My spark drone fell from the sky and was totaly broken, not shure why or how, maybe the battery was loose. Used my Dji Care Refresh to get a new one and all was good until i turned the new drone on, there was a terrible loud noise, calibrated and updated but didnt help.. So now i have to send the new replacement drone (broken and faulty) back and wait another 2 weeks for it to come back from the Netherlands..really terrible experince with Dji Care refresh, otherwise such a good product!

You can hear the sound here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3mbmb6a3n2ij15i/IMG_8548.MOV?dl=0

Feel like Dji should have some kind of policy if sending out faulty drones to their customers. Don't know if any of you guys have any similar experience or any suggestions on what to do..

Yes, I am going through the same thing right now. I unfortunately, crashed my first drone, one month old....200% my fault. I did purchase Care Refresh(with the hopes of never having to use it...lol) I sent it out on Feb 8th and recieved my replacement on Feb 26th. My replacement had an LED not working properly...sometimes on, sometimes off, sometimes dim to dark to dim, also noticed fluctuations in fan speed that did not sound normal. I actually tried a Firmware refresh via DJI assistant and usb cord....and no change(I did notice that the faulty LED was the only one flashing RED through the firmware update....when it lit up)  I noticed all of this while getting it set up and activated for first use. I never flew the replacement as I my gut instinct was telling me not to even try. So I immediately packaged everything back up and contacted them about the issue. They received it today and are doing an assessment....for the most part, DJI has been good with customer service but I can't say much more about it right now until I see the end of my story. It has been long enough now that I have begun watching beginner videos so I can learn how to fly again from scratch, lol.....refresher course never hurt me either since I was stupid enough to crash my drone in the first place.....I wouldn't even be in this position if I would have paid more attention to my altitude like a pilot always should....lol.....but this is just my story. My major disappointed so far with the whole thing is that I received a separate email "DJI Quality Assurance" "Your SPARK has been tested and will be shipped within two business days" And I knew something was wrong in the first 15 seconds of turning on....maybe it was just an oversight?

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-5 05:57
Feel like Dji should have some kind of policy if sending out faulty drones to their customers. Don't know if any of you guys have any similar experience or any suggestions on what to do..

Sorry for the unexpected experience. Please tell me your case number so we can follow your case. Thanks for your understanding and support.

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-5 10:22
Yes, I am going through the same thing right now. I unfortunately, crashed my first drone, one month old....200% my fault. I did purchase Care Refresh(with the hopes of never having to use it...lol) I sent it out on Feb 8th and recieved my replacement on Feb 26th. My replacement had an LED not working properly...sometimes on, sometimes off, sometimes dim to dark to dim, also noticed fluctuations in fan speed that did not sound normal. I actually tried a Firmware refresh via DJI assistant and usb cord....and no change(I did notice that the faulty LED was the only one flashing RED through the firmware update....when it lit up)  I noticed all of this while getting it set up and activated for first use. I never flew the replacement as I my gut instinct was telling me not to even try. So I immediately packaged everything back up and contacted them about the issue. They received it today and are doing an assessment....for the most part, DJI has been good with customer service but I can't say much more about it right now until I see the end of my story. It has been long enough now that I have begun watching beginner videos so I can learn how to fly again from scratch, lol.....refresher course never hurt me either since I was stupid enough to crash my drone in the first place.....I wouldn't even be in this position if I would have paid more attention to my altitude like a pilot always should....lol.....but this is just my story. My major disappointed so far with the whole thing is that I received a separate email "DJI Quality Assurance" "Your SPARK has been tested and will be shipped within two business days" And I knew something was wrong in the first 15 seconds of turning on....maybe it was just an oversight?

Hi, there. As you mentioned above, you turned on the spark and found something wrong. Please tell me more details about the situation. Or you can shoot a video about it. I would recommend you provide us the case number for further check. Thanks for your support.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-5 19:33
Hi, there. As you mentioned above, you turned on the spark and found something wrong. Please tell me more details about the situation. Or you can shoot a video about it. I would recommend you provide us the case number for further check. Thanks for your support.

Hello DJI Elektra, my case # is CAS-1509809-Z7G1T0 . I sent them a video and also an explanation of what was happening(been in communication via phone/email). They actually received the Spark yesterday and already completed the evaluation...moved very fast, impressive. So I need this to be replaced, Middle Frame Semi-finished Product Module at $85. Did some research and not sure what part this actually is but since this was my 1st replacement drone with Care Refresh, it is covered under warranty. Hope this helps and maybe you can give me a better explanation on this part they found defective. To my understanding, this was actually a new Spark, not refurbished...but I could be wrong....Thank you for your time on this matter. I do understand that electronics can be faulty brand new out of the box and maybe this just happened to be one of those cases....DJI has been great so far through the experience though.

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-6 05:32
Hello DJI Elektra, my case # is CAS-1509809-Z7G1T0 . I sent them a video and also an explanation of what was happening(been in communication via phone/email). They actually received the Spark yesterday and already completed the evaluation...moved very fast, impressive. So I need this to be replaced, Middle Frame Semi-finished Product Module at $85. Did some research and not sure what part this actually is but since this was my 1st replacement drone with Care Refresh, it is covered under warranty. Hope this helps and maybe you can give me a better explanation on this part they found defective. To my understanding, this was actually a new Spark, not refurbished...but I could be wrong....Thank you for your time on this matter. I do understand that electronics can be faulty brand new out of the box and maybe this just happened to be one of those cases....DJI has been great so far through the experience though.

Thanks for the case number, we have evaluated the drone and you are right, there is something wrong with the arm LED, the drone has been swapped and shipped out already, you should have received the tracking number by email, please test the flight performance when you get it, we sincerely apologize again for the unpleasant experience with us, we will keep improving our quality control to make your experience with us better in the future.

Thank you! I have received my shipping email. I was just happy that DJI knew of the issue I was experiencing. I will definitely be testing the drone within a few hundred feet when I receive for a bit. Once again, DJI has been good through the experience of using Care Refresh so thank you! It has been taking some time but I crashed the Spark to begin with... keep you posted

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-8 15:33
Thank you! I have received my shipping email. I was just happy that DJI knew of the issue I was experiencing. I will definitely be testing the drone within a few hundred feet when I receive for a bit. Once again, DJI has been good through the experience of using Care Refresh so thank you! It has been taking some time but I crashed the Spark to begin with... keep you posted

Thanks for your kind understanding, we will also keep improving our customer service, hope everything goes smoothly and you enjoy flying the drone.

So I have received my replacement Spark today (Refurbished) I am excited to test out later and see how it performs.....still miss my original drone that I crashed ....hoping for the best as it has been since Feb 7th. Upon visual inspection under a Lighted Magnifying glass, I have found a few things but don't feel that they should be an issue with flight and performance (gimbal had marks and one screw on quick release plate on top of motor was different coloration than all the other screws...rust color) Overall, visual inspection was good   ....definitely refurbished but expected that anyway and R is the 10th on S/N. Thanks again DJI and will keep you updated on flight testing....

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-5 19:14
Sorry for the unexpected experience. Please tell me your case number so we can follow your case. Thanks for your understanding and support.

Recieved the replacement drone today. Will test it tomorrow and see if all is well. My case nr is CAS-1531699-H9Y9W9.

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-13 09:38
Recieved the replacement drone today. Will test it tomorrow and see if all is well. My case nr is CAS-1531699-H9Y9W9.

You have received the replacement drone already? Per the case number you provided, it was created on 2018/3/5 and without any update.

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-13 09:17
So I have received my replacement Spark today (Refurbished) I am excited to test out later and see how it performs.....still miss my original drone that I crashed ....hoping for the best as it has been since Feb 7th. Upon visual inspection under a Lighted Magnifying glass, I have found a few things but don't feel that they should be an issue with flight and performance (gimbal had marks and one screw on quick release plate on top of motor was different coloration than all the other screws...rust color) Overall, visual inspection was good   ....definitely refurbished but expected that anyway and R is the 10th on S/N. Thanks again DJI and will keep you updated on flight testing....

Glad to know you have received it, please note that products and components presented for repair may be replaced by refurbished goods of the same type rather than being repaired. These refurbished goods have been tested and are similar to brand new goods in function and appearance. Please keep us updated if there are any issues after flight test.

Thank you DJI Mindy... I am aware of this and have no problem as long as the device is operating properly. Not sure how this device was also tested with all the errors I received while activating and set up "please note that products and components presented for repair may be replaced by refurbished goods of the same type rather than being repaired. These refurbished goods have been tested and are similar to brand new goods in function and appearance."
   Took me almost 3 hours to finally get activated and setup...kept getting IMU errors (please calibrate), also the camera was not operating properly. Flashed the FW twice since it was not behaving as well... I finally got the IMU calibrated with no errors after four attempts... I also reset camera settings and the camera/video began to work. I will do some flight testing over the next few days and keep you posted....for the record, I am an electronics engineer/programmer who loves technology and works on it 10 hours a day for many years. Thank you again for all your assistance as well as the other admins on this forum Hoping this Spark will operate like my first one did...it was flawless until I crashed it...lol

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-14 04:36
Thank you DJI Mindy... I am aware of this and have no problem as long as the device is operating properly. Not sure how this device was also tested with all the errors I received while activating and set up "please note that products and components presented for repair may be replaced by refurbished goods of the same type rather than being repaired. These refurbished goods have been tested and are similar to brand new goods in function and appearance."
   Took me almost 3 hours to finally get activated and setup...kept getting IMU errors (please calibrate), also the camera was not operating properly. Flashed the FW twice since it was not behaving as well... I finally got the IMU calibrated with no errors after four attempts... I also reset camera settings and the camera/video began to work. I will do some flight testing over the next few days and keep you posted....for the record, I am an electronics engineer/programmer who loves technology and works on it 10 hours a day for many years. Thank you again for all your assistance as well as the other admins on this forum  Hoping this Spark will operate like my first one did...it was flawless until I crashed it...lol

Sorry to know it took some time to get it operated, but glad to know it works in the end, please check all the function and make sure everything goes fine, I also hope the Saprk can fly flawlessly.

So far only one problem with my replacement, the left frontlight doesnt light up, have updated, calibrated and done everything acording to the book.. dont know if im just gonna send it back or if there is something else i could try.. Also theres was no battery included as promised by the Dji represantive.. really lost my trust in this for dji.. could it be so hard to send a working drone??

Havent even taken it for flight yet.

Maby they sent me your first faulty drone flyinMajic2day

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-15 07:57
So far only one problem with my replacement, the left frontlight doesnt light up, have updated, calibrated and done everything acording to the book.. dont know if im just gonna send it back or if there is something else i could try.. Also theres was no battery included as promised by the Dji represantive.. really lost my trust in this for dji.. could it be so hard to send a working drone??

I'm afraid the drone will need to be sent in again for further evaluation if the left front light still doesn't light up, I saw CAS-1531699-H9Y9W9 is the new case that our support created on 2018/3/5 and the shipping label should also have been sent to you, please send in at your convenience.
As for the battery, I didn't see you sent in with the drone in the first RMA case, is it lost or damaged?

DJI Mindy Posted at 2018-3-15 21:26
I'm afraid the drone will need to be sent in again for further evaluation if the left front light still doesn't light up, I saw CAS-1531699-H9Y9W9 is the new case that our support created on 2018/3/5 and the shipping label should also have been sent to you, please send in at your convenience.
As for the battery, I didn't see you sent in with the drone in the first RMA case, is it lost or damaged?

Thank you for your reply Mindy, it clearly states in text when making the dji care refresh form that you should not send in broken batteries so i didnt, or is that something i read wrong? As for the light  i will try to fly the drone today and se how if its something that i could live with.. i have to use the drone in work tomorrow thats why i bought the dji care refresh in the first place..

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-16 00:09
Thank you for your reply Mindy, it clearly states in text when making the dji care refresh form that you should not send in broken batteries so i didnt, or is that something i read wrong? As for the light  i will try to fly the drone today and se how if its something that i could live with.. i have to use the drone in work tomorrow thats why i bought the dji care refresh in the first place..

Thanks for your clarification, you are correct, if the battery is swollen or damaged, it is not recommended to send in, just to verify again, did you send the picture of the damaged battery to our support when you sent in? If not, please post the picture here, we will help to escalate the case to local team, thank you.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2018-3-16 02:09
Thanks for your clarification, you are correct, if the battery is swollen or damaged, it is recommended to send in, just to verify again, did you send the picture of the damaged battery to our support when you sent in? If not, please post the picture here, we will help to escalate the case to local team, thank you.

No just sent the drone according to the form, there was no text stating to photograph the broken battery. I left the battery at a returnstation so i havent got it anymore, otherwise i would of course have sent a picture or likewise. In following picture you can see the original drone but without the battery. I will test the second replacementdrone now and come back to you.

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-16 02:38
No just sent the drone according to the form, there was no text stating to photograph the broken battery. I left the battery at a returnstation so i havent got it anymore, otherwise i would of course have sent a picture or likewise. In following picture you can see the original drone but without the battery. I will test the second replacementdrone now and come back to you.

Original drone

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-16 02:38
No just sent the drone according to the form, there was no text stating to photograph the broken battery. I left the battery at a returnstation so i havent got it anymore, otherwise i would of course have sent a picture or likewise. In following picture you can see the original drone but without the battery. I will test the second replacementdrone now and come back to you.

Thanks for your update. Please keep us updated when you receive the drone.

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-15 08:03
Maby they sent me your first faulty drone flyinMajic2day

oh nooooo...... You definitely need to send it back, all lights need to be working for a better VLOS. The one they had sent me had intermittent LED light issues but what worried me was how it reacted via FW update using usb.....Patience is key, no doubt, as I have figured this out.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2018-3-14 19:45
Sorry to know it took some time to get it operated, but glad to know it works in the end, please check all the function and make sure everything goes fine, I also hope the Saprk can fly flawlessly.

Hello Admin, I was able to do some test Flying and I have a couple questions.

1)    I no longer have a low battery audible at 30%? Am I missing something? Everything is current on FW and my viewing device is an iPhone X with iOS 11.2.6. Please remember last time I flew was on Feb. 7th so did not know if something changed....
2).  The gimbal is slow to react unlike my previous drone(bad delay on my viewing device). I checked all settings and changed around to test. Am I possible missing something here? Please keep in mind that the camera did not even work until I was able to update Drone and reset camera....Also remember that IMU and compass calibrations kept failing and FW was failing too. The photography experience is not fun right now like it was with my previous drone...I have yet to review my SD card but definitely will. Maybe I need to start all over again with calibrations?
But, For the most part, the drone flew well....it did have a drift right but I did not calibrate RC after other calibrations? Still being a newbie in Drone/Photography, I will keep reading and researching.
Please advise or anyone else with experience please chime in. Thanks again for your time and I will be doing extensive test flying/Photography over the next several days. Keep you posted...

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-15 08:03
Maby they sent me your first faulty drone flyinMajic2day

If so, had to change the cover to Lava Red......funny 4 the day

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-16 11:18
Hello Admin, I was able to do some test Flying and I have a couple questions.

1)    I no longer have a low battery audible at 30%? Am I missing something? Everything is current on FW and my viewing device is an iPhone X with iOS 11.2.6. Please remember last time I flew was on Feb. 7th so did not know if something changed....

Do you refer the battery level you set on APP? If yes, it's normal. During the flight, the flight control will calculate the battery level and offer the audible warning when it reached the low battery level(the value cannot be set).
Regarding the gimbal and video lag issue, could you upload a short video for better assistance?
At last, make sure the drone is in GPS mode with enough GPS signal to see whether it drifts. If no helps, you can try to calibrate RC.

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-16 10:34
oh nooooo...... You definitely need to send it back, all lights need to be working for a better VLOS. The one they had sent me had intermittent LED light issues but what worried me was how it reacted via FW update using usb.....Patience is key, no doubt, as I have figured this out.

Yes i will send it back.. but to send two faulty replacement drones is in some way the worst customer service i experienced.. lost 2 Jobs because of delay

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-16 03:28
Thanks for your update. Please keep us updated when you receive the drone.

I think you missunderstod, i will send in the drone on monday because the led-light is faulty.. its somewath really bad to recive two faulty replacement units, in goodwill i really would appriciate if you could include the battery in this third replacement drone.

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-17 01:52
Yes i will send it back.. but to send two faulty replacement drones is in some way the worst customer service i experienced.. lost 2 Jobs because of delay

I totally understand...

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-3-16 23:01
Do you refer the battery level you set on APP? If yes, it's normal. During the flight, the flight control will calculate the battery level and offer the audible warning when it reached the low battery level(the value cannot be set).
Regarding the gimbal and video lag issue, could you upload a short video for better assistance?
At last, make sure the drone is in GPS mode with enough GPS signal to see whether it drifts. If no helps, you can try to calibrate RC.

I did a complete calibration again, IMU, Compass, and RC. This fixed my gimbal/video which is now operating properly. As far as low battery level, I have it set to 30% on app, changed to 25%, then back to 30% after battery replacements between flying. I use to receive an audible warning when it reaches what I have set....I no longer have this and it was a really nice feature.

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-17 01:59
I think you missunderstod, i will send in the drone on monday because the led-light is faulty.. its somewath really bad to recive two faulty replacement units, in goodwill i really would appriciate if you could include the battery in this third replacement drone.

Really sorry for your experience. Please tell me the new case number after you send you drone for repair. We will follow it and take a good care of it. Thanks for your support.

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-17 07:13
I did a complete calibration again, IMU, Compass, and RC. This fixed my gimbal/video which is now operating properly. As far as low battery level, I have it set to 30% on app, changed to 25%, then back to 30% after battery replacements between flying. I use to receive an audible warning when it reaches what I have set....I no longer have this and it was a really nice feature.

Please tell me the model of your device and the version of your app. Any message you got when the battery reaches what you set?

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-17 19:13
Please tell me the model of your device and the version of your app. Any message you got when the battery reaches what you set?

Thanks, model is the Spark, also have an RC....everything is current with FW. Viewing device is iPhone X with iOS 11.2.6. I receive no messages when battery reaches 25%, which is my setting for low battery on the app ver4.2.6 (3084). Also noticed as I was reading the change logs for recent app update, -Fixed bugs causing app crashes when audio warnings sounded while running iOS 9.x ?????
Maybe something was changed and now audible low battery warning is broken.
Just wanted DJI to be aware of this software glitch on IOS app....on android, the audible is working.

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-19 04:36
Thanks, model is the Spark, also have an RC....everything is current with FW. Viewing device is iPhone X with iOS 11.2.6. I receive no messages when battery reaches 25%, which is my setting for low battery on the app ver4.2.6 (3084). Also noticed as I was reading the change logs for recent app update, -Fixed bugs causing app crashes when audio warnings sounded while running iOS 9.x ?????
Maybe something was changed and now audible low battery warning is broken.
Just wanted DJI to be aware of this software glitch on IOS app....on android, the audible is working.

Just confirmed with our engineers, the app doesn't remind users when the power reaches what you set. Thanks for your attention.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-19 22:55
Just confirmed with our engineers, the app doesn't remind users when the power reaches what you set. Thanks for your attention.

Thank you!

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-17 18:54
Really sorry for your experience. Please tell me the new case number after you send you drone for repair. We will follow it and take a good care of it. Thanks for your support.

Thank you, the case number is the still active: CAS-1531699-H9Y9W9

fans41163b22 Posted at 2018-3-22 00:20
Thank you, the case number is the still active: CAS-1531699-H9Y9W9

Thanks for your update. Please inform us if you need any help.

FlyinMajic2day Posted at 2018-3-20 04:03
Thank you!

You are welcome. Please contact us if you have any doubt.