InspektorGadjet Posted at 4-26 09:45
Yes I will report back with more info

Fingers crossed it doesn’t take long.

crash1sttime Posted at 4-26 09:53
Suprised no one has asked for the flight logs, someone can tell you why this happened.

Did you read my text?
I'm not surprised at all, it flew fine, I just went straight in to a tree, too fast, when I realized it the drone was already too close and crashed, nothing to be analyzed...

DAFlys Posted at 4-26 12:03
Fingers crossed it doesn’t take long.

Yes we will see.

it is 100% my fault... basically I flew in to a palm tree, end of the story

I'm sorry for the crash but sometimes is this part of the learning process. I hope You'll be airborne soon!

virtual Posted at 4-27 01:31
it is 100% my fault... basically I flew in to a palm tree, end of the story

I'm sorry for the crash but sometimes is this part of the learning process. I hope You'll be airborne soon!

Yeah absolutely, I will be flying more cautiosly from now onwards, I allways fly safely and aware of things so this a good lesson even for the most carefull pilot.

Welcome to the "I HIT A PALM TREE CLUB"

I'm the founder and current president.

Sorry for your loss. I was luckier, mine got caught in the tree and I was able to retrieve it. Still a scary moment.

Glad you got refresh. How you are flying again soon.

Cheers!
=C=

Cal Evans Posted at 4-27 04:11
Welcome to the "I HIT A PALM TREE CLUB"

I'm the founder and current president.

lol
It is a real honor Mr President!

Ok so just as an update in the whole DJI Care Refresh experience... I just only created the ticket for the return and I already can say I dont like this AT ALL...

Firstly, conmunicating with tech support people. Not clear at all, very poor english.
Secondly, the tech guy says first replacement will be 40€ second 49€, even when absolutely nobody has seen the AC yet... I told him only front arm cracked, he said is their policy... so yeah since a replacement arm is 11 dollars, the fix is already going to cost me 39 (Care refresh) + 40 = 79 euros for only a broken front arm.
Thirdly, the guy ask me to remove the proppellers if they are OK, how can I know after a crash if they are Ok and not deformed? I said, well, how do I know, he says "check for dents" but nothing about being compomised or deformed... I also told him, that the manual clearly states to not reuse the propellers, once removed, get rid of them... so how on earth are they going to ask me to remove them?
Fourthly, asking about how to return it, what box, gimbal protection or not... not clear at all, only said no battery or SD card... is it really that hard?

Then I also noticed this just before cloicking "submit" DJI might charge a damage assessment fee of 50 Euros per hour if you refuse to repair your aircraft after being quoted.
And this: 2. If UPS loses your package, you should contact UPS yourself, and you might bear the loss depending on UPS' policies.

I suposse if you literally destroy the drone, is worth it, cause the repair alone would cost more than the drone itself... but also 50€ per hour? really?

InspektorGadjet Posted at 4-27 04:53
Ok so just as an update in the whole DJI Care Refresh experience... I just only created the ticket for the return and I already can say I dont like this AT ALL...

Firstly, conmunicating with tech support people. Not clear at all, very poor english.

Well, the care refresh is designed that way. $39 upfront and $40 first incident. Can you buy the arm yourself? I think they will do more than that, given the hit it took. It should be like new when you get it back. In fact, it will probably be a different drone. Regarding the props, maybe he thought you wanted to keep them if they were ok (I would probably throw them away). Your drone will come back with new props anyways. Let us know how the new drone is when you receive it.

They've probably made some mistakes on their parts but the underlying issue with Care Refresh is that it's only favorable when the damage is extensive or involves the costly gimbal and camera assembly.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 4-27 04:53
Ok so just as an update in the whole DJI Care Refresh experience... I just only created the ticket for the return and I already can say I dont like this AT ALL...

Firstly, conmunicating with tech support people. Not clear at all, very poor english.

Why bother with having a repair done on your drone?  It's inefficient for DJI and more expensive for you.  It also defeats the purpose of Care Refresh: hassle free replacement.  I would pay the replacement fee, get a new or refurbished drone, register it with the aurhorities, and be done with it.

And yes, remove skins, stickers, and props, but leave the gimbal cover on when you return it.

Yeah - this seems like a no-brainer to me.  Activate Care Refresh.  Accept the replacement and get flying again.  Life is to short to be viewing it from the ground.  You bought a drone and you bought insurance - why are you grounded and not flying?  

m80116 Posted at 4-27 12:21
They've probably made some mistakes on their parts but the underlying issue with Care Refresh is that it's only favorable when the damage is extensive or involves the costly gimbal and camera assembly.

Yes that is what I thought, gimbal damage, soaked or wrecked drone... otherwise the fee is quite high... Im only doing it cause I want to maintain warranty.

Corger Posted at 4-27 17:12
Why bother with having a repair done on your drone?  It's inefficient for DJI and more expensive for you.  It also defeats the purpose of Care Refresh: hassle free replacement.  I would pay the replacement fee, get a new or refurbished drone, register it with the aurhorities, and be done with it.

And yes, remove skins, stickers, and props, but leave the gimbal cover on when you return it.

Yeah I guess it makes sense, thanks about info on gimbal cover, stickers etc.

djiuser_6yXKiu4B8ZBq Posted at 4-27 18:06
Yeah - this seems like a no-brainer to me.  Activate Care Refresh.  Accept the replacement and get flying again.  Life is to short to be viewing it from the ground.  You bought a drone and you bought insurance - why are you grounded and not flying?

I was grounded for various reasons, one quarantine lol, second due to accumulation of work and tons of videos without editing... but more important the drops, my MINI was experiencing altitude drops, some extreme, I reported here with logs, however  some users kept saying their drones were perfect, that I was doing something wrong or pushing it too hard, but I knew there was something firmware wise that changed in latest AC upgrade, that made it less stable and motors were using less strength... Sad I couldn't test this since I crashed after 2 minutes of take off.

You were in for a motor speed error because the firmware that cures ESC nef errors doesn't exist. In the early iterations I feel the threshold has been moved, probably to infuse a safety feeling in the users, or if it was the contrary (raised rather than decreased) to warn them earlier.

Still a firmware can do nothing against propellers not producing enough uplift when the motors are maxed out.

Sorry to hear it.

m80116 Posted at 4-28 04:47
You were in for a motor speed error because the firmware that cures ESC nef errors doesn't exist. In the early iterations I feel the threshold has been moved, probably to infuse a safety feeling in the users, or if it was the contrary (raised rather than decreased) to warn them earlier.

Still a firmware can do nothing against propellers not producing enough uplift when the motors are maxed out.

Not really sure what you mean.

Also not sure what happened, but before firmware 1.0.4 my Mavic Mini was rock solid while hoovering, also I never experienced any "drops"... Many users were having errors where the APP would tell them to fly cautiously for motors being maxed out... then with firmware 1.0.4 the oposite happened, users were experiencing "not enough power" and drops were happening constantly...

An yes a firmware can for sure dictate how motors perform, for example on a 3D printer, you have things like PID values, acceleration ramps etc... which affect motors performance.

Tbh I was saying that they didn't probably change motor rpm ramp mapping... if it all just minimal. But they probably changend the threshold for errors, and now with the new speed ckeck I believe you could have gotten it, because not getting warnings isn't necessarily a good thing. Many weren't getting them before and now they are, because props were in bad shape earlier on but not so much to cause drops and repeated warnings.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 4-28 10:38
Not really sure what you mean.

Also not sure what happened, but before firmware 1.0.4 my Mavic Mini was rock solid while hoovering, also I never experienced any "drops"... Many users were having errors where the APP would tell them to fly cautiously for motors being maxed out... then with firmware 1.0.4 the oposite happened, users were experiencing "not enough power" and drops were happening constantly...

I started to get ESC errors after upgrading to .0400 firmware, downgraded to .0300 and error disappeared. I refereshed firmware with the DJI Assistante 2 to .0400 and errors desappeared.

After several flights I got one ESC error after high wind warning and battery below 40%. Just one ESC error and I landed without anymore errors. Subsequent flights were without errors. Before I had errors on the hundred that could be checked on Air Data.

Because I  had much more errors with one of the batteries (I have the fly more combo and I have labeled the batteries) I thought it was a problem with the firmware of the battery that was solved by refreshing the firmware.

So, I believe the problem is a mix of bad battery firmware, flight conditions (wind) and propeller shape.  I have seen posts saying that propellers were good but the important is the shape that can't be checked visually. Most of the lift is generated on the widest part of the propeller and it's linked to the propeller shape. A small deviation on the shape of the propeller at the widest part have a big impact on the propeller lift, more than a broken propeller at the tip. A propeller with a broken tip gives more lift than a deformed propeller at the same speed.

On the latest firmware update DJI introduced this new warning to try to solve the ESC errors and uncommanded descents that pilots were reporting. Of course some errors appeared as a result of battery fiirmware being update with the DJI Fly app and were solve by refreshing the firmware with DJI Assistant 2. Other had to replace the propellers.

I have updated my Mini firmware to .0500 but I haven't tested yet due to bad weather and lockdown. Maybe tomorrow I can test it.

Update:
Yesterday 30th of April I recieved the shipping label from UPS.
I hope it will be picked up today the 1st.
Will keep updating guys.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 5-1 02:48
Update:
Yesterday 30th of April I recieved the shipping label from UPS.
I hope it will be picked up today the 1st.

I hope it's a quick fix, good luck

djiuser_gb6tdpXrVEyN Posted at 5-1 16:09
I hope it's a quick fix, good luck

I do too... Even though shipping label was sent on thursday afternooon, nobody picked it up yet...
Is starting to be quite  slow process if you ask me, but due to pandemic things may be slower...

UPDATE:
This may help other users in the future... Once DJI sends you an UPS Ship`ping label, it doesnt mean anything, you actually have to call UPS personally to arrange the pickup.
I didn´t know this, since nobody told me anything and waited 7 days... after successfully being able to talk to a person at UPS, they arranged the pickup for the next day.
So as 7th of May my Mavic Mini has left and it´s on its way to the Netherlands.
Will keep updating.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 5-7 02:10
UPDATE:
This may help other users in the future... Once DJI sends you an UPS Ship`ping label, it doesnt mean anything, you actually have to call UPS personally to arrange the pickup.
I didn´t know this, since nobody told me anything and waited 7 days... after successfully being able to talk to a person at UPS, they arranged the pickup for the next day.

UPDATE:
Parcel arrived yesterday to the Netherlands and it was marked as recieved and now it seems to be in the "Damage assestment" ... awaiting to see what the damage is and what will they do, what fee I will have to pay etc.
Lots of delays due to covid-19 I suposse, so this is a good example of long it would take in the worst possible scenario xD lol.
Will keep updating.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 5-15 02:45
UPDATE:
Parcel arrived yesterday to the Netherlands and it was marked as recieved and now it seems to be in the "Damage assestment" ... awaiting to see what the damage is and what will they do, what fee I will have to pay etc.
Lots of delays due to covid-19 I suposse, so this is a good example of long it would take in the worst possible scenario xD lol.

Hi
any news I've just crashed mine and broken a front arm I am wondering how long it will take for them to fix and return it. Considering gluing it or buying a replacement myself
Rob

djiuser_RL0fmj8VVKpt Posted at 5-18 22:27
Hi
any news I've just crashed mine and broken a front arm I am wondering how long it will take for them to fix and return it. Considering gluing it or buying a replacement myself
Rob

Unfortunately is taking forever.
DJI Care refresh is still worth it in case you dont just crash the drone a bit but complitely destroy it... then yes paying 40 or 49 euros extra, + the 39 euros of DJI Care, is worth it... any small damage is absolutely not worth the hassle delay and cost.

Here a screen shot of my case... it has taken forever for them to mark it as recieved even thougfh UPS said it was delivered earlier, then it has been in the "damage assestment" state for over 5 days...

m80116 Posted at 4-25 14:23
Why I don't like warranties...

Here https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000411228555.html

i dont understand why arm parts are more expensive than body shell ?

ichan.id Posted at 5-19 01:30
i dont understand why arm parts are more expensive than body shell ?

Well is kind of obvious,  the top and bottom body shell is only plastic, however the arms have the cables and the motor it seems so yeah it has to be more expensive.

I've sent 2 products into DJI for RMA.  Gimbal tilt since out of the box and dead pixels on the DJI RE screen.  They sent back 2 fully working products.

Arms are more expensive than the body because each one contains a foam pad, a meshed wiring loom, a motor, an antenna and its back cover.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 4-27 04:53
Ok so just as an update in the whole DJI Care Refresh experience... I just only created the ticket for the return and I already can say I dont like this AT ALL...

Firstly, conmunicating with tech support people. Not clear at all, very poor english.

The way dji refresh works in Europe and throughout the world. You ship it in they check log for any funny business. They don’t repair your drone, they will replace your drone with a new or a refurbished drone as new. Your drone along with many others will be shipped back to China to be refurbished and so the wheels of dji turn. The Centre you sent your drone to is an assessment Centre not a repair Centre . Many companies like Apple camera companies use a similar service.

One thing I will say having had a refurbished drone many years ago, it will be like new and everything will work as new, and you very seldom see people complaining about refurbished drones on this forum.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 4-27 04:53
Ok so just as an update in the whole DJI Care Refresh experience... I just only created the ticket for the return and I already can say I dont like this AT ALL...

Firstly, conmunicating with tech support people. Not clear at all, very poor english.

The way dji refresh works in Europe and throughout the world. You ship it in they check log for any funny business. They don’t repair your drone, they will replace your drone with a new or a refurbished drone as new. Your drone along with many others will be shipped back to China to be refurbished and so the wheels of dji turn. The Centre you sent your drone to is an assessment Centre not a repair Centre . Many companies like Apple camera companies use a similar service.

One thing I will say having had a refurbished drone many years ago, it will be like new and everything will work as new, and you very seldom see people complaining about refurbished drones on this forum.

I'm not complaining really, the time factor s..ks, but since pandemic is affecting everything I can't complain... This is more a "process following" type of post.
I also have plenty of work to do so not having the bird around is kind of a blessing... Spring is at its full potential where I live, and since nobody has cut the grass due to covid 19 restrictions, so many insects and small animals that the sky is literally full of birds, I've seen eagle fights every day so not planning to check who would win with the mini lol
Peae out every body.

They're gonna suffer a set back poor birds, even my local municipality behind the stadium it became birds' paradise. Some amazingly colorful... like the Merops Apiaster

Sorry for you loss

fans1cfb5a5b Posted at 5-19 10:46
They're gonna suffer a set back poor birds, even my local municipality behind the stadium it became birds' paradise. Some amazingly colorful... like the Merops Apiaster
[view_image]

Yeah man, is crazy how fast nature claims its place...
Awesome bird!

UPDATE:
Today damage assessment got completed, they ask 40 euros for replacement, 72 euros for a repair.
The assessment says front arm broken + long cable damaged...
Since my number plate costed only 7 euros, I will get a complete replacement instead of a repair... I hope what they send is at least as new as my unit was...
Will keep updating.

40 is Care Refresh  for replacement right ?

I'd go for it... what are the terms ? AC is new or o rotation unit refurbished as new ?

InspektorGadjet Posted at 5-20 01:35
UPDATE:
Today damage assessment got completed, they ask 40 euros for replacement, 72 euros for a repair.
The assessment says front arm broken + long cable damaged...

Having experience with care refresh with Mavic 1, I can vouch for quality of refurbished drone. It will resemble new as it should and everything about it should be the same as new. I think you will know from this forum that it is a very rare day you see someone complaining about a problem with refurbished drone.