DJI Phantom 4 series was a huge step up for the DJI Phantom series. That’s why the Phantom 4 still exists and is popular in the drone community. When talking about problems that users face related to the Phantom, there are some common DJI Phantom 4 problems most of them have faced.
In this article, we are going to talk about what are the common DJI Phantom 4 problems that users faced and how to fix those problems. If you are also a Phantom 4 user, this article definitely would be helpful for you.
Common DJI Phantom 4/Pro Problems.
Here is the list of common DJI Phantom 4 problems. Click on your issue to jump to that part of the article.
- Problem 1: DJI Phantom 4 not connecting to the controller.
- Problem 2: DJI Phantom 4 not connecting to the app.
- Problem 3: DJI Phantom 4 won’t charge.
- Problem 4: DJI Phantom 4 camera not working.
- Problem 5: DJI Phantom 4 won’t take off.
- Problem 6: DJI Phantom 4 not reading the SD card.
- Problem 7: DJI Phantom 4 controller keeps beeping.
- Problem 8: DJI Phantom 4 not connecting to DJI Assistant 2.
Problem 1: DJI Phantom 4 not connecting to the controller.
Most of the time, DJI Phantom 4 won’t connect to the remote controller when the aircraft is not linked to the remote controller. If your DJI Phantom 4 aircraft is blinking yellow, that means that the aircraft is not linked to the controller yet.
Solution: Link/Pair the remote controller to the Phantom 4 aircraft.
- Launch the DJI GO 4 app and enter the camera view.
- Tap on the three dots at the right top corner.
- Then tap on the RC icon to enter remote controller settings. Scroll down and tap “Linking Remote Controller”.
- Tap “OK”. The RC would start beeping and the indicator would flash blue.
- Find the hole between the SD card slot and the USB port.
- Press the button using a pen/screwdriver or a suitable tool. Hold it for 2 seconds and release it.
- Once the beeping stops and the RC indicator turns green, the aircraft is successfully linked to the RC.
Problem 2: DJI Phantom 4 not connecting to the app.
In most cases, DJI Phantom 4 is unable to connect to the DJI GO4 app because of outdated and faulty DJI GO4 app versions installed on the mobile device. Most of the time, android users face this issue because the DJI GO4 app version on the Playstore is faulty most of the time.
Solution: Download and install the DJI GO4 app from the DJI Download center.
- First, uninstall the currently installed DJI GO 4 app version from the device. This would clear app data and cache data.
- Visit the DJI Downloads center using your mobile device.
- Choose DJI GO 4 app. Then you’ll be directed to the app’s download page.
If you are an IOS user,
- Tap on the IOS icon and the app would be open in Appstore. Tap on the “GET” button and install the app.
If you are an Android user,
- Tap on the Android icon and the apk file would be downloaded to the mobiles downloads directory. Once it is downloaded visit your downloads directory and click on the downloaded file. Then follow the simple steps prompted by the device and install the app.
Problem 3: DJI Phantom 4 won’t charge.
Usually, DJI Phantom 4 battery won’t charge or turn on if the battery has gone into hibernation. Also if your Phantom 4 battery is dead, it won’t be able to get charged or turn on.
Solution 1: Wake the battery from hibernation.
When the Phantom 4 battery discharged to a certain limit, the battery would go into hibernation to prevent further discharge.
- Plug the battery into the charger and leave it for a few hours to wake it from hibernation and get charged.
Solution 2: Clear PF flags from the battery management system.
Problem 4: DJI Phantom 4 camera not working.
Most of the time, DJI Phantom 4 camera not working and getting a black screen on the camera view due to issues with the gimbal ribbon cable. Many users were able to fix the issue by replacing the ribbon cable.
Read the complete article: DJI Phantom Camera Sensor Error (Why, How to Fix)
Solution: Replace the gimbal ribbon cable.
Accessories
- Buy DJI Phantom 4 Pro flex ribbon cable- Amazon
- Also, you need Allen key wrench set to dissemble – Amazon
- And T7H star bit – Amazon
How to replace DJI Phantom 4 gimbal ribbon cable.
- Remove the battery from the aircraft.
- Flip the aircraft over and remove the SD card.
- Take the 8mm Allen key and unscrew eight screws connecting the camera section to the drone.
- Use a small flathead screwdriver and gently pry off the bottom section.
- Use a Phillips head screwdriver and unscrew and disconnect the ribbon cable that connected from the bottom section to the main circuit.
- Then use a flathead screwdriver and pry off the cable from the main circuit.
- Then move the Phantom out of the way because we just need the bottom section to replace the ribbon cable.
- Unscrew four screws that connect the circuit to the bottom section.
- Then gently flip it to the side. Now you’ll find two flippers located under the circuit board.
- Then use a flat-head screwdriver and flip them up.
- Remove the yellow tape running on the ribbon cable.
- Also, unscrew the cover that covers the ribbon cable.
- Then gently pull out the ribbon cable from the flippers.
- Then unscrew the four screws that connect the gimbal to the bottom section.
- Then separate the gimbal and bottom section.
- Remove these two screws right here.
- Take the 8mm Allen key and remove these four screws.
- Then remove that cover.
- Then flip up the flipper located side of the circuit and use a flathead screwdriver and pry off the cable.
- Then remove these screwdrivers and take the cover off.
- Then remove these two screws. Then slide out its bottom cover.
- Use a T7H star bit and remove four screws of the camera.
- Then take the cover off.
- Unplug the ribbon cable connected to the bottom of the circuit.
- Then flip that circuit to the side.
- Then remove the tape covering the ribbon cable connection port.
- Then pry off that ribbon cable from the circuit.
- Now you have disconnected the ribbon cable from the gimbal and it’s time to remove it.
- Then take out the new ribbon cable.
- We would start connecting the ribbon cable when we finished disconnecting the ribbon cable.
- Take the single port end of the cable.
- Remove the adhesive tab on the ribbon cable.
- Connect that ribbon cable end to the gimbal circuit.
- Make contact with the adhesive tab with the arm. Then wrap one time around the arm.
- If you do it right, then the shape of the ribbon would match the arms shape.
- In this part, you would find another adhesive tab on the ribbon cable. Peel that off and attach it to the arm.
- Before going further, let’s set up the gimbal section as it was. Flip the circuit board back to the position and connect the bottom ribbon.
- Then install the cover.
- Then install these parts back.
- Then keep placing the ribbon cable as the old one was.
- You’ll come to this part and you’ll find another adhesive tab on the ribbon cable. Peel that off and attach the ribbon able to that arm as the shape matches.
- Then connect that ribbon port to the circuit. (You can temporarily disconnect the bottom ribbon cable to ease connecting the ribbon cable to the side port)
- Then install the cover.
- Keep placing the ribbon cable as the previous one was.
- Then you’ll come to the connection point of the gimbal. In this part, you’ll find another adhesive tab on the ribbon cable. Peel that off and attach it here.
- Then insert the ribbon cable end to the bottom section of the Phantom drone.
- Then attach the gimbal back to the bottom section.
- Connect the ribbon’s two cables end to the flippers and flip them down.
- Install all the removed parts and screws.
- Insert the disconnected ribbon cable back into the drone circuit board.
- Then install the bottom section of the drone.
- Insert the battery back into the Phantom drone and power it on. Then connect the DJI GO app to the Phantom and go into camera view. Now you won’t see any camera sensor error and you’ll see the camera view perfectly.
Problem 5: DJI Phantom 4 won’t take off.
In most cases, DJI Phantom 4 won’t take off because of propeller installation in an arbitrary way. There is an order to install propellers in the aircraft to gain the force to fly and take off. So if you didn’t follow that order and installed them in an arbitrary way, chances are your aircraft won’t take off or flip.
Solution: Install Phantom 4 propellers in the correct pattern.
Once you inspect propellers well, you’ll find two types of propellers. One set has a black ring on the propeller nose and the other propeller has a silver ring on its nose.
- Install black ring propellers to the base with black dots.
- Install silver ring propellers to the base with no dots.
Problem 6: DJI Phantom 4 not reading the SD card.
Usually, DJI Phantom 4 won’t recognize the SD card when the user uses an incompatible SD card with the Phantom 4. That’s why DJI has to mention the supported SD cards on the DJI Phantom 4 spec page.
Solution: Use a compatible SD card with the DJI Phantom 4.
If you are using Phantom 4, choose a Micro SD with,
- Max capacity: 64 GB
- Class 10 or UHS-1 rated SD card.
Recommended SD Card for Phantom 4: SanDisk Extreme 64GB microSDHC
If you are using Phantom 4 Pro, choose a Micro SD with,
- Max capacity: 64 GB
- Class 10 or UHS-1 rated SD card.
Recommended SD Card for Phantom 4 Pro: SanDisk Extreme 128GB microSDXC
Problem 7: DJI Phantom 4 controller keeps beeping.
In many cases, DJI Phantom 4 remote controller keeps beeping continuously when the P4 remote controller requires RC calibration.
Solution: Calibrate the remote controller.
- Connect the RC to the mobile device and power on the aircraft and the remote controller.
- Then enter the camera view and power the aircraft off.
- Tap on the three buttons at the top right corner and open the menu.
- Then tap on the RC icon and enter the RC settings. Then tap “Remote Controller Calibration”.
- Then tap “Calibrate” and “Start”.
- Move each stick in every direction to calibrate.
- Then move the gimbal wheel to both sides to calibrate that.
- Then hit “Finish”.
Problem 8: DJI Phantom 4 not connecting to DJI Assistant 2.
Most of the time, DJI Phantom 4 won’t connect to the DJI Assistant 2 because of damaged connection USB cables and outdated DJI Assistant 2 application. Also if the PC USB port has some issues that also cause this issue.
Solution 1: Update the DJI Assistant 2 to the latest version.
- If you have already installed outdated DJI Assistant 2, first uninstall that application from your PC.
- Then open your browser (Google Chrome/ Firefox/ Safari) and visit the DJI Download center.
- Then choose Software> DJI Assistant 2 for Phantom from the left sidebar.
- If you are a mac OS user, click on pkg and download the package file and download it. If you are a Windows OS user, click on “exe” or “zip” to download the installation file of Assistant 2.
- Once it is downloaded, install the DJI Assistant 2 application to your OS.
Solution 2: Connect the USB cable to a different USB port of the PC.
Some PCs have some issues with their USB ports. So try connecting the cable to a different USB port. If didn’t help with fixing, try with a different PC.
Solution 3: Replace the USB cable.
If you use a faulty/ damaged USB cable to connect the aircraft to the PC, it won’t connect. So check whether the USB cable works fine, if not replace the USB cable with a new one and try connecting to DJI Assistant 2.
