New to Drones

[Bigpapasmurfbps]

First of all, hello. I have been playing with some toy grade drones lately with one of my kids. Well i decided i wanted to step into a big boy drone. I am aware that maybe buying used isnt always a good deal.. but i recently found a drone for sale and was wondering what the community thinks. Im not sure what to rhink of this deal, but it is in my town so i could demo it in person. But have no idea what to look for. Thanks for any info.

 

[BD0G]

Fire up DJIGO4 and connect to the Mavic. Then go into the battery section to see how many charges each battery has had. This will mean powering down each battery Short Press then Long Press to power down. Swap battery and reconnect to DJIGO4. Record all the battery charging cycles. This will give you a rough approximation of how many flights and hours are on the "bird"

It will also tell you if any of the batteries are worn out or reaching end of life.

Look in the Aircraft Battery tab of DJI Go 4 under "Times Charged".

You can also press and hold the button on each battery for 5 seconds and the led array will light up and tell you how much life remains in the battery as indicated below. Then use the GO4 App as confirmation...

 

[BD0G]

Remove gimbal clamp and power up Mavic. Then observe to see that the gimbal goes through a power up movement cycle. The gimbal should move side to side and up and down. After completion look at the live view on the screen of the device and make sure that the horizon line looks level.

If it does not look level then perform a gimbal calibration using the DJIGO4 app.
It does not take long to do this.

 

[old man mavic]

all the above one thing you could ask the seller to do is get them to go on the DJI go4 app on their devise they use to fly it ask them to show you their flight logs this shows how far it has flown and logs of each flight get them to sync the logs if they are willing to do all this and give you a demo of it flying it could be a good buy

 

[Drone on]

I've purchased two Mavic Pro 1 used, locally. And, both had batteries with less than three charges. You could tell they were rarely used because in both cases the bag looked brand new.
Also, look at the remote control screen. Is the plastic still on it? If so, likely rarely used. If off, any scratches? May still be good, but not necessarily well cared for.
Do they still have both sets of the props? MPs come with 8 (two sets). If missing, there may have been a crash - not necessarily, but...

Many people start this hobby, but become overwhelmed and let the bird nest.
I would not hesitate to buy used, but buyer beware.

 

[Bigpapasmurfbps]

I appreciate the advice. How many charges are too many for batteries? How much flight time is too much? I dont know if 14 hours is a lot.. or if 40 is too many. I have seen some videos of the gimbal being messed up. But if the owner will not let me view the logs, i may walk away. When i sell something i always let the customer test it. I would hope the same applies to drones.

 

[old man mavic]

unfortunately anything you purchase used is to a certain extent a gamble if you buy it. at least you have the chance to inspect it before buying, you should be able to see the condition and ask questions and make a informed choice on the outcome

 

[BD0G]

I hardly think that you will have the time and inclination to review each and every flight log. On batteries you are looking for voltage deviations between each cell. The cells are represented within DJIGO4 and show the battery voltage for each cell. Of course have the seller charge the batteries to full capacity before viewing.

The process I posted above will let you know the overall health of each battery and its simple to perform.

 

[Bigpapasmurfbps]

I contacted the seller. This is what i was told:


Not sure total flight time. Batteries vary some. I bought it used and have flown it probably 10-15 times. I bought it from someone that had lost the original and had it replaced. So the 3 batteries vary on usage. Everything is in great working order.

I may be leaning towards a pass. But thank you all for your help.

 

[BD0G]

Dont let that scare you away as it may be very tough to find one with super low hours for a reasonable price. If its close I would check it out and see if there is some negotiability.

 

[DanMan32]

Go to DJI's site and get the tutorial video on submitting a certification video for Care Refresh. Then perform or have the seller perform the same steps.

A nested bird is not necessarily a good thing, as the batteries could have been allowed to drain to a too low level for too long. If they were checked periodically and maintained at or near the 60% storage level then that would be OK.