I was eager to fly my newly delivered Iris, but when I went to put in the batteries into the transmitter, it did not display anything on the LCD screen. Fortuitously, I had not reattached the battery cover at this point, because when I went to check on the AA batteries, I noticed they were growing distinctly warm, almost hot. I immediately removed one and then disconnected the pack.
I double checked the batteries, they are all in the correct orientation and the voltage is what I would expect. I am inserting the connector with the tabs up to mate with the jack.
Has anyone encountered anything like that before? Is there something else I can check, or did I receive a bad unit?
3DR re-brands it and sells it under their name, integrated with other components. So they are in charge of performing quality control on their final product.
Otherwise it would be like a car manufacturer redirecting blame to the tire manufacturer when the tire size doesn’t match the car it was sold on.
To be clear, it was the connector on the battery pack that was reversed. And yes, I’m aware that 3DR sources these things from other manufacturers, but I agree with the previous commenter. I received a box from 3DRobotics with a “ready to fly” Iris, and I think it is fair to say that everything in that box is 3DR’s responsibility, especially a defect such as this which had the potential to fry the transmitter, and in the worst case cause a fire.
What is especially galling is that I called up 3DR’s support line and specifically asked them, to eliminate any possible confusion, “the red wire goes on the left and the black wire is in the center, right?” And they said “yes”. It was only after rechecking this with a friend of mine who also recently got an Iris that I realized the error.
In case you get tired of re-charging the AA batteries, have a look at this for replacing the batteries with a LiPo. I went down that path and I’m glad I did.
That post also reminds to check the polarity of the LiPo. I had to swap them, so that Red (+) is in the middle and Black (-) is at left.
Guess 3DR didn’t perform that check as part of the QA process. And I fully agree with you: They should have as part of a RTF package that was even supposedly test-flown.
Unfortunately the number of reports about apparent 3DR QA mishaps in this forum and at DIYDrones is increasing, which is rather concerning.
You are aware that the transmitter is no 3DR product and also just bought by them?[/quote]
Not a good approach to policy…if YOU (as in 3DR) sell it, it is YOUR responsibility to ensure it is right…really surprised to see 3DR try to pass the buck. VERY disappointed.
I’m not 3DR, for once.
Second, if you go to a local R/C store and buy a transmitter, do you expect that R/C store to have unpacked and tested that before selling too? That’s nonsense. Nobody does that, because quality control is an obligation of the manufacturer, not the dealer.
3DR also isn’t rebranding the TX. It’s still FlySky, isn’t it?
So it’s nothing more than a bundle offer where the retailer bundles some readymade product with something they made themselves.
[quote=“kangajump”]3DR re-brands it and sells it under their name, integrated with other components. So they are in charge of performing quality control on their final product.
Otherwise it would be like a car manufacturer redirecting blame to the tire manufacturer when the tire size doesn’t match the car it was sold on.[/quote]
That is total nonsense. As I wrote before, it’s not rebranded, so it’s not a single product but a product bundle.
Then your comparison is flawed and it’s so flawed that I can only assume that it’s intentional manipulation. Wrong size tires would equal in this comparison e.g. shipping a 4ch TX (which is totally unsuitable) instead of the needed 8ch TX. It would be a major mistake which would be hard NOT to recognize. And it would be a bundling mistake, not a defect in a bundled product.
[quote=“StefanG”][quote=“kangajump”]3DR re-brands it and sells it under their name, integrated with other components. So they are in charge of performing quality control on their final product.
Otherwise it would be like a car manufacturer redirecting blame to the tire manufacturer when the tire size doesn’t match the car it was sold on.[/quote]
That is total nonsense. As I wrote before, it’s not rebranded, so it’s not a single product but a product bundle.
Then your comparison is flawed and it’s so flawed that I can only assume that it’s intentional manipulation. Wrong size tires would equal in this comparison e.g. shipping a 4ch TX (which is totally unsuitable) instead of the needed 8ch TX. It would be a major mistake which would be hard NOT to recognize. And it would be a bundling mistake, not a defect in a bundled product.
[/quote]
I don’t really want to argue this point other than to say 3DR could save themselves a lot of customer service hassle by making sure their transmitter battery packs are wired correctly. The fault was in the battery pack, and not the transmitter itself. Yes, they take their battery packs from the manufacturer and just bundle it in. But then they should put pressure on whoever they’re getting them from to make sure they are wired properly, or train someone in the packaging line to visually inspect them. If I had not left the battery cover off and noticed that the batteries were getting warm, my first indication of it would have been… well, whatever happens when AA batteries get drained too rapidly. I did not know that transmitter battery packs are generally center positive. I suspect a lot of Iris buyers would be in the same situation.
I am just happy to have it working. (Flew it yesterday in all three manual modes; my piloting skills are rusty but I managed not to crash. It is a lot easier to fly than the RC helicopters I learned on.)
But to respond to your point that they are not rebranding the transmitter, I have attached a photo of mine. This is entirely irrelevant to the QA issue, but I would call that rebranding…
Whops. indeed, that is rebranding! Under this circumstances, if the TX anyway is taken out of the packaging for that modification, I agree that checking the cables of the battery pack is no big extra effort.
In the meanwhile I also notified Craig and he said that he’ll pass it on the the QC guys.
But to my knowledge, that’s the first case that happened, so at least, it’s no regular issue.
[quote=“StefanG”]I’m not 3DR, for once.
Second, if you go to a local R/C store and buy a transmitter, do you expect that R/C store to have unpacked and tested that before selling too? That’s nonsense. Nobody does that, because quality control is an obligation of the manufacturer, not the dealer.
3DR also isn’t rebranding the TX. It’s still FlySky, isn’t it?
So it’s nothing more than a bundle offer where the retailer bundles some readymade product with something they made themselves.
Sent from my Ainol Novo 7 Fire using Tapatalk[/quote]
So, you are not 3DR, got it. I, and I suspect many users on this forum, are under the impression that 3DR is monitoring this forum. As such, as Site Admin, it is reasonable to have assumed that you were 3DR. Perhaps then, it would be good if ANYONE who is 3DR, could include that info in their signature. I’ll post this suggestion separately as well. And, regarding the “solved” status. It appears that monitors, such as yourself, are making the determination if the problem at issue is/is not solved. SHouldn’t that be up to the OP whether or not the issue is/is not solved?
Now, as far as 3DR rebranding/verifying the TX…the difference here is that 3DR must be opening the box as they are flashing the TX with Iris specific data…so, since they are going that far, wouldn’t it make sense that they should have noted the incorrect wiring?
If you go through this post and some others in the forum here, you’ll see that 3DR does the following with the radio transmitter (in no particular order):
Remove a piece of plastic in the back of the transmitter in order to fit the FrSky module
Place the FrSky module into the transmitter and bind it with the receiver
Configure the failsafe mechanism on the FrSky transmitter/receiver (It appears that this is sometimes forgotten. So you might want to check: copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/thrott … e_Failsafe)
I’m very sorry about the battery holder issue and the wrong instructions from us. If you want a battery holder replacement please send an email to help@3drobotics.com with attention to Roger so I will follow up.
As StefanG mentioned the quality defect has been informed to our QC, so we are taking actions to avoid this to happen in the future.