Sent my mavic in for a dead front light and faulty gimbal. They sent me back a different mavic than mine, and I noticed what might be a problem. On the wiring at the joint of one of the front arms, there's what looks/feels like molten rubber on the OUTSIDE of the wire wrap. The wrap is spread apart in the area and the wiring bundle seems wider and looser past the problem spot.

Is this something I should be worried about? Not sure how this made it past QA on a single, specific RMA repair, and I don't really want to have to wait another two weeks for yet another RMA return. Opinions?

My worry, obviously, is that the wiring inside the bundle has been compromised. What happens if it gets a little drop of water on that area? To me,it just looks like a short waiting to happen.

I would not fly it... Get in touch with support and get them to take a look.

You can use an electric tape but... I will return it and ask for my original MP

DJI Mindy, DJI Thor, DJI Natalia, can I get your input on this? It's two small flecks of silicone that are connected (or melted to) the mesh wire wrapping. Have you seen this before? I'm beginning to suspect they sent me back someone else's used mavic instead of repairing mine.

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-9 15:17
DJI Mindy, DJI Thor, DJI Natalia, can I get your input on this? It's two small flecks of silicone that are connected (or melted to) the mesh wire wrapping. Have you seen this before? I'm beginning to suspect they sent me back someone else's used mavic instead of repairing mine.

Probably "refurbished" but we've seen what "new" is like.  At least that is visual as opposed to the questions inside that Mavic...  That freakin blows, dude.  You went from new to new POS to refurbished POS.  I'm guessing the only direction to go is up.

I returned my first 2 faulty, junky, carelessly put together Mavics because of this exact reason.  To get a brand new item repaired is absurd, especially given DJI's company model.  The 3rd one was "as advertised" for the most part.

Returned my first P4P+ because the R/C looked like it had been melted from manufacturing.  The screen was clearly crooked & looked like garbage like that.  Had to do a PayPal claim after trying to deal with DJI for 30 days.  They dragged that out for a simple return on a NEW item & wouldn't respond to anything.  Not even the claim!  They waited the full 20 $#@!ing days there, too.

I took a photo of the serial number before I sent mine in, tonight I'll dig it out and compare it to the serial on the new one. If it is different, and is essentially someone else's used and repaired drone, that's complete crap. Mine had never been crashed, just a faulty light out of the box. How do I know this replacement wasn't crashed or soaked before it was rebuilt and sent back to me. That's not what I paid for.

Mine hit's a little right there on one side. The wire mesh came apart a little bit but wiring looks fine. Thinking might dremel a little grove, just not sure how thick the plastic is.

And here's the thing, I might be willing to accept a fully rebuilt and tested refurbished as a replacement, if this mess on the wire mesh didn't have me thinking it wasn't even fully inspected before they sent it back to me? This was the California repair center, btw.

thehippoz Posted at 2017-2-9 15:46
Mine hit's a little right there on one side. The wire mesh came apart a little bit but wiring looks fine. Thinking might dremel a little grove, just not sure how thick the plastic is.

The problem isn't the mesh itself, read closely. There are two globs of silicone coming OUT from inside the mesh that have me concerned that the wires have been damaged. E

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-9 15:50
The problem isn't the mesh itself, read closely. There are two globs of silicone coming OUT from inside the mesh that have me concerned that the wires have been damaged. E

Oh I see. That doesn't sound right. Maybe give it a fly and if no problems with drone or gimbal- fix it yourself. It seems there's a lot of lottery going on with certain people's mavics. That should be a easy fix, there's videos on the whole breakdown of the mavic on youtube. Tools should run you around 15 dollars.

I'm more inclined to do that. Less hassle.

OK, so it's worse than I thought. That spot of silicone is actually in the spot where a small plastic cover is supposed to be covering the wiring mesh, but isn't. I also checked the serial number, and it's different from mine. So... Not only did DJI replace my new drone that only had 4 flights with a refurbished/damaged copy that came from God knows where, but they didn't even bother to check that what they were sending back was even complete and un-damaged. And the wires on that arm have much more "play" to them than the other side, so I can see how it could have popped off that cover.

I've read in other forums that some people have had copies with wiring that was too long like this (makes that krinkling sound when you close the arm), some were eventually getting ESC errors to the arm's motor. These wires are CLEARLY not correct.

If I have to get my credit card company involved just to get a proper, new replacement in my hands instead of this crap, I absolutley will.

This is some really amateur crap here, DJI. I've defended this company on here a few times for how things have gone the last few months, but you're pushing me over to the dark side.  I sent in a brand new drone that had a few small manufacturing defects, and you send me back this crap?!?  I guess I'll have to email support again, get on the phone, wait another three damned weeks to fly my expensive drone again, and hope that THIS TIME someone actually LOOKS at the thing before shoving it in a box and kicking it back to me.   ...Unbelievable.   

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-9 19:56
OK, so it's worse than I thought. That spot of silicone is actually in the spot where a small plastic cover is supposed to be covering the wiring mesh, but isn't. I also checked the serial number, and it's different from mine. So... Not only did DJI replace my new drone that only had 4 flights with a refurbished/damaged copy that came from God knows where, but they didn't even bother to check that what they were sending back was even complete and un-damaged. And the wires on that arm have much more "play" to them than the other side, so I can see how it could have popped off that cover.

I've read in other forums that some people have had copies with wiring that was too long like this (makes that krinkling sound when you close the arm), some were eventually getting ESC errors to the arm's motor. These wires are CLEARLY not correct.

This may affect your insurance policy, as well.

State Farm policies show the drones & their corresponding serial numbers.

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-9 15:46
I took a photo of the serial number before I sent mine in, tonight I'll dig it out and compare it to the serial on the new one. If it is different, and is essentially someone else's used and repaired drone, that's complete crap. Mine had never been crashed, just a faulty light out of the box. How do I know this replacement wasn't crashed or soaked before it was rebuilt and sent back to me. That's not what I paid for.

did you do a repair or an exchange?

an exchange should be a brand new unit, new boxes and all. a repair could be yours or one that was already repaired (refurbished) to speed up the turn around time. apple does this sometimes with their phones as well.

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-9 19:56
OK, so it's worse than I thought. That spot of silicone is actually in the spot where a small plastic cover is supposed to be covering the wiring mesh, but isn't. I also checked the serial number, and it's different from mine. So... Not only did DJI replace my new drone that only had 4 flights with a refurbished/damaged copy that came from God knows where, but they didn't even bother to check that what they were sending back was even complete and un-damaged. And the wires on that arm have much more "play" to them than the other side, so I can see how it could have popped off that cover.

I've read in other forums that some people have had copies with wiring that was too long like this (makes that krinkling sound when you close the arm), some were eventually getting ESC errors to the arm's motor. These wires are CLEARLY not correct.

hmm, my wires on a unit brand new out of the box do not have an additional covering. just the hard mesh stuff. what covering are you referring to? can someone post a photo?

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2017-2-10 08:18
This may affect your insurance policy, as well.

State Farm policies show the drones & their corresponding serial numbers.

could he not call up and change the SN with statefarm?

They don't differentiate between a return and a repair. It was bought at an apple store in November, exchanging it wasn't a possibility any more.it was sent into DJI as defective, under warranty.

SeanOzz Posted at 2017-2-10 09:26
hmm, my wires on a unit brand new out of the box do not have an additional covering. just the hard mesh stuff. what covering are you referring to? can someone post a photo?

Look on the other arm, you'll see the difference. Unless both of yours are missing.

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-10 11:21
Look on the other arm, you'll see the difference. Unless both of yours are missing.

yeah, mine are both just  the firm mesh material. what does yours have? can you upload a photo?

i just talked with my statefarm agent and yes, it is very easy to call in and update the new SN on your policy. so that's good news. specially since my mavic is getting returned for tilt issues.

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-10 11:20
They don't differentiate between a return and a repair. It was bought at an apple store in November, exchanging it wasn't a possibility any more.it was sent into DJI as defective, under warranty.

Not sure about the US, but in the U.K. your Sale of Contract is with who you purchased it from, so you could take it up with Apple. They may help more?

SeanOzz Posted at 2017-2-10 13:24
yeah, mine are both just  the firm mesh material. what does yours have? can you upload a photo?

i just talked with my statefarm agent and yes, it is very easy to call in and update the new SN on your policy. so that's good news. specially since my mavic is getting returned for tilt issues.

Well you've got an agent that is easier with which to work.  Mine had to cancel the policy & start a whole new one.  They sent me a check for the difference.  Seems like a fiasco to just change a number, right?  lol

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2017-2-10 18:41
Well you've got an agent that is easier with which to work.  Mine had to cancel the policy & start a whole new one.  They sent me a check for the difference.  Seems like a fiasco to just change a number, right?  lol

yeah that does sound a pain. mine said they would just transfer payment to the new SN #

SeanOzz Posted at 2017-2-10 13:24
yeah, mine are both just  the firm mesh material. what does yours have? can you upload a photo?

i just talked with my statefarm agent and yes, it is very easy to call in and update the new SN on your policy. so that's good news. specially since my mavic is getting returned for tilt issues.

It's not anything actually on that wire bundle, it's a small, rectangular plate that covers part of that bundle as it curves up into the motor arm. If you have as much exposed length of wire mesh as what you see in my photo, yours might be missing. Another way to tell if it's missing: if the plate is intact, the arm is perfectly flat/flush along that angle. If you see small ridges that dip downward into the arm, that's where the plate is supposed to sit. Apparently they also use a small glob of silicone under that plate to buffer the pressure from the bending wire mesh, and that's the mysterious white stuff I found... Rather than melted rubber from within the wire mesh.

But in this case the specifics didn't end up mattering. I asked very specifically, and they said on the phone that they only replace warranty defect returns with NEW drones. So they sent me a new drone... That wasn't checked for quality and had out of the box defects itself.

I can't imagine what the actual defect rate on this product has been since November.Is it because they're making the factories double-time it to meet the demand they said they weren't ready for? From a quick look online it appears that you still cannot find these at retail in the US anywhere, is that still the case? I hadn't looked into it since early December. It just doesn't make sense, this isn't some recent startup company.

I've informed our engineers for the problem you reported, will get back to you once I get any information from them.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

I've confirmed with our engineers, it needs to be sent in again, very sorry for the trouble caused.
Please submit a case number and apply for pickup, then let me know your new case number, I'll help you follow up the case and inform our repair team to take care of your case.

Will.H Posted at 2017-2-10 13:45
Not sure about the US, but in the U.K. your Sale of Contract is with who you purchased it from, so you could take it up with Apple. They may help more?

I'd love to be able to just go to the apple store and exchange it, but since DJI still hasn't been able to get any retail supply out to stores four months after release, the only way of dealing with any of this mess is directly through DJI. The clowns at the apple store will say the same thing... call DJI.

Today it got even better... I had called last Friday to get this handled and the call center guy said he opened a new case and that I'd have a shipping label in my email within 24-48 hours (which is ridiculous on its own, but whatever). 72 hours later, still no emails. So I just called DJI AGAIN and waited on hold for 30 minutes AGAIN, only to find out that whoever I talked to on Friday did NONE OF THOSE THINGS, and that there was no record of a new case. So now I'm another three days behind.

At this point, I'm becoming convinced that DJI isn't a drone company at all, it's several of my friends trolling me or playing an elaborate joke of some kind, seeing if they can make me go insane for a laugh.

Also learned another interesting tidbit today... if you call the "US" phone support line, you're actually being routed to a call center in another country, not the actual US support people in California. I had to bark for a supervisor to get a native english-speaker who was actually at the Cali repair center.

Has anyone else noticed that on the support page, all of the support centers outside the US have actual addresses listed, but the US section it just says "LA, California"? Is it in a hidden underground bunker or something?

DJI Natalia Posted at 2017-2-12 23:38
I've confirmed with our engineers, it needs to be sent in again, very sorry for the trouble caused.
Please submit a case number and apply for pickup, then let me know your new case number, I'll help you follow up the case and inform our repair team to take care of your case.

Thanks, Natalia.
The latest (lol) case number is: CAS-451897-Z5T2X0

The supervisor told me that he set it up to be "escalated" once it arrives, but I'll be calling as well to make sure. At this point I've lost confidence that things will get handled without me, you, or someone babysitting it.

I really appreciate your help with this.

Impossible J Posted at 2017-2-13 12:53
Thanks, Natalia.
The latest (lol) case number is: CAS-451897-Z5T2X0

I do understand your feelings and will take care of it.
I've informed our support team for your new case number.
For any other questions, please feel free to let me know, thanks.

You are missing the cap