Buy it or steer clear?

[dajain]

Hi, I noticed that there was 2 sliders, one was, like yours, set to full, changing that did nothing.
It was the lower slider I changed.
The person I bought the drone off had put a new gimbal in and included the old one in the box.
I'm wondering if that's why they sold it, the gimbal wasn't moving.
Like yours it did the full calibration movement etc and would look forward or directly down using the toggle on the controller.
It will be interesting to find out what DJi come back with.

The previous owner only flew this one 18 times and never had any work done to it. Said the last time he had it out, the gimbal just wasn't working up or down. The time before that, it worked perfectly. I can speculate he didn't get into the settings and change anything because he already had it set up the way he wanted it.

But I did Youtube soooo many settings adjustments on this thing and should have been able to get some kind of response out of it, but nothing changed at all. I'm still thinking one of 2 things. 1. The remote just wasn't putting out a signal or 2. the control board in the drone went bad and wasn't processing the command.

Either way, above my paygrade to properly diagnose unless I just threw parts at it and hoped it worked.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Hi. New to the forum and this thread caught my attention as I just bought an MP1 and I had the same issue, the gimbal wouldn't pan down, I thought it was a hardware issue but after a couple of hours of head scratching and a few youtube videos watched I discovered that it was the gimbal speed, it was set to zero, hence it wouldn't move.

Such a simple possible solution, and one that escaped me.
Never tried setting to 0, though I have mine very low (2 or 3) for slow easy control of the gimbal movement.

The previous owner only flew this one 18 times

I wonder if they were a new pilot, or experienced on a previous drone ?
If new, it is SO EASY to accidentally fly with the gimbal clamp in place, and my experience of the M1P is when you do this, you risk very easily the gimbal motor.

Did it to mine in first few weeks of drone ownership / operation, and the last time I flew for about 30 seconds before landing, and yep it was gone.
(Was so lucky, sent to DJI, they sent me a refirb which has been perfect ever since, 3-1/2 years easily now.)

 

[dajain]

I wonder if they were a new pilot, or experienced on a previous drone ?
If new, it is SO EASY to accidentally fly with the gimbal clamp in place, and my experience of the M1P is when you do this, you risk very easily the gimbal motor.

But, if it was the motor, it wouldn't perform the self check when you first start it up or when I restrored the factory settngs. The motor wouldn't be bad only when you try to use the remote to control it.
Again, I do hope it is operator error and the send me a message saying, "You idiot! The "blankety blank" was turned off." haha

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

But, if it was the motor, it wouldn't perform the self check when you first start it up or when I restrored the factory settngs. The motor wouldn't be bad only when you try to use the remote to control it.
Again, I do hope it is operator error and the send me a message saying, "You idiot! The "blankety blank" was turned off." haha

True, overlooked a lot of detail in previous thread messages.
Mine during start up calibration would just hang sad and limply (the gimbal !) after the usual jiggling about.

 

[dajain]

Just looked at the repair status and they are diagnosing the problem BUT....
They already have a new gimbal on the repair request.
Just has me asking myself, if it is the gimbal, why would the camera not stay stationary when the drone is turned but rather stay almost like fixated on one spot and then rotate slowly back to forward after the drone quits moving?

I guess that's why it's in the hands of the professionals. I'm sure I'll get a fully functioning drone back.

but still waiting on the final diagnostics

 

[dajain]

Verdict is in for those who have been folowing. According to the techs, it was gimbal and camera that were causing my issues with this new purchase. They said it could have happened from a crash or impropertly stored.

Sure would have been nice to get the true story from the seller. I could have bought a $1000 drone and avoided all the hassle of trying to fix this one, but hey.... At least I know the story on what the drone has now instead of buying a $1000 unknown.

Anyoneknow what the warrantee is on repairs fromthe service center? Seems like a quick turn around for the issues it had and to get them all tested. But I'm not complaining at all. That is why I sent it to the experts after all.
Just seems weird that I didn't get charged for a flight test. Unless they didn't do a flight test?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Flown with gimbal clamped once too often / too long is my bet still.

M1P is still a great aircraft for sure.
Just check batteries out as 18 flights is very low for age.
Also if you think extra batteries would be nice, and you want OEM, look now as they are almost sold out (MPP batts, might be more oem around still).
There are half reasonable aftermarket batts made for the M1.

 

[dajain]

Flown with gimbal clamped once too often / too long is my bet still.

M1P is still a great aircraft for sure.
Just check batteries out as 18 flights is very low for age.
Also if you think extra batteries would be nice, and you want OEM, look now as they are almost sold out (MPP batts, might be more oem around still).
There are half reasonable aftermarket batts made for the M1.

When I first got it, I tested the drone batteries with just hovering. All 3 lasted close to 30 minutes.
Might have to let this $500 wound heal a little before I get a few spare batteries.
It is getting to be the off season so it will just be familiarizing and pleasure flying for now.
Maybe more batteries will be in order in the late spring.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

When I first got it, I tested the drone batteries with just hovering. All 3 lasted close to 30 minutes.
Might have to let this $500 wound heal a little before I get a few spare batteries.
It is getting to be the off season so it will just be familiarizing and pleasure flying for now.
Maybe more batteries will be in order in the late spring.

Sounds like you got the flymore package then, which is great.
The aftermarket batteries get some fairly good reviews, soon the OEM batteries will all be gone, or be extremely expensive.

Enjoy the Mavic Pro, and off season, yeah means lots of tropical storms for you, so just check the batteries are hanging around 50% while it's idle for a long period, if they get too low you can pop them on for a quick top off to 2-1/2 bars.

 

[msinger]

Just seems weird that I didn't get charged for a flight test. Unless they didn't do a flight test?

Or maybe that means they aren't charging you for upgrading the firmware and the test flight?

 

[dajain]

OK, Makes me happy I decided to leave it to the professionals!!!!
Just received a call from the DJI Service Center in NJ.
They did replace the gimbal and camera but they have been working on th edrone for the last 3 days.
They uploaded the latest and greatest firmware and are getting (as he said) numerous faults which they can't seem to correct.
The drone is now getting shipped directly to DJI manufacturing for repairs or replacement because the service center is at a loss for what is causing the faults.

Maybe since this is an obsolete drone from the manufaturer, they'll upgrade to a MP2 fly more. haha. One can only dream.....

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Kinda makes you think more about buying 2nd hand and trusting what some of these sellers tell you.
Buying here on the forum classifieds with caution is probably the best / safest to get a decent deal for both parties.
Hope DJI sort it out for you ok.

 

[dajain]

Kinda makes you think more about buying 2nd hand and trusting what some of these sellers tell you.
Buying here on the forum classifieds with caution is probably the best / safest to get a decent deal for both parties.
Hope DJI sort it out for you ok.

As it stands right now, I was told I have paid for all the repairs I need to. Going to headquarters and getting done there is at no cost to me. We shall see but so far , they have been straight forward with me on the whole process.

I did send a message to the seller and let him know what's going on. Haven't heard anything back, but I doubt I will.

If (or when) DJI gets the drone back to me, I'm positive I'll have a great drone that has had all the bugs worked out. Makes me feel a little better than going to "someone that can do it cheaper".

Good thing I'm patient. I still get to fly my mini while I'm waiting.

 

[dajain]

Makes me wonder.....
If they changed out the Gimbal and Camera with a new one and it's still having the same issue....
The original one could possibly have nothing wrong with it.

I wonder if they will ship the original back with the drone after it's al fixed?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Makes me wonder.....
If they changed out the Gimbal and Camera with a new one and it's still having the same issue....
The original one could possibly have nothing wrong with it.

I wonder if they will ship the original back with the drone after it's al fixed?

I'd hope DJI have some decent analysis process to get some idea of it's a gimbal motor, connection cable, board type problem.
I think they would have enough parts on hand to try a gimbal setup, and if the problem is still there, try a cable, then a board, etc.

You'd hope they aren't like motor car dealer service mechanics, just whack a $1000 ecu in, if it's not fixed, another $500 part, etc until it's running normal again. A lot of them do this, leave the new part in, "of course you needed that !".

Mostly though, they will probably ship you a refurb, and repair yours in bulk with a heap of others later, possibly even sending them back to China to be repaired in bulk.

 

[dajain]

I'd hope DJI have some decent analysis process to get some idea of it's a gimbal motor, connection cable, board type problem.
I think they would have enough parts on hand to try a gimbal setup, and if the problem is still there, try a cable, then a board, etc.

You'd hope they aren't like motor car dealer service mechanics, just whack a $1000 ecu in, if it's not fixed, another $500 part, etc until it's running normal again. A lot of them do this, leave the new part in, "of course you needed that !".

Mostly though, they will probably ship you a refurb, and repair yours in bulk with a heap of others later, possibly even sending them back to China to be repaired in bulk.

Sadly, that is almost exactluy like it seems like. I shipped the drone dirsctly to the service center in New Jersey from Utah. The shipping was was paid for by them, so no complaints there.

Once they had received it, I received the phone call saying it needed a gimbal and camera to the tune of $438. Since I sent it to the professionals, I said of course, do it.

So, if you ever sent a drone to DJI, you can check the status of the repair at any time. My drone sat in the "repairing your drone" phase for less than 24 hours and then sat in "inspecting your drone" for 4 days after the repair was made. Now, keep in mind that his was over the weekend so I figured they get Saturday and Sunday off work. No problem at all.

Monday I received a call and that is when theytell me they are getting all the errors still and it was going to have to go to DJI corperate to get a thorough examination and repair. I was also assured there was no extra cost for this AND it normally takes less than 14 days to get it back to me. Also, Not a problem at all.

But, Back to your statement, I assumed they would go thru a series of technical tests also to pinpoint the specific problem but this one deemed a little more difficult and not a standard problem. But I'm actually more surprised the Service Center so quickly deemed it beyond their repair paygrade and sent it to the true experts to get fixed so quickly. But yup, it looks like they threw the gimbal and camera on, charged me for it and it did't fix anything. I didn't think fast enough and ask to keep the old one, so it probably ended up in th etrash.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all. I knew I bought a drone that needed a repair and that is on me. I'm in no rush to get it back as a necessity (but I wish it was back so I could fly it. haha). I have been assured that the rest of the repairs are free of charge so they are sticking to the initial repair quote, which is awesome. And the communication has been great.

Now, my only concern really is that when I get the drone back, I hope it arrives in the Pelican case I shipped it in originally to ship it safely. I did put a note inside and on the repair request to ship it back in the same case, but we shall see.

 

[dajain]

OK, I got curious and now it has me scratching my head in wonderment of trust.

The last word I received was from the repair center in NJ saying they were sending it off to higher ups to get it repaired.
So, I am getting curious as to what is going on so I write to the NJ center and as if they have any indication what is going on with my drone. I clearly state that I'm not upset, just curious.

I get a response back from one of the representatives and they say sorry for the delay and they'll get my drone shipped out as soon as possible.

Huh? So I respond back, "Is it 100% fixed?"

I get a response back saying there was some confusion and they are sorry for that.....But still no response what is going on with my drone.

So, I send another e-mail asking what the status is. Still no reply 2 days later.

I hope they are doing their thing properly AND I hope I get my case that I shipped it in. BTW, there was a note in the case/packaging specifically saying return the drone in the case it was sent in.

Are my concerns warranted? Should I be concerned?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

What can be done ?
It might be wait and see is all you can do with a company like DJI, massive company and often it’s too easy to ignore problems, pass the buck, slack off etc if someone is so inclined or under workload stress.
I would hope you get your case back, but it would be a little worrying they can’t / don’t tell you where even the drone is or status.
Usually they say just send the drone, nothing else like microSD, controller, battery, etc, unless it’s specifically needed for the problem.
Hopefully you’ll be all relieved in a day or three and be able to use you drone properly.

 

[dajain]

Just an update and now it has me curious to say the least! haha
I decided to check on the website to see what the status was and.......Drum roll.......
I'm still confused and even a little more now.
Before, the status was always "working on your drone".
This morning, I looked up my work order and the page comes up like I made a purchase....
It now says "order placed" and "order processing".

Makes me curious whether that drone was so screwed up, they are just sending me a new one????
Before, it was always referred to as a "work order" now it's an "Order"
I'm not complaining at all and the only time I inquired, I made sure to let them know I was just curious and not upset at all.

Hmmm. Interesting I think.....
We shall see!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

That could be the process after a refirb has been recommended to 'fix' the issue.
I read another post an M1P owner got a refirb aircraft only for $300 (probably US$) as a replacement for a damaged one.
If so, you are probably miles ahead with an 'as good as new' drone.

If you sent in with controller etc, you will probably find it paired by the DJI centre, but that's easy enough to do if not done.
Let's hope it arrives back in its case !