Need Advice to repair or not

Jack Ley · Mar 8, 2017

Recently used my P4 to take some pics and video of land my buddy was trying to sell. I was using FPVcamera app to do a waypoint/target mission, I had it set to hover when it was done with the mission. Well the mission ended and it was hovering at about 250ft like it was supposed to, while I was resetting some of the targets to run another mission. All of a sudden it just stopped running and dropped out of the sky like a rock. My battery was at 72%, and it gave no warning. Pretty bad crash, bent the hell out of the camera gimbal, camera won't connect, broke the landing gear, with the actual body looking ok. When I turn it on I get a ton of errors...no camera connection, gps not recognized, esc not connecting, not safe to fly, needs re calibrating (which doesn't work) etc, etc... So my question is, do I even bother contacting FPVcamera? All my DJI firmware and FPVcamera app were up to date on software. If I send it back to DJI, what do you think a ballpark figure would be to fix it, it is out of warranty. Or should I just sell it for parts and accessories and concentrate on my racing quads (which I've been more into lately anyway)? Thanks for any advice.

wa5tef · Mar 8, 2017

If you could deal with anybody other than DJI I'd say get it fixed. However if you send it to DJI, they will charge you well to repair it and then, they will not send you that drone back. They will swap it out for a refurbished but still charge you the repair amount. It might be worth the trouble to just see how much they would charge. I don't know if they charge for an estimate or not. I just cannot recommend DJI support for anything. They have lied and led me on for a month and still no word on what caused my Phantom 4 to crash. I am still fighting them on this so I naturally am prejudiced against them. I assume that it beyond your repair experience? You might come out to call them to see if there would be a charge for their estimate then make a decision on what to do. However, please keep us posted on your progress on this. It will be interesting to see DJI's reaction.
Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF

Jack Ley · Mar 8, 2017

Thanks Jim, I dealt with DJI support when my P3pro had gps problems, it was under warranty and I had to ship it to them, they didn't charge me, but they didn't fix the problem the first time, and I had to re-ship it to them a second time, and they finally fixed it, but it was such a pain. Part of the reason I upgraded to the P4, so I agree, not impressed with DJI support/care at all. I live in StL MO, and there are no DJI repair places around here, do you know any shops elsewhere in the U.S. that do repair work on DJI, I bet I could contact them and get an estimate way easier than from DJI...lol.

Grandpa Don · Mar 8, 2017

When I crashed my P3pro some months ago, I sent it to DJI and asked them to evaluate it and give me an estimate for repair. They actually sent me a UPS label to send it in with. Several days later I got an online notice saying that it would cost $300.00 to repair, and it asked me is I wanted to proceed. I did! So I paid, and soon received what looked like a new P3Pro. I couldn't tell if it was a new P3P or a refurbished one. Regardless, I was happy because I didn't think I could ever have trusted my old one again. The crash was my fault, and I told them so. It hit the top of a tree and then slammed into the asphalt 30 feet below. In my case, I only live about 150 miles from the DJI service center in California. So things moved fast. I was very please with their service.

Dramface460 · Mar 8, 2017

My p4 had a RTH failure on Jan 12th. It crashed and never returned home. I sent the drone in and DJI replaced it with a new p4. The replacement p4 I got came a few weeks later and it worked fine except it had a strange beeping sound. Sent that one back and they replaced that one with another one. Both times had new serial numbers. Yea with my experience, DJI has been nothing but great.

Dramface460 · Mar 8, 2017

However your post worries me. I just bought a VR headset and bought FPV app to use the headset. Not sure if I want to use the app now. Would using FPV avoid any warranty with DJI?

Grandpa Don · Mar 8, 2017

I work in the Tech Support industry. I only get calls from unhappy people who have something go wrong with their equipment. Of the 250 customers I service, only one or two of them are unhappy. Sometimes it's because I didn't' fix it right the first time. My fault! Or they are exceeding the limitations of the equipment. But I am not infallible, and I make mistakes in troubleshooting now and then. Many times, due to the complexity of the equipment, I have to go back several times for figure a problem out. I generally always do, sometimes just not the first time. Troubleshooting a problem over the phone, or when you can't duplicate the problem is a nightmare. I've been doing this for 49 years now, and I still make mistakes.

rene van der meer · Mar 8, 2017

I do not know the FPVcamera app. Is it similar to Litchi?
If the crash is caused by the drone, DJI might help you out for free.

wa5tef · Mar 8, 2017

Jack Ley said:
Thanks Jim, I dealt with DJI support when my P3pro had gps problems, it was under warranty and I had to ship it to them, they didn't charge me, but they didn't fix the problem the first time, and I had to re-ship it to them a second time, and they finally fixed it, but it was such a pain. Part of the reason I upgraded to the P4, so I agree, not impressed with DJI support/care at all. I live in StL MO, and there are no DJI repair places around here, do you know any shops elsewhere in the U.S. that do repair work on DJI, I bet I could contact them and get an estimate way easier than from DJI...lol.

Jack, I Googled "DJI repair facilities" and got probably 8 or 10 listed. I did not go into each one to see where they were located but I bet you could find one closer, and certainly more reliable.
Good luck!
Jim
WA5TEF

olefolks · Mar 9, 2017

You might try DroneNerds. I have heard they do good work!

Rlisch · Mar 9, 2017

Jack Ley said:
Recently used my P4 to take some pics and video of land my buddy was trying to sell. I was using FPVcamera app to do a waypoint/target mission, I had it set to hover when it was done with the mission. Well the mission ended and it was hovering at about 250ft like it was supposed to, while I was resetting some of the targets to run another mission. All of a sudden it just stopped running and dropped out of the sky like a rock. My battery was at 72%, and it gave no warning. Pretty bad crash, bent the hell out of the camera gimbal, camera won't connect, broke the landing gear, with the actual body looking ok. When I turn it on I get a ton of errors...no camera connection, gps not recognized, esc not connecting, not safe to fly, needs re calibrating (which doesn't work) etc, etc... So my question is, do I even bother contacting FPVcamera? All my DJI firmware and FPVcamera app were up to date on software. If I send it back to DJI, what do you think a ballpark figure would be to fix it, it is out of warranty. Or should I just sell it for parts and accessories and concentrate on my racing quads (which I've been more into lately anyway)? Thanks for any advice.

Use FPV Camera with great success on my Inspire 1, Mavic and P4 for over a year accumulating hunderts of commerical and private missions without a single incident.
Now it never came to my mind to change Waypoints, Targets or anything else while in the air.

Droneted · Mar 10, 2017

I have repaied several P4's that looked really bad. Most of the time it was the landing gear. I am amazed at how much they can take.

Grandpa Don · Mar 10, 2017

Ted4797 said:
I have repaied several P4's that looked really bad. Most of the time it was the landing gear. I am amazed at how much they can take.

I have a P3Pro, and last years I dove it into the Asphalt at full speed. So hard, it knocked the battery out of the holder and broke two props. The crash was my fault. I just hit the top of a 30 foot tall tree. The only thing it broke was the camera gimbal arm. I put on two new props, and replaced the battery. Then taped the camera in place. After that the thing flew normally, including camera image. I was amazed. I sent it into DJI for evaluation and repair. Still flying a P3Pro to this day. Only I'm a little more careful now. They are pretty rugged machines, that's for sure.

wa5tef · Mar 10, 2017

Yep, mine crashed upside down from about 200 feet and all it broke was the gimbal mount, four props and bent two of the arms. In fact, I replaced the props, cleaned dirt out of the motor area and flew it almost immediately! I am still fighting with DJI about the cause of the crash though. If their customer service department was as good as their drones, we'd all have a good time.
Good luck,
Jim
WA5TEF