Mavic 2 Fatal Flaw: Broken Camera/Gimbal?

[EyeInStein]

There is a pin on the back of the camera and a notch for it in the mount.

Even better! Good stuff. Thanks.

 

[Humanparody]

He dropped it and the camera hit the corner of the table.
That's what the Facebook post said before it was removed.
It didn't just fall off while sitting on the table.

That's not what the Facebook post said at all. I was there the minute Dustin posted it. I commented on it. I commented on the second thread when the admins locked commenting on the first thread. I started my own thread about it in the same group at the same time. He said he flew it for 2 minutes, brought it in, SET it on the table and then a minute later he heard a clunk and found it had fallen off. This is fact, not speculation or hearsay. I read what he wrote. In fact I got banned from the group last night because I kept talking about it when the admins kept trying to sweep it under the rug.

 

[Humanparody]

Put an alignment notch/mark on when you receive it. Self repair back in business.

There is actually a detent in the plastic and a small piece of metal that sticks out to go into the detention. It's self aligning. Look closely at the picture.

 

[sar104]

It's not clickbait, I am a member of the group that Dustin is on and watched the whole thing transpire from the initial post to when it went viral and how DJI handled it. It's all accurate info. If I'm not mistaken I believe Dustin said he has multiple drones including an Inspire (I think he's a professional photographer). He was very sincere, posted multiple pics of the rest of the drone to show that it wasn't crashed, not a knick on it. He was just a little shocked and concerned. If it happened to you for no apparent reason on the first day you flew your drone I can guarantee you'd post pictures and be telling everyone.

It won't take long to find out if this is an isolated manufacturing fault or something more than that, but it seems unlikely to me that such as simple thing as the camera attachment method would have a major design flaw.

 

[Humanparody]

It won't take long to find out if this is an isolated manufacturing fault or something more than that, but it seems unlikely to me that such as simple thing as the camera attachment method would have a major design flaw.

I agree it won't take long. But take a look at the picture. There is very little glue actually applied, basically two little footpads. I have a feeling that the guy that posted the video was referencing something I had said in the FB thread about the metal being polished on the side of the motor. You can see residual glue along the edge of the plastic and it did not adhere to the polished metal. The rest of the glue had delaminated from the plastic. Amazingly it's such an easy fix. If DJI or even the user just scuffed up the sides of the motor a little with some course grit sandpaper or a file and re-epoxied it back in, the joint would be MUCH stronger when adhered from the sides instead of the back. It looks as though they were expecting the strength of the joint to come from a tight press fit but i guess the tolerances were off and the dabs of glue in the back weren't enough to hold it in.

If it were mine I'd just do the quick fix myself and be on my merry way but obviously everyone will be worried about voiding their warranty and will send it back to DJI and be out of a drone for a few weeks.

 

[sar104]

I agree it won't take long. But take a look at the picture. There is very little glue actually applied, basically two little footpads. I have a feeling that the guy that posted the video was referencing something I had said in the FB thread about the metal being polished on the side of the motor. You can see residual glue along the edge of the plastic and it did not adhere to the polished metal. The rest of the glue had delaminated from the plastic. Amazingly it's such an easy fix. If DJI or even the user just scuffed up the sides of the motor a little with some course grit sandpaper or a file and re-epoxied it back in, the joint would be MUCH stronger when adhered from the sides instead of the back. It looks as though they were expecting the strength of the joint to come from a tight press fit but i guess the tolerances were off and the dabs of glue in the back weren't enough to hold it in.

If it were mine I'd just do the quick fix myself and be on my merry way but obviously everyone will be worried about voiding their warranty and will send it back to DJI and be out of a drone for a few weeks.

Agreed, but it's still hard to know if that is simply a manufacturing defect or a design defect - i.e. was insufficient glue applied or was it wrongly applied vs. a bad choice of glue or lack of prepared surfaces. Maybe glue, rather than a bayonet-type attachment, was chosen to save weight.

 

[Humanparody]

Agreed, but it's still hard to know if that is simply a manufacturing defect or a design defect - i.e. was insufficient glue applied or was it wrongly applied vs. a bad choice of glue or lack of prepared surfaces. Maybe glue, rather than a bayonet-type attachment, was chosen to save weight.

I can only hope that it was just someone on an assembly line in China that was more concerned over what JingLangLu's husband was doing the night before with that skank from the dry cleaners than about the 2 drops of glue she was supposed to be applying on that single gimbal at that very moment.

 

[sar104]

I can only hope that it was just someone on an assembly line in China that was more concerned over what JingLangLu's husband was doing the night before with that skank from the dry cleaners than about the 2 drops of glue she was supposed to be applying on that single gimbal at that very moment.

Are these assembled by hand?

 

[ErikSwan]

Are these assembled by hand?

Like most consumer electronic products, yes, they are. (1, 2)

 

[sar104]

Like most consumer electronic products, yes, they are. (1, 2)

Well that certainly introduces some opportunities for defects. Especially with a glue joint that must be quite difficult to inspect. I guess the failure rate must be pretty low though.

 

[Humanparody]

Heck, someone at the factory could have bumped it during manufacturing judging by how that woman was flipping around that inspire.

 

[lolo780]

The other day I dropped a glass on the edge of my coffee table. I couldn't believe it shattered! Upon closer inspection I realized not only was there nothing holding it together, but the entire thing was literally made of glass! Ridiculous, I'm considering a class action lawsuit. It's almost as if they didn't expect me to drop it on the edge of my coffee table or something. Who's in?

I'd try a glass action lawsuit.

 

[EasyV]

Well they said you can swap cameras lol

 

[Atxmavicflyer]

They kicked you out too? Last i saw I was banned for 24 hours but I can't even see that message anymore and the group coverpage won't even load. Won't know until 1:39 tonight whether I'm permanently banned for talking about "Gluegate"

Yup. I got kicked out for talking about it. Definitely not buying the mp2 now, that's for sure.

 

[lolo780]

yes, but if you have 150000 products at risk you did that in the wrong way!

DJI will sell all 150k units and then some anyways. I hope some people don't buy so I'll get my Pro sooner!

 

[KONY]

DJI has officially commented on the "glue gate" directly on the comments section of the video.


DJI Support : il y a 3 heures (modifié)
Hi there, we're so sorry for the inconvenience. I understand your conerns and double checked with our engineers: The industrial glue process used for the Mavic 2 is an established technology and is commonly used in the consumer electronics industry, as well as having been previously used in multiple DJI products (such as the Phantom 3 and for the Mavic Pro’s gimbal). The gluing process has passed comprehensive and rigorous testing to make sure it matches the high-quality standards that DJI sets to ensure we deliver a safe product that can be used with the utmost confidence. For the case you reported, DJI has promptly investigated the reason for the accident and handled the issue appropriately. If you encounter similar problems, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your understanding and support.
-----------------------------------------------------

from youtube :

 

[Avarios]

"glue gate" really ? cause of one user ?? Wow ... dramaqueen

 

[KONY]

it's just my way of putting it to refer to that well discussed story

anyway it's alarming enough for DJI to decide they had to comment about it on youtube

 

[SprayingMango]

It's amazing to me that ONE person can have this happen, spread it on the internet, it gets amplified and now we have wild speculation. Seriously...they've probably made half a million of these things, thousands of happy customers are flying every day and people think it's some kind of conspiracy theory.

 

[KONY]

YES true, but me as a fresh owner of the MAVIC 2 i prefer situations when such story (even if fake) would come out and DJI corrects it or adresses it fast...rather than a situation when no one talks about potential danger...then i may be the first one to kill someone when i go flying my drone and the camera falls on someone or some traffic