DJI Phantom 3 Gimbal Repair Kit

[bulman123]

Fstoplabs owners are not a trustworthy bunch. They're in this for the money only. They've been known to sell poor quality parts with high failure rates. They might sell the good stuff sometimes, but you never know when. Quality is not their goal, just profit.

I personally use every product I sell. I know when a product crosses the line between "good deal" and "cheap junk". I won't resell parts that I wouldn't use on my own stuff just to turn a profit like fstoplabs. I make detailed instructional videos and post them on YouTube for everyone. I answer questions and give advice several times per day for people that haven't, and will never give me a penny.

If you ask fstoplabs how to level your horizon after a crash, they'll sell you some parts for that. When the new parts don't fix it, they'll say it's other damaged components and you should buy a new gimbal. Ask me the same question and I'll send you a link to a video I made to show how to fix it for free. If you would rather not do the work yourself, you can always pay me to do it for you.

So you can choose to support companies like fstoplabs who just want your money and don't care who they steal it from, or you can choose to support someone who's not always going to have the best prices, but they'll always try to have the best deal.

I'm done with my rant now. Sorry for that.

Bulman123 - I have the cable in stock. I only trust genuine DJI cables. There are too many cheap cables out there with high failure rates to know what you're getting. The $10 ones are 100% failure rate. If you get video at all, you'll get pink lines. The $20 are about 50/50.

There are different prices everywhere you look. You could go buy one for $50, and they might sell you a $10 cable. The only safe thing to buy now is the genuine DJI cable. You can get them from DJI or B&H Photo for $35 + shipping. I keep them in stock, but I sell them for $45 shipped and can include one with your order.

Abs arms are $25 each. I sell the aluminum arms now too for $7 more. Let me know if you want to place an order.

Thank you Tbock,
Yes please add and a cable with my order.
Please check the picture and tell me you opinion for the parts i need to change.

Thank you

 

[Tbock]

Bulman - email me at [email protected] and we can work out the details. Thanks!

 

[bulman123]

Bulman - email me at [email protected] and we can work out the details. Thanks!

Ok,
I will write you from [email protected]

Br

 

[fstoplabs]

Hi TBock,

Sorry you feel that way about us, lets try to keep this a friendly community.

We will be more than glad to speak to you offline about this!

Fstoplabs owners are not a trustworthy bunch. They're in this for the money only. They've been known to sell poor quality parts with high failure rates. They might sell the good stuff sometimes, but you never know when. Quality is not their goal, just profit.

I personally use every product I sell. I know when a product crosses the line between "good deal" and "cheap junk". I won't resell parts that I wouldn't use on my own stuff just to turn a profit like fstoplabs. I make detailed instructional videos and post them on YouTube for everyone. I answer questions and give advice several times per day for people that haven't, and will never give me a penny.

If you ask fstoplabs how to level your horizon after a crash, they'll sell you some parts for that. When the new parts don't fix it, they'll say it's other damaged components and you should buy a new gimbal. Ask me the same question and I'll send you a link to a video I made to show how to fix it for free. If you would rather not do the work yourself, you can always pay me to do it for you.

So you can choose to support companies like fstoplabs who just want your money and don't care who they steal it from, or you can choose to support someone who's not always going to have the best prices, but they'll always try to have the best deal.

I'm done with my rant now. Sorry for that.

Bulman123 - I have the cable in stock. I only trust genuine DJI cables. There are too many cheap cables out there with high failure rates to know what you're getting. The $10 ones are 100% failure rate. If you get video at all, you'll get pink lines. The $20 are about 50/50.

There are different prices everywhere you look. You could go buy one for $50, and they might sell you a $10 cable. The only safe thing to buy now is the genuine DJI cable. You can get them from DJI or B&H Photo for $35 + shipping. I keep them in stock, but I sell them for $45 shipped and can include one with your order.

Abs arms are $25 each. I sell the aluminum arms now too for $7 more. Let me know if you want to place an order.

 

[Tbock]

Hi TBock,

Sorry you feel that way about us, lets try to keep this a friendly community.

We will be more than glad to speak to you offline about this!

I'm not trying to be slanderous, I'm just giving my honest opinion of your products. You've sold some pretty low quality parts in the (not too distant) past, so I feel that potential customers should be aware of the risk. I only singled you out by name because I was replying to a post where your site was linked and my experience with you was relevant. You are just one of many resellers that know more about your profit margin than you do about the parts you sell. It's not that you intentionally sell bad parts, you just don't know the bad from the good because you don't actually use the parts that you sell.

I admit that you have higher quality parts than you started off with, but they're still unbranded parts. In my opinion here are too many cables and too wide of a quality range to safely buy unbranded cables. If you have a source for high quality aftermarket cables, you can help the community and your reputation by having them branded. A good cable is hard to find and there isn't a good way to tell them apart. If you had a brand name on your cables, people might be more likely to buy yours if they had a good reputation. I'd try a few and even promote them if I felt they were a good alternative to the genuine DJI branded ones. I put my name on just about everything I sell. It's not because I'm arrogant or self centered, it's because I want to show I'm willing to put my name on the line.

ATK Drones had a really good ribbon for a while. I used to promote their brand cables (when they were still making them), even though they're my competitor. I always know I can trust the quality of their parts, and I respect them for that. If you can set yourself apart from all the other resellers by putting your name on the line with quality fstop-labs branded parts, I'll show you respect as well.

 

[Droneted]

I use Fstop cables, 10 so far, and they are of high quality. I had an issue with one and they very quickly offered to refund. I choose to have them send another because I trust them.
Lots of companies have issues with one product or another. I am sure, if you were honest, you would admit that all your products were not perfect in the beginning. I have an ABS yaw arm with stripped set screw threads. It happens to have Bock on it's side. I keep it as a reminder to never use ABS parts. It is one of the first ones you put out. Are they better now? Probably. Should we judge all your products by that one yaw arm? No.
I personally think it is bad for business to bad mouth another company. Let their customers make that judgment.

 

[L.Chaney]

Tbock - I have to side with the aluminum. I used your parts and after a hard landing the gimbal arm looks like it delaminated right across the OCK in BOCK that is printed on the part.
I'm not looking for an ABS replacement, I'm going back to aluminum as I am positive It will not come apart.
ABS is for some folks and that is fine, just not for me. If there was a big differential in price that would be one thing but your prices are not that far off from the kit I bought for 79 dollars for a ribbon cable, gimbal arm and yaw arm all OEM.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Tbock]

Aluminum is great, but it wasn't always the best option. When I started printing ABS arms, I sold them at less than half the price of the aftermarket aluminum arms. The roll arms weren't even available yet. Now that the price of aluminum parts has come down, the only reason to go with my ABS arms is the lifetime warranty. I would replace the one you have, even if you toss it in a blender first. I sell aluminum arms too, but there's still a market for the ABS arms.

Fstoplabs got their start selling printed parts. They weren't always aluminum. They sold a printed part that broke as you put it together. It was a resin printed part with material more like lexan. Have you ever tried to put a screw in lexan? Every arm of theirs I saw, the screw holes were split down the side. I made a video showing they would crack after about 1-1/2 turns on the screw. They sold these parts paired with a ribbon that has about 90% failure rate. What bothers me even more is that they used my hard work to do it. 75% of their ad was cut and pasted from mine. The roll motor alignment tool that so many people sell with the aluminum arms was my idea, but fstoplabs were just the first to copy it. They may have gotten better over time, but all this was within the last year. They made their startup money by taking advantage of people and selling absolute junk. How many people threw away or parted out a perfectly good gimbal because they used one of the ribbons that fstoplabs sold and thought it must be another problem? Fstoplabs got where they are by beating their competitions prices. They could only do this by cutting corners that others weren't willing to.

I'm not a company that's just trying to badmouth my competition. I'm an experienced rc repair tech that's heavily involved in the rc community and doing what I can to contribute. I have more experience with fstoplabs than most people here, so I think my opinion is valid. I've purchased parts from them and worked with several people that have purchased parts from them. I was even contacted by fstoplabs to partner up with them as a repair tech. I told them that I couldn't work with a company that I couldn't respect. They might be getting better, but it's going to be hard for me to forgive how they got their start.

I realize that this looks more like a rant than an "honest review" because I've said far more bad things about fstoplabs than good, so I'll take a moment to say some good things. Fstoplabs probably had more to do with bringing the price down on the aluminum parts than anyone else. They had a lot to do with making your gimbal repairs more affordable. As far as I know, they are the only company that was able to source gimbal motors for the p3, and they priced them fairly even though they didn't have competition on them. Their prices and selection are pretty much impossible to beat. To do all this, they must be working pretty hard at making the right business contacts. As far as I can tell, they've done very well at reinvesting their profits to increase their buying power and make things even more affordable.

 

[Tbock]

I can understand choosing aluminum. Especially now that the prices are so low. It's pretty much impossible for me to beat the current prices with the labor involved in making ABS arms. If you want to fix your ABS arm and use it until you get your aluminum replacement, you can use a drop or two of acetone in the crack to fuse it back together. The bond will be stronger than the original layer adhesion strength, and usable in about 15 min. That's one of the cool things about abs.

There are no "OEM" aluminum arms available new. DJI isn't the type of company that would tolerate one of their suppliers leaking parts like that. There are two, maybe three companies selling aluminum arms to all of us resellers. They're advertised to us as "OEM", but they're not. The dimensions of the arm are a bit off from stock. I think they used measurements right in between the Pro arm and Standard arm to make them compatible with both. This makes the ribbon fit tight on the Pro, and loose on the Standard. They also put the recess for the ribbon in the wrong spot by about 3mm. The ribbon doesn't fit that well it the yaw or roll arms. This is my experience with fstoplabs parts, as well as two manufacturers of the arms. I got ahold of the roll arm print from one of the manufacturers and was a bit surprised to see that there's no measurement on the recess position. The factory must be using their best guess or estimation of where it should be.

 

[Droneted]

Interesting that you pick Fstop to slander on here. You said there were others but you don't mention them. Slander is slander no matter how you present it. I don't think this is the proper forum for you tirade against Fstop. If I were the moderator I would have put a stop to this a long time ago. I for one will never use any of your products. I would rather give my money to China. I am seriously thinking of leaving this forum if this is what it is all about. I thought it was to help one another. Your post helps no one.

 

[Tbock]

Again, I mentioned fstoplabs by name because they were linked and I have quite a bit of experience with them. You're welcome to your opinion, and I'm welcome to mine. That's what forums are all about.

 

[Droneted]

Your comments were slanderous. They have no place on this forum. If you weren't so full of yourself you would know that.

 

[Tbock]

For my comments to be "slanderous", they would need to be false. This isn't the case though. I admit that this has gotten a bit out of hand, but you're trying to push it even further in that direction. I didn't say anything about the other companies (other than ATK Drones) because I don't have any experience with them (at least none relevant to the conversation anyway), and none were linked in my thread. Fstoplabs was linked, and I have enough experience to have a solid opinion.

Someone was advised to shop with my competitor (whom I have experience with). I voiced my opinion and concerns about doing business with them (based on my personal experience with the company and some of their customers). I feel that I defended my position accurately and fairly, and I don't have anything else to say on the matter.

 

[Rypper1]

Interesting that you pick Fstop to slander on here. You said there were others but you don't mention them. Slander is slander no matter how you present it. I don't think this is the proper forum for you tirade against Fstop. If I were the moderator I would have put a stop to this a long time ago. I for one will never use any of your products. I would rather give my money to China. I am seriously thinking of leaving this forum if this is what it is all about. I thought it was to help one another. Your post helps no one.

I find this comment interesting. Especially since you came into his thread and started promoting fstop. You mentioned that one company should not badmouth another, I agree with that. But one should not come into a thread and start recommending another company either. If you have had problems with components that you bought from Tbrock, it would be fine to mention these problems so that others are aware of potential problems. If you want to recommend another company's product, start your own post. I don't know Tbrock so don't think I am a fanboy of his. Just stating an independent opinion. I have never purchased his product.

 

[Droneted]

I did it once. I used a pair of pliers and just kept working my way around the outside. It slowly cam

I find this comment interesting. Especially since you came into his thread and started promoting fstop. You mentioned that one company should not badmouth another, I agree with that. But one should not come into a thread and start recommending another company either. If you have had problems with components that you bought from Tbrock, it would be fine to mention these problems so that others are aware of potential problems. If you want to recommend another company's product, start your own post. I don't know Tbrock so don't think I am a fanboy of his. Just stating an independent opinion. I have never purchased his product.

I did mention problems I had with ABS arms. Stripped set screw threads. I am somewhat active on here and I read almost every thread. I don't recommend company's on here but I don't slander them either

 

[Droneted]

I came into this thread to answer a question that no one else answered. If u go back u will see it. U are right in that I should not have mentioned Fstop. I answered one question in the middle of the thread and did not realize Bock was running an add. I have had a lot of problems with his and other ABS arms. The set screws strip and the bodies split. If u want to see what they look like stop at my shop. I have a pile of them.

 

[Rypper1]

I came into this thread to answer a question that no one else answered. If u go back u will see it. U are right in that I should not have mentioned Fstop. I answered one question in the middle of the thread and did not realize Bock was running an add. I have had a lot of problems with his and other ABS arms. The set screws strip and the bodies split. If u want to see what they look like stop at my shop. I have a pile of them.

I had seen your answer to that question and had no problem with that. That was a good post helping another flyer out. It was after that when I felt you started down a parallel path to what you were accusing the OP of. And I don't need to see the ABS arms, I believe you. I have had problems using plastic parts in other RC sports and tend to stay away from them in favor of aluminum.

 

[Tbock]

I agree, aluminum is a better choice now that it's so cheap. I made the abs ones to fill a void that no longer exists. They were a great option when aluminum ones were $100, and they might still be a better option if you like to fly in high risk areas. Both aluminum and abs arms will break pretty easy in a crash, but you'll get free replacements with the abs ones.

 

[Trevor Jacobsen]

I will repair broken Gimbals... Email [email protected]

 

[JimR]

So is the consensus that the FSTOP aluminum parts are great and reasonably priced, but I should avoid their ribbon cable and buy instead from DJI?