We all already have a Mavic RC Guard in our hands

[chippie]

You're wrong. The sticks do not come off. Those were pre production models. The actual production has them tight as heck and they do not come off.


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Not correct! Mine came off relatively easy (yet if pushed back in fully are very difficult to remove again), it appears though that some have been glued in for some reason and some have not. My build date was 26/10. I wonder if they are assembled at more than one place where some drop a bit of glue in and others do not.

 

[GadgetGuy]

They are not designed to come off. I am not ripping on mine. The manual makes no such claims


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It was DJI's attorney, Brendan Schulman, who first shared this capability, and he has issued no retraction since, to my knowledge...YMMV.

 

[stealle]

It was DJI's attorney, Brendan Schulman, who first shared this capability, and he has issued no retraction since, to my knowledge...YMMV.

Read this thread where "DJI-Ken" ( a DJI employee offering tech support on the DJI forum) says 3 different times the sticks are not removable in the production models. Removable RC sticks? And again here, where "DJI LA Support" says "The thumbsticks on the released Mavic are not removable. Please don't attempt o remove them with a lot of force or you risk damaging the controller. Hope this clears things up." Mavic Controller - Remove thumb sticks ?

So, can you remove them? Yes, obviously. So, should you remove them? No, obviously.

 

[chippie]

Read this thread where "DJI-Ken" ( a DJI employee offering tech support on the DJI forum) says 3 different times the sticks are not removable in the production models. Removable RC sticks? And again here, where "DJI LA Support" says "The thumbsticks on the released Mavic are not removable. Please don't attempt o remove them with a lot of force or you risk damaging the controller. Hope this clears things up." Mavic Controller - Remove thumb sticks ?

So, can you remove them? Yes, obviously. So, should you remove them? No, obviously.

My read on this is that DJI-Ken got it wrong, LA Support probably just saw Ken's comment or may even be Ken himself (assumption). All I know is that myself and countless others have removable sticks, the holes for the sticks are molded and sealed (no opening into the controller) The other thing we know is that some sticks have been glued in so this may be the reason they advised not to try to remove them but as we have seen above it is still possible. I have not encountered any issues since removing mine and the calibration was/is 100% (I have never re-calibrated).
The argument that they are not removable is clearly not true as they are removable just that some may be glued in or pushed in with such force that they are very hard to remove. From all my RC experience having removable sticks in no way impacts performance or reliability in fact it actually helps protect the pots during transport. Not to mention that they are actually Hall Effect so nothing actually makes any contact inside there.

I really cannot see a single valid reason why you should not remove them apart from the fact that it would actually benefit you to do whilst in transit.

EDIT: We have to also remember all the other bits that DJI Support have advised on that turned out to be wrong, like the calibration for example.
Appreciate that people may not want to try to remove them based on what one or two people have said, that is their choice of course but there are many out there that have removed them and not caused any issue at all.
I would happily listen to DJI saying why you should not remove them, all I have heard is that you cannot, which we know is not true.

 

[F6Rider]

More than likely because someone is bound to not pull the stick straight up and without counter pressure on the base you could damage the pot where it attaches to the board. Besides, just another small piece to lose at the wrong time. I will just cut out the shipping carrier to fit my bag.

 

[Marc Hufnagel]

No I do not have an early production model. Mine was built 26th October

Have to ask how you can determine the build date?

 

[chippie]

More than likely because someone is bound to not pull the stick straight up and without counter pressure on the base you could damage the pot where it attaches to the board. Besides, just another small piece to lose at the wrong time. I will just cut out the shipping carrier to fit my bag.

Agree completely but in the same way someone can twist the antennas the wrong way, lose their micro-sd card or gimbal clamp etc. I'm still of the position that only one (possibly 2) DJI people have said they are not removable rather than saying don't remove them. Hopefully one day we will get official word.

Oh and they are Hall Effect pots so there is nothing attaches to the board at all. Very, very difficult to damage the pots, not that they cannot be of course.

 

[chippie]

Have to ask how you can determine the build date?

Can't remember where I saw it Marc, think it was on one of the labels, possibly on the box. Will take a look later today and get back to you.

 

[rt60]

I reckon the buttons and such could be prised off too, but I'll be just leaving mine on. Saves the chance of losing one too.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I reckon the buttons and such could be prised off too, but I'll be just leaving mine on. Saves the chance of losing one too.

The removed controller sticks were designed to fit into the inside of the phone holding brackets when they are folded in, to keep them securely stored.

 

[TXtwostep]

My user manual says version 1 and 9/2016 so maybe I got a pre-production model. My sticks came out with little pulling and now pop in and out no problem. They do actually fit inside the arms when folded up. I noticed a red substance on one of them after pulling out off for the first time. Possibly glued in. However, the flight characteristics and srock response haven't changed any since taking them out.

 

[GadgetGuy]

My user manual says version 1 and 9/2016 so maybe I got a pre-production model. My sticks came out with little pulling and now pop in and out no problem. They do actually fit inside the arms when folded up. I noticed a red substance on one of them after pulling out off for the first time. Possibly glued in. However, the flight characteristics and srock response haven't changed any since taking them out.

The removed sticks fit inside the arms differently than I expected! Thanks for sharing the photos that illustrate this! Are they held securely in place like that, or can they fall out? i was expecting them to lie parallel inside each arm, rather than perpendicular to the arms.

 

[Deluge2]

Agree completely but in the same way someone can twist the antennas the wrong way, lose their micro-sd card or gimbal clamp etc. I'm still of the position that only one (possibly 2) DJI people have said they are not removable rather than saying don't remove them. Hopefully one day we will get official word.

Oh and they are Hall Effect pots so there is nothing attaches to the board at all. Very, very difficult to damage the pots, not that they cannot be of course.

Up to each user whether to try to remove the sticks.

But please stop talking about the pots. There are no pots. The joysticks use Hall effect sensors to interpret stick position, not variable resistors ( = potentiometers = 'pots').

 

[TXtwostep]

The removed sticks fit inside the arms differently than I expected! Thanks for sharing the photos that illustrate this! Are they held securely in place like that, or can they fall out? i was expecting them to lie parallel inside each arm, rather than perpendicular to the arms.

Yeah they are secure and won't fall out. I shook the controller in the air and they stayed in no problem. I too was expecting them to go perpendicular but they wouldn't stay in place like that

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yeah they are secure and won't fall out. I shook the controller in the air and they stayed in no problem. I too was expecting them to go perpendicular but they wouldn't stay in place like that

Cool! Thanks again for demonstrating it!