Mavic pro 2 controller loud buzzing fan noise

drakkor · Dec 25, 2018

So I have seen some people on here that had the same issue with either the regular Mavic or Mavic Platinum controller. I personally owned both of them but never had this problem at all, and I flew quite a lot too with those, or even left the controller on for a while when updating firmware...etc
But now the controller of my brand new Mavic pro 2 zoom has this issue. Here is a video example of my issue of the controller making a loud buzzing fan noise once the fan kicks in (video is not from me but from someone with the same issue I have)

I have contacted DJI support and, after a few messages exchange where they tried to blame me for not using the controller correctly somehow, they finally gave up and issued a RMA for the controller (I had to also point them to many forum post & YouTube video about the same issue). The address where I should send it is this repair center at 17301 Edwards Rd, Cerritos, CA 90703. I am a little worried now though since 90% of the reviews about that DJI affiliated repair place are bad/negative. Are any of you experienced repair at this place before ?

It seems to me that the bearing of the fan is giving up (bad quality fan, used?), and thus the fan vibrates and/or touch something inside the controller while spinning. Honestly, it should be just a straight fan replacement and with the right part I could probably do that myself too, but since it's a brand new drone, I thought that least I can do is having DJI honor their warranty on their products. However, they started to talk about payment and the like after issuing the RMA, so that didn't made me comfortable right now. But let see what the repair place says after they receive the controller. I will probably update this thread as soon as I have more info.

AeroMirage · Dec 25, 2018

I had a defective Mavic Pro and sent it to that address. They first stated they were going to repair it, but ended up sending me a brand new one (Not refurb) Total time including shipping both ways from NC was 11 days.
The day they got it, they assessed it and posted results. The following day I was sent tracking number for the return journey. All was done at zero cost to me as it was covered under warranty.

drakkor · Dec 25, 2018

AeroMirage said:
I had a defective Mavic Pro and sent it to that address. They first stated they were going to repair it, but ended up sending me a brand new one (Not refurb) Total time including shipping both ways from NC was 11 days.
The day they got it, they assessed it and posted results. The following day I was sent tracking number for the return journey. All was done at zero cost to me as it was covered under warranty.

Well thanks then. I am more reassured my controller is in good hands when I read things like this.

ff22 · Dec 26, 2018

drakkor said:
Well thanks then. I am more reassured my controller is in good hands when I read things like this.

That controller makes almost more noise then the drone!!! I hope it works out for you.

mavicn00b · Dec 29, 2018

Sounds like a bad fan in the RC. Ocusync gets hot!

drakkor · Jan 5, 2019

EDIT on 01/05/2019:
Got my remote back today from the repair center. Look like they even didn't bother to fix the bad fan, but instead send me a new (or refurbished) controller instead. So kudos to them and DJI for that !

MrYKBQdV · Jul 5, 2019

Same issue here. Tried opening a new thread but it "surreptitiously" disappeared.

Anyway, as a I was preparing for the first flight I turned on the Remote controller RC and left it on, without even connecting the RC to the drone. After a short while (2-3 minutes) the fan inside of the RC started spinning for no reason (not even connected to the drone). After 1 more minute or so the fan starts spinning even louder and I can tell by tilting the remote that something is very wrong with this controller since the pitch of the noise changes, either there are bad bearings in the fan or some cable is sitting on top of the fan.

Here is a video that I recorded reproducing the problem. You can watch the full video or jump directly to minute 11:30 to hear the problem.

Either way there is no reason why the fan should be turning on under this circumstances, also no reason why the remote should be heating up so fast when its not being used (it reaches 33-35º C right before I turn it of). And since its my first DJI I can't really tell if battery depletion rate is normal or not, but 1% every 2 minutes in an idle remote just does not sound normal to me.

Really really disappointed with DJI, very bad build quality and this seems like a widespread issue in the official DJI forums, Youtube and other sites. I not posting links to external sites just so that this post does not vanish, use google

ff22 · Jul 5, 2019

MrYKBQdV said:
Same issue here. Tried opening a new thread but it "surreptitiously" disappeared.

Anyway, as a I was preparing for the first flight I turned on the Remote controller RC and left it on, without even connecting the RC to the drone. After a short while (2-3 minutes) the fan inside of the RC started spinning for no reason (not even connected to the drone). After 1 more minute or so the fan starts spinning even louder and I can tell by tilting the remote that something is very wrong with this controller since the pitch of the noise changes, either there are bad bearings in the fan or some cable is sitting on top of the fan.

Here is a video that I recorded reproducing the problem. You can watch the full video or jump directly to minute 11:30 to hear the problem.

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Either way there is no reason why the fan should be turning on under this circumstances, also no reason why the remote should be heating up so fast when its not being used (it reaches 33-35º C right before I turn it of). And since its my first DJI I can't really tell if battery depletion rate is normal or not, but 1% every 2 minutes in an idle remote just does not sound normal to me.

Really really disappointed with DJI, very bad build quality and this seems like a widespread issue in the official DJI forums, Youtube and other sites. I not posting links to external sites just so that this post does not vanish, use google

I see in your separate post that DJI will be sending a new package. Good luck.