Hi guys,

so for a while now my gimbal on the spark is just not right. As soon as I try to tilt it all the way down it gets stucked and it looks like the gimbal motor is fighting some resistance. After a few seconds it reaches the lowest point and works just fine after that. It is so weird. It's like each time I take off I have to fight the gimbal down that one time before it is working. Is there anybody here which might have had similar issues. I'm afraid I have to send it in. I do have DJI Care so I think they shouldn't charge me anything right? Thanks for the help!

I had the exactly the same problme today, for the first time. The gimbal stop at a 45° tilt and wont move any furter. After some up and down movements, it finally moved completely down.

I also had today for the first time a complete remote disconnect, at 20m distance...

I don't have the same problem, but just by what you write, I'd say there's a chance that there's some dirt or dust particles stuck in the gimbal. And since the air intake is behind/above the camera, it would make sense (air and dust getting sucked in).

You could try and clean it (carefully!) with a can of compressed air, but if that doesn't work, I don't have any more ideas...

Unfortunately, while DJI provides the full 12 month Manufacturer's Warranty, only the first 6 months for the camera are under the standard warranty for the Spark. If you purchased your Spark within the last 6 months then you should be fine and wouldn't necessarily need DJI Care Refresh to repair or resolve the issue.  

thmssc Posted at 2018-3-4 14:31
I had the exactly the same problme today, for the first time. The gimbal stop at a 45° tilt and wont move any furter. After some up and down movements, it finally moved completely down.

I also had today for the first time a complete remote disconnect, at 20m distance...

Are you using the Remote Controller or smartphone? If you're using the Remote, try to see if the problem persists when using your smartphone just in case it's a Remote Controller issue, at least you'll troubleshoot, or perhaps, resolve the issue?

I had the same problem, in the end i decided to just send it in. but until now DJI won't acknowledge if they received my unit or not lol

mattinhk Posted at 2018-3-4 20:15
I had the same problem, in the end i decided to just send it in. but until now DJI won't acknowledge if they received my unit or not lol

Did you get a tracking number before you shipped your Spark?

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-3-4 20:26
Did you get a tracking number before you shipped your Spark?

Yea i have the tracking number, and the courier confirmed it was delivered. in fact I've spoken to the DJI staff which she says that they did received it BUT for some reason they haven't updated the status in "Repair Progress Inquiry" still says "To be Received  It will take about 2-4 working days for custom declaration and shipment to the Fubao Service Center after your parcel has been received in Hong Kong. Please wait patiently."

It's been a week now, and I'm from Hong Kong so no way it should take this long. I have emailed them too but no reply so far

mattinhk Posted at 2018-3-4 20:35
Yea i have the tracking number, and the courier confirmed it was delivered. in fact I've spoken to the DJI staff which she says that they did received it BUT for some reason they haven't updated the status in "Repair Progress Inquiry" still says "To be Received  It will take about 2-4 working days for custom declaration and shipment to the Fubao Service Center after your parcel has been received in Hong Kong. Please wait patiently."

It's been a week now, and I'm from Hong Kong so no way it should take this long. I have emailed them too but no reply so far

Geez, I haven't had to send in my Spark but that makes me worry now if need arises for me to ship in my drone. Hope DJI is able to locate your Spark, repair or replace it, and that you're able to get back up and flying soon.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-3-4 20:48
Geez, I haven't had to send in my Spark but that makes me worry now if need arises for me to ship in my drone. Hope DJI is able to locate your Spark, repair or replace it, and that you're able to get back up and flying soon.

indeed, definitely made me worried for the past few days, but now I'm just really annoyed. I did some research and thankfully i haven't heard of a missing unit sent to DJI so far, apparently it just takes them 10 years to get things going. Thats considering i haven't crashed my drone and it was a gimbal sudden malfunction under warranty and DJI care refresh too.

mattinhk Posted at 2018-3-4 20:53
indeed, definitely made me worried for the past few days, but now I'm just really annoyed. I did some research and thankfully i haven't heard of a missing unit sent to DJI so far, apparently it just takes them 10 years to get things going. Thats considering i haven't crashed my drone and it was a gimbal sudden malfunction under warranty and DJI care refresh too.

Well, I'm glad you shared your experience so we all know what to expect if or when sending in our units too. Thanks!

I use a can of compressed air to clean the spark - works great for me (at one time I had a gimbal issue the compressed air was the ticket for me)

I fly in the desert so I like to keep the dust out as much as possible

Hi, there. Please send it back for check first and see if it is under warranty: http://www.dji.com/support If you have care refresh, you can have a replacement at additional charge. Thanks for your support.  

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-5 00:39
Hi, there. Please send it back for check first and see if it is under warranty: http://www.dji.com/support If you have care refresh, you can have a replacement at additional charge. Thanks for your support.

I do have DJI Care for more then 5 months left. So it should be under warranty right?

JDK92 Posted at 2018-3-5 02:36
I do have DJI Care for more then 5 months left. So it should be under warranty right?

When did you buy your spark? Or you can provide me your SN number so I can check it for you. Thanks for your help.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-5 02:44
When did you buy your spark? Or you can provide me your SN number so I can check it for you. Thanks for your help.

I bought it back in August 2017 and had to send it in for repair in October because of a minor motor malfunction which was a warranty case and got repaired without any charges. The Aircraft S/N is: 0ASUE8P001018E

JDK92 Posted at 2018-3-5 02:52
I bought it back in August 2017 and had to send it in for repair in October because of a minor motor malfunction which was a warranty case and got repaired without any charges. The Aircraft S/N is: 0ASUE8P001018E

Thanks for your update. Your drone is under warranty. If you gimbal malfunction is not caused by pilot's error, we will be responsible for it.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-5 04:06
Thanks for your update. Your drone is under warranty. If you gimbal malfunction is not caused by pilot's error, we will be responsible for it.

I never crashed it or had any other pilot errors so far so I should be fine. Alright I send it in then...Thanks

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-3-4 20:12
Are you using the Remote Controller or smartphone? If you're using the Remote, try to see if the problem persists when using your smartphone just in case it's a Remote Controller issue, at least you'll troubleshoot, or perhaps, resolve the issue?

yes, i was using the remote controller.
It was the first time of a complete disconnect and also the first time seeing one of my dji drones going into RTH. A weak signal at higher distances of course, but a disconnect at 20m distance and after ~25min flight time (3. battery at 45%) witout any other problems. My Phone also lost the WiFi of the controller and only showed it after some time. I think the disconnect had something to do with the remote or maybe the WiFi-channel was not the best. I dont checked the channels before take of, never had any problems at this spot/fields.

I hope both, the disconnect and the gimbal-thing were unique events, that wont happen again.
time will show.

thmssc Posted at 2018-3-5 13:04
yes, i was using the remote controller.
It was the first time of a complete disconnect and also the first time seeing one of my dji drones going into RTH. A weak signal at higher distances of course, but a disconnect at 20m distance and after ~25min flight time (3. battery at 45%) witout any other problems. My Phone also lost the WiFi of the controller and only showed it after some time. I think the disconnect had something to do with the remote or maybe the WiFi-channel was not the best. I dont checked the channels before take of, never had any problems at this spot/fields.

Yeah I only make a note to do a thorough diagnostic check on the App before flight whenever I fly in new locations for the first time.

My opinion if the drone has been flying in the same location regularly, then it should work and function similarly as it had in previous flights. If it doesn't, then that's a key indicator that either the software or hardware or both are faulty, and if no pilot error during those problematic similar flights, then DJI should do everything possible to address those types of issues for any of its drones.

JDK92 Posted at 2018-3-5 04:26
I never crashed it or had any other pilot errors so far so I should be fine. Alright I send it in then...Thanks

You are welcome. Please wait patiently for the analysis. Hope you get your spark back soon.