I love my Mavic 3 -- let's get that out of the way. And I am a huge DJI fanboy. There, I said it. BUT...I have discovered a major design flaw in the Mavic 3 that has left me utterly perplexed and let down based on how high DJI has raised the bar with each previous drone.

You see, when all nicely folded up for transport, snug with the strap on and all, my rear legs folded forward are apparently rubbing against the camera and gimbal, creating a friction point as seen below all throughout transport. To be clear, I baby this thing (who wouldn't), carry it like it's supposed to, nothing out of the ordinary.



I don't care about all the still-missing features of the drone, I'll wait. But this...this is unacceptable.

Everyone keeps saying "I'm not sure why they included the weird strap for the drone"..."it doesn't really do anything" ... but based on my experience, I am convinced that THIS is why it was included. And because the "locked" gimbal is so easily disengaged, it's not working and this is what we're now left with.

I did a search and saw someone say they've put tape on their Mavic 3 legs to prevent the rubbing and that seemed to work. TAPE. ON. A. FLAGSHIP. DRONE. How is this OK?

And more importantly, what is DJI going to do about it?!

i wouldnt call that a "design flaw."

Likely nothing they will do.

I don’t think they are going to retrofit anything. They may in the future add or subtract something from new models to stop this happening. You may be covered by warranty I’m not sure. I noticed it might be a small problem so I just added small strip of Velcro tape and this has eliminated the problem.

The Saint Posted at 12-15 07:48
i wouldnt call that a "design flaw."

What would you call it when the drone does this in its natural, folded position then?

Wow! I've got a Cine, and my camera housing is almost black in color, so this may not be a fair comparison. However, I can say that even with the gimble "locked" there is a minimal bit of horizontal movement that would allow the rear legs to rub IF there was enough pressure applied. But with the strap snuggly fitted for transport, I cannot get the gimble to move enough for the legs to hit the housing. Just my two cents.

Maybe DJI can send us those little sticky pads to protect the gimble, yes?

On the upside, it's rubbing away mass and you'll get longer flight times!

I have observed the same behavior in my drone, though not to the same extent as presented in your image.  This has not alarmed me, and I have a different definition of what constitutes "major" (and that's ok).  My preference is for DJI to allocate resources and address the issues that I can more directly tie to a potential loss of craft or a reduction in safe operations.  This is not one of those issues for me.

That is not good,.

I've seen others raise this issue. I even saw some site (it was in Chinese) that was selling some little sticky pads for this part of the gimbal. I sort of agree with the OP here though. This being a premium drone, you would think this would have been known as they designed, engineered, and tested this drone, and the rubbing would have been noted and they would have perhaps shipped the drone with a permenant little solution in place. Just a simply flat, very thin pad would solve the problem and could have been done in a such a way that most of us would have thought nothing of it.

With that said I do think this can be easily addressed. Some little insulation pads for exapmle, or velcro pieces.

Hello there aidenmedia. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for sharing these information with us. For us to be able to assist you  further with regards to this matter, I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav. We will do there best to help you and give out the best resolution for the said issue. Again, I am sorry and thank you for reaching out.

Haha. I just went to check mine and noticed that the original protective films attached there are still on. I think I will just leave them there ;-) My procrastination paid off for once.

aidenmedia Posted at 12-15 08:03
What would you call it when the drone does this in its natural, folded position then?

hot dogs that come in packs of 10 and hot dog buns that come in packs of 8....now that's a design flaw!

Thats terrible. surely the gimbal over should protect it.

CloudVisual Posted at 12-15 09:51
On the upside, it's rubbing away mass and you'll get longer flight times!

Hahahahahaha.
That is fun and true

GaryDoug Posted at 12-15 20:04
Haha. I just went to check mine and noticed that the original protective films attached there are still on. I think I will just leave them there ;-) My procrastination paid off for once.

Thank you! I've had my fly more combo sitting at a corner of my bedroom for exactly 4 weeks now and I still haven't unboxed it. Now I'll remember not to remove this protective film when I unbox.

aidenmedia Posted at 12-15 08:03
What would you call it when the drone does this in its natural, folded position then?

Could be a good design with not so good execution. That gimbal probably wouldn't come in contact with the folded legs if it was locked more securely. How about we call it a manufacturing issue instead.

What is wrong with some sticky tape on it?
Like you see a Lamborghini that have a dish-washing sponge on doors as the paint is deleted when you open and close doors...what can be funny in this?
So...live with it...

DJI Stephen Posted at 12-15 19:35
Hello there aidenmedia. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for sharing these information with us. For us to be able to assist you  further with regards to this matter, I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav. We will do there best to help you and give out the best resolution for the said issue. Again, I am sorry and thank you for reaching out.

Thank you. I did go that route and will report back.

GaryDoug Posted at 12-15 20:04
Haha. I just went to check mine and noticed that the original protective films attached there are still on. I think I will just leave them there ;-) My procrastination paid off for once.

You know it's an issue when DJI puts a protective film on the very spot when they're shipping it to customers. They know it's such an issue they don't even trust it to stay put while secured IN THE BOX. I don't understand why this isn't a big/bigger deal to many of you. This film is proof they know it's an issue.

Admit it, all of us wondered why they put protective film there when we unboxed the drone. And like me, many of you removed the film....well, 5 flights later and we know.

Thank you for sharing this photo. I forgot about the film that was there.

Geo_Drone Posted at 12-16 02:18
What is wrong with some sticky tape on it?
Like you see a Lamborghini that have a dish-washing sponge on doors as the paint is deleted when you open and close doors...what can be funny in this?
So...live with it...

Live with it? Is that what they tell Lamborghini customers when opening the passenger door of the luxury vehicle scrapes the premium dashboard?

aidenmedia Posted at 12-16 05:19
Live with it? Is that what they tell Lamborghini customers when opening the passenger door of the luxury vehicle scrapes the premium dashboard?

Did you missed the irony of my post?  
Is like you buy a Prada pants that costs 3 times the normal price, is broken between legs and Prada say: We are aware of this, is not a design flaw but an involvement of you in the process, we have sent you a patch to stick it there ))))

aidenmedia Posted at 12-16 05:07
Thank you. I did go that route and will report back.

Hi there aidenmedia. You are very much welcome and thank you for the reply. Kindly please keep us posted for further assistance. Thank you.

DJI Stephen Posted at 12-19 21:32
Hi there aidenmedia. You are very much welcome and thank you for the reply. Kindly please keep us posted for further assistance. Thank you.

UPDATE: DJI credited me $60 towards a M3 battery and I will be sent a foam gimbal protector at no charge. Also, I looked on the Facebook group pages for DJI/Mavic 3 and this is a widespread problem. Kudos to DJI for acknowledging it and trying to remedy it.

aidenmedia Posted at 12-26 12:15
UPDATE: DJI credited me $60 towards a M3 battery and I will be sent a foam gimbal protector at no charge. Also, I looked on the Facebook group pages for DJI/Mavic 3 and this is a widespread problem. Kudos to DJI for acknowledging it and trying to remedy it.

That's good news to hear. Thanks to telling.

aidenmedia Posted at 12-26 12:15
UPDATE: DJI credited me $60 towards a M3 battery and I will be sent a foam gimbal protector at no charge. Also, I looked on the Facebook group pages for DJI/Mavic 3 and this is a widespread problem. Kudos to DJI for acknowledging it and trying to remedy it.

Interesting, and good news. Could you post a picture of the foam gimbal protector? Also, did they mention if they were making them available?

The same thing is happening to me.

Nicodema Posted at 12-27 09:28
Interesting, and good news. Could you post a picture of the foam gimbal protector? Also, did they mention if they were making them available?

The Cinie's arriving in the UK came with the foam pad and not the stickers.

You could fit some felt pads to the rear motors if you were that concerned.

Here are two photos of it.

Buzzyone Posted at 12-27 12:05
The Cinie's arriving in the UK came with the foam pad and not the stickers.

You could fit some felt pads to the rear motors if you were that concerned.

After complaining I also received this foam gimbal protector with no charge from DJI for my Mavic 3 (non Cine) and without 60 $ credit offer. However, such quality defects for a premium drone are unacceptable. We are not betatest customers.

It’s only a quality defect if it does not meet its design specifications!

Another problem with the legs being where they are, you cant power the drone up with legs folded without the gimbal/camera knocking into the legs..
I was hoping to use the drone folded for hand held filming like you could with the older mavic.
Its also nice to power the drone on folded when downloading footage or upgrading firmware etc

My M3C has them as well. Contacted support.

Just keep it.  Newer revisions will make people have a perfect drone while the "beta" testers have theirs as they are now.

what is this doing to the props?

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 12-28 08:03
what is this doing to the props?

Nothing, it's the motor housings can be pushed into the gimbal arms if they are squeezed in or the gimbal becomes unlatched allowing it to rotate into the motors during transport.

The 'foam pad' fix prevents the gimbal from moving on its suspension while also keeping the arms from being squeezed in.

Looking at the storage cover I am sure that the improvement could be made to it to close the gap between the sides of the cover and the gimbal arms either with foam wedges or a change to the shape of it.

Cine's here in the UK were shipped with the foam pad in place.

Could someone please provide all the dimensions of the foam blank DJI have issued? I have the one dimension from Buzzyone's post above. I have some high density foam lying around and would like to make one, perhaps slightly different to ensure the protection is adequate.
Thanks

aidenmedia Posted at 12-26 12:15
UPDATE: DJI credited me $60 towards a M3 battery and I will be sent a foam gimbal protector at no charge. Also, I looked on the Facebook group pages for DJI/Mavic 3 and this is a widespread problem. Kudos to DJI for acknowledging it and trying to remedy it.

Hi there aidenmedia. Thank you for the reply and for this given update. Again, I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for your support.

The Saint Posted at 12-15 07:48
i wouldnt call that a "design flaw."

I would.....

The Saint Posted at 12-15 07:48
i wouldnt call that a "design flaw."

I would call it engineering flaw.