Dji 3 Mini - left front leg slightly bend (?!) after crash.

[bignoob]

Hi all,

The morning flight didn't end up well due to my mistake. Drone crashed, and I noticed there is a problem with left front leg - pictures attached. It looks like it bend during the crash. You can see the pic of left and right leg for comparison.
That's the only problem I noticed... Did anyone had similar issue?

Any recommendation on the next steps - is it going to affect flying?

Thank you,
Noob.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

At a guess you have damaged the pivot or partially ripped it off the drone's shell, how old is the drone and do you have care refresh?

- is it going to affect flying?

If you have done either of the above then the arm might detach from the drone in flight so YES.


Ohh Welcome.

 

[bignoob]

Thanks for your reply.

I do have "care refresh". The drone has just a couple months - it's the first crash... It sounds like you are recommending to use care free service?
Should I test fly it, or rather send it back and wait for specialist to fix it?

 

[old man mavic]

@bignoob, it is your responcibilty, to ensure that the drone you are flying is airworthy ,before you take it up ,clearely the drones airframe has been compromised, due to the crash ,and although it may well fly as it is ,it is not really a good idea to do so
just use your care refresh ,thats what its for

 

[bignoob]

Yeah, this sounds like a basic common sense.... going to use the care refresh. Thanks.

Are drones so fragile or is it just me?!..

 

[old man mavic]

@bignoob, 90% of drone flying, is basic common sense ,but there are still a few things, that because the drone is in the airspace ,even though its unmanned , have to be taken into consideration

 

[old man mavic]

@bignoob hi fellow flyer i have sent you a PM ,to access it click on the envelope icon for conversations

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Are drones so fragile or is it just me?!..

In part it's just down to luck, or rather bad luck, if it lands in the wrong way and hits the wrong thing ........
That said the more hardware they cram into these drone the less spare mass that they have for the airframe.
From what I have seen, the front arm pivots of the mini 3 and 4 are simply clamped to drones shell by three screws ( perhaps with a few location spigots ).
That's the same as the rear pivots of the Mavic Mini and Mini 2 and I have a Mini 2 that had been crashed and literally ripped the drone's shell apart where those rear pivots attach, that drone must have had some crash. I replaced the shell.
Beware it is unlikely that you will get you original drone back so do not leave the memory card in it.

 

[bignoob]

oohh.. taking into consideration it's less than 6 months old.. that's very unlucky.. there is 0 starches, but the front leg...
Didn't expect it to be so serious that they might even consider replacing it completely.

Contacted DJI customer service regarding "care refresh", and looks like I am going to ship it to NL.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

oohh.. taking into consideration it's less than 6 months old.. that's very unlucky.. there is 0 starches, but the front leg...
Didn't expect it to be so serious that they might even consider replacing it completely.

Contacted DJI customer service regarding "care refresh", and looks like I am going to ship it to NL.

It's not that it is necessarily substantial damage that leads to their replacing the drone. In fact if it is just the pivot that has failed, with no damage to the shell, it's a five minute or less job to replace the pivot.
It is more likely, I think, that it is, overall, more cost-effective to replace the drone rather than assess it and fix what damage was done all whilst the customer is waiting.

BE SURE to complete all the customs paper work correctly !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bignoob]

Got ya, makes sense.

Received pre-filled documents from UPS - just need to sign them and confirm if all details are correct.

 

[old man mavic]

@bignoob you will either get a brand new drone ,or an as new refurbed replacement ,then all you will need to do is pair it to your RC, when you are ready to fly it ,turn around time will probably be around 10 days ,if there are no delays, due to weather ,or industrial disputes

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

@bignoob you will either get a brand new drone ,or an as new refurbed replacement ,then all you will need to do is pair it to your RC, when you are ready to fly it ,turn around time will probably be around 10 days ,if there are no delays, due to weather ,or industrial disputes

Just make sure the care refresh is transferred and if necessary any binding required for insurance purposes is done.

 

[bignoob]

that's done as well. When purchasing the "care package" I had to connect it to drone within 48h as far as I remember. Thanks for reminder!

 

[bignoob]

Thanks for help pilots.

My drone is back! Actually, not my drone, but as old man mavic said I received a new unit.

I think now I need to transfer the care refresh and bind it as per Yorkshire_Pud.

Cheers guys.

 

[old man mavic]

@bignoob ,glad you are back in business and in the ten days as well ,

 

[TonyPHX]

All sounds well then. Back in the air! And yes, those Mini's are easy to bust up. I have bounced a few of them into things and it has never ended well. : )
Whenever I do it, it means a trip to the UPS store.