Had my first crash today, was just about to land on my 17th flight since ownership.  Was not looking at Ipad screen, was looking at bird, just foot above ground as I was bringing her down for landing.  I missed the message that return to home was about to initiate as the battery was low.  I was attempting to land in a different spot than homepoint.  To my horror, before I realized what was happening, the bird shot up 60 feet and headed towards homepoint, crashing into tree limbs at 50 feet above ground level, before tumbling down striking asphalt.  Two broken props and some abrasions to body/camera/gimble, and battery flew out.  Battery still works and bird powers up fine.  Gimble is working fine and smooth.  I recalibrated same anyway, and did IMU cal, as software said it needed it.

Problem is, I now have a gimble motor error on my Ipad screen most of the time.  I just sent my first email to DJI in Los Angles, CA.

Question is for USA service, how long is the process? I noted there are several DJI repair locations listed on website.  Any feedback on any of them?  I'm really hoping something just needs a little adjustment or straightening and I don't need a whole new gimble/camera ass'y.

Go with one of these guys:
http://www.PhantomHelp.com/#RepairShops

They've repaired hundreds of broken gimbals. Both have ~24-hour turnaround time after receiving your Phantom.

I'm in Florida, part of the body on my P2 was smashed and the gimbal broken. I thought DJI customer service and repair was pretty responsive and quick. It was about 3 weeks turnaround time including transit time to and from.

cayers13, 3 weeks is pretty painful after I just mentioned those guys will turn it around in less than a week

Thanks guys.  I landed a long overtime shift today, hopefully I won't have to spend it all on repairs.  Really hoping it can be repaired rather than the 700 dollar replacement I've heard of.

Yep -- a brand new camera is $659:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product ... Id=ZJKUJJ6DQCU3AOWH

Ugh, hope that's not the case, as the whole assembly seems to be fine except for the warning message.

I know you said the operation was smooth but I would take a very close look at the gimbals. Make sure they move from stop to stop with no interference in all axis'. Make sure the vertical gimbal arm has clearance between the mounting plate and the top of the gimbal arm though all of it's travel. There is a set screw on the arm that will need to be loosened if there needs to be an adjustment.

Take a close look at the ribbon cable connections to make sure they are inserted evenly. Also make sure there is no dirt or debris within any of the gimbal rotation areas. You may want to consider compressed air across the rotation areas of the gimbals to insure they are clean and clear of any dirt. Make sure your lens cover is on.  If you don't have an air compressor, use a can of compressed air just don't allow the propellant to get on the gimbals.  

Last make sure there is not excessive space between the vertical and horizontal gimbal arms at the rotation point. Look at the other gimbal motor and compare the gap.

Attenuated, I already tried the air compressor.  Question about vertical arm, which I believe is the camera 'yaw' arm?  I'll check the clearance between mounting plate and top of arm.  I did not notice the set screw.  When testing gimbal, I only noticed motion in roll and pitch, not yaw.  I didn't think there was supposed to be a yaw component (other than to point the camera straight forward).  I did notice the gimbal connection point for the 'roll' component does NOT have an even gap all the way around, as the pitch component does.  I could not figure out how to adjust this gap.  Wondering if the center spindle in this component deformed the female aspect it is supposed to mate with.  If you have any idea how to adjust this, please advise, as I just received the RMA number from DJI.

Resurrecting this thread.  Just got my repaired Phantom back from DJI - Good news:  They fixed it under warranty.  Bad news:  It was a 7 week process door to door.

Even worse news:  Skimmed tree tops AGAIN (this time truly pilot error, was only flying at 65 feet, trees were about 67 feet, not good.  Crashed and bent gimbal yaw arm.

Plan on sending it to one of the repair shops PhantomHelp mentioned above.  Anybody have any experience with Drone Nerds (Miami) or the place up in Minnestota?  DJI turnaround is way too long, want somebody to repair with shorter turnaround.

Pacific Coast Hobbies in Lomita, CA might be able to help.  Their customer service is okay; they don't return phone calls and everything is retail.   So I'll probably buy from Amazon and use them when i need them.

Just got my phantom 2 back from warranty work done in Southern California. They had it for six weeks.

Nobody has gotten back to me except Drone Nerds in Miami, told me they don't have parts to replace yaw arm, and DJI won't give them any.  And they are a 'authorized repair center'.

kjkisatsky Posted at 2015-4-21 08:52
Nobody has gotten back to me except Drone Nerds in Miami, told me they don't have parts to replace y ...

Kjk,
Sorry to hear about the continued obstacle issues...
Adjust your RTH in the Assistant...it has saved me a ton!

Yup North, that's exactly what I did after the first incident.  If anything, it gives you more time to take back control from RTH too.  I wish they would have an audible alert on the RTH initiation too.  Could say, "Return to Home initiating in 5...4.....3.."  I don't think anybody is staring at their control screen when they are landing, which is why an audible warning is really needed.  The 2nd tree incident had nothing to do with RTH in any case.