My 3rd Mavic and I'm afraid to fly it. What should I do?

[rydfree]

Good advice. That is my full intention. I'm always a bit nervous before I send it up, but I guess that's all part of the fun.

Another thing that bothered me was a poster suggesting these power failures are a direct result of the latest firmware upgrades and still another poster suggesting these faults appear to mainly concern Mavics manufactured in early March - mine has a date of March 6. Dark mutterings.

Anyway, I'll be sending her up and across Sydney harbour again tomorrow...wish me luck.

I'm not sure that I would be flying over a harbor if I had concerns but that's just me ,lol . Good luck indeed .

Also not sure about the build dates of March being an issue but time will certainly tell . I hope not .

I must be the luckiest drone flyer alive because I have never crashed a drone other than my racing drones since I started building them in 2010 . I've crashed many planes and helicopters but even when people were screaming FlyAways with Dji flight controllers (before Phantoms) in their kit built drones , IMHO it has always been improper setup or knowledge of what the product was supposed to be doing . I have a friend that jumped over to drones with me in 2010 and he is the same , except he has crashed a time or two into a tree or such trying to get the shot He is a much better pilot than me and he shakes his head at all the stories of flyaways and "Firmware" crashes the same as I do . It seems odd that there are tons of people flying drones now that came from a prior RC background that have no problems while most every "I lost my Mavic" story are from relatively new "off the shelf" drone buyers . Just something to ponder .

No one should get scared away from the Mavic by reading the stories on these forums . They should be reading them to not repeat the mistakes .

 

[Rnl]

99.538% zero problems, not believing, to many app crashes, camera, issues, no control over bird, don't get me wrong love mine fly it daily, but zero problems a stretch.

 

[bakerboy]

Anyway, I'll be sending her up and across Sydney harbour again tomorrow...wish me luck.

How did you go about getting clearance to fly there? Big no fly zone through out that whole area

 

[Grungymike95]

Mavic #1

Bought it, brought it on vacation and on day 3 it disconnected from the RC and there was no way to reconnect it. After many back and fourths with DJI they said send it and the RC in. After breaking promise after promise I finally got it back 8 weeks later with no explanation as to what the problem was. I called and they said they did not have access to that info.

Mavic #2

Did one short test flight and all is well. 2nd flight, 65 degrees, no wind, solid signals I sent it about 3,000 meters out to a lighthouse at about 100 meters up. Solid HD signal all is well. On its return at about 1,000 meters out and 80 meters high it lost signal and the RC went to "connecting" mode. I looked up and the Mavic fell out of the sky into the cold ocean. Thank god I bought DJI Care Refresh, right? Nope, it doesn't cover lost drones. DJI says they will replace it if its a defect. I send them all the flight data that shows everything was normal and it just powered down with plenty of battery in excellent conditions and they tell me that they need proof and asked if I videoed it falling into the ocean. In the end they said I could not prove that it was a defect and they would not replace it even though the flight data showed perfect controls and then POOF! In the process of giving them all the drone purchase ownership info they wanted the serial number of the drone and of the RC. I didn't have the drone anymore so I couldn't provide it. I also couldn't give them the serial number from the RC because it was worn off! So now I butters another Mavic only and they gave me a small discount.

Mavic #3

Now I have a new Mavic and what I now realize is a heavily used RC that they sent me to replace the original NEW one I sent them. Will the same thing happen when I am flying under normal conditions? I haven't tried asking them for a new one because I couldn't even get them to confirm if they replaced the original Mavic or just sent it back with a refurbished RC.

Bought 2 Mavic's, 6 batteries, multi speed charger, carry case and every other accessory and afraid to fly it. FMLView attachment 11368

All these posts really make me not wanna get a second Mavic... I've been torn between getting a Lumix G85 camera vs a second Mavic. And yet another post making me lean towards just getting a decent 4K SLR.

 

[Jussaguy]

Mavic #1

Bought it, brought it on vacation and on day 3 it disconnected from the RC and there was no way to reconnect it. After many back and fourths with DJI they said send it and the RC in. After breaking promise after promise I finally got it back 8 weeks later with no explanation as to what the problem was. I called and they said they did not have access to that info.

Mavic #2

Did one short test flight and all is well. 2nd flight, 65 degrees, no wind, solid signals I sent it about 3,000 meters out to a lighthouse at about 100 meters up. Solid HD signal all is well. On its return at about 1,000 meters out and 80 meters high it lost signal and the RC went to "connecting" mode. I looked up and the Mavic fell out of the sky into the cold ocean. Thank god I bought DJI Care Refresh, right? Nope, it doesn't cover lost drones. DJI says they will replace it if its a defect. I send them all the flight data that shows everything was normal and it just powered down with plenty of battery in excellent conditions and they tell me that they need proof and asked if I videoed it falling into the ocean. In the end they said I could not prove that it was a defect and they would not replace it even though the flight data showed perfect controls and then POOF! In the process of giving them all the drone purchase ownership info they wanted the serial number of the drone and of the RC. I didn't have the drone anymore so I couldn't provide it. I also couldn't give them the serial number from the RC because it was worn off! So now I butters another Mavic only and they gave me a small discount.

Mavic #3

Now I have a new Mavic and what I now realize is a heavily used RC that they sent me to replace the original NEW one I sent them. Will the same thing happen when I am flying under normal conditions? I haven't tried asking them for a new one because I couldn't even get them to confirm if they replaced the original Mavic or just sent it back with a refurbished RC.

Bought 2 Mavic's, 6 batteries, multi speed charger, carry case and every other accessory and afraid to fly it. FMLView attachment 11368

That all just sucks! Total BS.

 

[MrMavic]

Forums are great for getting help with problems hence the troubling post . I hope you don't watch the news to the point you that are afraid to go outside . I would be confident in the 99% of owners are happy with the Mavic and that is only the ones that visit the forum. Most people that fly the Mavic don't even come here as they haven't had a reason . I'd also be confident in saying that more than half of the problems discussed on the forum are self inflicted .

Buy the drone and fly the thing . If you're always worried that something is wrong and may crash then you for sure will . If you've had several and had issues then maybe move on to another hobby because something certainly isn't right .

The old 99 Percent term gets used a lot here, doesn't it? Now let's talk real numbers and facts.
I find it odd that out of 4 people I know personally that own Mavics, the following applies.

Friend #1 : The first time he tried flying it, the controller did not work. He tried everything he could think of including 12 hours on the phone with DJI. They finally sent him a new controller and so far it is working fine.

Friend #2 : Her Mavic fell from the sky like a brick. Fortunately she found it and DJI replaced it, but she now has the focus problem.

Friend #3 : Camera is crap, will not focus. He sent it in a month ago and has been back and forth with DJI playing the blame game. The last he heard from DJI is they are accessing it as to whether they will warranty it. In the meantime he is out of a drone.

Friend #4 : He is having the same problem I am having with blurry images, much like you would expect from one of those throw away disposable cameras. He has not attempted getting it replaced and like myself, is trying to come up with a setting arrangement that will produce acceptable images. I love flying my Mavic, but I have to say the images are at best disappointing.

And as far as communication and customer service after the sale, DJI gets an F in that department. That applies to all 4 of the above mentioned. DJI customer service stinks.

 

[WEOTN]

I almost bought a Phantom 3 for ~$500 on Amazon since that is tried trued mature product. I chose to accept the risk of the new "infant" Mavic. It's got its problems as any new product this complicated/sophisticated can be expected to have, despite the price of entry. I never buy a first model year car for the problems they may have, but since it's not my butt up there, I chose the Mavic for many reasons, despite being in its infancy so far as production bugs being worked out etc. The numerous and frequent soft/firmware updates attest to the polishing of the product.

It would be meaningful and enlightening if folks with problems ALWAYS include software/firmware versions, Serial number of the Mavic and controller (assuming DJI uses sequential numbering) and the phone/tablet and it's OS being used. THEN some meaningful numbers could be compiled and sifted for problem occurrences vs all the above parameters. Also meaningful would be experience level of the pilot, how well they've studied (or even read) the manual.

Without stating these facts, it's nearly meaningless to try to attribute causation of noted problems. There's just too much going on to draw conclusions with insufficient data.

I'm on my first DJI product, my second drone (have a mothballed Parrot ARDrone v1) and am re-reading the manual now that I've got 8 flights ~45 minutes of fly time and have lots of questions I didn't know to ask and now understand better what the manual is talking about. I expect I'd have problems if I don't study and take it slow. If I come here to complain about a fail, ever, I will include all the above and double check the manual to see what I may have forgot or ignored, and likely not until I've been in contact with DJI on the matter, to first rule out pilot error. My ego can take it.

Please consider including all the data. Perhaps someone can create a problem report 'sticky' that has a form for the above data that can be copied pasted and edited in each problem report. This would help not only the owner/pilots, but also DJI themselves to better pinpoint what's going on and do something about it, especially with non-reported issues.

Off my soapbox. Time to fly!

 

[MavicGurl]

The old 99 Percent term gets used a lot here, doesn't it? Now let's talk real numbers and facts.
I find it odd that out of 4 people I know personally that own Mavics, the following applies.

Friend #1 : The first time he tried flying it, the controller did not work. He tried everything he could think of including 12 hours on the phone with DJI. They finally sent him a new controller and so far it is working fine.

Friend #2 : Her Mavic fell from the sky like a brick. Fortunately she found it and DJI replaced it, but she now has the focus problem.

Friend #3 : Camera is crap, will not focus. He sent it in a month ago and has been back and forth with DJI playing the blame game. The last he heard from DJI is they are accessing it as to whether they will warranty it. In the meantime he is out of a drone.

Friend #4 : He is having the same problem I am having with blurry images, much like you would expect from one of those throw away disposable cameras. He has not attempted getting it replaced and like myself, is trying to come up with a setting arrangement that will produce acceptable images. I love flying my Mavic, but I have to say the images are at best disappointing.

And as far as communication and customer service after the sale, DJI gets an F in that department. That applies to all 4 of the above mentioned. DJI customer service stinks.

Im one of those who got a bad mavic. I returned it and got a refund. Got another one and has issues as well. Returned that one too. I think DJI is not doing good QC right now and just trying to meet demands. DJi refresh and repair is so busy receiving pallets and pallets of broken mavics. Im gonna wait it out for a few months until the dust settles. I did countless emails and phonecalls with my first mavic. I had to go on a trip and they failed to meet the 2 week turn around time. I had to return that one and get another one somewhere else. Unfortunately the other one had issues as well. Now ill stick with the Phantom 3. Mavic is great if you have a good one. But if you have a lemon its very frustrating. For a $1000+ drone to just drop into the ocean is a waste.i would wait until they get their sht together.

 

[rydfree]

LOL, if there were indeed so many issues with the Mavic it wouldn't still be selling out . Time will tell how reliable they really are .

 

[willhay555]

All these posts really make me not wanna get a second Mavic... I've been torn between getting a Lumix G85 camera vs a second Mavic. And yet another post making me lean towards just getting a decent 4K SLR.

Anyone who compares a second Mavic to a 4K DSLR and thinks thats a fair comparison may have no idea what they're doing.

 

[Grungymike95]

Anyone who compares a second Mavic to a 4K DSLR and thinks thats a fair comparison may have no idea what they're doing.

I'm not comparing. Even if I was comparing, they're both cameras. One flies, one doesn't.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

I'm not comparing. Even if I was comparing, they're both cameras. One flies, one doesn't.

Yes but the Katana is coming out, so if it stops flying you have a handheld at least, with gimbal.

 

[newnan3]

It seems odd that there are tons of people flying drones now that came from a prior RC background that have no problems while most every "I lost my Mavic" story are from relatively new "off the shelf" drone buyers . Just something to ponder ..

I wonder about this too. But I wonder if its bc prior RC flyers and especially prior drone racers tend to not fly very far from their person. In other words no miles long flight that go very far beyond line of sight.

 

[Ziggy01]

How did you go about getting clearance to fly there? Big no fly zone through out that whole area

Middle Harbour. No restrictions as long as you stay out of the national park, and even then u can fly safely so long as you yourself aren't physically in the park. I've never had an issue.

 

[Ziggy01]

Reading these forums as a new Mavic owner, it would be easy to think I'd gone and purchased a drone that was unreliable and prone to numerous issues. Fortunately, I've been a long time participant in photography forums and know that the majority of people that post to these kind of forums have some sort of issue. However, they are but an extremely small percentage of the overall number of owners, most of which are very happy with their device who don't feel the need to post anything.

I've had my Mavic for a few weeks now and I've flown around half a dozen sorties with it. I've updated it to the latest .600 firmware and I can happily report that I've experienced no issues with it. In fact, I've been blown away by this incredible machine..

So true. People rarely post good news stories, they're too busy flying successful flights!

I truly love this little machine. It's about the most engaging bit of tech I can remember owning.

 

[rydfree]

I wonder about this too. But I wonder if its bc prior RC flyers and especially prior drone racers tend to not fly very far from their person. In other words no miles long flight that go very far beyond line of sight.

If you mean trying to fly within the guidelines and legally then yes , I'm quite sure that is a factor as well .

 

[alienwarrior]

Instead of addressing real issues DJI are busy with really important stuff like fixed wing mode... ha, what a joke.

 

[Sjez]

DJI will tell you that.
Or not.

Best wishes,
The 99.538% having zero problems.

Edit.
This wasn't meant to be obnoxious, it's only that it's easy to assume it's a pile of **** for everyone when everything is going wrong for the user.
The product is superb in my opinion, the DJI CS is at the other end of the spectrum.

The OP has my sympathy.

That's a substantial %age. Care to cite your source?
However, I do agree that there are many that are having trouble free flying. Having said that, I'm seeing quite a few posts here and on other forums which express various concerns. Few they may be but, London to a brick, I'd bet that if you were to loose your own Mavic under similar circumstances you'd be wanting some support... and rightly so.
Have a look at the DJI official Facebook page. Posters express concerns that are often responded to by DJI.

 

[Sjez]

Good advice. That is my full intention. I'm always a bit nervous before I send it up, but I guess that's all part of the fun.

Another thing that bothered me was a poster suggesting these power failures are a direct result of the latest firmware upgrades and still another poster suggesting these faults appear to mainly concern Mavics manufactured in early March - mine has a date of March 6. Dark mutterings.

Anyway, I'll be sending her up and across Sydney harbour again tomorrow...wish me luck.

Good advice. But just be warned.. check NFZ over Sydney Harbour.

 

[Ziggy01]

Good advice. But just be warned.. check NFZ over Sydney Harbour.

Hey, thanks for that.

I haven't seen that NFZ map before - scary. As it happens, I'm flying in Middle Harbour over near the Roseville Marina and up into the Killara area, which appears to be outside of the NFZ as displayed on that map. Still, I'm sure someone will come along and screw it up for me.

In the meantime...