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First crash

Sorry to hear about the crash! Its super important to check for surrounding obstacles overhead as well. Post the proper .dat file and it will be investigated.
 
Update:
The drone arrived back from the repair company (not really worth the diagnostic fee to be honest as it was just a visual inspection and didn't tell me anything I didn't already know).

Stripped down, removed all four arms, gimbal, gimbal mount.

Both gimbal cable and video cable were broken but movement on the gimbal feels smooth. The front arm that had snapped had also sheared off part of the spring pivot.

So far the bill of materials is:
Gimbal mount
Gimbal cable
Camera cable
Front left arm
Front right arm
Rear left arm
Rear right arm
Front right spring pivot (don't know the real name)

Just over £200 in raw materials, not including screwdriver set etc as I'll use them for multiple things.

If the repair is successful it'll save just under £400 compared the repair quote.
 
Do it! Take your time and get some magnifying spectacles. I use my girlfriends "loops" when I do detailed electronics work (she is a dental hygienist and think she is getting tired of me saying "Honey can you bring your loops home from work today")
 
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Update:

Partial success! Stripped the camera and gimbal down to bare parts, and after careful installation of the new cables and new thermal paste, the camera appears to be stable, I've got a video feed, and the gimbal responds to tilt commands from the remote.

All four arms replaced with the exception of the broken spring pin which unfortunately is on order from an ebay seller and could take goodness knows how long to get here. Power cables resoldered, LED cables still to do. I need to dig out the glue gun to stick the cables back down, but then I should be able to put the top cover back on after that. Front vision seems to be a bit odd in terms of detecting me in front of it, but I'm hoping calibration with DJI assistant will fix that.
 
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I thought I had enough room to work! Trying to rescue the drone I was on top of my 4x4 roof, me (6 foot 3) and a six foot branch and I was still nowhere near reaching the drone where it was stuck in the branches. While it wasn't completely clear overhead my logic was that a launch from the tarmac was better than from the snow. Clearly I was wrong, but I didn't expect the drone to just keep climbing and stop responding to the controller.
 
Well tomeaton , this is quickly turning from an ohhhh no to YESSS ITS FIXED! :)

I love these stories where repair companies charge an arm and a leg, so the user thinks "screw it, I'll fix it myself..nothing to lose"....and it sounds like you're on the home straight with the repair.

Keep going man and keep us updated.

Ped
 
Update:

It's aliiiive!

Frankendrone is back.

The arm pivot spring finally arrived from 'Manchester' after nearly two weeks (thanks eBay). Calibrated the vision sensors, calibrated the compass, and took it out to a nice open field.

Auto take off this time, let the drone do the work, and it's up in the air. Careful stick movements at low altitude to check up down forward back left right rotate and all seems well. Carefully flew towards my head (ready to duck) and the forward position sensors saw me and were having none of it. Same when I put my hand underneath for the downward sensors.

Time to stress test a bit. Sport mode on, up down, forward back to see if the soldering was up to scratch for high motor draw.

All seems well, a full battery worth of flight with no errors, camera is stable, drone is responsive and stable when hovering.
 
I knew you could repair it and get the Mavic functional again! Obtaining the proper replacement parts ,patience, laying out the parts in the proper order, and magnification spectacles are good tips to follow.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

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