Hello Spark owners! This is my first post on this forum and I just wanted to share the issue that I'm expriencing with my DJI Spark and my horrible experience with DJI customer service. Any comments, opinions or advise are all welcome and appreciated. @ 10/25/17- I contacted DJI Support due my DJI Spark, on sport mode, shuts down and crashes mid flight without any high velocity wind or any obstruction. How would you guys feel if this same issue happens when the drone is at least half a mile out and 300 feet above the ground? I noticed that everytime I try to stop the drone and turn it either left or right, the drone tilts enough to shut down and crash immediately. (here is a video if the incident: @ 1:10, you'll see the drone crashing) Preflight checks, I performed all IMU, compass and remote control calibrations. So after the first time it crashed, I thought I'd perform all the mentioned calibration again and try flying the drone on sport mode which I did. I did the second attempt and without surprise, my drone crashed again after doing the same maneuver I did the first time. This time, I'm also getting a "gimbal overload" error on DJI Go 4 app. I emailed DJI Support and here's a part of the email I received "Base on its features, Sports mode does not have safety feature for it has its full control in terms speed and disabled the sensor. However, if there's not high wind velocity where you flown your drone that would be pretty unusual. What I recommend is to observe your drone to check if there will be an issue that will occur for it landed upside down, If there is an error or issue that you observe after the landing we need to see your aircraft for repair to ensure it performance and its condition for you to enjoy the potential of your spark." I also received the UPS shipping label and was able to ship my Spark along with my remote controller.
@ 10/27/17- Repair Progress Inquiry says they received the drone
@ 10/30/17- Damages were assessed and the repair center concluded all the damages to be covered under warranty. Great news! So I called DJI Support and asked what specific repairs did they perform on my drone and I was told that they did notice the gimbal problem and that I will be receiving a new replacement drone. Another great news!
@10/31/17- I received my drone back and upon inspection of my remote control, I noticed that the left side of the controller that holds my phone was loose and wobbly which I remember not being like that before I sent it out the first time. () Really DJI? I sent my drone and remote controller to get it fixed and not get destroyed! Even after inspecting, I still went ahead and connected my controller, updated the firmware and performed all calibrations needed before flight. On my very first test flight after receiving it back from the repair center, I was still able to replicate the main issue. So after all the email going back and fort explaining the issue I'm having with my drone, it was still unresolved. So I emailed DJI Support again and told them that I'm still having the same issue. I received a reply telling me that they have created an escalated case for my unit and gave me another case number. "Thank you for raising this concern to us. I understand your frustration for having this kind of issue with your Spark. I do really want to help you to get a replacement for it or have it repaired. I have now created an escalated case for your unit and here is the case number: CAS-1*********". As soon as I received the provided shipping label, I went ahead and packed my Spark and remote control along with a form that they wanted me to fill out ( https://s3.amazonaws.com/dji-www/uploads/files/DJI+Global+Technical+Support+Form+For+End+Users+Edited.docx) and dropped it off to a nearest UPS. @11/03/17- I received an email saying that they have received the drone and that the damage assessment will be performed.
@11/06/17- I received an email telling me that they have assessed the damage, provided me a quotation for the repair which is also covered under warranty. Repair, quality assurance and shipping the drone back to me happened all on the same day. I called DJI Support again and was wondering if they would be able to tell me what did the really do to my drone to address the issue and to my surprise, DJI Support have no clue what was done to it. After our conversation went round and round several times going nowhere, I told them that I'm starting to give up with this drone and started asking about an alternative route such as possibly getting a refund straight from DJI since I won't be able to send this drone back to BestBuy or be upgraded to a Mavic Pro and pay for the price difference. Long story short, they said no. Which I already expect but I though I'd give it a shot. I also asked them what would the procedure be after several failed repair attempts. I was told that they will be escalating the problem again and i will be asked to ship the drone AGAIN!!
@11/07/17- I received the drone back from the repair facility and again, unboxed it and inspected the drone and my remote controller. I noticed that they provided me a new propeller free of charge which is nice of them BUT they did not fix the left arm phone holder on my remote controller. I haven't made any test flight after receiving it from UPS. I will update this thread after I performed another test flight.
Question for everyone: What would you guys do if you were on the same scenario? Would you consider filing a case in a small claims court? and how would you rate DJI Support from 1-10 based on your experience? from 1 being worst to 10 being excellent. Again, any advise, comments or opinions are welcome.
First of all, it's very annoying what happened to your drone. Have seen a few examples of Spark drones crashed in Sport mode when using prop protectors. I myself would not mount them in Sport mode.
Sorry to say it so frankly, but to me the problems quite much look like being caused by you. You are not supposed to calibrate everything again and again, flying in sports mode at low altitude as shown in your video is very risky too. I cannot see any damage on your RC either. But you have been extremely lucky to have received such generous DJI repair/replacement. Thus clearly 10 points for the DJI support!
If you wish so, you may upload the relevant flight logs at the following link and share them with us: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
We might be able to give you a few more hints on what might have gone wrong.
I'd be pretty upset, and would definitely be talking with a manager or supervisor, until I felt it was right. Problem is, it takes a lot of time, and you have to be very persistent. Sorry to hear you're having such an issue with your drone.
ArnodePee Posted at 2017-11-8 05:21
First of all, it's very annoying what happened to your drone. Have seen a few examples of Spark drones crashed in Sport mode when using prop protectors. I myself would not mount them in Sport mode.
What I thought, too:
Prop protectors and extrem 180° turn manoevering.
In sport, the spark is already moving bigger angles.
But with protectors, the wind resistance will rise, methinks
To me it did looked like the Spark (got) tilted mid air.
I must concur with Watchberger why all the calibrations this can be very hazardous and not something recommend by your Manual, although there does look like there was a problem causing crash, flying around like you were even though you knew you were in Atti mode is a bit careless, I think if some one was flying like you were at .5 mile distance I would call that reckless.
Regarding your bad support yes it seems there was a breakdown in communication mostly on the dji side but their offer to escalate your case seemed fair, at times like these I myself would tend to think that rather than thinking dji doesn’t care I would tend to think that better communication needs to be the way forward.
Regarding replicating, my opinion if you think it’s safe to replicate what you show in that first video just tells me your almost hoping for the same to happen.
So continuous calibrating and some crazy testing kinda tells me you don’t have much love for your spark anymore.
I also have same problem with my RC , I choose not to send it in yet because it’s not such a big deal for me, but it took me over 3 months to realize I had this problem so maybe it’s a fault,
It does seem strange that when they discovered you were going to get a replacement they would have any need to do anything with your RC.
Should you take your case to small claims court , well they replaced your Spark with a new one, and regarding RC I suppose that’s your word against theirs as to who broke it.
ArnodePee Posted at 2017-11-8 05:21
First of all, it's very annoying what happened to your drone. Have seen a few examples of Spark drones crashed in Sport mode when using prop protectors. I myself would not mount them in Sport mode.
I posted the same video I posted here on a Spark groups fb page and I was told be several people that it is most likely the prop guards that's causing it. I will perform a test flight without the prop guards and see what happens.
Look at the battery LEDs at the beginning of the video. I can only see one flashing LED left. Might well explain why it shut off in flight (this we would be able to see in the flightlog). But also S-e-ven's theory is plausible. With these extreme flight maneuvers it can well be that the Spark got into a 90° angle which automatically triggers the Motors to switch off. This would also explain the vertical position of the Spark when falling to the ground as it is visible on the video. That the gimbal gets damaged under all the described conditions is not surprising.
Wachtberger Posted at 2017-11-8 05:40
Sorry to say it so frankly, but to me the problems quite much look like being caused by you. You are not supposed to calibrate everything again and again, flying in sports mode at low altitude as shown in your video is very risky too. I cannot see any damage on your RC either. But you have been extremely lucky to have received such generous DJI repair/replacement. Thus clearly 10 points for the DJI support!
If you wish so, you may upload the relevant flight logs at the following link and share them with us: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
We might be able to give you a few more hints on what might have gone wrong.
I would agree giving them 10/10 for customer support due to them being really responsive with emails and phone calls. also for replacing my propellers for free which is really nice of them. but the fact that they failed to address the issue or at least tell me that using the prop guards while on sport mode is not advisable, at this time I cant really give them that high of a rating. anyhow, I did perform all the calibration preflight so I can rule out any out-of-calibration issue as per DJI Support's suggestion.
I shall work on that flight logs after I made some test flight later today.
ImTravis Posted at 2017-11-8 05:48
I'd be pretty upset, and would definitely be talking with a manager or supervisor, until I felt it was right. Problem is, it takes a lot of time, and you have to be very persistent. Sorry to hear you're having such an issue with your drone.
thank you! It's stressing me out a little but not to the point that i'm losing sleeping over it lol. the customer support did say that they will escalate the situation to "special attention", if ever it happens again after receiving it back from DJI repair facility.
hallmark007 Posted at 2017-11-8 07:08
I must concur with Watchberger why all the calibrations this can be very hazardous and not something recommend by your Manual, although there does look like there was a problem causing crash, flying around like you were even though you knew you were in Atti mode is a bit careless, I think if some one was flying like you were at .5 mile distance I would call that reckless.
Regarding your bad support yes it seems there was a breakdown in communication mostly on the dji side but their offer to escalate your case seemed fair, at times like these I myself would tend to think that rather than thinking dji doesn’t care I would tend to think that better communication needs to be the way forward.
I haven't flown my drone that far away from me yet. but i was just giving a sample scenario that if ever that I decide to fly it at least half a mile out, I'd be really scared due to the said issue of my drone crashing.
Customer support is great in terms of responding to my emails, repair requests and being considerate that they replaced my propellers even though it is not covered under warranty. But if we're talking about customer support via phone, I think they need to improve their representative's knowledge about their product and better connection with their repair facility.
On the video I posted, I did anticipate my drone crashing and that is the main reason why I was flying that low. I'd have to admit that I am losing interest with my Spark due to the fact that I was flying it within OEM specs with OEM accessories and without modifying/hacking any parameters, and still crashes.
I do love my Spark. I get compliments from my friends and other people that see me flying it. I'm still hoping they would be able to fix the issue/glitch on their product.
I will be keeping in touch with them regarding my remote and keep you guys posted. Filing this to small claims court would be the last resort and give them couple more chances to address the problem.
I suspect the motor controllers shut off because the motor current hits a limit.
Maybe the spark developers never tried doing a fast turn with the extra 39g weight of the prop guards.
Did you share the videos with the DJI support team that you have shared here? It is possible that the end technician may not have understood 100% what the problems were. With the videos, I think it would help them to be more clear.
In regards to the crashing behavior, I slowed down your YouTube video to a speed of 0.25 and you can clearly see at 1:11 in the video that your Spark is getting to a 90 degree angle. I would guess this trips its sensors and kills the motors. I agree with the others that this behavior is very likely to do with having the prop guards on while flying in Sport Mode. Do you know if they analyzed your logs? I would have guessed it would have shown what we can see in the video.
For your loose arm on your RC, I bet about 5-15 mins with a small hex head and a flat screwdriver (for prying the face off) and you would probably be able to fix it yourself. I'm guessing there is probably a video out there for either the Mavic or Spark that shows how to get into the RC. I agree that it is frustrating they didn't fix it when you sent it in, but I bet with a bit of ingenuity you could resolve it relatively quickly. If you do send it in again, make sure to share the video with them so they know exactly what you want fixed.
DJI Raptor Posted at 2017-11-8 08:16
I posted the same video I posted here on a Spark groups fb page and I was told be several people that it is most likely the prop guards that's causing it. I will perform a test flight without the prop guards and see what happens.
In my eyes, the prop guards doing in your 180° full speed turns in sport about the same as the DRS in Formula 1 car races before corners: They are rising the windresistance and give you closer turnradius. With bigger lean angles: Tilt! The failsafety worked, methinks.
I can even assume that DJI is understanding this. But unless there is a hint in the manual "no prop guards in sport mode", and you and your Spark are in the US, replacing is there best option! ;-)
Anuvis Posted at 2017-11-8 11:33
No they are not the prop guards i try to replicate it and it did not turn off.I would say that maybe is a problem with battery or just a faulty unit
What happens when people discover the Spark is not a race drone? Risky flying should result in the pilot being wholly responsible for the results.
Hopefully, any future software upgrades will include the drone realizing the pilot is a stick banger and then going into tripod mode. Soft soothing music starts playing over the remote's speakers.
Anuvis Posted at 2017-11-8 11:33
No they are not the prop guards i try to replicate it and it did not turn off.I would say that maybe is a problem with battery or just a faulty unit
Look at the beginning of the video. Only one battery LED left that is blinking.
Gunship9 Posted at 2017-11-8 12:00
What happens when people discover the Spark is not a race drone? Risky flying should result in the pilot being wholly responsible for the results.
Hopefully, any future software upgrades will include the drone realizing the pilot is a stick banger and then going into tripod mode. Soft soothing music starts playing over the remote's speakers.
Gunship9 Posted at 2017-11-8 12:00
What happens when people discover the Spark is not a race drone? Risky flying should result in the pilot being wholly responsible for the results.
Hopefully, any future software upgrades will include the drone realizing the pilot is a stick banger and then going into tripod mode. Soft soothing music starts playing over the remote's speakers.
Raptor, I can understand how you feel. Please tell me your case number or you can PM me so I can help you check more details and solve the problem. Sorry again for your unpleasant experience. Thanks for your support.
I think, I see 3 flashing, from left to right.
But even if, shouldn't it get into autolanding, in case of juice is running out?
I still think that the prop guards and extrem maneuvering got it tilt midair.
Look at around 45 secs, the U-turn in full speed, before.
That was just before tilt angle
And the next one was only a bit more, but too much
Actually, the vertical position is half a meter before,
just beween the green bush and the yellowgreenish one.
But not so good to display on a screenshot
Gunship9 Posted at 2017-11-8 12:00
What happens when people discover the Spark is not a race drone? Risky flying should result in the pilot being wholly responsible for the results.
Hopefully, any future software upgrades will include the drone realizing the pilot is a stick banger and then going into tripod mode. Soft soothing music starts playing over the remote's speakers.
I would really like to know, what combination of stickmoves makes this maneuver possible.
And yes, I had "flighing it like race drone" in mind, too.
Also, no offense, but using the prop guards seems to me like expecting trouble.
Or trying something new, more extrem, as before.
S-e-ven Posted at 2017-11-8 19:58
I think, I see 3 flashing, from left to right.
But even if, shouldn't it get into autolanding, in case of juice is running out?
I still think that the prop guards and extrem maneuvering got it tilt midair.
Thank you for the screenshots. In my opinion they very clearly point to the most likely reason for the shut off.
S-e-ven Posted at 2017-11-8 20:06
I would really like to know, what combination of stickmoves makes this maneuver possible.
And yes, I had "flighing it like race drone" in mind, too.
Also, no offense, but using the prop guards seems to me like expecting trouble.
There is not a stickmove to do that....he achieves that attitude continuously shaking sticks left/right while the other is in full throttle forward. By those stick inputs the pilot load every time the same and contrary forces against the aircraft axis. In poor language the pilot is stressing the aircraft. Good point that the aircraft resists more than one minute before obvious tilt. Think of a car in a straight road....go down on the speed pedal and steer rapidly from left to right after the third or forth input it would gain enough force to go upside down. My lawyer would not take this case.....
I agree that the tilt-to-turn-off is important, but I also think that extreme maneuvers shouldn't alone be able to trigger it. So maybe DJI could enable tilt to turn off only when the sticks are not being used for more than 1 second? (should be enough to always work when we grab it by hand to turn it off)
It looks like at least three LEDs are on. The blink is due to the different sampling rate between video camera and the flashing rate of the LEDs (yes they are flashing, just faster than you can see with the naked eye).
lvl.1
Second Officer
Captain
lvl.3
lvl.4
First Officer
DJI team
lvl.2
