Broken Video cable

Meta4 said:
DJI could give the cables away free and it still wouldn't help.
They have fitted it in such a way that owners would not be able to replace the cable anyway.

if you are handy and patient, you can replace the ribbon cable yourself. :geek:
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I have also send the foto of the ribbon cable to China and ask them if the can make them for us :cool:
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It's great to see folks "taking the bull by the horns" in an effort to fix the ribbon cable issue!
 
It seems rather simple to replace the cable. Why do I think that? Because I busted my gimble today after I lost orientation and the wind knocked mine into my house.

Took it apart fully, seems to be just a very painstaking careful process to replace. In any case, my ribbon survived and fixed the gimble, but if you can imagine, I knocked a chip off the main board that was soldered on poorly to begin with.... Now I'm $700 out the hole.
 
This one is werking fine after assemble :mrgreen:
I take it appart for a picture of the ribbon cable :cool:
I do the Axel trick from the forum and a drop of glue :geek:
So I saved the €670,- that DJI Germany asked :lol: :lol:
 
From your picture it looks like there are two larger connectors and two smaller connectors, which are more or less supposed to be possible to push in and pull out?
The cable itself should be about $30 tops you would think, but quite a lot of dis-assembling required and everything is so tiny not to be undertaken lightly...
 
4wd said:
From your picture it looks like there are two larger connectors and two smaller connectors, which are more or less supposed to be possible to push in and pull out?
The cable itself should be about $30 tops you would think, but quite a lot of dis-assembling required and everything is so tiny not to be undertaken lightly...

Yes, you can pull up a little lip and then pull out the cable. :cool:
Like this:
 

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Meta4 said:
Jstic said:
They put it together by hand, so taking it apart and replacing the cable by hand is possible. It's not that much different than doing a cable replacement inside an iphone.

Tell that to my drone doctor. He can work wonders on most of the things that make up a Phantom but tells me that the cable is not replaceable. That no-one has been able to replace one backs this up.

I have a perfectly good camera and cable (water damage to gimbal control board only) and he wasn't interested in using that to fix any of the Phantoms he had in for broken gimbals or cables. He's tried and says it is not possible.
It's to do with the way they have connected the cable ends. They are not simply plug in fittings.

Don't know the dronedoctor, but I have taken mine apart and reassembled it so it can be done. Another guy in this thread has done it also. So it has been replaced, the problem is that unless you want to take a chance on buying a used one that was in a crash, they aren't available.
 
It is considered an unfair trade practice in the United States to refuse to sell parts to a product. I would recommend that anyone in the United States having these ribbon problems make a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission advising them of the monopolizing of repairs by DJI. It seems to me that any company employing design engineers could come up with a model with all plugs facing the proper direction to release rather than break the cable. I think part of the problem could be solved with wire ties in two of the Gimbal Corners rather than having them empty. That would at least give you a fighting chance of keeping the gimbal mounted to the unit during the inevitable crash. I will be trying it. I have already filed a complaint with the FTC.
 
I have contacted about 10 of your dealers East of the Mississippi River. They ALL deny that you sell them the ribbon cables. I am forwarding their responses to the FTC to accompany my complaint. Please let me know the cost of 1 of these ribbon cables.

From: Tenna.Zhang (DJI) <[email protected]>
To: James McElroy <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2014 2:03 AM
Subject: [DJI] 回复: Fw: Possible Violation of Sherman Anti Trust Act

##- Please type your reply above this line -##
您的请求(22372)已解决。要重新开启此请求,请回复此电邮。

Tenna.Zhan
Tenna.Zhang (DJI)
Aug 22 14:03
Dear James,
Thanks for contacting DJI Technical HQ.
Sorry about the unhappy experience you have in using our products.
Firstly, we want to make things clear to you that:
1. We are selling accessories such as the ribbon cables. You could contact our dealers or contact DJI directly for accessories.
The reason why some dealers would not sell ribbon cables to customers is because the ribbon cable is not easy to be repalcedd by the customers, and some other problems may arise if the customer could not do it correctly. So we suggest customers should be better to return the Phantom to us for replacing the ribbon cable or some other components to avoid additional problems.
If the customer get the ribbon cable from us and replace it on his or her own and some problems arise hence, the customer then would have no reason to blame DJI.

2. Please rest assured that DJI never intends to deny it's responsibilities, cause we are still understaffed at present, so it's really difficult for us to answer all the phones or to process all the emails in time. But we are trying to provide timely and better services to our customers. You could reach us directly by 0086755-2267-3666 if you need some urgent service.
Wish you enjoy flying with DJI.
Your understanding and patience are much appreciated.
James McEl
James McElroy
Aug 21 22:30
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: James McElroy <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 10:26 AM
Subject: Possible Violation of Sherman Anti Trust Act

I recently bought a (model) Drone helicopter from a company called DJI Innovations. After about 10 flights which were controllable, the unit started having a mind of it's own. After a very hard nosedive into the ground a very flimsy ribbon cable sunning from a controller to the camera broke. This is probably a $2.00 piece of ribbon cable. I called DJI numerous times and was hung up on by an automated system that told me they were experiencing heavy calls and then it hung up. I started e-mailing the Los Angeles office of DJI and got no response to e-mails.
I then started looking on e-bay and all of the Hobby Shops I could find on line searching for this ribbon cable. Couldn't locate one but I did locate a number of broken cameras on e-bay with the same problem I have. I started calling DJI dealers. I was advised that DJI refuses to sell them the ribbon cable and that repairs take about 4 to 8 weeks because only DJI has the part. Two separate dealers advised that I should purchase a new camera and mounting system for $679.00 and when the other is repaired sell it on e-bay.
I was also told that the ribbon cables are in heavy demand but that since DJI refuses to sell them to their dealers or anyone else, the only option is purchase a new one or go without the drone for a month or 2.
These people also advised that the replacement of the ribbon cable would cost about $25.00 in labor if DJI ever decided to release them to their dealers. Since these Drones already are a $1,500.00 investment at this point, I have no choice but to buy the new camera for $679.00 in lieu of having it repaired for what I guess would be about $30.00 total.
I believe this is a violation of anti trust laws and that this policy of refusing to sell parts EVEN TO THEIR DEALERS is designed to force buyers to pay for over priced repairs or buying new cameras.
 
DDM in Utah just sold 24 ribbon cables to forum members. So DJI is willing to supply these parts. As someone who has taken the cable out and replaced it, I can tell you that this is not something that everyone is going to be able to do. Another forum member had also done it. I've had experience soldering and working with tiny electrical components in the past, so it was not that hard for me. Not that replacing the cable requires soldering, but you are working with very small components, and the slightest slip of hand can spell disaster.

I think in time you will see these ribbon cables readily available. I really don't think the FTC is going to help in the short run. The way our govt. operates, by the time the FTC gets around to addressing your claim, the P2V+ will be a dinosaur.
 
Did DDM say they came from DJI? They looked quite a bit different from the original, I'm wondering if someone had some made??
 
They said they got them from DJI, they looked exactly like the originals to me. The white you see on the cable in DDM's picture is where the sticky part is, you remove the white covering to expose the adhesive.
 
Jstic said:
They said they got them from DJI, they looked exactly like the originals to me. The white you see on the cable in DDM's picture is where the sticky part is, you remove the white covering to expose the adhesive.

Ahh, that's what threw me off
 
ryanhoelzer said:
Did DDM say they came from DJI? They looked quite a bit different from the original, I'm wondering if someone had some made??

Yes. We got them directly from DJI. They were not in any sort of retail packaging. Just sheets of 6 cables between some sticky plastic like a phone screen film. I am sure as forum members will post some photos once they receive them. I cut them out of the plastic by hand and then bagged them, so the packaging is a bit spartan :?

For more info on the ribbon cable, see here: viewtopic.php?t=23677
 
How long did it take you to receive the first batch that you ordered? Please let us know when you get more in.
Thanks and Cheers,
Jim
 
I think that a better solution would be for DJI to spend some of that money they're raking in on a few regional service centers to repair their engineering mistakes FREE OF CHARGE. I bought a new camera and then returned it to buy a whole new unit, may as well for the price of the camera. At least I have 4 batteries now.
 

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