Hi folks,

My spark crashed recently with about 1 km/h into a wall, as lucky as i am the whole thing went dead and got a Air Encoder Error + Gimbal Gyroscope Error and no more video broadcasting.

I sent it first via my local dealer to the DJI repair center. They sent me a quotation of 550 dollars, which is ridicoulous because a new spark costs about 430 dollars in switzerland. This stuff was on the list they would repair: Middle Frame Semi-finished modul, Propeller, Camera Module, 3D Sensor System, Aircraft MainMidd Board.
So obviously i got it back unrepaired and found a tutorial how to fix this myself. After a bit plugging out and back in of some cables at the mainboard, the Air Encoder Error went away and the video transmitting to the iphone is working again. The Gimbal Gyroscope Error still exists and i'm not able to move the gimbal, neither is the drone self-checking it at startup. I can move it freely with my fingers.

So with this new situation i contacted a local repair center. They told me that it is just the Gimbal IMU which is broken, but sadly this part is only available with the whole gimbal which costs around 320 dollars.

My final question now is: Could it reallly be just the IMU which is broken? Because i could arrange myself just the IMU and replace it, but i have to order the part from the US so i dont want to do it if it is useless because the gimbal itself could also be broken. Maybe someone here had the same problem.


Greetings

e: dont know who moved this to service/announcements..

Hi realswz, we're sorry for the troubles. It is not recommended to repair at your end as the performance cannot be ensured, please kindly note and understand.
Also, may I have the last repair case number? We'd like to check the exact status and see whether we can help.

Because my local dealer sent it do DJI, i have only this number, is this a case number? CRR296889. Otherwise here's the serialnumber: 0ASUF5300101AQ. If you can't find it with this number i could contact my dealer, they surely have the real case number.
Well its okay for me that it cant be ensured, because DJI told me that the spark is anyway out warranty due to the crash, so this doesnt matter. Here i have to mention that in my opinion, the crash was not my fault. It happened right after a firmware update. After the start of the drone and like 10 meters flown, i lost control over it and then the accident happened. I told this to my dealer/DJI but they refused it to do it as a warrantyrepair.

realswz Posted at 11-23 01:27
Because my local dealer sent it do DJI, i have only this number, is this a case number? CRR296889. Otherwise here's the serialnumber: 0ASUF5300101AQ. If you can't find it with this number i could contact my dealer, they surely have the real case number.
Well its okay for me that it cant be ensured, because DJI told me that the spark is anyway out warranty due to the crash, so this doesnt matter. Here i have to mention that in my opinion, the crash was not my fault. It happened right after a firmware update. After the start of the drone and like 10 meters flown, i lost control over it and then the accident happened. I told this to my dealer/DJI but they refused it to do it as a warrantyrepair.

Received with thanks! With the SN, I'm able to locate the case number. Upon checking the case log, the drone was involved with the crash, but no data analysis was required at that time, so it was proceeded as paid service by default. If you have any doubts about the crash, the corresponding flight records and flight data in the aircraft have not been overwritten, we'll arrange data analysis if the unit is still under warranty period. For your situation, I sincerely suggest you contact our support to start a case and send it in for diagnosis: https://www.dji.com/support We'll offer you a proper solution according to the damage assessment. For the repair cost, you may check the part list here: https://repair.dji.com/repair/price-inquiry

Well, because of my guess that the firmware caused the crash, i reseted the drone and reflashed the firmware via dji assistant. So i dont think that the flight data is still on the drone. can i somehow check myself if the data is still there?

Did you sync the flight record after the crash?

no i dint do this on purpose. but is the "flight data" which you guys want the same thing as i see on the "flight record" on my phone? there, the flight which the accident happened, is still stored. checked it right now.

realswz Posted at 11-23 09:39
no i dint do this on purpose. but is the "flight data" which you guys want the same thing as i see on the "flight record" on my phone? there, the flight which the accident happened, is still stored. checked it right now.

Hi there, sorry for the delay. Kindly sync your flight records and send an email with the following details: previous case number, dji account and specific date and time of the incident to Support.NL@dji.com . Please allow our support team to review/investigate your flight records, we're looking forward to your email. Thank you for your support.

   when this notification popped-up on my Mobile screen, i did not hesitate flying so that I can check what was really happening to my Drone. I took a picture and capture some video footages, and it was working well. What upsets me however is that , I can not control the pitch,  moving the Camera up or down. Noting that, I immediately stopped flying and check the general status of Sparkee. It said "Abnormal" then I moved to check the IMU but its green and  has no recommendation for Calibration, only the Compass, which is in  yellow that turned green after calibration is executed. Yet, pitching the Camera Up or Down is still my biggest concerns.,,because my RC cannot control the pitching,neither is my Mobile to move the Gimbal...and I am simply wondering why?

, I wonder why there was this notification, when I turned on my Spark Drone and was about to fly it " which stated "Gimbal Gyroscope Error, Hardware Malfunction, contact DJI Support for repair".Without offending the DJI Company in this regard, there was this  HARDWARE Malfunction...which brings me to think,if not at all believing in my thoughts...that DJI could have been responsible for this, considering that it was a "Hardware Malfunction" as clearly notified, which no one among us, users have nothing to do with, reasoning further that we are not technically knowledgeable about the Hardware, so much so, what and why it malfunctions...hence, we can blame the Manufacturers, not ourselves for this problems..And if the DJI People can read this, please, accept the blame because you are really liable for this defects and you should therefore fix and do repairs free of charge, because "Hardware Malfunction is a Manufacturer's Defect", if I may say so.

Chito G. Reyes Posted at 8-21 07:22
, I wonder why there was this notification, when I turned on my Spark Drone and was about to fly it " which stated "Gimbal Gyroscope Error, Hardware Malfunction, contact DJI Support for repair".Without offending the DJI Company in this regard, there was this  HARDWARE Malfunction...which brings me to think,if not at all believing in my thoughts...that DJI could have been responsible for this, considering that it was a "Hardware Malfunction" as clearly notified, which no one among us, users have nothing to do with, reasoning further that we are not technically knowledgeable about the Hardware, so much so, what and why it malfunctions...hence, we can blame the Manufacturers, not ourselves for this problems..And if the DJI People can read this, please, accept the blame because you are really liable for this defects and you should therefore fix and do repairs free of charge, because "Hardware Malfunction is a Manufacturer's Defect", if I may say so.

Just to verify, has the drone been involved with crash or hard landing before? If not, please kindly start a case and send it in: https://www.dji.com/support We'll offer you a proper solution according to the damage assessment.