I now have 2 perfectly good P3A's with 2 broken controllers.
My question - are parts available and is the cost worth it to fix it myself?
Or is it better to find a good used controller?  they seem to be going for around $100 on Ebay.

Anyone had any experience with this?  Thank you, Stumpy

How did you break both rc's?
Would you consider sending them both in for repair (or replacement)?
I never heard of anyone getting a refurbished RC back.  ;-)
It may be cheaper to have DJI fix them both for you...

RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-9-30 09:57
It may be cheaper to have DJI fix them both for you...

Doubtful.  Ebay price of $100 sounds like a good deal to me.  By the time you pay the shipping and pay the DJI diagnostic fee just to look at the damn thing, you're already looking at close to $100 without even getting into the repair cost.  So I'd just go with the ebay controller.

Have you considered cannibalizing both controllers to make one functioning unit?  Of course this will only work if the same part is not broken on both.  If the same part IS broken, well whatever you're doing to those poor controllers, you might want to stop doing that.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-30 10:08
Doubtful.  Ebay price of $100 sounds like a good deal to me.  By the time you pay the shipping and pay the DJI diagnostic fee just to look at the damn thing, you're already looking at close to $100 without even getting into the repair cost.  So I'd just go with the ebay controller.

Have you considered cannibalizing both controllers to make one functioning unit?  Of course this will only work if the same part is not broken on both.  If the same part IS broken, well whatever you're doing to those poor controllers, you might want to stop doing that.

Why did they break? What happened to two RC that they need repair?

Perhaps you (he) are using a death grip, on a plastic RC...


RedHotPoker

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-30 10:08
Doubtful.  Ebay price of $100 sounds like a good deal to me.  By the time you pay the shipping and pay the DJI diagnostic fee just to look at the damn thing, you're already looking at close to $100 without even getting into the repair cost.  So I'd just go with the ebay controller.

Have you considered cannibalizing both controllers to make one functioning unit?  Of course this will only work if the same part is not broken on both.  If the same part IS broken, well whatever you're doing to those poor controllers, you might want to stop doing that.

Irate is right on.  Buy the one from ebay

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-30 10:08
Doubtful.  Ebay price of $100 sounds like a good deal to me.  By the time you pay the shipping and pay the DJI diagnostic fee just to look at the damn thing, you're already looking at close to $100 without even getting into the repair cost.  So I'd just go with the ebay controller.

Have you considered cannibalizing both controllers to make one functioning unit?  Of course this will only work if the same part is not broken on both.  If the same part IS broken, well whatever you're doing to those poor controllers, you might want to stop doing that.

Used products on ebay may be touch and go. Where are you located? If the remotes are out of the warranty area, there may be a place you can go to see about repair. Here is a link for that: http://www.dji.com/service/repair/centers

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-30 10:08
Doubtful.  Ebay price of $100 sounds like a good deal to me.  By the time you pay the shipping and pay the DJI diagnostic fee just to look at the damn thing, you're already looking at close to $100 without even getting into the repair cost.  So I'd just go with the ebay controller.

Have you considered cannibalizing both controllers to make one functioning unit?  Of course this will only work if the same part is not broken on both.  If the same part IS broken, well whatever you're doing to those poor controllers, you might want to stop doing that.

That's very funny!  I got a good laugh. I did buy one from a guy on Phantom Pilots Forum for $100, free shipping and I sent the other one into DJI to be fixed. I will probably just get a replacement back from DJI so I will see what the final cost will be.
And no, they werent the same issue at all.

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-9-30 10:15
Why did they break? What happened to two RC that they need repair?

Perhaps you (he) are using a death grip, on a plastic RC...

No, actually one froze up while downloading firrmware and just got stuck with the blue light on and would not do anything. I was even on chat with a DJI tech and we tried everything in the book, so I sent that one in to be fixed.
The other one was either a bad battery or a bad circuit board or both and I decided to just replace it.
No death grip, just rotten luck!!!

DJI-Mark Posted at 2017-9-30 14:46
Used products on ebay may be touch and go. Where are you located? If the remotes are out of the warranty area, there may be a place you can go to see about repair. Here is a link for that: http://www.dji.com/service/repair/centers

I have done business with Drone Nerds before but this time I sent one controller to DJI just to compare services. Thank you for your input!

Uncle Stumpy Posted at 2017-10-5 07:45
No, actually one froze up while downloading firrmware and just got stuck with the blue light on and would not do anything. I was even on chat with a DJI tech and we tried everything in the book, so I sent that one in to be fixed.
The other one was either a bad battery or a bad circuit board or both and I decided to just replace it.
No death grip, just rotten luck!!!

Or no luck at all!? ;-)
I have sympathy for many here who have had to go through this sort of excruciating "torture."

I like that you still have a great spirit about it. Hopefully, all will be 'as per usual' when you get back to flying. I also want to say, please enjoy your drone.  
When everything is working correctly, it can be a lot of enjoyment.


RedHotPoker

Uncle Stumpy Posted at 2017-10-5 07:41
That's very funny!  I got a good laugh. I did buy one from a guy on Phantom Pilots Forum for $100, free shipping and I sent the other one into DJI to be fixed. I will probably just get a replacement back from DJI so I will see what the final cost will be.
And no, they werent the same issue at all.

You can check for your RC serial numbers, in the app, under About.


RedHotPoker

Uncle Stumpy Posted at 2017-10-5 07:48
I have done business with Drone Nerds before but this time I sent one controller to DJI just to compare services. Thank you for your input!

Have you gotten the invoice/estimate from DJI yet?  Tell me they're not charging you $250+ in addition to a non-trivial diagnostic fee plus your shipping both ways.  I'm just curious to see what the total comes out to be.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-10-15 02:34
Have you gotten the invoice/estimate from DJI yet?  Tell me they're not charging you $250+ in addition to a non-trivial diagnostic fee plus your shipping both ways.  I'm just curious to see what the total comes out to be.

Its bad when you do a firmware update like on your rc and it renders it useless...feel sorry for some pilots going through this.