DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Jlgerardi

New Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2017
Messages
2
Reactions
0
Age
40
I guess I may be the first to damage my remote control because I cannot find any other posting similar to the help I need.

Unfortunately, following a flight last week, I dropped my remote. I didn't think anything of it until the next time I tried to fly and the remote was not connecting to my phone. Took me a minute to put it together but realized after not being able to charge the remote via the micro USB, that the drop must have jarred something loose. Sure enough, looking inside the port, I can see the outside silver part around the pin is cracked. This must be causing a loose connection. Only upon wiggling the charger certain directions am I able to get it to charge. This obviously isn't realistic to depend on on when flying.

I know I am able to connect my phone via the full size USB on the bottom of the remote but have not been able to determine if I can charge via that port because I don't have a male to male cord yet. Crossing my fingers it will.

My question is if anyone had dealt with a similar issue. I'm wondering
  • Is it worth trying to repair or just buy a new remote.
  • Also wondering if anyone knows if the USB on the bottom of remote can be used to charge the controller.
  • Are there any differences in using the USB port on bottom of remote versus the micro USB on side of remote to fly?
Thanks in advance and happy flying!
 
I have not tried to charge a controller through the USB port. You would have to find a male to male cable somewhere just to try it. There's always a chance that if you do that, you might smoke the main board of the controller, then the controller will be relatively worthless.

You could try sending it in to DJI, it might not cost that much to fix but it might take a month to get it back. You could take it to a local hobby shop that works on DJI products and see if they can fix it. Or you could just put it up on here in the classifieds as working but needs repair and buy another one. eBay is another option to buy and/or sell.
 
Last edited:
It looks like it does, but if I were you I'd look at some teardown videos before ordering - the remote looks real tough to get back together. Might be worth considering the other options such as sending in for repair at DJI before you go down the road of disassembling it.
 
This replaces the micro usb port on left side? Hard to see exactly what I'm looking at with that piece.

Did you reinstall this yourself? Any suggestions?

Yes I did install it myself. Like BorisTheSpider stated. Watch the videos, and you'll do fine. It'll take you less than 30 minutes to complete the work :)
 
I broke my micro USB port as well. It looks like when I plugged in the charging cable it just mangled the port, breaking the plastic piece that has the pins. Would this be covered under warranty or does anyone know the replacement part?
 
DJI seems reasonable when it comes to controller repair.
They charged me $2 for a broken antenna on my M2 remote, no labor. They actually sent me a replacement. Granted at the same time they were replacing my AC under refresh.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Magilla Gorilla
I repaired my remote, broken port like is all too common. Spent an afternoon reviewing you tube videos to learn how to disassemble the remote. Took the remote apart and removed the board with the port, took the board to a local cell phone repair shop, then replaced the connector, I reassembled the remote and all is fine. It was replaced with a conventional micro USB port so I have to use the bottom port, no problem, everything works fine now.
 
This is a common issue that there is a new thread posted every month on ... To get some history, know why it happens, and the best ways to prevent it happening ... Have a look at these posts on this Forum:
micro usb
Micro USB........
Bottom line is that it's best to use the side port as little as possible. Many Forum users have elected to use magnetic 'NetDot' type USB cables, which allow you to just leave the micro-USB stub in the side port of the controller (for charging only) - and use an external cable from the USB-C port in the base of the controller to connect the mobile device ... e.g.
IMG_20181124_095144.jpg
 
I repaired my remote, broken port like is all too common. Spent an afternoon reviewing you tube videos to learn how to disassemble the remote. Took the remote apart and removed the board with the port, took the board to a local cell phone repair shop, then replaced the connector, I reassembled the remote and all is fine. It was replaced with a conventional micro USB port so I have to use the bottom port, no problem, everything works fine now.
It sounds like you must have some micro elecktronics repair experience. Repairing the micro USB port is not a simple task, and someone who is inexperienced at repairing things could easily scratch the screen or tear another ribbon cable which will just add to the repair cost and frustration.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tleonhar
It sounds like you must have some micro elecktronics repair experience. Repairing the micro USB port is not a simple task, and someone who is inexperienced at repairing things could easily scratch the screen or tear another ribbon cable which will just add to the repair cost and frustration.
Yes, quite a bit, primarily from an engineering standpoint, I am a retired engineer. I haven't any equipment for surface mount soldering, that's why I took the keyboard to a cellphone shop to have the jack replaced. Otherwise I have no issues with disassembly and reassembly. Now I have two working remotes. :)
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,592
Messages
1,554,182
Members
159,596
Latest member
da4o98