EVO 2 series Battery overheat, overheating, power failure
- Thread starter quinn karter
- Start date
The full burn pattern. THIS IS MY THIRD EVO II. I GOT AN 8K INSTEAD OF A 6K PRO. . Same burn out and crash. The weather was cool and at night. The prongs between the battery and aircraft fused and all power was lost AGAIN!. THAT IS NUMBER THREE! I have 4 DJI drones. I use them them tbe same way as the Evo 2. Never has a DJI just fused its battery prongs to the aircraft and lost all power. Autel keeps claiming its my fault. Thats B.S. DJI never does this. Lets see what happens when I try to return this THIRD EVO 2. WATCH AND SEE. They will deny my claim and look for a user fault. Thats what they do. Three drones. Several thousand dollars. All lost. 
Quinn,
The terminals that are burnt are all the negative ones ( -), they must be loose or not tight enough together in the connector on the battery, to clamp securely to the blade on the drone. I will post a photo of my adapter for a generic battery that I am testing and so far very good. I will test it for another 30 flights at least before I post more on here. It is only the small battery to test with on the bench, it was enough to start everything and connect to the controller, the flight battery is 8000mah and so far very good. . Johnno Hennessy.
The terminals that are burnt are all the negative ones ( -), they must be loose or not tight enough together in the connector on the battery, to clamp securely to the blade on the drone. I will post a photo of my adapter for a generic battery that I am testing and so far very good. I will test it for another 30 flights at least before I post more on here. It is only the small battery to test with on the bench, it was enough to start everything and connect to the controller, the flight battery is 8000mah and so far very good. . Johnno Hennessy.
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Quinn,
Those photos are very disturbing for evo 2 owners, I am very surprised that Autel have not contacted you or want you to send them back. Are the purchased from AUTEL or a third party, IE: ALIEXPRESS, EBAY, ETC. If they are third party you need to tell us who the seller is so anybody that has purchased from them they can check their terminals. This is very critical, especially if the are originals supplied by Autel. Johnno Hennessy.
Those photos are very disturbing for evo 2 owners, I am very surprised that Autel have not contacted you or want you to send them back. Are the purchased from AUTEL or a third party, IE: ALIEXPRESS, EBAY, ETC. If they are third party you need to tell us who the seller is so anybody that has purchased from them they can check their terminals. This is very critical, especially if the are originals supplied by Autel. Johnno Hennessy.
All equipment and charger is OEM (original equipment manufacture). This third evo 2 was bought on amazon brand new and was only in use for 2 weeks. All were purchased from reputable well nown certified Autel distributors. All came in Original, sealed, unopened packaging. I watched the battery temp constantly during flight on this third EVO 2. It never went above 112 F ( 44.4 C ). I always let the batteries cool to room temp before recharging. By the way. the burnt terminals are the exact same terminals that burned on the last two Evo IIs. There was and is no puffiness on the battery. I was lucky I was able to retrieve it. I could see the anti-collision lights flashing all over someone's lawn. The aircraft was ripped apart from the crash. Lucky I found the camera. It was torn off, of course. I love the aircraft, but I can't justify purchasing this new Evo 2 line of products again. The same problem 3 times.. They always tell me I did something wrong. 3 times? I don't think so.
P.S. THE FAA NEEDS TO GROUND THE EVO 2 SERIES IMMEDIATELY. I was lucky no property or persons were damaged or injured.
Jagerbomb52
Well-Known Member
I have been following your posts with interest. One thing I have to ask is if you had two other ones with the same problem why would you go for three? I must say I have never heard of your problem or have I seen others posting about it on here or on the various facebook groups related to Autel. It would seem you have really bad luck or something you are doing or not doing is causing your problem. I noticed you live in Florida. Do you fly by the ocean a lot? Could this be salt water (mist or spray) getting into the unit?
Something just does not add up and to have 3 unites do the same thing when there are no other posts that I can tell makes me wonder why only you.
Something just does not add up and to have 3 unites do the same thing when there are no other posts that I can tell makes me wonder why only you.
Ansia
Well-Known Member
I don't think salt water is the problem. I fly by the ocean 90% of my flights and none of my drones have ever burnt like his do. Temperatures down here are even hotter than in Florida, most of the times.
I am with you Augustine,
Some thing is happening for this to be the third uavs, and only on the negative terminals. Quinn ,have you sent those photos to AUTEL for an answer as to what caused the contact burnout. This is very serious if there are no official answers from AUTEL. From now on I have put this on my preflight check list. Quinn, has the connection with the charger been easy or has it had to be forced or very hard, post a picture of the charger end pins also, if they are twisted or bent that could be opening the friction plates on the battery too wide and causing the poor contact,and giving you the over heating of terminals and battery. You deserve a better answer from Autel. But post a photo of your charger cable end that connects to the battery. Johnno Hennessy.
Some thing is happening for this to be the third uavs, and only on the negative terminals. Quinn ,have you sent those photos to AUTEL for an answer as to what caused the contact burnout. This is very serious if there are no official answers from AUTEL. From now on I have put this on my preflight check list. Quinn, has the connection with the charger been easy or has it had to be forced or very hard, post a picture of the charger end pins also, if they are twisted or bent that could be opening the friction plates on the battery too wide and causing the poor contact,and giving you the over heating of terminals and battery. You deserve a better answer from Autel. But post a photo of your charger cable end that connects to the battery. Johnno Hennessy.
I understand the oddity of my issue. Let me talk about the 3rd EVO2 first. I got it 10/16/2020. It Failed 11/4/2020 (total power failure). After the first 2 EVO2s failed, I always checked the battery and aircraft connectors on the third evo2. There were/are no defects with the charger in all three cases. I always used the charger that came with each EVO2. The only common denominator, i can think of, between each evo2 series Flights was high wind velocities, but nothing the drone couldn't handle. I kept checking the battery temps and they never reached over 111 or 115 F when flying against the wind. This heat elevation is minor and should not have caused a fusion between the connectors. By the way, the 3rd EVO2 was a direct shipment from Autel through amazon. I also made sure the batteries, (which were new) were room temperature before recharging. I never had to force the connections in any way. I even used an electronics air can cleaner on the aircraft and battery prongs to make sure they were clean. I air sprayed the motors and gimbal as well, each time, to make sure all was clear of any debris. Also, this last evo 2 flight was in 75 F degree weather. I never fly in the rain either. Autel has seen the pictures. They never gave me an answer. They avoid any admissions that could pose a legal risk. The FAA has taken my statement and is highly interested in this case. They are extremely concerned. I also let the BBB know for good measure. Autel would see the pin fusion damage and say stuff like, "you attached an unauthorized piece of equipment on your drone." I didn't know velcro for Anti Collision lights would void any repair or replacement warranty of the drone. All I know is, I didn't burn the prongs. Responding to Agustine: I bought three, thinking it must be some kind of fluke. I really didn't know or was unsure why the 1st 2 crashed. I finally was positive of the reason after the 3rd one crashed. I even bought an 8k for my third one instead of the 6k pro. I thought that would change my luck, but it didn't. I have 6 DJI drones. Two Mavic 2 pros and 1 M2 zoom, the Mavic Air 2, and the Mavic mini. All of them have never failed while flying in the same conditions as the EVO2s. I usually fly the Mavic 2 Pros at 45 mph, unless I need the battery to last longer. The DJI screen alerts me when I push the battery too much, so I simply hover for a minute and let the battery cool down and then proceed with the flight, just at a lower speed. Never, has my DJI collection had a mechanical malfunction. The only malfunctions were my fault. Stupid crashes, nothing else. The EVO 2s in question, except the first one, had never crashed or had hard landings prior to this pin fusion/power failure issue. The last 2 were only 3 and 2 weeks old respectively. Neither had landed harshly or crashed in any way. I flew each, 3 times a day. Never near the ocean. MAYBE, because the EVO2 series is fairly new and THIS ISSUE IS HARD TO DETECT, UNLESS YOU KNOW TO LOOK AT THE CONNECTOR PINS BETWEEN THE BATTERY AND AIRCRAFT, after a crash, you would never know what happened. Autel would simply repair or replace the drone, and send it back to the purchaser, who would be clueless of the cause of the crash. I just got lucky one day and noticed the fusion of the pins. Funny thing was on the second EVO2, I was wondering why I couldn't get the battery out. I didn't realize the battery welded itself to the aircraft. When I pulled them apart, that is when I noticed the issue, but I was not sure if it happened before or after the crash. Now, I know , after buying a third EVO2. The pin fusion and power loss is occurring before the crash. Again, the FAA has been notified. They agreed to investigate the EVO2 series. They prioritize it , just like any other aircraft. It's interesting how serious they are.
Tufargon
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You are the only person ever that has had this issue. I've not seen or heard of another single case like this. FAA is not going to ground a whole line of a product because ONE person keeps having the same issue. Are you putting the batteries in a certain way that you're used to doing with your DJI products that are maybe not the same as Autel? Those are probably odds like winning the lottery. You are probably the unluckiest person on earth that has bought the EVO series. Buy a lottery ticket now.
Here are pics of a completely different EVO 2 (my 2nd one) drones battery connectors and battery. I did not take pics of the chargers because they were/ are in perfect condition.
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MORE DISTURBING PICS OF A SECOND DRONE WITH THE EXACT SAME DAMAGE PATTERN
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THEY PROBABLY KEPT THE FIRST DRONE TO HIDE THE BATTERY AIRCRAFT CONNECTOR DAMAGE .
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Quinn,
I agree with you there is something very strange going on , contact pins don't end up like yours have and it is your fault. Do you still have the batteries from the third drone. If you do it may pay to take the end off , in video camera view , just to check the polarity on the board. If you look at the pins , the negative ones are the shorter o especially on either side of the four positives in the center of the connection block. It may be a good idea to have a electronics person to have a look and post your findings here. Like I said before this is now part of my PRE and POST FLIGHT CHECKS. Like they said from NASA , AUTEL YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?. Johnno Hennessy.
I agree with you there is something very strange going on , contact pins don't end up like yours have and it is your fault. Do you still have the batteries from the third drone. If you do it may pay to take the end off , in video camera view , just to check the polarity on the board. If you look at the pins , the negative ones are the shorter o especially on either side of the four positives in the center of the connection block. It may be a good idea to have a electronics person to have a look and post your findings here. Like I said before this is now part of my PRE and POST FLIGHT CHECKS. Like they said from NASA , AUTEL YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?. Johnno Hennessy.
Thanks for your input. Some people who have replied think I am lying. I just bought my last EVO2, 2 weeks ago (oct 20th 2020) from Autel through Amazon. The battery and its connections to the aircraft show the exact same burn pattern as previous drone pics I posted. The Other aircraft were the 6k versions. I thought maybe, just maybe, I would get lucky if I purchased the 8k version. No such luck. I have determined a possible common denominator to the defect or failures of the electrical system. I monitored the battery temp constantly on this last bird. It never reached a critical level. So it's not the battery overheating. I believe its the stress on the motors and the draw from the battery. Each time the electrical failure occurred, it was in a high wind velocity environment; at, around or over 10-15 miles per hour with even higher gusts. I think the drone simply attempted to draw too much power from the battery causing localized high temps or arcing at those specific connection points between the battery and the aircraft. This is the only common denominator I can think of, but I can't be sure. What would cause the negative terminals to arc or overheat in 3 different EVO2 models. The only thing I can think of, is excessive draw from the battery, by the aircraft's motors. Would this situation cause localized arcing or overheating at specific connection points? I wonder what sort of investigation the FAA will perform? If any at all. Just because I am the first person to identify this issue, does not mean, I am the only one to have experienced it. I only noticed it, when I had significant difficulty removing the battery from the battery bay. So I looked at the connection points and noticed the burned connections.
OK, maybe I went a little overboard with the idea of the FAA grounding the EVO2s. But, just because I am the first to notice the exact same burn pattern on two different batteries and aircraft connections, does not mean it has not happened to other purchasers of the product. The evo 2 series is fairly new and not many people own them, let alone bought 3 of them. I sure won't buy one again. I guess I'll wait for a DJI mavic 3 or something. Maybe get a VTOL. Note: those pics are of 2 different EVO 2s, with the exact same burn patterns. P.S. I didn't place the batteries in their bays improperly. The last EVO2 I bought, I checked the connection pins before each flight and even used an air injector to clean them, just in case dust or debris may have been present.
