I can find no reference to this part, nor can I find an official DJI part number. It is part of the case, but does not come with Official DJI part #30.

I have taken pictures of the part I need.



I had a minor crash that cracked my case in several places, but everything seems to function fine. I purchased part 30 assuming it would come with all needed parts, but it was missing this internal part that holds the battery in place.

As you can see one of the main board mounts on the top has snapped off.

I searched and searched for this part and can find no sign of it anywhere. I called all of the DJI authorized repair and service centers listed on the website, and they are all having the same problem. They say that they have requested this part over and over again from DJI for authorized repairs, and DJI refiuses to send it to them.

They even tell me that they have been making customer repairs for this exact kind of damage by using hot glue to re-attach the broken piece! And DJI seems like they would rather allow second rate repairs like that to go out then to supply their own dealers with the needed part.

They told me the only way I could get the part was to contact customer service. I used the chat option. This is the resulting conversation:

***************************************************************************************
DJI:
Hello,welcome to our website!How may I help you today?

ME:
I am looking for a part

I have had to replace the Body of the P3P due to cracks cause by a minor crash. I purchased DJI Phantom part 30 from a distributor and it arrived and I started the process of swapping over all the parts.

All was going fine until I noticed that the inner cage that holds the battery in place and the part that the main board screws down to does not come with the case. It so happens that the cage (I don't know the official name, so I will call it the cage) in my unit had one of it's screw posts snapped off and needs to be replaced.

I called several of your dealers listed in the support section on your website and they all gave me the same story. This part is not listed, does not appear to have an official part number and your own dealers have been asking for this part to do their customer repairs and DJI has ignored these requests and have not sent them out.

They reported to me that they have had to glue the broken pieces back on and hope that works. To me, that's ridiculous! We all know that is NOT a satisfactory fix, yet DJI will not supply their own distributors and repair centers with the part they need.

Every center has told me that they can not get that part, and that I should contact DJI directly. I find it hard to believe that DJI would sell that part directly to a customer when they refuse to supply them to their own authorized repair center, but that's what I was told by both Drone Nerds in Florida and the New York service center.

What options are available to me?

Waiting now for response
10:39:57

DJI:
Well as I see it you don't have any other option than to send it in. We mostly advise against self repairs because it will most likely void warranty. And unfortunately, cases like this show up from time to time. These are such specific parts that are almost never needed. Therefore we do not needlessly supply them to a lot of people and take of it ourselves.
10:41:13

Me:
I am only one person and this is not needless. I will not send it in as it is already disassembled and partially put back together in a new case. I will not spend all the money and waste extra weeks or months for the transaction just because you refuse to sell me a simple needed part.

What are my real options. It is crazy to have me send it in and it is a waste of my time and money. What I want here is actual CUSTOMER SERVICE
10:42:33

DJI:
First of all we never ship separate parts unless asked by a dealer.

Me:
MY GOD!!! I just got off the phone with two of your dealers who have told me thay have been asking for these parts since they came out and DJI will not even supply them.


DJI:
Second, you demand a part so specific to the craft that even dealers do not have it.

Me:
These parts must exist. Mine is broken. I will pay for it. It is a simple transaction

DJI:
I am very sorry that you decided to open it up, but we do not have these parts available for shipping
10:44:47

Me:
I opened it up because I AM a technician. Not some yahoo on the street. My job is fixing complex lab equipment at a research facility. Why should I waste my time and money to send this in to someone else when I can do it myself in an afternoon. Are you going to provide me with a satisfactory real solution or not?
10:46:17

Me:
Why doesn't DJI ship these parts to their own authorized repair and service centers? It forces them to make makeshift inferior repairs to your product. It's insane.

DJI:
When dealers receive drones that need reparations like this they mostly send it in.
We simply do not ship separate parts to regular customers, no matter their occupation we are very sorry. We can't make exceptions.
10:49:07

Me:
That is piss poor customer service. It is the kind of thing I read about all over the forums that causes me to question if I made the right decision buying a DJI product. This exchange will be posted on all the forums as another example of that customer service. I am truly sorry that the concept of customer service has been lost on you.

DJI:
You demand something we cannot do as per decree of our own company. You cannot expect me to make exceptions because you keep demanding something. I am very sorry, if it were up to me I would have noted your data and be done with it as I have the feeling you CAN do it yourself. But please understand, I CAN not send you a separate part

It is not a matter of willing, but a matter of what I am able to do
10:52:40

Me:
When I said you, I was referring to DJI, not you personally. Is there another level within the company that I can appeal to. I mean, I want to give them more money to buy a part which they make. The transaction can't possibly be that difficult. Who is the next level up the chain? The question of why DJI does not even supply their own authorized repair centers with the needed parts they ask for has also not been answered.
*************************************************************************************************

To be honest, this is not the fault of the individual that I was chatting with. His hands are tied. It is the fault of DJI and another example of poor customer service.

The person in the chat gave me the link to start a support ticket, which I have done, and I am awaiting an answer from them, but I doubt I will get anywhere. They say this part is so rare that they don't bother to ship it out to customers because they make so few of them, they can't be sending them to everyone.

I understand why it doesn't come in the basic kit, but if someone NEEDS one and is willing to PAY for it, why not sell one?? If damage to this part is really that rare, then it won't happen very often, and there will be no problem. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry won't be flooding DJI with requests for this part if they don't need it. And not giving it to their own service centers is crazy.

I am venting now, but I do have an actual question. Is there anyone out there that knows of someplace where I can purchase this part?

Is there a third party who is 3D printing these?

For those of us that are able to do our own repairs, it is insanity to ship the unit back to them, waste all that time and money, just because DJI refuses to sell them a small plastic part. I already know my warrantee is voided because I opened it up. No question there. I just want the part.

Perhaps someone has a crashed unit that they would be willing to take apart and sell me that part.

I really don't thing that gluing the broken piece back on is the right way to fix this unit. I want it structually sound.

Any ideas out there? I do have the missing piece, and I refuse to go to the time and expense to send back my copter to DJI, especially now that it is partially in the new body (a process that can't be completed without this part! Insanity ensues!

Thank you,
Bob

Someone is selling a 3D printed replacement on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dji-Phan ... hash=item2ca237df93

Perfect!

THANK YOU!!!

Exactly what I was looking for. I have placed my order. I refuse to ship this back to DJI because they want to hold me captive for a part they could easily just ship out.

I don't know what's the matter with those people. Someone should have them look up customer service to see what it really means.

I will help spread this around in the forums. I looked on ebay, but didn't know what it was being called, so I came up empty.

Thanks again, Phantom Help, you saved the day.

Just a timely warning, beware of 3D printed parts for anything sold on eBay. 3D printed parts are not necessarily strong or tough enough for the job, the people selling them never make you aware of this.

Geebax Posted at 2015-11-20 16:07
Just a timely warning, beware of 3D printed parts for anything sold on eBay. 3D printed parts are no ...

It really depends on the type of printer, type of plastic, and the way the plastic is printed. You could give the same equipment to 20 different people and none of the parts would come out the same. It's really possible to create strong parts if you know what you're doing.

Phantom Help Posted at 2015-11-21 08:54
It really depends on the type of printer, type of plastic, and the way the plastic is printed. You ...

"You could give the same equipment to 20 different people and none of the parts would come out the same."


That makes my point.

Geebax Posted at 2015-11-20 16:07
Just a timely warning, beware of 3D printed parts for anything sold on eBay. 3D printed parts are no ...

I will be happy to report back here on the quality/compatibility of this item once I get it.

Although I agree about being wary of home 3-D printed parts, for me, this solution seems to be the only option as DJI flat out refuses to ship this item to anyone.

this is from the eBay auction:
This is one of those parts that DJI doesn't sell. The only way to get one is to buy a whole new P3. They don't even come with the new body! DJI designed this part with rubber vibration isolators to improve the accuracy of the sensors on the main board. If yours breaks in a crash, you have no choice but to cobble it back together and possibly cause the copter to be unstable.

I designed this to be a little tougher than the original DJI part. It's not more rigid, it's just a little more flexible. It's 3D printed using high quality ABS filament (the same material as Lego blocks) so it performs well in both hot and cold weather. It's a direct replacement for the original DJI part, so you will need all your original hardware.


I also understand that anyone can write anything and it doesn't make it true, but considering the total lack of other options, I decided to go this route.

Again, if people are interested, I will post my review of this item, including pictures side by side to the one out of my copter once I get it. If what he wrote is true, I don't expect to have any issues. It should perform better than the more brittle original.

Geebax Posted at 2015-11-20 17:07
"You could give the same equipment to 20 different people and none of the parts would come out the ...

I thought you were pointing out that all 3D printed parts are not strong? If so, that is simply not the true.

Phantom Help Posted at 2015-11-21 10:53
I thought you were pointing out that all 3D printed parts are not strong? If so, that is simply not ...

No, I did not say all, but many are not because the last thing most people do when designing them is consider the structural capability of the material they have it built in. I use injection moulded parts in my business, and I choose the correct material based on what purpose the part has, and I have seen some absolutely shocking 3D builds.

I said I would report back on the 3D printed part that I purchased because of DJI's refusal to sell this part, or to even talk about it. They still have not stated a reason for holding this particular part back.

In any case, I just got my bird back together using the new part from HERE.

The part arrived within the shipping window indicated, and a few days before the last day for estimated delivery. It was well packaged and arrived in perfect condition.

A side by side comparison of the two parts show some minor differences in the way they are made, but they are identical in every place that makes a difference. The 3D printed version was made in two pieces with interlocking tabs that were glued together. The original appears to have been made as one piece. At least I can't find a seam where two parts were fused together.

The 3D printed model does not have as smooth a finish as the original, but that doesn't interfere with it's use in any way. It is an exact fit, and the battery slides in and out the same as with the original.

You need to save the foam piece that sits on top of the original unit and reuse it on the new unit. That is what the main board rests on. You also need to save the mounting screws and the 4 rubber dampeners that go over the mounting tabs for the main board and act as addition vibration reduction.

The material used does appear to be high quality plastic as advertised and it does seem slightly less brittle and more flexible than the original. After comparing the two, I am confident that the same crash would not have broken the mounting clip off this new replacement as it did off the original because of the replacement's more flexible nature.

All the holes and posts lined up perfectly.

In my opinion, this part appears to be made by someone who knows what they are doing, and I recommend it to anyone who has a similar problem.

I haven't found another vendor for these, and since DJI will not sell you one, it is good that this vendor seems to be selling a quality replacement.

This part will save you weeks or months waiting for DJI to do the repair as well as shipping costs to and from DJI, and whatever fees they charge you for the part, and do the work.

Save yourself all the time, hassle, and expense if you are comfortable doing the work yourself and buy this part. It will set you back a total of $31.54 including shipping (Inside US) and for me, it was worth every penny.

That is my impression of this replacement from this particular vendor.

Phantom Menace Posted at 2015-11-27 20:02
I said I would report back on the 3D printed part that I purchased because of DJI's refusal to sell  ...

Bookmarked. Thanks for the update. I have been following this thread to find out the outcome. Glad it worked for you.

DJI now sells the part: Phantom 3 - Center Board Compartment

That's good news, but too late for me. It's odd that they were so hard-line about absolutely not being willing to sell the part under any circumstances only to start selling it 2 weeks later. You would think that they would have known that they were about to add it to their store, and would have just told me to hold on for a week or two, but instead, they just kept brushing me off.

Also, I found out about this from another forum, not DJI. Even though I still had an active support ticket going on that exact subject, they did not update my ticket and tell me that they now sell the item. Instead, they just closed my ticket saying it was resolved, but offering no information on the product. They had said it was resolved a total of 3 times. Each time, they just decided that it was resolved. They did nothing to actually resolve the issue. No information, no explanation, no solutions. They just said, "This ticket has been resolved". I reopened it each time explaining that to resolve something requires that some sort of action needs to be taken. I never got a proper response, but heard about this part from another source instead.

I am not happy with my customer service experience in the least, but I am happy to see that they bent to the pressure and eventually ended up giving customers what they had been asking for. Now, their service centers can get these parts too and be able to do proper repairs when that part is damaged, instead of just gluing it back together.