Just crashed the mavic pro on my third day with it... *******

[lmrsa]

Hello. Well, I'm completely devastated at this. After a few first flights that went really well, this morning I made a 7 min flight that went perfect (the mavic is really an easy drone to flight), and then I decided to try to take near some trees... bad decision...

I hit a branch on a tree and it just stopped after a few seconds. As is felt to the ground (about 2,5 m high) it damaged the camera and gimbal. As I got there, it was kind of smelling like when a electronic short circuit happens, so I turned it off and removed the battery...

End result: the camera (with gimbal) is lose (the part that holds it to that elastic part is broken), and the wires that connect it to the camera (the only thing holding the gimbal+camera to the mavic now...) seem damaged... The camera+gimbal itself looks undamaged.

Question is, what options do I have to repair it? Only on dji? As I went to the repair ticket creation I really didn't like the bit that says that if I don't agree with the quotation for repair they can charge me € 50/hour for the quotation only... I've read some cases where they replace parts that wasn't damaged, so I really don't feel comfortable on this...

Are there alternatives (In Europe)? Could I directly contact a repair center and send them the mavic?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Just_nick]

You can see if there are authorized DJI repair centers around you, but in the end the cheapest method is a DIY repair. With DJI, you can complain on the forum about the quote and the admin is pretty good about helping out.

 

[ICHOTT]

Ouch, hard luck mate, hope you get it sorted ok

Is your own home insurance cover any option ?

 

[Guker]

You can see if there are authorized DJI repair centers around you, but in the end the cheapest method is a DIY repair. With DJI, you can complain on the forum about the quote and the admin is pretty good about helping out.

If you are handy with mechanical repairs, the vibration mount is about $10 and the ribbon cable is about the same. If it’s the camera transmission cable, their are around $25. Through eBay, that is.

Loads of YouTube vids on how to disassemble and repair. You just have to wade through a bunch of bad one to find the gem.

This approach will definitely void your warranty immediately.

Also, any diy repairs may also complete disable the drone.

The prices are current because I’m waiting on my new vibration mount and ribbon cable to arrive!!!
Wink, wink, nod, nod!!! Lol

Yep, I flew sideways into a tree over a pond, but fortunately it flew far enough into tree to. Fall on the shore!!

I have electronic background and also insurance so I’m not worried about the warranty.

Best luck, however you go!

 

[Gizmo]

Oh my, I feel so sorry for you, didn't you just received the drone after weeks of waiting for the shipment to arrive from China?

 

[Guker]

Thanks, it was my fault it happened. I got distracted and had yawed off path.
That wasn't me waiting for my MP. My came out of Florida through DN.

It still powers on and the motors spin and the camera works. Like I said, I was very fortunate.

 

[lmrsa]

If you are handy with mechanical repairs, the vibration mount is about $10 and the ribbon cable is about the same. If it’s the camera transmission cable, their are around $25. Through eBay, that is.

Loads of YouTube vids on how to disassemble and repair. You just have to wade through a bunch of bad one to find the gem.

This approach will definitely void your warranty immediately.

Also, any diy repairs may also complete disable the drone.

The prices are current because I’m waiting on my new vibration mount and ribbon cable to arrive!!!
Wink, wink, nod, nod!!! Lol

Yep, I flew sideways into a tree over a pond, but fortunately it flew far enough into tree to. Fall on the shore!!

I have electronic background and also insurance so I’m not worried about the warranty.

Best luck, however you go!

I will try it for sure! The only thing that's concerning me is that when this all happened there was a smell of electronic short circuit, and i'm afraid some electronic board got damaged... but hopefully it was just the cable (and i wouldn't be surprise so, I used the plastic covers to secure the camera and gimbal on the way back home and when i got home I notice a bit of the transparent plastic damaged for contacting whit the cable, so the cable got hot for sure, maybe that's what the smell was about...

what's the difference between the ribbon cable and the camera cable? tough the ribbon flat cable was all I needed

 

[lmrsa]

Oh my, I feel so sorry for you, didn't you just received the drone after weeks of waiting for the shipment to arrive from China?

Indeed sir, I'm glad I'm 42 now, this kind of experience on my 15's and I would probably had to kill someone out of pure despair...

 

[Guker]

I will try it for sure! The only thing that's concerning me is that when this all happened there was a smell of electronic short circuit, and i'm afraid some electronic board got damaged... but hopefully it was just the cable (and i wouldn't be surprise so, I used the plastic covers to secure the camera and gimbal on the way back home and when i got home I notice a bit of the transparent plastic damaged for contacting whit the cable, so the cable got hot for sure, maybe that's what the smell was about...

what's the difference between the ribbon cable and the camera cable? tough the ribbon flat cable was all I needed

 

[The Moment Thinker]

Hello. Well, I'm completely devastated at this. After a few first flights that went really well, this morning I made a 7 min flight that went perfect (the mavic is really an easy drone to flight), and then I decided to try to take near some trees... bad decision...

I hit a branch on a tree and it just stopped after a few seconds. As is felt to the ground (about 2,5 m high) it damaged the camera and gimbal. As I got there, it was kind of smelling like when a electronic short circuit happens, so I turned it off and removed the battery...

End result: the camera (with gimbal) is lose (the part that holds it to that elastic part is broken), and the wires that connect it to the camera (the only thing holding the gimbal+camera to the mavic now...) seem damaged... The camera+gimbal itself looks undamaged.

Question is, what options do I have to repair it? Only on dji? As I went to the repair ticket creation I really didn't like the bit that says that if I don't agree with the quotation for repair they can charge me € 50/hour for the quotation only... I've read some cases where they replace parts that wasn't damaged, so I really don't feel comfortable on this...

Are there alternatives (In Europe)? Could I directly contact a repair center and send them the mavic?

Thanks for any feedback!

Oh no, sorry to hear about the crash bro

 

[lmrsa]

hi there

Update oh this situation: Since yesterday I´ve searched a lot for possible cost on this repair, and I will try to fix it myself... hope I don´t regret it, but all the parts ordered from china (plus a repair toolkit and some propellers) cost less than one cable here in Portugal...

I´ve ordered all the parts I need (the ribbon cable, the video cable (also broken), and the mounting plate, plus a repair toolkit and a set of propellers), but i'll only be getting them in like three or four wekks... (my good, the wait)

Meanwhile, I've cut the ginbal+camera off the mavic and successfully turned it on and flied it (just an indoor 1 min flight to see if it was working... tomorrow i'll try an outdoor flight to check the gps signal...)

It was flying ok.

My main concern now is if the gimbal and camera control board might be damaged, there is a smell of burned circuit there. Maybe it is just for the cable burn, hopefully, it has this smell since the crash...

At least for the 2 to 3 min it was on the smell didn't got worst, so apparently no short circuit right now...

Well, I really hope I don't regret this choise, but hopefully after installing both cables and the mounting plate the mavic will just fly normally... in a couple of weeks I'll now that...

 

[lmrsa]

"My main concern now is if the gimbal and camera control board might be damaged, there is a smell of burned circuit there. Maybe it is just for the cable burn, hopefully, it has this smell since the crash..."


Well, regarding this concern, I've made a simple test... the smell is noticeable in both the gimbal+camera (that is now completely separated for the mavic) an on the mavic, so I'm guessing it can only mean that ii is the cable the source of that smell (maybe the plastic protection of the cable that melted...).
hope this indicated the control board is still functional...

 

[lmrsa]

Update:

Just did a outdoor flight test, and everything is working normally: gps signal, return to home, and obstacle avoidance, etc...

So the mavic is working normally, obviously without the gimbal and camera...

My doubt now is if I should wait for the cables (that I've ordered already), or if I should open the mavic meanwhile to see if the pbc control board for the gimbal+camera is affected (although I suspect it isn't, if it wasn't working there should be some kind of indication regarding it in the dji go 4 app...)

 

[lmrsa]

Hi there. Since this last post, I've received the new cables, installed them, and got a gimbal overload error (the camera was working fine).

As it did the initial full 3 axis movement it got stuck and couldn't initialize correctly. At that point I assume I've broken the gimbal cable during installation

I've then ordered a new cable, reinstalled it and nothing changed...

So I just order a new gimbal (without camera, but with the cable installed), hope this will be the last of this. If I assemble this new gimbal and it doesn't work it can only be the control board. But I honestly hope that's not the case, getting tired of all this fixing and not being able to enjoy my mavic...

In fact It as crossed my mind to sell it as it is (or as parts) and just by a new one...

Well, in a week or so I'll have the new gimbal and then I'll now how it went...

 

[Tinmania]

Thanks for the updates! Fingers crossed.



Mike

 

[lmrsa]

Hello.

Update: I got the gimbal, replaced it, and as soon as tuned the mavic on it started to smell like electrical "burning" and damaged the gimbal...

so I just got feed up with all the replacing of components and just bought the all gimbal+camera+control board system bundle.

When I installed on the mavic it just worked like new!!

Already making "great" videos:

 

[Air Or]

I wonder how the expenses of the DIY would have compared with just sending it in to DJI to fix in the first place?
Part of that equation is figuring what your hourly rate is (on your job) and adding in the time spent futzing around with ordering, installing, testing, reordering, buy more replacements...

Anyway thank you for the cautionary tale; all's well that ends well, I suppose.

 

[lmrsa]

We'll, for what I heard about the average costs from DJI I'm pretty sure it was cheaper made by me. Well, obviously not counting my working hours, just assembled it with a friend at a Saturday while we had a few beers, just a different way to spend a few hours...

But yes, if you don't like to do this somehow tricky "electrical" repairs (or not comfortable with it) the best thing is to just send it to DJI