Hey,

So, I broke my Mini. My fault, really, I flew inside without the pro guards and Mini decided to fly into a wall (probably compass disruption or something).
Well, it happened.

Aside from a few broken covers, beaten up props I also managed to break my gimbal. That's all the visible damage at least.

My issue right now is this:
(Drone was sitting without a battery for a few hours, all the batteries are charged fully).
- When I insert the battery and push the button once, it shows 4 lights (full).
- When I try to turn the drone on (Click + Click and hold), it only shows the 4 lights, the button doesn't react to the second click.
- After 3 or 4 cycles of the points above, the drone suddenly only show 1 blinking light (almost empty).
- This happens on all batteries and only goes away after leaving the drone to discharge without a battery.

I only want to see if there's anything else wrong, but I can't turn the drone on. I also don't have much money to spare to have the Mini serviced, also no DJI Care (although I had the damn video made, but never got to finish the registration).

Thanks

I'm not sure there's much you can do to be honest. Youtube have a few videos on fixes, have you tried looking there? You can also message DJI support and they can give you a quote on repairs. Either way it will cost you money to fix it.

Most likely, something got disconnected inside but the connectors are very small and somewhat frail. Might be best to leave it to the experts.

22340179 Posted at 5-28 14:50
I'm not sure there's much you can do to be honest. Youtube have a few videos on fixes, have you tried looking there? You can also message DJI support and they can give you a quote on repairs. Either way it will cost you money to fix it.

I tried looking it up, but the only things that come up are the battery light codes (like in the manual). I think the ESC board might be busted as the plastic in the rear is a bit bent.

GaryDoug Posted at 5-28 18:26
Most likely, something got disconnected inside but the connectors are very small and somewhat frail. Might be best to leave it to the experts.

I have already replaced a broken arm (and I was flying it for almost half a year after), I'm pretty crafty. The issue is that I have no idea where to look in this case.

I can always have it repaired, but just for comparison in the case of the broken arm:

- DIY fix - $25 in parts and materials, 2 hours of work
- Authorized DJI partner repair - ~$180

Hi there Evelas. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mavic Mini. Since there was a crash that happened. It would be best to contact our DJI support team at https://www.dji.com/support . We have a professional team that will do there best to fix and give out the best resolution for this issue. Again I am sorry for this trouble and please stay safe always.

DJI Stephen Posted at 5-29 00:58
Hi there Evelas. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mavic Mini. Since there was a crash that happened. It would be best to contact our DJI support team at https://www.dji.com/support . We have a professional team that will do there best to fix and give out the best resolution for this issue. Again I am sorry for this trouble and please stay safe always.

I would, unfortunately I don't have the flight log in the app and I can't turn the drone on to download it.

Thank you for the given update Evelas. Once you have contacted our DJI Support team. They will be able to give you the proper instruction on how to be able to access the said flight logs on the drone.

It all depends on what's your plot with it. Are you seeking a DIY restore or official assistance ?
In case you need advice a couple of picture of the visual damage would help somewhat.

m80116 Posted at 5-29 05:36
It all depends on what's your plot with it. Are you seeking a DIY restore or official assistance ?
In case you need advice a couple of picture of the visual damage would help somewhat.

I'd like some help with the diagnosis, so I can either source the parts for DIY repair or describe the issue to the service center so they don't have to replace 90% of the drone.

Apart from the damged gimbal and props (which is quite obvious), this is the only damage visible on the drone.

I think you should follow a guided disassembly instructional video, take apart the covers (at least top one off required). Get ready some precision heat gun (hot air re-work station) and hot glue gun, also thermal interface paste should you dig further in.

Once taken apart (no need to disassemble the arms or the ESC board directly above the hips, attached to the battery contacts) you could start by continuity checking every battery contact, which might be cracked for the kind of damage I see. Try wiggling around the connector while you check, better still if you use alligator clips on each single contact.

As for the camera I guess the best bet is to directly buy a replacement camera+gimbal assembly.

If you dig deeper in the disassembly you will need a hot air gun to melt a bit the solder blobs and help release the board to board zif socket connectors, then the thermal paste to replace any displacement as several components are lapped by blue interface material mat that's not easy to reseat in place (and can split randomly between the parts).

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mavic+mini+disassembly

Day 5 with no reply from DJI support.

I searched for the issue, I managed to pull the flight logs fom the drone using the DJI Assistant (I can't view them though, it's one big DAT file).

There are some changes that happened to the issue, or, more likely, expanded on it.

After I connected the drone to the PC, I got connection and gimbal calibration, the status LED on the back kept cycling through the 3 colors (powering on), but got stuck in there.
When disconnected from the PC, after some more blinking, the battery leds 3 and 4 (75% and 100%) started blinking, which signals no battery inside. So the ESC is probably damaged or gone.

I'll wait some more in case I get a reply from support before I take the drone apart.

m80116 Posted at 5-30 06:27
I think you should follow a guided disassembly instructional video, take apart the covers (at least top one off required). Get ready some precision heat gun (hot air re-work station) and hot glue gun, also thermal interface paste should you dig further in.

Once taken apart (no need to disassemble the arms or the ESC board directly above the hips, attached to the battery contacts) you could start by continuity checking every battery contact, which might be cracked for the kind of damage I see. Try wiggling around the connector while you check, better still if you use alligator clips on each single contact.

I had the drone open when I replaced one of the front arms (this was almost 6 months ago by now). It's not too bad if one is careful about the brittle plastics. If I don't get an answer from DJI, I'll probably get inside, check the ESC and order a new one for like $20.

Right now I would just like to know why the crash has happened.