Bitterly disappointed - P4 written off

[CraigCanberra]

Hello. Newbie and first-time poster.

Had my P4 about 3 weeks and flown it about a dozen times, building up confidence. Today I took off from ground level adjacent to a remote bridge in the countryside. Flew up several metres to road level then along the road over the bridge. The screen indicated a height of 16 metres, but of course that was from where I had lifted off, not the road above me that I was now flying along. So I thought I had a lot more height than I did. Unfortunately it was only about 2 to 3 metres above the road and I flew straight into a metal road sign in the middle of absolutely NOWHERE, rising from the greenfields on the side of the road, near the cows. Seeing the sign rapidly come into view then the screen go blank, followed by a huge bang made my stomach churn.

The battery was ripped out of the P4 (but was still powered on!), the camera was torn from its mount, and the P4's front 2 arms broken and bent. As far as I can tell it's a write-off. I can't tell you how sad and bitterly disappointed I am.

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to buy a replacement drone, without any batteries or the remote? I only need the drone and props.

So sad...

 

[msinger]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to buy a replacement drone, without any batteries or the remote? I only need the drone and props.

You can buy just the Phantom from DJI here. It comes with one battery too -- which you could see if you don't need it.

 

[CraigCanberra]

Thank you very much for your very rapid reply. Exactly what I'm after. Surprised at the price though - just $200 cheaper than the whole package that includes the remote? The remote has to be worth more than 200 bucks. Seems DJI charging a little much for just the drone. Still, it is what it is.

Based on the photos I posted, do you think that repair might be viable?

Thanks again.

 

[msinger]

Based on the photos I posted, do you think that repair might be viable?

Most Phantoms are repairable.

From your photos, I can see you need the following parts:

• Shell
• Landing Gear (to replace the covers on the inside)

I cannot tell what happened to the gimbal. It looks like you might need a new gimbal yaw arm.

 

[GMack]

Might try and send it in anyway. It might not be as bad as you think. Someone on here had a bad crash and they fixed it for $200.

 

[CraigCanberra]

Wow. Thanks msinger. I might look at the repair path. You just might have saved me a whole wad of cash. You have my thanks sir.

GMack: I'm in Canberra Australia. I can see repair places in the US but do you know if there's anything here?

 

[msinger]

You can find a list of DJI service centers here.

 

[RJ_Make]

That absolutely stinks; I would take GMack advice and at least find out what Dji will charge to make the repair.

 

[CraigCanberra]

Thank you everyone. Your advice is really appreciated.

 

[CThruU]

Thank you everyone. Your advice is really appreciated.

Contact DJI and get a repair RMA. May as well tell them pilot crash damage rather than try to claim it was DJI's fault to get warranty repair. They'll email you a shipping label for the correct repair center. When they receive, they'll inspect and send you a bill. Once paid, repairs will be done and it will be returned. Process took me 18 days but 12 of those were transit time. This is all for the NA Repair Center. Other areas of the world may be different.

Mine was $204 USD for this. Labor $160 and parts $54. My gimbal wasn't damaged though. No separate shipping charge, but I'm sure it's in there.

Good luck and don't give up on it yet.

 

[Peter Galbavy]

If obstacle avoidance was on (and DJI can tell from the flight records) they may accept a warranty repair. Good luck, I'm feeling your pain.