I do not understand why DJI cannot supply parts for broken Inspires. They are obviously churning the finished product you can buy the full bird anywhere. Why can their factory in china not supply parts?????  DJI chief needs to go back to business 101 school.  Even apple had parts available for their newest iphones as soon as their new models were available..

Or at least supply their dealers with spare parts for authorised repairs, this would potentially reduce repair times.

I've seen many parts on ebay, I've purchased body parts and props, I've seen gimbals and wiring harnesses.

Its a "Control Freak" kinna thing

FictitiousPerso Posted at 2015-6-3 01:45
Its a "Control Freak" kinna thing

No it is a complex craft kind of thing.  This is not a Phantom or an S series craft.  There just are not many user serviceable parts on this plus if you damage an arm the whole craft needs to be aligned in a special jig.  We tried the Dealer service for the Phantoms and our customer's experience was not good.  That is why we removed the warranty repairs and required that they all come through DJI.  If there were a simple solution we would have already done it.  DJI employs some very bright people.  

Ahhh!   The special jig

FictitiousPerso Posted at 2015-6-3 04:58
Ahhh!   The special jig

I will take a picture of it the next time I am in LA.

What will be the solution for people that don't have a repair center in their country and send it to repair in another country will cost close to $500 in shipping cost and lots of export compliance forms to complete?

Few days ago my bird crashed, pilot error, was distracted by couple tourists and flew in a tree. I was repositioning the drone for one last shot and I realized too late that it lost altitude and drifted because of wind.
There is something wrong with the carbon fiber arms as the right one snapped when the blade hit the tree.

This is my nightmare video:

Just ordered a new arm from Netherlands. Do you think if I replace only the carbon fiber arm I will need to calibrate the drone with a special tool? even if I try to install it exactly like the old one?

Is this jig so special that only two can exist at the same time or the world will collapse? Clearly, alignment tools are built for cars, and boats etc. and made available to shops around the world ,why not these?

I just need a  motor because one of mine burnt out... There is some guy on a facebook page charging 200 for a motor... Now why wouldn't DJI want to cash in on this and sell some parts to a few people that are capable of changing a part. It's not that hard.

benjaminsink@ho Posted at 2015-6-3 07:43
I just need a  motor because one of mine burnt out... There is some guy on a facebook page charging  ...

200 bones.... Probably worth time and headache of sending it in.  I'd probably do it

Dangair Posted at 2015-6-3 05:24
Is this jig so special that only two can exist at the same time or the world will collapse? Clearly, ...

Dangair the "alignment " after repairs is automatic because you can only fit the arms at a certain angle. I am not sure what Tahoe is talking about i had no problem aligning without jig after carbon arm repair (DIY)! i have had about 50 flights after the repair no glitches

arunmehta Posted at 2015-6-3 08:31
Dangair the "alignment " after repairs is automatic because you can only fit the arms at a certain ...

Where did you get your carbon arms?

ntfa@sbcglobal. Posted at 2015-6-3 08:32
Where did you get your carbon arms?

https://ca.groups.yahoo.com/neo/ ... rsations/messages/3

Check this site for parts: http://dronespecialist.nl/en/mul ... dji-inspire-1-parts

I ordered my arm from them.

ntfa@sbcglobal. Posted at 2015-6-3 08:32
Where did you get your carbon arms?

Dear NTFA ,http://www.ebay.com/itm/13128956 ... =STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT  This is the size you want if you are using my method NOT Supayama's  longer method

19mm od just slides into the broken part(i went from tip of one motor to another with holes for wires cut with Dremel)  and reinforces the arm ...if you glue gun it like i did it is actually stronger than the original..because you have two tubes............  broken and the not broken one!!! :-)

if you buy used full arm it is $250(new is not available)   vs $13 brand new carbon fiber tube  tube from China

full arm is here http://dronespecialist.nl/en/dji-inspire-1-arm-left-side

I would imagine aircraft aluminum tubing would be a suitable interior splint for the carbon tubes as well, just epoxy them in, don't need full length either, even a three inch length would do. I look at mine and think there are several parts on the Inspire that could easily be manufactured, duplicated or repaired. Some even improved on!

Dangair Posted at 2015-6-4 06:17
I would imagine aircraft aluminum tubing would be a suitable interior splint for the carbon tubes as ...

tried AL no good....... +  signal issues...carbon fiber has to be full length due to shearing forces when lifting landing Gear... tried partial carbon fiber tube repair  no luck...it had to be full length from motor to motor

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-3 02:32
No it is a complex craft kind of thing.  This is not a Phantom or an S series craft.  There just a ...

Then the Inspire is either overly complicated or DJI has not invested in appropriate training programs for their dealerships or other qualified repair facilities. Most other reputable manufacturers of consumer goods from electronics to cars to whiteware, to name only a few, have these programs in place and working well. If DJI was a little backyard business, the lack of adequate international, and not only the US, support would be acceptable to some extent. But since DJI obviously wants to play in the billion dollar business league, the after sales framework and customer experience should be in line with what has long been the standard of other businesses of this magnitude. In failing to make this a very high priority and not sending out the signals that it will improve very soon, the current business model will not be sustainable as soon as a serious competitor who also understands the importance of service hits the market. And they are getting ready now.
To leave this on a constructive note I make the following proposal: Based in New Zealand and with drone building, repairing and flying experience of over 4 years, I would be very interested to become a registered DJI service agent. Please let's talk about that.

arunmehta Posted at 2015-6-3 08:31
Dangair the "alignment " after repairs is automatic because you can only fit the arms at a certain  ...

You are so wrong.  I have seen the alignment sequence.

Mowog2 Posted at 2015-6-3 05:37
It can't be to hard to make a jig. Take one good inspire 1 some timber and build a jig around it.

The Jig is solid aluminum and very precise.  If you want to risk $3k on a piece of wood go for it.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-4 10:00
You are so wrong.  I have seen the alignment sequence.

Tahoe maybe you are right!!  i only had one arm broken i attached the new arm and copied the exact angle with a laser of the other side...voila!  i guess if both arms are broken one would look up the angle of the motor to the horizon and vertical..thats where the jig would come in!
Could you post a video of the alignement with the jig?

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-4 10:01
The Jig is solid aluminum and very precise.  If you want to risk $3k on a piece of wood go for it.

I have two inspires, and one of them, from day one, was set up wrong, in that the camber of one main motor arm was wrong (didn't lean outwards as much as the other arm, or the two on the other bird)
The little billet alloy clamp with the track rod attached wasn't loose, it was just in the wrong place.
So, I removed the warranty void sticker, slackened the tiny alan bolt, aligned the arm in keeping with the other 3, and tightened it back up, job done.

My point is, if such a technical jig really exists, it's not being used at the factory, or, it's being used incompetently.

If I break an arm here in the UK, I will be buying one from Holland and sorting it myself, as the current situation is no good time wise.

I'm even tempted to buy a few of these parts (all carbon parts available in Holland) to have on the shelf, just in case.

arunmehta Posted at 2015-6-4 14:27
Tahoe maybe you are right!!  i only had one arm broken i attached the new arm and copied the exact  ...

Hardly rocket science!  90% of the folk on here could do that blindfolded, or at least without any difficulty, with the simplest of instructions for guidance.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-3 05:13
I will take a picture of it the next time I am in LA.

That would be great!! I agree the alignment of the arms needs to be almost perfect. I've thought about what a jig would be like that would keep the arms aligned.  Its not as simple as some may think.

You have to think about the angles of the arms/props, distance from the surface, parallel to the opposite side, etc. etc.

I would love to see a pic.  When you do post the pic please start a separate thread.

Have lathe - can build anything! Including jig... The lathe is the only tool that can build itself with the aid of a competent operator.  I would bet the jig is a fairly complex block of aluminum as Ed says, I just wonder if the thing is proprietary secret? I've seen guys design and build some pretty complex stuff off the internet.  

arunmehta Posted at 2015-6-4 06:56
tried AL no good....... +  signal issues...carbon fiber has to be full length due to shearing force ...

Try this... go to your friendly neighborhood boat shop or fiberglass dealership and get some West Systems epoxy, and some carbon fiber cloth. find a lathe and spin up a mold, might be able to skip the lathe if you can get the right diameter tubing. there is spray or a paint-able anti stick, break free you apply to the mold so that you can separate it. Cut the tube in half, spray on the non stick stuff, do your layup with the cloth with a tad overhanging on each side of one half. Now get a long party balloon.. lay that in between the two halves and close em up. Use tubing clamps to hold the halves together. Then cap one end and put a small hole in the cap to let some air out for the balloon to expand and to let any extra resin out. Blow up balloon. this will force the overlap against the other half of the layup. Let cure over night. Take cap off and hose clamps, part mold and presto carbon fiber tube. You can improve dramatically on the first method by using a second cap and a stronger bladder with a plastic tube to connect a bike pump too. the greater the pressure the nicer the finish and the more resin you force out, this makes for a lighter part by far! but if you don't over do it on the resin it should be sweet!
Oh yeah, there are more weave options available too! Some guys get pretty creative. you can use kevlar too! Make a whole body for the inspire... bullet proof! well ok resistant.
There are better methods for sure like vacuum bagging etc. but this will work I guarantee it.  

There are some real fine Videos some DLG glider builders have done that show you how to make molds and do layups for fuselages and wings. Really, there are few things that cant be made or fudged.. it's the RC way, almost like Jedi code. You break it, remake it, go break it again.

You know what? I might just grab some calipers and measure the OD of the tubes and see what I can dig up. Maybe a chunk of PVC would do the trick? Caps are readily available, easy to cut and cheap as dirt. Remember, the Inside diameter of the mold is the outside of the finished product.... wall thickness is up to you.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-3 02:32
No it is a complex craft kind of thing.  This is not a Phantom or an S series craft.  There just a ...

Ed, I realize you help when you can and do a great job, but there is no way your statement about dealer service, is true. As someone who has repaired/rebuilt over 100 Phantom 2's I would put my work up against anyone doing the same thing at DJI. All you have to do is do a search about DJI repairs and you will see how painstaking it really is, and all of the horror stories. I guarantee one day turnaround time. I get it via UPS at 10:30AM and by 4:30PM it is back out the door to you. I have had zero complaints and I am a small minnow in a big bass pond. There are many other great people fixing these things and do as good of a job if not better than DJI, and the turnaround is so much faster. Why would someone care about a warranty repair when all it might cost them is the money for a part, an hour of labor and shipping and have it back to them in a matter of days vs. weeks. As a business owner, I can tell you that time is money and all of my customers obviously need their quads for a reason. Be it a school project, work project, or just enjoyment. The one thing they do not have is time and that is all DJI forces you to have.

"If there were a simple solution we would have already done it".
This could not be further from the truth. You want to know what the easy solution is? Force shops to be factory service trained technicians and charge them for the training and the tools that are needed to repair. Charge them $5K, $10K, whatever and you will have people lined up and I would be one of those people. Provide them with the "jigs" that are supposedly needed and all the tools and software necessary.  It's the same principle that auto dealer service shops use, camera manufacturers use, etc... We do not send our cars back to Detroit to get the spark plugs changed and that is basically what DJI is forcing us to do with their products. Have a replacement program set in place. Firmware wont take, controller messed up, etc, bill them for a new one, ship it to them and then refund the amount when their bricked one gets back to you. That is if it is under warranty. DJI is stepping on their own feet and its going to take one good company with excellent customer service and turnaround times to cause DJI to lose major market share.

"DJI employs some very bright people."
I do not doubt this one bit, but show me one bright person at DJI and I will show you 1000 bright people that are in the field every day and flying these. People that could provide feedback and advice to make a better quad. I used to work for GM and it was amazing what people on the production line/floor workers could come up with. They would share their ideas and submit it to the engineering department and so much stuff was implemented it was not even funny. I have seen as high as $50K payouts for ideas to someone that was just a "production worker".

For instance the main problem with the HD-3D when crashed is that the armature that holds the carriage gets bent. Even the slightest bend causes this to be way off at the very end, which results in a GoPro that is tilted. All DJI has to do is sell these armatures and it is literally a 5 minute fix. Instead they have to be sent in for weeks a time, which is absurd. So I took this to a tool and die maker friend of mine and had him build me a tool to bend these back in place. It works like a charm and get a near perfect bend every single time. There are many people out there that can build better mousetraps.

You can move into as big of warehouse as you want, but I can tell you one thing, 100 small shops will take care of the heavy workload and DJI can get back to building better and more efficient quads. DJI's turnaround will never be in the 1 week range which is what it needs to be.

Dangair Posted at 2015-6-5 14:15
Have lathe - can build anything! Including jig... The lathe is the only tool that can build itself w ...

Dangair...if this was put out to the public a better tool/method would be made/found in a day. That is a fact.

sbarryjackson@s Posted at 2015-6-6 02:28
Ed, I realize you help when you can and do a great job, but there is no way your statement about de ...

I am sure that you do a great job servicing our customers and so do many of our Phantom repair facilities.  It is not just the training, most would not spend the $5-10K price you stated, their margins are not that high it also has to do with the availability of parts.  There are just not enough to stock 10 or 100 additional service facilities.  That may change with our new facility.  Believe me they are looking at all the options.  

Agree 100% sbarryjackson. I see what you are saying tahoe_ed, but the fact remains, it CAN BE DONE (repairs at the distributor level) and it APPEARS it is not being done. Actions speak louder then words. When DJI says soon, that translates to some time in the distant future that is generally way beyond anyones definition of soon. There is a thread in here for Inspire maintenance. A statement on March 3rd was made by DJI that a revision of the document was coming soon. That was 3 months ago and I have not seen this revised document. We are only talking about a simple document here.

Growing pains are a blessing and a curse, and the good news is that the pain relief comes in the form of transparency and communication. Neither of which is being practiced by DJI. I am not sure where all the bright people are at DJI, but they desperately need some in public relations.

I'm glad you guys are coming forth and stating your opinions here.  I have been a woodworker for many years as well as a mechanic.  I like to fix my own stuff.    I operate a lathe as well.    I've repaired my helis countless time.  Once out of warranty, you bet I'll be doing my own repairs.    I like that the phantom 3 is user serviceable.    I see the inspire is more complex, but so is surgery.  If I can grasp that, I think I can do an inspire repair.  While I realize that some don't have this skill set, they should be able to send their inspires off and have a reasonable turn around time.    I'd like to see more availablity on the arms.   Those seem to break and could be repaired by a service center or replaced in whole by the consumer.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-6 03:52
It is not just the training, most would not spend the $5-10K price you stated, their margins are not that high it also has to do with the availability of parts.

In fairness, though, those are mutually exclusive problems.

If most would not spend the money needed to become an authorized repair facility, then there won't be that many authorized repair facilities (but there would still be some).

If there's going to be a problem with parts availability because there are so many authorized repair facilities out there, that implies that lots of dealers WILL spend the money to become authorized repairers.

A or B.  Not A AND B.

Not to mention the fact that there are only so many broken Inspires out there, so if there's a problem with parts there's going to be a problem with parts regardless of whether they're going to local/regional repairers or centralized locations.

What is left completely out of this equation, though, is something I just mentioned in another thread, but I'll mention it here for completeness.  There is an enormous difference between shipping an expensive, complex piece of technology across the country (or in some parts of the world, to another country altogether) for a repair, and carrying it in to a facility where you can speak directly to the person who will be fixing it.  If the problem is not catastrophic, or if it is intermittent, and the repairer has trouble spotting it, you can take it outside and stand next to him as the two of you power it up, spin up the props and look at the app.  With the big monolithic repair factory, you can ship it, wait for it to come back, and receive it (still malfunctioning) with a "no trouble found" indication - or receive it partly but not completely repaired, and have to ship it back.  With the one-on-one relationship with a repairer, you can bring it back instantly and say "LOOK HERE" and get it taken care of.  With the factory approach the bird goes back in the box, spends another week in transit, and goes back into the same queue.

Once you're spending more than $1,000 for something I much, MUCH prefer the repairer I can meet with.

Does that make sense?  How do we replicate that relationship with the current approach?  I don't think it's possible.

Sadly I will be sending my inspire off to Los Angeles from Oregon (guess I should be thankful I'm that close)  - The thing is, I believe all that is wrong is one motor (smoked as a result of pilot error) and possibly the esc.  I contacted DJI repair and they won't even tell me what the part is to fix it.   I think I located the 4 motors and esc (319.00) - but they discourage me from doing the work.  I have seen a video on youtube, it does not look to difficult, but I am sending it in as I apparently void the warranty if I do the work myself.

It's tough when they have you like this.  I send it in and I just feel like they can charge whatever they want.  Really am I going to say no after sending it all that way?  

I agree with some of all said here...The inspire is awesome, but I do wish I could take it somewhere local.   Heck if they would authorize people and train them to fix it I might consider working for them.

6 weeks minimum I suspect and I have no idea what it will cost me....it's uncomfortable but I'll keep you all posted on the process and give them a fair chance to help me. (even though I am sure it will be gone 6 weeks)

Ed, personally I find dji's attitude about repair facilities offensive. They are willing to sell us high end aerial cameras, and that is being a tad generous me thingkest, but refuse to invest some of the BILLIONS of dollars they have raked from the pockets of people that quite frankly some can't afford. Does this sound like good faith? Or sound business? I will yield on the business end but I feel it is a predatory way of doing business. DJI should extend training and fund dealers with the necessary equipment to service their products in a global way. This will improve confidence and thus create loyalty with far greater sales potential.

makes zero sense, some people can get parts somehow, and they arent that hard to fix if you have basic tool use knowledge and common sense. Would be very easy to fix most things if you could get parts!  Never buying another DJI product again I can tell you that much, not worth the hassles.  going custom next time, way better.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-6 03:52
I am sure that you do a great job servicing our customers and so do many of our Phantom repair fac ...

At this point if its 5k count me as "IN" - I would do it for 2 reasons.  #1 People would pay a reasonable amount (my profit margin there) to get it back quickly. #2  I could fix my own and build a customer base over time.

Reason #3 is just bonus: I would enjoy working on them and keeping people happy.

I bought and sold stuff on EBAY for years...IF I ever did what this company is now doing with the repairs, I would have been banned from EBAY.      

Despite my frustration with DJI - I am in.  Let me know when and where the training is, and for 5k I will do it.  I live in Oregon by the way so you can begin to cross that state off your list.  By the way I bet I could also sell a fair amount too...not that you need my help in that area...

Lets all take it easy on Tahoe_Ed, he likely has voiced concern over all of what has been brought up but has no ability to actually change it.  But he filters through tons of frustration like a champ!

  

Another solution if repairs are backed up might be a reasonably priced rental/loaner program while the repair is taking place.