Drone Repair

[eboss07]

Hey everyone!

Purchased my first drone recently. DJI mini 2. Of course I didn’t purchase the warranty and I had a pretty bad crash the other day. Still turns on but the battery cover is broken, the camera is loose and one of the legs needs a part replaced.

I went to the DJI site and they said it could take a while due to Covid delays. My question is should I go with DJI or another site to send in for repairs?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Clintoops]

You might try looking for a replacement you can check prices of parts on ebay
It may be cheaper to just replace it . There are a lot of flying videos on YouTube watch those .
I recommend flying in Cinema mode till you learn to fly.
Slows things down a bit .
All the best.

 

[MA2 317]

Hey everyone!

Hello from the Crossroads of America eboss07

You might try one of our vendors.

The turnaround time may be quicker.

DDS

mavicpilots.com

DDS Drone Repair - Your Drone Repair Shop

ddsdronerepair.com

Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

You would probably do best to post some photos of the damage. Replacing arms is fairly easy if you have a decent soldering iron etc.
The camera/gimbal could range from easy to problematic i.e. from simply refitting damper rubbers to the drone's body ( easy), to an replacement gimbal which is not so easy especially if you are not 'happy' with using java scripts etc. to recalibrate and re-pair the gimbal. "Re-pair" meaning to electronically pair the new gimbal and the 'drone'.

 

[eboss07]

You would probably do best to post some photos of the damage. Replacing arms is fairly easy if you have a decent soldering iron etc.
The camera/gimbal could range from easy to problematic i.e. from simply refitting damper rubbers to the drone's body ( easy), to an replacement gimbal which is not so easy especially if you are not 'happy' with using java scripts etc. to recalibrate and re-pair the gimbal. "Re-pair" meaning to electronically pair the new gimbal and the 'drone'.

Here are some pictures of the damage.

Let me know what you think if you don’t mind.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I am not sure what I am seeing with respect to the gimbal, i.e. I am not sure if both its rear legs are there. If they are and if they are attached to the gimbal then I would have a go at a DIY repair, full stop. The rear leg damper rubbers need to go through the adjacent small, rectangular holes in the body shell.
BE CAREFUL handling the camera, there is a delicate ribbon cable that runs from the drone to the top of the gimbal, this ribbon cable is EASILY TORN. Also take care to NOT damage the gimbal's front legs (hidden) and or dismount their damer rubbers (also hidden).
If the 'missing' gimbal arm is present but broken some people have successfully reattached it with glue and some VERY LIGHT glass fibre reinforcing.
If the arm 'missing' arm is actually missing then in truth you are most likely looking at a replacement gimbal and camera assembly.
The top body shell needs replacing because of the crack or cracks indicated.
The insert in the front arm appears to have been sprung as does the rear of the front landing leg, you might be able to bow the front leg rear cover enough to get the clip back inside the leg's foot. Some gentle heat from the likes of a hair drier might help.
DO NOT bend the landing leg, the antenna may be a printed circuit board in the landing leg and it might be possible to snap the board if the bend the landing leg.
I have no idea about the arm insert, sorry.
Since you should replace the top cover I would fit a new battery cover to the new top cover whilst the new top cover is unattached.

Honestly if the gimbal requires replacement I would see if you can either get a replacement drone only or a quote from DJI, they are sometimes very reasonable. I do not know about 3rd party repairers.

 

[careless]

I agree with Clintoops you should check with Ebay an find a replacement if the gimbal is damaged. Somtimes Facebook Market place has great deals for a combo that somone has and just don't use anymore.

 

[zeusfl]

Same recommendation try contact @DDS

 

[Faster]

As said before from other members. @DDS is a well known and respectful vendor from this forum. His repair shop is A+

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!
Sorry to hear about your crash but your definitely not alone and you came to the right place for answers.

 

[Cymruflyer]

I found that trying vendors on here, no one could actually repair a gimbal, everyone wanted to replace the entire gimbal and camera at over $750 when I had a small gimbal issue. and one vendor here charged me just to take a look at it. I eventually found a guy that was recommended here, who was in Virginia or WV, and I sent it to him. He sent it back saying it was repaired but it was not. I sent it back and he returned it saying it was now properly repaired. It was not and he said he would refund me, however, he never did do that, and he no longer responded to emails or texts, so never use him.

In the end I sent it to DJI and they charged me $345 for the repair but instead sent me a new drone. I spent almost 6 weeks with all the others and eventually in the space of about 10 days with DJI, got a new drone with a warranty. I strongly suggest you use DJI and mine was a Mavic 2 Pro. Good luck.