The tiniest of repairs...

[tictag]

Hi guys,

Long story short, overconfidence led me to attempt to land on an industrial digger's cabin roof ... rotorwash, Maddie slipped off, cracking her eyeball into the light cluster on her way down. Damage? Gimbal arm mount snapped, gimbal arm motor ribbon cable snapped ... camera ended up hanging out on the end of a cable like an eyeball pulled out of a eye socket! Not a pretty sight.

Here's the summary: if you want to use DJI Refresh insurance .... don't take it apart to identify parts for self repair.

So I took Maddie apart ....

Identified two components that were damaged: the anti-vibration platform had snapped where the gimbal arm mounts and the ribbon cable connecting the gimbal motors had snapped in the middle. Two insignificant parts costing maye £1 each? Or so I thought ...

Two weeks of too'ing and fro'ing from DJI and my local authorised repair center later and I realised that you just can't get hold of these parts. When I realised this, and the fact that I couldn't even buy the line-replaceable units e.g. a full camera/gimbal assembly myself, I realised that it would be waaaaaaay cheaper to call on the DJI Refresh insurance rather than send Maddie for repair...

BUT I had already taken her apart to identify the individual parts, voiding my DJI Refresh insurance!!

So now I'm faced with a £250 repair bill with the *hope* that DJI will re-instate my insurance post repair.

Lesson learned ... don't be a maker, don't be a fixer ... use the insurance for the smallest of damage.

Regards,
David.

 

[Former Member]

Did DJI tell you that your Refresh was voided? Did you actually send it in and get a repair bill for 250 from DJI?

After a DJI repair you will be eligible for Refresh. You just have to apply online and provide some proof that its in flyable condition. Link is below.

DJI_Care Customer Upload Information

 

[tictag]

Q1 Yes.
Q2 Not from DJI, their authorised repairer in the UK, dronedoctor.co.uk

Thank you, this is a relief

 

[Former Member]

You might also look at this company in addition to or in place of Refresh:

Photography & Digital Camera, Camcorder & Drone Insurance | Photoguard

 

[tictag]

Hey! Thank you for the heads up

 

[tadvaas]

There is a company in London offering DJI Mavic Pro Repairs as well.

 

[tictag]

I just couldn't face paying what ended up being £280 to replace two components costing pennies. Bought the components from a US seller and I'm waiting for them now. Told drone doctor where to shove their repair bill. Yeah, I know I've wasted money on the insurance but, you know, I'd actually rather fix her myself. She's been fantastic and she doesn't deserve to be replaced with a cow-eyed second nor dirty hands all over her.

See "personification" in the dictionary for a photo of me and Maddie