Buy it or steer clear?

[dajain]

I'm looking at buying a Mavic Pro, and it's only $450.
Owner states that the camera will do a full function test at start up but once it is flying, the camera will not pan up or down. Every other function works perfectly he says. Also never crash he says
He says this is just a programming glitch and I can have it fixed for $80.
I'm thinking/hoping it might be a operator error and all the claibrations are not being done.

Is this something that I could repair, I can have repaired realatively easily or should I just steer clear of the unit entirely?

It is 4 hours away from me but I go thru there quite often so picking it up would be no problem

 

[Deleted member 103366]

My personal thinking is if it's such an easy repair why doesn't the seller do it, or get it done themselves?
What is included?
Compare the price with those found via a search of eBay etc. for successfully completed auctions, both working and non working drones.
Try a search of this forum, magnifying glass, 2nd row down from the top, right hand side of this page, for something like "mavic pro gimbal not working".

 

[msinger]

He says this is just a programming glitch and I can have it fixed for $80

$80 to fix what?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

A lot boils down to what's included.
If it was a flymore package, and all 3 batteries were fine (they are obsolete now and getting really hard to find), then it's better value.

If not, I'd let it go, there are ones on here from time to time (M1P / MPP) for that or less, and they are more likely to be perfect in operation.

I'm thinking it would be more likely to be a gimbal ribbon cable, they are getting a bit old in the tooth now and those cables do wear and break (internally) quite a bit from age / gimbal movement wear.
These can be replaced by a handy person quite readily, or a drone repairer for a reasonable charge.

 

[dajain]

Sorry for the Late response. I was out of town and unable to respond.

I did end up picking the drone up and here's the situation.

And the gimbal wont tilt up or down with ANY of the functions on the remote BUT the gimbal has the full range of motions when it does it's self test for range of motion.

Shortly after I got it home, the camera quit working but still would tilt automatically while flying. With the beauty of the internet, I restored the drone to factory settings and then loaded a previous version of the firmware in the drone itself.
Camera started working again but still no tilt from the remote.

The camera does tilt automatically while flying. Just no manual adjust which really sucks when trying to look at different stuff or in the air with any kind of Altitude.

Does the remote have firmware on it also? Maybe I'll try plugging it into the computer and see what I find.

What came with the drone? A pelican case, 3 smart batteries, charger and cable, aftermarket cables (longer for tablets he said), 3 sets of extra blades, and a lens filter set.

$80 to fix what? He said programming issues. If that's the case, it's free on the DJI assisant 2 app. Maybe I need to advertise I can do it for $50! That's a good profit for 10 minutes of running the upgrade. lol

Still need to get the tilt working. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[dajain]

But on the funny side.

I was in a motel room North of SLC and dying to "play" with the drone so I started it up in the room.
First thing, I was in a restricted fly zone so Beep-Beep-Beep.
Second thing, Wouldn't move due to close proximity of the motel walls. Probably more Beep-Beep-Beeps
As I was sitting there on the bed, watching it hover and beep, I sure was wishing I was home so I could actually give it a true test fly. haha

 

[dajain]

Also, It is the Pro Platinum version. I guess that's a plus wih the extra 3 minutes of fly time. haha

 

[Jagerbomb52]

$80 to fix what?

5 cans of WD40, thats what they cost these days

 

[dajain]

5 cans of WD40, thats what they cost these days

You must be shopping at Harbor Freight and buying the DW40.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Also, It is the Pro Platinum version. I guess that's a plus wih the extra 3 minutes of fly time. haha

Quieter is a bonus, not sure flight characteristics like wind and flight movements would ever allow to be able to discern small flight time differences like that, but I think your haha acknowledged that.

Read up the manual https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/Mavic_Pro_User_Manual_v2.0_en.pdf

Read the crash section here on the forum a lot, search there for mavic pro to see specific instances of others mistakes.
Indoor flights are one of the big causes of crashes, especially with new pilots.
You might have some previous experience as you have posted here a bit more than this thread.

Try a full update on everything, firmware on the aircraft, batteries, Go4, see if that helps.

 

[dajain]

I "fiddled" with the drone enough yesterday that my wife was getting tired of the beeps and noises in the house.

I think I have come up with my conclusion as to what the problem is, but here is what I did yesterday. I'll share my thoughts at the end.

The drone:
I went to Assistant 2 and updated the firmware to the latest version. Already had it installed but decided to refresh it anyways. Seemed to upload just fine but went and fired it up and the camera has no image. The screen is black. Decided to take it outside and see how it flys. Did great but could only go as far as eyesite would allow.
It was a short flight as I went back in to solve the problem. I reset the drone back to factory settings to get back to a "baseline" so I knew where I stood. At this point the camera came back on.
I then went to update the verion to the newest version and it took several times for it to take a hold and actually complete, but it did finally upload and Assistant 2 does say the Firmware is up to date.
After all this, still no change on the Gimbal control (or lack of). But every time an update was performed, the gimbal completed the full range of motions flawlessly. (this plays a key decision in my thinking later)

The remote:
This one is easy. No "restore to factory" for the remote on the Assistant 2 program so just did an update on the firmware.

After all the updates were complete, the thing flys and hovers GREAT. But still no tilt on the gimbal. Decided to let it settle and stew a little as I let all the events sink in.

So, just a little history. I have been flying drones for several years but of course this is the most complex one I have ever had. Done quite a bit of research before I even started to look for a MP, so I knew a little about what I was getting. I wasn't scared about flying it indoors at all. I knew I have enough skill with one to keep it from crashing. I just thought all the safeties going off in the room was hilarious.
I have also been a mechanic all my life and am also a certified industrial electrician from MSHA (about 10 years now). What this shows is is I do have some troubleshooting skills for both electrical and mechanical problems.

So, as I was laying in bed last night, I asked myself. Forget this is a drone. Where would I go if this was a remote control continous miner or a control circuit? (and before anyone decided to get upset about this comparison, yes I know the drone is a lot more sophisticated)
1. Both the remote and the unit power up just fine.
2. Both units have the lastest version of the firmware.
3. Neither unit is giving a fault code or alarm
4. The drone is doing it's self check and the item that is "not working" performs just fine.
5. On the remote, there are several ways to control the "up/down" on the camera. Not a single option is working on that gimbal.

If this was a control circuit or continous miner, I would go directly to the control relay to start the troubleshooting. Now I know this thing doesn't have something as crude as a relay but a control board for gimbal would be my guess.

SOOO, my guess is that I have a mechanical electrical failure indside the remote control. Maybe lost control power (broken connection) to the tilt circuit board?

Also for the record, the drone shows no signs of ever being crashed. Paint/plastic is not chipped anywhere on the thing. It still has it's stickers on it. But I did see the drone has been flown 18 times before I got it. My inclination says that means it's still not even broke in yet.

The guy I got it from also said he didn't want to deal with the repairs so he went and bought a Pro 2.

Any thoughts on my troubleshooting thought process and conclusion?

 

[Jeytea]

could it be that your camera tilt speed is set to the lowest position? did you check that?

calibrationg your sticks of the RC could be another possible solution:

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[dajain]

could it be that your camera tilt speed is set to the lowest position? did you check that?

calibrationg your sticks of the RC could be another possible solution:

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I followed the instructions (or tried) just to see if it made a difference.
That is strange....
I tap on the 3 dots (setting mode) and I have no Gimbal icon to click on.
I am using the DJI Go 4 app.
I have picture on my device.
Th HD icon shows I have strong signal.
Controls are not making any difference with the camera. Not even switching between 4:3 and 16:9.

Considering the firmware has been all updated... ???

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

All 4 rubber bands are in place in the gimbal plate ok, not any broken or slipped off ?
The gimbal plate doesn’t look cracked or broken ?

I just posted this to another MP thread here.

How to change gimbal rubber bands

Hi I searched over the webs about gimbal plastic band which holds a gimbal on vibrations but i could not find anything . is there anybody who knows how to find and how to change it , one of my band has been broken . Thanks

mavicpilots.com

It could be something like a controller wheel pot not working properly, unlikely with so few flights though.

 

[dajain]

So, what is not cooperating?
Is the remote not sending a signal to the drone?
or
Is the drone not responding to the commands?

Is there a way to check this with the app, Assistant 2, anything else?
Or is it buy a remote and eliminate one suspicion? Buy a new Gimbal and eliminate that suspicion?

 

[dajain]

All 4 rubber bands are in place in the gimbal plate ok, not any broken or slipped off ?
The gimbal plate doesn’t look cracked or broken ?

I just posted this to another MP thread here.

How to change gimbal rubber bands

Hi I searched over the webs about gimbal plastic band which holds a gimbal on vibrations but i could not find anything . is there anybody who knows how to find and how to change it , one of my band has been broken . Thanks

mavicpilots.com

It could be something like a controller wheel pot not working properly, unlikely with so few flights though.

Maybe a MP newbie question but how would a broken or disconnected rubber band keep the camera from rotating only when trying to do it with the remote? It does rotate like it should during it's self tests?

Double checked though because I'm not willing to rule anything out. The plate and rubberbands look great. No damage there.

One thing I did forget to mention was after the new Firmware was installed on both the drone and the controller, I tried to move the gimbal remotely with the controller wheel and it momentily flashed a code of "wheel fault" (or something similar to that) but I haven't seen that flash since. Maybe a clue?

I am trying to share all the info.
Thanks for the ideas and suggestions!

Just makes me winder if the remote got dropped and internally damaged?
Maybe a crazy question but if I open up the remote, is there a control cable to a control circuit board that may have come dislodged? Would it be worth the trouble since you can buy a used remote online for $50-75?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

How long is a piece of string kind of question.
Yes, a lot of drone repair places will have spare controllers, other parts they can try to eliminate a problem checking one by one, like car mechanics nowadays !!
If there is another M1P / MPP owner on the forum not far from you, maybe an easy way to test another controller.

 

[dajain]

How long is a piece of string kind of question.
Yes, a lot of drone repair places will have spare controllers, other parts they can try to eliminate a problem checking one by one, like car mechanics nowadays !!
If there is another M1P / MPP owner on the forum not far from you, maybe an easy way to test another controller.

Probably not much of an option considering I'm 55 miles from the nearest autoparts store and 2 hours from the nearest hospital. Sadly, the nearest drone repair place is probably 4 hours away.

Kinda stuck trying to figure out this one on my own unless I ship it out.

But that kinda brings us back to the question of....."$80 to fix what?"

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Not possible to contact the seller and ask them further on what they meant about the problem ?
It was fairly recently and you likely still have their contact info ?
They SHOULD be willing to help and hopefully be willing to share what they apparently knew.

 

[dajain]

Not possible to contact the seller and ask them further on what they meant about the problem ?
It was fairly recently and you likely still have their contact info ?
They SHOULD be willing to help and hopefully be willing to share what they apparently knew.

I did that and his story never changed. Worked the last time he flew it. then when he got his MP2, he brought this out to sell it and the tilt was no longer working. He got the MP2 as a Birthday present he said.

He already had his new one so he figured why spend the money to fix this one.

I did ask what the $80 repair was quoted to him and he said he was told it was software issues. I think I eliminated that with the new firmware....Or am I wrong on this?

According to him, this mysteriously just started to do (or not do) this before he listedd it for sale.