Ok not only is the problem with the Spark really frustrating but I found this forum and a similar thread with lots of people having the same problem, but no one has answered definatelivly how to fix it. I was going to post on the same thread but weird, after signing up and trying to go to that thread this site just wont let me. It doesnt come up in a search within the site either. did they close the thread because so many people are having the same problem!!? Not sure i can post a link to the thread but here goes. https://forum.dji.com/thread-114192-1-1.html

If all that fails, here is the issue, Spark takes off but will only hover a few inches from the ground then goes randomly up and down a few inches off the ground regardless of control input. Landing finally worked.

its a VPS issue
u can do manual take off with CsC

left Stick left Down while Right Stick is right down

this will arm the motors and u now push stick up to fly

I have a similar issue. Especially during take off it appears to have a hard time going up and keeps jumping down a few inches. I also recognize it sometimes during flight. When I try to gain height it struggles and keeps coming down for a bit before it eventually ascends smoothly...This issue started a for me maybe a month ago and so far I could not resolve it. Any help is appreciated.

SAADHERO Posted at 1-7 01:49
its a VPS issue
u can do manual take off with CsC

Thanks, but I have no idea what you are talking about. VPS? CSC? Trying to do manual take off does nothing, the controls do not respond other than the land button.

RJB1 Posted at 1-7 16:51
Thanks, but I have no idea what you are talking about. VPS? CSC? Trying to do manual take off does nothing, the controls do not respond other than the land button.

Vps the bottom sensors the csc is the way to take off by turning the engine on while on ground and u apply throttle to fly not the drone

to do manual take off do this
left Stick left Down while
Right Stick is right down

SAADHERO Posted at 1-7 23:01
Vps the bottom sensors the csc is the way to take off by turning the engine on while on ground and u apply throttle to fly not the drone

to do manual take off do this

OK well that wasn't the problem. I'm able to start the engines but when I push stick up to take off it just scurries around a couple of inches from the ground still going up and down and hitting the ground. Hitting the landing button eventually gets it to land and shut off.

Just a shot in the dark here ... it could be that your blades are damaged? Maybe a hairline crack that you're not seeing in the blades? Did you do an IMU calibration and a compass calibration? Also you might want to try to do a master reset to bring everything back to factory default settings I believe you have to hold power button for 9 seconds until you hear three beeps? But you can check that on YouTube very easily. If all else fails contact DJI and see what they're wonderful tech support team has to say

TheGemster18 Posted at 1-10 18:44
Just a shot in the dark here ... it could be that your blades are damaged? Maybe a hairline crack that you're not seeing in the blades? Did you do an IMU calibration and a compass calibration? Also you might want to try to do a master reset to bring everything back to factory default settings I believe you have to hold power button for 9 seconds until you hear three beeps? But you can check that on YouTube very easily. If all else fails contact DJI and see what they're wonderful tech support team has to say

haha I hope that isnt sarcasm and they really are wonderful. Ive sent them a report a few days ago but not heard anything yet. In the previous thread a lot of people were saying about the blades too, but they wernt damaged before, but since i have spares its worth a try. But you saying about the factory reset makes me wonder if i did something on the last flight when it started. Id pressed the power button trying to get it to connect to a new phone with the app and I maybe mistakenly held it  longer than i should trying to get it to go to the link config. But then again there are a lot of people in the previous thread that i linked that are having the same issue. cant see that they all did that.

Ok to add to the mystery. I live in a NFZ so i have to drive to get to a flight location. This has made it frustrating to experiment, but I just tried flying it in the house in atti mode and hand gesture seems to be working fine and the craft is taking off and landing fine. No prop change or updates since I last tried and it was hovering inches from the ground with no input from controls.

RJB1 Posted at 1-10 20:36
Ok to add to the mystery. I live in a NFZ so i have to drive to get to a flight location. This has made it frustrating to experiment, but I just tried flying it in the house in atti mode and hand gesture seems to be working fine and the craft is taking off and landing fine. No prop change or updates since I last tried and it was hovering inches from the ground with no input from controls.

try reinstalling firmware via DJi assistant on pc
and recalibrate everything and try one more time if it stays then its a defect

Ok So I downloaded the DJI assistant 2 onto my computer and plugged in the spark. Did a factory reset and then firmware refresh and that has taken care of it!

Strange that I didn't get one comment here from the admins and I didn't ever hear back from DJI when i sent in a report with my logs. Here is a video showing the iss

RJB1 Posted at 2-5 21:42
Strange that I didn't get one comment here from the admins and I didn't ever hear back from DJI when i sent in a report with my logs. Here is a video showing the iss

Spark hop

weird thing that u didnt get a reply
but good thing it got fixed by a restore

What.mode is the drone in ? Are your sensors turned off in the video ?

Proteous Posted at 2-6 00:51
What.mode is the drone in ? Are your sensors turned off in the video ?

Normal mode, sensors are on. This seems to be a common issue, there is another thread kicking around on here and a guy in Malaysia has made a video with a few people having the exact same issue and their Spark's jumping up and down the same way.

SAADHERO Posted at 2-6 00:18
weird thing that u didnt get a reply
but good thing it got fixed by a restore

Indeed and yes was so glad it seemed to fix it, but since then its done nothing but rain solid and havent have ONE chance to fly it.

SAADHERO Posted at 2-6 00:18
weird thing that u didnt get a reply
but good thing it got fixed by a restore

Indeed and yes was so glad it seemed to fix it, but since then its done nothing but rain solid and havent have ONE chance to fly it.

RJB1 Posted at 2-6 01:32
Indeed and yes was so glad it seemed to fix it, but since then its done nothing but rain solid and havent have ONE chance to fly it.

glad it seemed to be fixed
time to wait for the rain dont fly in it i did once and got a spark that was dripping wet

The IMU calibration twice and cleaning of the downward sensors fixed my problem, thanks everyone ⚡

SAADHERO Posted at 2-7 00:17
glad it seemed to be fixed
time to wait for the rain dont fly in it i did once and got a spark that was dripping wet

Well this was my first thread when this issue first started and the drone was still under a year old. Since then it's happened sporadically over and over. DJI are now outright lying and wont honour their legally required warranty. So much for this company. They are just a bunch of crooks.

RJB1 Posted at 8-16 22:43
Well this was my first thread when this issue first started and the drone was still under a year old. Since then it's happened sporadically over and over. DJI are now outright lying and wont honour their legally required warranty. So much for this company. They are just a bunch of crooks.

Yeah!! Your father was a crook too. Fucked that whore and left you to die in the street.

HoppingBug Posted at 10-8 01:34
Yeah!! Your father was a crook too. Fucked that whore and left you to die in the street.

Posts still here after they have been reported for abuse and Nilanjan118 using fake accounts. This really highlights the ethics of DJI when the admins who are employees of DJI refuse to take any action even though their own rules demand it.

JDK92 Posted at 2019-1-7 02:08
I have a similar issue. Especially during take off it appears to have a hard time going up and keeps jumping down a few inches. I also recognize it sometimes during flight. When I try to gain height it struggles and keeps coming down for a bit before it eventually ascends smoothly...This issue started a for me maybe a month ago and so far I could not resolve it. Any help is appreciated.

I can tell you what the problem is it’s the summer the spark overheats drilling two small holes above the fan will take care of the problem but once your Spohn starts jumping up and down there’s nothing you can do

RJB1 Posted at 2019-2-6 01:32
Indeed and yes was so glad it seemed to fix it, but since then its done nothing but rain solid and havent have ONE chance to fly it.

Because there’s a loose connection probably from summer overheating I recommend drilling two small holes above the fan on the outer cover also check YouTube video tour of the connection solution. I create custom covers please send your ID email address the covers are $15 plus shipping.
Getitoffthescteen@gmail.com

i am having the same problem but i fly my drone using mobile device

I have 2 sets of Propellers, (bought the 2nd set just in case) 1st set was one came with my spark it's doing perfectly fine, but this 2nd set that I bought has been making my drone bounce and is unable to take-off, so found this comment on one of the YouTube video while searching a way to fix it says "here's a way to check ur prop properly, take off the drone and holding it with ur hand(check it one by one with only one prop at a time with full thrust) , if any vibration occurs then the prop is not good." -Klyesley Taylor
Tried it and figured out that the 2nd set of props. I bought has lots of vibrations, also tried doing with 1st set of props. that came in with my spark and its super smooth.

There's no harm trying it.

Hi Im new in here just want to share my experience with the spark. I also have this kind of issue with the spark but we managed to fix it. As for us the culprit was the cold solder in the mother board and the upper shell or cover. To test if it is a cold solder causing the issue remove the upper shell and try to fly it several times. If there is no problem flying without the upper shell then it most likely the cold solder in the mother board.  The Spark cooling system design is very very bad. There is no cool air intake so when the mother board heat up it will loose the quality of the solder. The upper shell pushed down the mother board that will cause to bend and loose the connection. Applying hot air to the motherboard to fix the cold solder is very risky as its parts are very small so we come up with another solution. We removed all plastic divisions from the shell including screw plastic lock (What I mean screw plastic lock is the plastics that hold the 6 screws under the battery and the camera. So the spark has no screw locking the shell but no worries the shell and the spark body have a plastic lock also just be carefull not do damage it), rubber/foam anything that touches between the motherboard and the shell. We add four straight wholes letting the cool air in to the heat sink and our problem is solved. Hope it helps..
If you have enough budget I recommend to replace the motherboard.