My 3rd Mavic and I'm afraid to fly it. What should I do?

[Dtweiss]

Mavic #1

Bought it, brought it on vacation and on day 3 it disconnected from the RC and there was no way to reconnect it. After many back and fourths with DJI they said send it and the RC in. After breaking promise after promise I finally got it back 8 weeks later with no explanation as to what the problem was. I called and they said they did not have access to that info.

Mavic #2

Did one short test flight and all is well. 2nd flight, 65 degrees, no wind, solid signals I sent it about 3,000 meters out to a lighthouse at about 100 meters up. Solid HD signal all is well. On its return at about 1,000 meters out and 80 meters high it lost signal and the RC went to "connecting" mode. I looked up and the Mavic fell out of the sky into the cold ocean. Thank god I bought DJI Care Refresh, right? Nope, it doesn't cover lost drones. DJI says they will replace it if its a defect. I send them all the flight data that shows everything was normal and it just powered down with plenty of battery in excellent conditions and they tell me that they need proof and asked if I videoed it falling into the ocean. In the end they said I could not prove that it was a defect and they would not replace it even though the flight data showed perfect controls and then POOF! In the process of giving them all the drone purchase ownership info they wanted the serial number of the drone and of the RC. I didn't have the drone anymore so I couldn't provide it. I also couldn't give them the serial number from the RC because it was worn off! So now I butters another Mavic only and they gave me a small discount.

Mavic #3

Now I have a new Mavic and what I now realize is a heavily used RC that they sent me to replace the original NEW one I sent them. Will the same thing happen when I am flying under normal conditions? I haven't tried asking them for a new one because I couldn't even get them to confirm if they replaced the original Mavic or just sent it back with a refurbished RC.

Bought 2 Mavic's, 6 batteries, multi speed charger, carry case and every other accessory and afraid to fly it. FML

 

[geigy]

Sorry for the bad experience. I'm not sure from your post how many hours of previous experience you had on other drones. If it were me, I would fly over land for a few weeks before going over the water again.

 

[Dtweiss]

Sorry for the bad experience. I'm not sure from your post how many hours of previous experience you had on other drones. If it were me, I would fly over land for a few weeks before going over the water again.

I have flown many drones. Pilot error was not the issue. DJI even said that the pilot pushed pitch forward when the data stopped. I guess pitch forward is not a safe maneuver now. But yes, no over water for a while.

 

[dewster]

I like having the Mavic for its range and capabilities. Just understand that wind conditions are strong over open water.

Did you turn off VPS (Visual Positioning System) before flying over water. It can cause erratic behavior when flying over monochromatic surfaces such as snow and water.

 

[kona]

There was a thread here the other day claiming 99% of Mavic owners are happy with theirs. At the same time it seems like half of recent posters, like you, have had bad experiences. Perhaps you could chime into that thread?

 

[Dtweiss]

I like having the Mavic for its range and capabilities. Just understand that wind conditions are strong over open water.

Did you turn off VPS (Visual Positioning System) before flying over water. It can cause erratic behavior when flying over monochromatic surfaces such as snow and water.

I did not

 

[geigy]

Is it possible you got a bird strike, and the Mavic was far enough away that you could not see it? Gulls will sometimes mob a drone.

 

[tictag]

The VPS is only effective below 15m, i dare say the OP was flying higher than this, so irrelevant. Bird strike is a possibility but you would see this on the local drone footage captured by your smartphone. Sounds to me like a faulty drone (if RC, the drone would return to home) and something DJI should replace and apologise for.

 

[Edjes]

This is really terrible, so sorry to hear that. Fly it like it's your first one and gain trust again. You had a lot of bad luck.

 

[Dragonfly]

There has been a couple of reports very similar to this and a possibility that earlier Mavics had a problem where batteries were not locking home properly and during flight working loose therby poping up disconting power causing Mavic to disconnect from RC and fall. Just a possibility.
Double check battery locked before flying.
Thrash number 3 around close and hard for a few batteries to gain confidence and trust in it.

 

[dsmpampis]

I'm going to agree with @tictag for the VPS because the OP was at around 100m. The one that I can't understand is why after the RC loose connection didn't return to home as it should be....
Normally when loosing connection after 3 sec the drone start the RTH.
But don't be afraid just take it out and fly.

 

[J3ffrey]

4 posts exactly like this one on the front page... has me worried!

 

[gavcuk]

Insurance?

 

[Ziggy01]

This is looking like a class action.

What percentage of these things are turning into bricks mid-flight?

 

[willhay555]

This is looking like a class action.

What percentage of these things are turning into bricks mid-flight?

DJI will tell you that.
Or not.

Best wishes,
The 99.538% having zero problems.

Edit.
This wasn't meant to be obnoxious, it's only that it's easy to assume it's a pile of **** for everyone when everything is going wrong for the user.
The product is superb in my opinion, the DJI CS is at the other end of the spectrum.

The OP has my sympathy.

 

[Ziggy01]

DJI will tell you that.
Or not.

Best wishes,
The 99.538% having zero problems.

I'm loving my Mavic. I find it responsive and reliable.

However, threads such as this make me very nervous - particularly flying over water, which is about half of my flight time. Like the OP, it makes me want to use it less.

 

[willhay555]

I'm loving my Mavic. I find it responsive and reliable.

However, threads such as this make me very nervous - particularly flying over water, which is about half of my flight time. Like the OP, it makes me want to use it less.

I was out of beginner mode after fifteen mins and over water on day two.

With sincerity, if you can't trust the device you shouldn't fly it, and not just because you might lose it.

 

[rydfree]

Forums are great for getting help with problems hence the troubling post . I hope you don't watch the news to the point you that are afraid to go outside . I would be confident in the 99% of owners are happy with the Mavic and that is only the ones that visit the forum. Most people that fly the Mavic don't even come here as they haven't had a reason . I'd also be confident in saying that more than half of the problems discussed on the forum are self inflicted .

Buy the drone and fly the thing . If you're always worried that something is wrong and may crash then you for sure will . If you've had several and had issues then maybe move on to another hobby because something certainly isn't right .

 

[Ziggy01]

Forums are great for getting help with problems hence the troubling post . I hope you don't watch the news to the point you that are afraid to go outside . I would be confident in the 99% of owners are happy with the Mavic and that is only the ones that visit the forum. Most people that fly the Mavic don't even come here as they haven't had a reason . I'd also be confident in saying that more than half of the problems discussed on the forum are self inflicted .

Buy the drone and fly the thing . If you're always worried that something is wrong and may crash then you for sure will . If you've had several and had issues then maybe move on to another hobby because something certainly isn't right .

Good advice. That is my full intention. I'm always a bit nervous before I send it up, but I guess that's all part of the fun.

Another thing that bothered me was a poster suggesting these power failures are a direct result of the latest firmware upgrades and still another poster suggesting these faults appear to mainly concern Mavics manufactured in early March - mine has a date of March 6. Dark mutterings.

Anyway, I'll be sending her up and across Sydney harbour again tomorrow...wish me luck.

 

[dgc4rter]

Reading these forums as a new Mavic owner, it would be easy to think I'd gone and purchased a drone that was unreliable and prone to numerous issues. Fortunately, I've been a long time participant in photography forums and know that the majority of people that post to these kind of forums have some sort of issue. However, they are but an extremely small percentage of the overall number of owners, most of which are very happy with their device who don't feel the need to post anything.

I've had my Mavic for a few weeks now and I've flown around half a dozen sorties with it. I've updated it to the latest .600 firmware and I can happily report that I've experienced no issues with it. In fact, I've been blown away by this incredible machine..