it back in less than two weeks.

Sent in P3 3 1/2 weeks ago and have an estimated 4 1/2 weeks to wait for return.

 

[Del]

Iv never flown a drone before ..Ordered the solo through BB (Canada) ..got it Friday ! Burned 6 batteries in 2 days!! Got great erial video footage.. But wish I was able to take an actual picture with my go Pro hero4 silver...that Gimbal is gonna make a world of difference whenever It comes out..!

For a beginner flyer .. I'm happy with this product.. it did everything it was supposed to do in my opinion ! Im glad I was one of the lucky ones.. No Crash..Yet

 

[Flying Squirrel]

This tells me the ghost in the GPS is a non issue ... Faulty units are to be expected and as luck would have, you received one. Kudos to 3DR for making you whole, and doing it quickly

 

[Droned]

I had the same issue as shady, 3DR emailed me the shipping label, am waiting for a new replacement Solo any day now. I got my Solo in early June and suspected that the rushed release might have had some quality control programming issues that were overlooked. Anyways hard to find a company that truly backs its product like 3DR.

 

[1264_Solo]

I had the same issue as shady, 3DR emailed me the shipping label, am waiting for a new replacement Solo any day now. I got my Solo in early June and suspected that the rushed release might have had some quality control programming issues that were overlooked. Anyways hard to find a company that truly backs its product like 3DR.

That last line tho!

 

[jmvegas]

Had a similar issue last Friday with auto takeoff. I recently had a P3 pro I purchased off Amazon that had compass issues and could not be resolved by DJI support, instead of sending the bird in to Dji and waiting. I decided to get a refund and bought a Solo from Bestbuy, glad I did with 30 day guarantee I was able to exchange my solo for another no questions ask after this auto takeoff malfunction. I would like to understand what caused the to bird spin out of control at takeoff, I had about 40 flights logged in the last 2 weeks that were flawless half of those with the tower app. Has anyone else experienced an issue like this.

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[David Weston]

Yes, I did. Just like you, Tower Mission (1st one) As soon as I hit Auto,,this.

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There is a sequence to arm to insure a safe takeoff and landing. Recently, had two erratic flights that both resulted in a crash. Not sure exactly what caused it all but I think there is a chance of some interaction or vestige of previous tower missions.

I did a complete factory reset, flies perfectly again. I might add that the Factory Reset option is a VERY handy alternative to get one's self out of a sticky situation after maybe tweaking things that result in a problem.

 

[z3r01]

Iv never flown a drone before ..Ordered the solo through BB (Canada) ..got it Friday ! Burned 6 batteries in 2 days!! Got great erial video footage.. But wish I was able to take an actual picture with my go Pro hero4 silver...that Gimbal is gonna make a world of difference whenever It comes out..!

For a beginner flyer .. I'm happy with this product.. it did everything it was supposed to do in my opinion ! Im glad I was one of the lucky ones.. No Crash..Yet

you have an option on the GoPro for continuos shot mode or video+photo mode

 

[Adimuzio513]

Yes, I did. Just like you, Tower Mission (1st one) As soon as I hit Auto,,this.

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There is a sequence to arm to insure a safe takeoff and landing. Recently, had two erratic flights that both resulted in a crash. Not sure exactly what caused it all but I think there is a chance of some interaction or vestige of previous tower missions.

I did a complete factory reset, flies perfectly again. I might add that the Factory Reset option is a VERY handy alternative to get one's self out of a sticky situation after maybe tweaking things that result in a problem.

Your test vids on Vimeo are as close to the flying tripod as I expected glad to see solo seems pretty solid. Seems that these are comparable to p3s far as no movement hardly. Can't wait to have some stabile vids and do some testing of my own seems it'll do well for time lapse and such.

 

[CanadianSolo]

Had a similar issue last Friday with auto takeoff. I recently had a P3 pro I purchased off Amazon that had compass issues and could not be resolved by DJI support, instead of sending the bird in to Dji and waiting. I decided to get a refund and bought a Solo from Bestbuy, glad I did with 30 day guarantee I was able to exchange my solo for another no questions ask after this auto takeoff malfunction. I would like to understand what caused the to bird spin out of control at takeoff, I had about 40 flights logged in the last 2 weeks that were flawless half of those with the tower app. Has anyone else experienced an issue like this.

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Could have been a boner? did you put the wrong prop on the wrong motor? Because it happened as soon as you took off, not mid flight...?

 

[jmvegas]

Could have been a boner? did you put the wrong prop on the wrong motor? Because it happened as soon as you took off, not mid flight...?

That is surely a possibility, I thought the same after I already removed the broken props but cant be for sure prop mismatch was the cause, I would rather the cause be user error than a malfunction, does anyone know what happens when props are stalled on incorrect engine pods? Luckly I hit pause preventing any aircraft damage, engaging A B pause would have saved the props. Live and learn.

 

[pyrate]

can you even put them on wrong?

 

[jmvegas]

can you even put them on wrong?

Black to silver, silver to black

 

[JonW]

Props can't be put on wrong. They are threaded opposite directions

 

[artcuda]

wow, just noticed the dates on this thread.Three times this has happened to me.... the same issue as one of the members who stated his solo was erratic on takeoff. Mine shoots up various heights, then goes towards Earth, then shoots up higher. It's at this point that I usually put down my beer and mumble a few choice expletive deletes as I ponder why in the world my bird is acting like a redheaded stepchild. No way am I able to land gently. In every case damage was caused to solo. My unit is a hodgepodge of other solo parts. Thought I had it squared away after swapping out the pixhawk memory card. NOPE. And to think I almost sent back a new complete board that arrived a few days ago, too. I'm at the point where I can't remember which part went to which bird, so methinks I'll just install that new board which came with EVERYTHING and see how that goes. Kind of a drag, as I really wanted to find the malfunctioning, intermittent, source of my problem as opposed to just replacing stuff.

 

[Joe Horn]

... It's at this point that I usually put down my beer ... I really wanted to find the malfunctioning, intermittent, source of my problem....

Try more beer. It won't make your Solo behave any better, but you'll find it funny instead of annoying. Sort of a meta-solution.