Does gluing a crack on the gimbal of a Mini 3 Pro affect the warranty?

[wrybread]

I'm about a month into the drone learning curve and still crash my Mini 3 Pro about once a week on a failed takeoff or from running into something. Working on it! But everytime I crash I seem to re-open the same hairline crack in the gimbal, which then makes one of the gimbal motors whine and the video footage blurry. I don't exactly know why it does that, but a little superglue fixes it until the next crash.

You can see the issue here (not my video):

And in the comment thread someone pointed out the tiny crack in the gimbal. And once I looked with a magnifying glass I had the same crack.

My drone is just a month old and I have the full warranty with flyaway and all that, and I'm wondering if DJI tends to care about attempts to fix the drone ourselves that don't involve opening up the drone?

 

[Deleted member 162835]

It depends on how annoying they feel like being. I would consider glue an authorized repair/modification though. I doubt it would just outright void your warranty but if the component were to fail you'd likely have to pay full price to have repaired. Similar to a car, a modified part will not void your warranty it will void the warranty on anything that fails because of the modified part.

 

[wrybread]

It depends on how annoying they feel like being. I would consider glue an authorized repair/modification though. I doubt it would just outright void your warranty but if the component were to fail you'd likely have to pay full price to have repaired. Similar to a car, a modified part will not void your warranty it will void the warranty on anything that fails because of the modified part.

When we send the drone in for a warranty repair on something like this do they usually repair just that part, or swap out the whole drone?

 

[Meta4]

I'm about a month into the drone learning curve and still crash my Mini 3 Pro about once a week on a failed takeoff or from running into something.

Flying close to obstacles is always risky.
Find a large open area, well away from obstacles.
It's hard to get into trouble when there's nothing to hit.

What's the problem with taking off .. how is that failing ?

 

[Deleted member 162835]

When we send the drone in for a warranty repair on something like this do they usually repair just that part, or swap out the whole drone?

It depends. I sent my Mavic 3 in once because the obstacle avoidance was throwing errors when nothing was around. Based on the system and talking with DJI they did attempt to repair the drone but after repair they still encountered other errors so they sent me a replacement drone.

 

[Starz]

the drone learning curve

Post number 4 has the correct solution. Altitude is your buddy.
The noise you hear is indicative of a failed motor.

 

[wrybread]

Post number 4 has the correct solution. Altitude is your buddy.
The noise you hear is indicative of a failed motor.

If it's a failed motor then why does gluing the crack fix it?

I'm not saying I have a better theory, but I don't see how a little hairline crack could cause a failed motor, but the motor then works fine after gluing the crack.

 

[Starz]

Superglue is a wonderful product. Just not something I use on something that flys.
If that solves your issue, that may hold for some duration of time.
Just be careful and hopefully the problem won’t return.

 

[FLDave]

A manufacturing warranty is for a manufacturing defect, not a crash. If you thought the crack was a warranty issue then it should have been addressed as such. Attempting to fix a manufacturing defect makes it impossible to know the the crack was caused by a crash, your repair, or something else.
CareRefresh, on the other hand, is not a manufacturing defect but an all risk insurance policy for loss and damage. So, use your CareRefresh now before you make it worse. Get if fixed right by DJI.

 

[shawgod]

I would be careful not to crash your drone. I don't know what type of flying you're doing that you are constantly crashing your drone. The Mini 3 Pro has Obstacle detection in it. Are you shutting this off? I know I baby my drones while flying them. If you do send in the drone for repair to DJI make sure you remove any sign that you made any repair. There are ways you can remove super glue I believe, maybe nail polish remover? I am not sure, that may damage the drone. But my point is make sure it isn't apparent that you have been making repairs yourself. That is my suggestion as I don't know how DJI will handle this.

 

[IFlied]

I sent my Mini SE to DJI asking for a repair quote; told them exactly what happened (flew into a tree, then fell to driveway). Their quote was far less than the cost of parts needed for repair if I bought them and did the work myself. So I paid, then they sent me a new replacement drone - very pleased with DJI.

 

[Don Testme]

When we send the drone in for a warranty repair on something like this do they usually repair just that part, or swap out the whole drone?

Care Refresh allows you to swap out the whole drone of it breaks or crashes or even just has a cracked gimbal or leg.

 

[Don Testme]

I would be careful not to crash your drone. I don't know what type of flying you're doing that you are constantly crashing your drone. The Mini 3 Pro has Obstacle detection in it. Are you shutting this off? I know I baby my drones while flying them. If you do send in the drone for repair to DJI make sure you remove any sign that you made any repair. There are ways you can remove super glue I believe, maybe nail polish remover? I am not sure, that may damage the drone. But my point is make sure it isn't apparent that you have been making repairs yourself. That is my suggestion as I don't know how DJI will handle this.

I also learned, you shouldn't leave any signs or proof that you attached something to the drone. I left velcro on my drone once and they refused my repair. When they sent it back, I took off the velcro and sent it back a while later and they replaced it.

 

[wrybread]

Superglue is a wonderful product. Just not something I use on something that flys.
If that solves your issue, that may hold for some duration of time.
Just be careful and hopefully the problem won’t return.

The super glue does crack again the next time it crashes. I was going to try JB Weld, but I figure maybe it's a good thing that the glue gives when it crashes, because something has to... Of course I'd love to just not crash anymore and certainly plan to do that eventually.

 

[wrybread]

I also learned, you shouldn't leave any signs or proof that you attached something to the drone. I left velcro on my drone once and they refused my repair. When they sent it back, I took off the velcro and sent it back a while later and they replaced it.

Ha that's hilarious, and great tip.

 

[wrybread]

Care Refresh allows you to swap out the whole drone of it breaks or crashes or even just has a cracked gimbal or leg.

How many times though? Isn't it just once a year for 2 years?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I sus

My drone is just a month old and I have the full warranty with flyaway and all that, and I'm wondering if DJI tends to care about attempts to fix the drone ourselves that don't involve opening up the drone?

I think you will find that DIY glue repairs invalidate warranty. From memory they have rejected mini 3 pro battery clip warranty claims because a glue repair had been attempted.

 

[Anthony Ivory]

You bought the warranty just use it !

 

[wrybread]

How many warranty fixes do we get? Isn't it only 2?

Anyway the glue fixes the super common hairline crack in the gimbal issue perfectly. And is removable with a Dremel if needed.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

There is a difference between "warranty" and "care refresh", do not confuse the two.

I see NO REASON why there should be a limit on the number of warranty claims that are possible.
Use of a warranty claim implies the goods were faulty or became faulty during the warranty period, and that this was through no fault of the user. DJI seem quite honourable in this respect.
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to supply goods that work and continue to work for the warranty period. If they supply defective goods then why should the number of claims be limited?

Care refresh, used when the drone is damaged due to pilot/user actions, is, I think, limited to two claims in the first year and a one claim in the second year, if you bought a 2 year plan. I do not know if unused entitlemnents in the first year carry over into the second year.