[size=14.6667px]Yesterday, I dropped my mavic controller face down from about a 3 foot height, on a wooden floor. It flew (seemingly) fine right after that. However, by the next time I turned the controller on, there was a "stick err...re-ctr stck". I opened the screen to calibrate the controller, and it turned out the left stick was offset by 15 while centered, and would only go to 93 when I pushed it to the bottom left. I ended up recalibrating the controller, and when I did so, the stick error went away, and the app claimed the calibration was a success. I even flew the drone after that to make sure (The drone was a tad bit shaky, but that's possibly attributed to the powerful 18 mph winds of that day). However, when I reopened the calibration screen, it still claimed the stick was offset. That raised a few questions:

What's the science behind the "controller calibration"? Why did it still claim the stick was offset on the calibration screen despite the "stick err" message going away on the controller's screen, and the "successful calibration" orginally? Is my stick likely still damaged in any way, and if so, is it likely to cause future issues?


Any answers would be greatly appreciated...especially from a DJI representative.

The RC sticks are quite fragile and I believe they are magnetised so knocking them can cause issues - dropping the RC onto a wooden floor from 3' has probably knocked out the alignment of the magnets. When you calibrate you are realigning the direction of the yaw, pitch, roll and throttle to millimetre precision. A minor variance is fine but 15% out will probably lead to drifting issues or at least the drone not flying perfectly straight following your inputs during flight.
The only solution is to calibrate in an area away from metal objects/magnetic interference and only calibrate when the app advises to do so or you get RC errors. Ultimately, you could buy another RC but $300 is $300. RC's are not covered by DJI care refresh and as you accidentally damaged it by dropping it then the warranty won't cover it as not a manufacturer defect. You could raise a ticket with DJI support and at best hope they offer you a discount on a replacement - if you need one that is.

A CW Posted at 2018-1-6 15:00
The RC sticks are quite fragile and I believe they are magnetised so knocking them can cause issues - dropping the RC onto a wooden floor from 3' has probably knocked out the alignment of the magnets. When you calibrate you are realigning the direction of the yaw, pitch, roll and throttle to millimetre precision. A minor variance is fine but 15% out will probably lead to drifting issues or at least the drone not flying perfectly straight following your inputs during flight.
The only solution is to calibrate in an area away from metal objects/magnetic interference and only calibrate when the app advises to do so or you get RC errors. Ultimately, you could buy another RC but $300 is $300. RC's are not covered by DJI care refresh and as you accidentally damaged it by dropping it then the warranty won't cover it as not a manufacturer defect. You could raise a ticket with DJI support and at best hope they offer you a discount on a replacement - if you need one that is.

The confusion is, it no longer gives me a stick error, and it no longer beeps. Even in the app, right before I hit calibrate, it now gives me "0%". However, if I were to act like I were going to re-calibrate it, and hit the "calibrate" button, it would change it's answer to "15%" on the left stick again.

So the question wasn't "How to repair the controller?", it was more like "Is the controller broken?", as the two screens give me two very different answers. I was thinking it was a bug on the apps part.

djiuser_OnW1HTs Posted at 2018-1-6 15:57
The confusion is, it no longer gives me a stick error, and it no longer beeps. Even in the app, right before I hit calibrate, it now gives me "0%". However, if I were to act like I were going to re-calibrate it, and hit the "calibrate" button, it would change it's answer to "15%" on the left stick again.

So the question wasn't "How to repair the controller?", it was more like "Is the controller broken?", as the two screens give me two very different answers. I was thinking it was a bug on the apps part.

I see - perhaps you should PM DJI Thor on here. This sounds like a hardware issue to me - the calibration should realign the 15% margin so when you go back into the calibration sequence it should show 0% or close to it. The fact it still states 15% is odd but the fact you can still fly with no warning pop ups now does also show there is no real concern. It's a hard one to call without seeing the RC. If it were me I would email Thor and return it to be checked over by DJI - thats the safest option. BTW - the RC display always shows 0% before tapping calibrate.

A CW Posted at 2018-1-6 16:08
I see - perhaps you should PM DJI Thor on here. This sounds like a hardware issue to me - the calibration should realign the 15% margin so when you go back into the calibration sequence it should show 0% or close to it. The fact it still states 15% is odd but the fact you can still fly with no warning pop ups now does also show there is no real concern. It's a hard one to call without seeing the RC. If it were me I would email Thor and return it to be checked over by DJI - thats the safest option. BTW - the RC display always shows 0% before tapping calibrate.

This is interesting!  I've been having the same issue. My controller left stick on one of my Mavics would always show 5 to 9% out of calibration to the left after touching calibrate. The Mavic would also very slowly rotate left in hover and turn in forward flight.  After spending some time online and on the phone with DJI they requested I send it back for repair. (It was not dropped or treated rough ever.). I sent it back to DJI and in about two weeks I received a different controller (refurb). I paired it with the Mavic and went into stick calibration. As soon as I touched the calibrate button the left stick jumped from 0% to 5%. After calibrating, just as with the original, the sticks would read 0 - 0 but as soon as I touch calibrate it jumps back up to between 5 and 8% out to the left on the left stick. Almost the same exact error that I was getting before. My other Mavic (newer) always reads 0 - 0 before calibration and after touching the cal button. I don't know what is causing this but the bird seems to fly OK without rotating in hover or turning left in forward flight. Although the Mavic flys right I sure would like to know what is occurring.

SkyForceDrone Posted at 2018-1-6 21:00
This is interesting!  I've been having the same issue. My controller left stick on one of my Mavics would always show 5 to 9% out of calibration to the left after touching calibrate. The Mavic would also very slowly rotate left in hover and turn in forward flight.  After spending some time online and on the phone with DJI they requested I send it back for repair. (It was not dropped or treated rough ever.). I sent it back to DJI and in about two weeks I received a different controller (refurb). I paired it with the Mavic and went into stick calibration. As soon as I touched the calibrate button the left stick jumped from 0% to 5%. After calibrating, just as with the original, the sticks would read 0 - 0 but as soon as I touch calibrate it jumps back up to between 5 and 8% out to the left on the left stick. Almost the same exact error that I was getting before. My other Mavic (newer) always reads 0 - 0 before calibration and after touching the cal button. I don't know what is causing this but the bird seems to fly OK without rotating in hover or turning left in forward flight. Although the Mavic flys right I sure would like to know what is occurring.

It is basically a very, very minor alignment issue - a 5% variance is like 1-2MM out - you won't notice it in flight so don't worry about. 15% is more of a concern.

A CW Posted at 2018-1-6 16:08
I see - perhaps you should PM DJI Thor on here. This sounds like a hardware issue to me - the calibration should realign the 15% margin so when you go back into the calibration sequence it should show 0% or close to it. The fact it still states 15% is odd but the fact you can still fly with no warning pop ups now does also show there is no real concern. It's a hard one to call without seeing the RC. If it were me I would email Thor and return it to be checked over by DJI - thats the safest option. BTW - the RC display always shows 0% before tapping calibrate.

Some issues with taking it back:

1. I bought it from best buy, not DJI (not even an authorized dealer)
2. DJI customer service will probably keep the controller (probably no issues anyway) for months on end

Guess I'll just have to hope for the best. However, I did PM Thor, and hopefully he has some insight on why the app shows two different answers.

djiuser_OnW1HTs Posted at 2018-1-7 10:17
Some issues with taking it back:

1. I bought it from best buy, not DJI (not even an authorized dealer)

Cool - will be interesting to know what he says. Keep us updated and hope you get it sorted soon.

djiuser_OnW1HTs Posted at 2018-1-7 10:17
Some issues with taking it back:

1. I bought it from best buy, not DJI (not even an authorized dealer)

Best Buy is an authorized dealer according to DJI's website.

For this case, I also think it is the physical damage which causes the error. Please send it back and we will help to take care of it. We have been doing the best to improve the speed of the repair, if you send it back, our engineers will diagnose and make a damage assessment when we receive the RC. Please click here to apply an online repair: https://repair.dji.com/en/SelfRepair/Area. Thanks.

A CW Posted at 2018-1-7 00:38
It is basically a very, very minor alignment issue - a 5% variance is like 1-2MM out - you won't notice it in flight so don't worry about. 15% is more of a concern.

Thing is, he does notice it in flight... It rotates left during hover,  and turns in forward flight. Of course, it could also be an faulty Mavic Pro, just like mine. Compass calibration, IMU calibration, Gimbal calibration and Controller stick calibration were all successful on my out of the box, brand new  Mavic Pro, but it turned left during hover, and drifted right while flying "straight". After struggling with this problem  every flight for the 10 days I kept it, I finally returned it to DJI. I'm still waiting for the exchange. See the main thread here.

Strange thing is, my Osmo, and those of many others, also rotates left. This seems to be a fairly large problem with DJI gimbals of different types.

Jyunte Posted at 2018-1-8 01:12
Thing is, he does notice it in flight... It rotates left during hover,  and turns in forward flight. Of course, it could also be an faulty Mavic Pro, just like mine. Compass calibration, IMU calibration, Gimbal calibration and Controller stick calibration were all successful on my out of the box, brand new  Mavic Pro, but it turned left during hover, and drifted right while flying "straight". After struggling with this problem  every flight for the 10 days I kept it, I finally returned it to DJI. I'm still waiting for the exchange. See the main thread here.

Strange thing is, my Osmo, and those of many others, also rotates left. This seems to be a fairly large problem with DJI gimbals of different types.

I appreciate that but the topic here is specifically RC stick alignment issues which DJI Thor now has in hand.

DJI Thor Posted at 2018-1-8 00:27
For this case, I also think it is the physical damage which causes the error. Please send it back and we will help to take care of it. We have been doing the best to improve the speed of the repair, if you send it back, our engineers will diagnose and make a damage assessment when we receive the RC. Please click here to apply an online repair: https://repair.dji.com/en/SelfRepair/Area. Thanks.

Even though I bought it from best buy?

Kevin_d Posted at 2018-1-7 10:47
Best Buy is an authorized dealer according to DJI's website.

Oh         

DJI Thor Posted at 2018-1-8 00:27
For this case, I also think it is the physical damage which causes the error. Please send it back and we will help to take care of it. We have been doing the best to improve the speed of the repair, if you send it back, our engineers will diagnose and make a damage assessment when we receive the RC. Please click here to apply an online repair: https://repair.dji.com/en/SelfRepair/Area. Thanks.

Can you clarify more on which part of the controller is damaged, and provides the misreading? Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to be able to turn the controller in to DJI just yet, due to external circumstances. Assuming my controller doesn't suffer that much damage? It does still fly the drone.

djiuser_OnW1HTs Posted at 2018-1-8 09:30
Can you clarify more on which part of the controller is damaged, and provides the misreading? Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to be able to turn the controller in to DJI just yet, due to external circumstances. Assuming my controller doesn't suffer that much damage? It does still fly the drone.

Since I don't have your RC in hand, I am not able to provide you with more info. And to ensure the full function of the drone and RC, I recommend sending it back. Thank you so much.

DJI Thor Posted at 2018-1-8 23:24
Since I don't have your RC in hand, I am not able to provide you with more info. And to ensure the full function of the drone and RC, I recommend sending it back. Thank you so much.

Currently considering sending it into dronenerds next week for repair. Thanks for the assistance.