Heartbreaking crash! And some good news...

[Soonerdrone]

Thunder Drones

Is this the guy? Couldn't find a website.

He is on here . Usually all the time . Look up his name on this forum

 

[Soonerdrone]

Thunder Drones

Is this the guy? Couldn't find a website.

He does all kinds of repairs on drones . very knowledgeable .He is always willing to help ,even with DJI warranty issues . He will help you fight the battle .

 

[Simmo]

@Thunderdrones

 

[RayOZ]

Thanks Bud. At least I know I didn't do anything terribly wrong to deserve this, and I know for future reference that I need to be meticulous about checking the prop hubs (that's where it failed). Maybe replacing them every 15-20 flights or so wouldn't be a bad idea anyway considering the cost of repairing the whole Mavic.

Bought this second hand. Anyone have any luck getting warranty/repair services if you're not the original owner/registrar? Otherwise I'll be posting surgery pics over the next few weeks...

You shouldn't need to change props that often. I've been using the same set for months (23.5hrs, 540km, 84 flights). Make sure it's OEM props. It can't be said for cheaper knock-offs. Maybe the person who sold it to you was using a knock-off brand or had damage the prop before.

 

[Former Member]

Thanks you to everyone who mentioned me.

OP, I usually get the bird cleaned off, then start the repair with the gimbal. If that isnt working, it will tell you whether a few other s parts are working or not.

 

[Marko9219]

I remember getting a “do’s and dont’s for Mavic owners” email from DJI sometime in the last year about flipping into or out of sports mode while in motion and it was highly discouraged.

I switch in an out of sport mode almost every time I fly. No issues whatsoever

 

[psteichen]

Thanks you to everyone who mentioned me.

OP, I usually get the bird cleaned off, then start the repair with the gimbal. If that isnt working, it will tell you whether a few other s parts are working or not.

Thanks for the advice! I began cleaning it up last night. Got the mud out of most of it, but ran out of time and will have to shelve it till middle of next week.

Two questions: First, there is mud crammed through the screen of one of the ultrasonic sensors. Do you have any good tricks for getting it out?

Second, I removed the bottom plate/cooling plate to get some mud out, but I now see that there are many places under the cover that have gobbs of thermal paste. Can you recommend a replacement paste, and maybe an application diagram so I don't miss a spot when I reassemble? I removed all the old paste.

 

[jason38]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the Mavic Pro, and now I'm going to learn how to repair one that crashed from 400 feet. I was enjoying some evening flying, and ran her up to 400 feet to avoid annoying the neighbors while getting some cool sunset pictures. I decided to fly off a thousand feet over a neighboring corn field to get a better perspective on our lake.

As I was nearing 700 feet from home (and out of sight due to some trees) I was annoyed by the slow progress I was making. Due to a breeze the Mavic was only making 12 mph. So I decided to see if Sport mode would help. While cruising max forward I used my index finger to click the mode switch to Sport.

Bad idea apparently. It immediately doubled over and began spiraling to the ground. I released all control inputs assuming that it would right itself....still spinning...so I quickly switched back out of Sport mode....no help. After a few more seconds of spinning blur the controller lost connection and I was in shock. I've only flown this thing a few hours, and had no idea this could happen. That's why I bought the Mavic, so I could rely on its gyros and RTH features to avoid unnecessary crashing! How was I ever going to find my Mavic in that massive corn field?

Luckily a few minutes later I got a distress call from my downed bird. The controller regained a connection, and I saw dirt and shredded corn leaves on the screen. I grabbed my boots and followed the map to where it should be. I stopped and heard the cooling fan running in the distance! After clawing through the corn a little ways further in the direction of the the sound I saw a pitiful sight.

She was alive, but badly damaged. The gimbal and camera was hanging by a wire. Only one prop was broken, but both rear arms were rotated up 20 degrees further than they should be able to go. The one front arm was fine, the other has essentially a dislocated shoulder, and both have broken landing gear. And mud is packed in the motors, and pretty much everywhere else. But her heart was beating, and the lights were on. I sadly pressed her button, powered her down, removed the battery, and placed her in a medically induced coma. Still... Not bad for a 400 foot fall. I'd probably look a lot worse.

So what went wrong? I guess flipping to Sport mode while flying max forward was too much for the stability control to handle, but then why couldn't it recover? I want to learn from this so that it doesn't happen again. In the mean time, I need to scrub in for a several hour surgery.....

Hi,
Its a very bad nightmare you tell us here!!
Thats strange the way your MP fall down...
Maybe a propeller were not mounted correctly?
I read some posts where people detects some little cracks on the stops of the back arms, after having down un sport mode, full throttle and full forward...
These looks weak when you force a little bit the arms over their normal opened position.
I crashed my old MP one time, not a big crash, but the stop of the rear right arm was broken... Camera was shot too...
Maybe DJI underestimated the forces applied with full throttle on the arms stops?....

 

[jason38]

...and good luck to change the ribbon cable of the gimbal(if its broken)...
You'll find some tutos on YouTube but you'll need a LOT of patience...

 

[Cyberpower678]

Thanks Bud. At least I know I didn't do anything terribly wrong to deserve this, and I know for future reference that I need to be meticulous about checking the prop hubs (that's where it failed). Maybe replacing them every 15-20 flights or so wouldn't be a bad idea anyway considering the cost of repairing the whole Mavic.

Bought this second hand. Anyone have any luck getting warranty/repair services if you're not the original owner/registrar? Otherwise I'll be posting surgery pics over the next few weeks...

Contact DJI and ask if the drone is still under warranty. If yes, create a repair case and ship it to them and have their flight analytics team determine its HW failure that caused the crash. Leave the props in place so they can see the prop itself failed, not the anchor.

 

[Former Member]

Contact DJI and ask if the drone is still under warranty.

Too late for that. He already removed the bottom plate...

 

[Cyberpower678]

Too late for that. He already removed the bottom plate...

Oh well. Off to you then.

 

[turbo266]

Because I am also a beginner with my Mavic Pro this was very enlightening. I have only used sport mode a couple of times without incident. Going to inspect props and hubs very carfully. Thans for sharing

 

[JoBri]

So bad how's your drone now? Pilot error is equal to no warranty.

 

[psteichen]

So bad how's your drone now? Pilot error is equal to no warranty.

I haven't had much time to work on it yet. Got most of the mud off, but still haven't looked into the big issue....what it will take to get the gimbal/camera back in shape.

 

[JoBri]

I haven't had much time to work on it yet. Got most of the mud off, but still haven't looked into the big issue....what it will take to get the gimbal/camera back in shape.

Well, I do hope your drone will be back into flight again.

 

[Turn11]

Bit late to the dance so if I missed this question, sorry. Are the props OEM?

My personal checklist for props is to install them then go from arm to arm hold the motor with one hand (fingers actually ) and try to rotate the hub in both directions to ensure prop is seated.

 

[JoBri]

Are you feel secure enough of your drone in fly away tendencies?

 

[macoman]

Are you feel secure enough of your drone in fly away tendencies?

I am pretty sure that in expensive drones, fly away occurred only because of pilot errors: weather related (high winds), drone not properly calibrated, GPS lost, flying close to electrical installation of cables (strong magnetism). Some of these can also apply to cheaper drones as well.

 

[JoBri]

I am pretty sure that in expensive drones, fly away occurred only because of pilot errors: weather related (high winds), drone not properly calibrated, GPS lost, flying close to electrical installation of cables (strong magnetism). Some of these can also apply to cheaper drones as well.

These problems do really exist to us drone flyers not to denied but from one of the problem stated "GPS Lost" what is your possible remedy in that kind of situation?