Just broke my Mavic on the first day!

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Hi Mavoz. Glad to hear you may have dodged a bullet with your first crash.

it sucked itself right to it.

For the guards I recommend the DJI version.

Thankfully I didn’t crash, just bumped the wall a couple of tunes, then gathered myself and moved away.

I think mine either sucked itself towards the wall, or I misjudged stick direction (drone was facing me) and I had gently moved it into the wall myself.

Those were the DJI prop guards, as opposed to their cages.

Thanks to previous post MacPhersonCa1 re special props for cages, didn’t know that.

 

[nev..]

That's very true here in Australia too as my son bought a spark on his visa card, and flew it a lot for a few weeks so he could be sure no issues with it, or if he happened to crash it.

I checked my Australian credit card insurance after I bought my Mavic Pro but the card issuer specifically excluded flying craft from their free lost stolen or damaged insurance cover. I contacted my home contents insurer (RACV) and they do provide cover for a drone as a portable valuable, the Mavic is listed on the home insurance policy, and I only had to pay around 2.5% of the original purchase price in extra premium. Bargain.

 

[ScubaBob]

Thanks guys...I actually expected a barrage of 'How could you be so dumb!' statements...which would have been fully deserved mind you!

Anyway the interesting thing is I might have dodged a bullet.......I just watched a couple of videos on this Gimbal issue...did a few gentle rotations...pressed and prodded a couple of the ways the Gimble is supported...shut down..restarted...held my tongue on a 45 degree angle....and now with a restart it is not giving me an error anymore...the Gimble does seem a bit 'shuddery' inside it's housing..but I'm not sure if that is normal behaviour or not?

So the long and short....it might be broken..it might not...I am definitely waiting until I've got about 3 kilometres of open country and daylight hours around me next time that is for sure...I've learned my lesson! Despite how eager you may be to try this Drone out...do not under any circumstances fly this without a massive safety buffer...and definitely not indoors!

As I have told others, practice, practice, practice in wide open spaces while keeping your drone in sight so you can see what happens when you do something. You are not a Jedi Warrior yet. When you have practiced enough so you can completely control your drone (1) first by looking at it and not looking at the RC and then (2) looking only at the RC and not at the drone, then you are ready for more adventuresome flights. Learn what happens when you turn off features such as sensors or landing protection. Practice landing on a 2 foot square table. Practice backing the drone into a tight space and then landing. Then you will be a Jedi Warrior.

 

[Mav-Rik]

You were trying to fly at night. The problem with that is the lack of light for the downward vision sensors to track the ground. It'll fly at night, but you need more space and need to be ready to counteract movement with the right stick.

Start a repair case with DJI. It shouldn't cost too much. The part I don't like about their repair service is that they will replace your new Mavic with a refurbished one. The new Mavic is better than the older refurbished ones.

Another option, have a third party repair it that is authorized by DJI to make repairs. I think @Thunderdrones is authorized.

Don’t know where you

You were trying to fly at night. The problem with that is the lack of light for the downward vision sensors to track the ground. It'll fly at night, but you need more space and need to be ready to counteract movement with the right stick.

Start a repair case with DJI. It shouldn't cost too much. The part I don't like about their repair service is that they will replace your new Mavic with a refurbished one. The new Mavic is better than the older refurbished ones.

Another option, have a third party repair it that is authorized by DJI to make repairs. I think @Thunderdrones is authorize

I don’t know where where you live but their is a great repair shop in Calgary Canada. They repair your drone and do it quick. They are the only DJI certified shop in Canada. Multirotorheli.ca

Well I have successfully done it...broken my Mavic Pro on the first day...from a height of about 3 feet!
It was completely my own fault.....

I'd actually achieved a safe maiden flight.... then put the kids to bed...

Then decided to learn how to use the camera....thought to myself....this baby flies up so safely and evenly...it doesn't matter that there isn't much space here.....I'll just pop it up and straight back down....

I took off....it proceeded to slide sideways....I couldn't get it to hover still....tried to catch if before it slammed into something...partly cut my hand...the Drone dropped 2 feet..and now the Gimble won't calibrate and gives a Gimble error....

One day..and one dead Mavic Pro Camera gimble! Was not the wisest thing I've ever done...that is for sure!

 

[guest1023]

Of course I had to try it once for s---s and grins. I noticed (outdoors) how precisely it maintained it's hover position with no lateral movement, so indoors should be OK. Wrooong. Suddenly no movement turns into 6" either way which you overadjust for and take out the lamp shade and possibly the cat. Last time for that.

 

[chino316]

Hopefully there’s still time and you could contact DJI.com and buy the Dji care refresh I think for Mavics it’s $95 good for 12 Months repairs at no extra cost and if it need replacements I believe it’s $99 for a brand new Mavic and 2nd replacement it’s $125 for a brand new Mavic

 

[Regulator247]

If the gimbal fails to move, he likely needs a ribbon cable, which is not so easy to install.

If it were me, I'd crack the case open to check if the ribbon cable is detached. But I am an IT professional and I open laptops, tablets and phones on the daily.

 

[Johanna]

Well I have successfully done it...broken my Mavic Pro on the first day...from a height of about 3 feet!
It was completely my own fault.....

I'd actually achieved a safe maiden flight.... then put the kids to bed...

Then decided to learn how to use the camera....thought to myself....this baby flies up so safely and evenly...it doesn't matter that there isn't much space here.....I'll just pop it up and straight back down....

I took off....it proceeded to slide sideways....I couldn't get it to hover still....tried to catch if before it slammed into something...partly cut my hand...the Drone dropped 2 feet..and now the Gimble won't calibrate and gives a Gimble error....

One day..and one dead Mavic Pro Camera gimble! Was not the wisest thing I've ever done...that is for sure!

Just curious. US users have to pass a test before they fly (albeit they can bypass 4 times). Would this have been a trigger to stop you making that impatient flight?

 

[BrianTvegas]

It’s ok I flew mine into a tree and dropped 6ft deep into the sand in a river. It’s in a bag of rice now. It was under water for 45min until some river people found it for me. The lights where still on. It doesn’t look physically damaged at all, just drowned in water. I have DJI CARE, but will try to get it working before sending it back. What’s great is that the DJI APP recorded the crash so even tho I had the GPS it was so deep that without the video of it crashing I would have never found it as I was far away and it was out of sight. I’ll attach the link below. Lol. Great video tho for my first real day flying. Facebook live and recording my screen on the IPhone X are two other great ways of catching video on top of the memory card and DJI APP.

Here is the Video:

Amazing But I crashed. I was able to get it back though. But it was under 6ft. Of water for 45min. ‍ | SkyPixel.com

 

[wytnyt]

Hopefully there’s still time and you could contact DJI.com and buy the Dji care refresh I think for Mavics it’s $95 good for 12 Months repairs at no extra cost and if it need replacements I believe it’s $99 for a brand new Mavic and 2nd replacement it’s $125 for a brand new Mavic

wouldnt that be akin to stealing?,it surely isn't ethical,

 

[RolandW]

...held my tongue on a 45 degree angle...

Ah, there's your problem. The Mavic manual clearly calls for a 60-degree tongue angle.
Seriously, thanks for posting. Rumor has it I'm getting a Mavic Pro Platinum for Christmas, so I'm spending much of my time soaking up all the info I can. You are doing a great service by sharing your experience.
Chin up: there's much more flying fun ahead for you, I'm sure. Best wishes.

 

[Special Weapons Group]

Its fortunate you did not use the precision take off indoors.... [emoji3] JK we have all (at least me) done one or the other moron misstake. You will do another. So will i at some point no matter how experienced.

 

[brichter]

Just curious. US users have to pass a test before they fly (albeit they can bypass 4 times). Would this have been a trigger to stop you making that impatient flight?

What test do US users have to pass?

 

[wombat]

Not sure if this has been mentioned as I have not got time to read all of the posts, there is a small L shaped piece behind the camera and that is prone to braking, have you checked that ?
Also any nicks or bends in the props will make it unstable

 

[brichter]

My camera freaked out and started slamming back and forth between the motion limits the first time I tried to rotate it downward with the controller. I immediately landed the drone, then power cycled it since it wouldn't stop. It then gave me the gimbal error, and I had to send it back to DJI. It lasted about 3 hours from the time it was delivered, 2.5 of which I wasn't even home.

From doing a quick Google search, it looks like this is an extremely common failure point that can happen whether or not the Mavic has been crashed. I may be demanding a refund rather than a replacement, as it seems these cables are not designed to be anywhere near as robust as they should have been.

 

[wytnyt]

why dont people use the gimbal cover when flying inside?seems most issues are gimbal related

 

[Mossiback]

why dont people use the gimbal cover when flying inside?seems most issues are gimbal related

That might help it survive a crash, but when flying indoors prop guards will help prevent a crash. If nothing else they really reduce the pucker-factor.

 

[wytnyt]

That might help it survive a crash, but when flying indoors prop guards will help prevent a crash. If nothing else they really reduce the pucker-factor.

id much rather lose a prop than the gimble
i bought 2 extra gimble covers myself,a clear and a tinted one,ill likely use alot if movies are not a top priority.

 

[Mossiback]

id much rather lose a prop than the gimble
i bought 2 extra gimble covers myself,a clear and a tinted one,ill likely use alot if movies are not a top priority.

My point is that with prop guards while flying indoors you are less likely to have the accident that damages the props or the gimbal.

But each are entitled to their own opinion, this is just mine.

 

[brichter]

why dont people use the gimbal cover when flying inside?seems most issues are gimbal related

Are people not using it? DJI says to use it during flight when learning to fly, but take it off for best picture/video quality.