Hello everyone, I'm pretty much an amature when it comes to drones, but have been pondering getting one for some time. That said I have been impressed with what I have seen of the Mavic pro. Not only its feature, but asthetically it's very pleasing. Honestly the controller really sold me. So to the point then. I have been eyeing the Mavic Pro and came up with the idea why not build one from spare parts you can order. The primary reason for doing so for myself is that buying one outright is a bit steep for me, but building it from parts when I can afford to purchase them certainly is a far more appealing aspect. And with some serious looks at the prices and availibility of said parts I think it's veasable. So never having built a drone before much less one from spare parts is there a reason this would be impossible? From what I can tell there is some soldering required to attach the motors to the ECS board, but I am expereinced there so no worries. Any input would be greatly appreaciated and thank you in advance.

My 2 cents is save up your money and buy a whole unit. Piecing one together from the individual components can be done, but it'd be way more trouble than it's worth. Also not sure how you'd activate it afterwards (I assume one of the parts holds the serial #?). I've held off buying the MP2 until a lot of the issues are fixed and I've never had much (if any) trouble with my MP.

Paul_IA Posted at 3-6 04:19
My 2 cents is save up your money and buy a whole unit. Piecing one together from the individual components can be done, but it'd be way more trouble than it's worth. Also not sure how you'd activate it afterwards (I assume one of the parts holds the serial #?). I've held off buying the MP2 until a lot of the issues are fixed and I've never had much (if any) trouble with my MP.

Sounds advice. Oh and from examining the board on the Mavic Pro I presume the board that contains specific information for the activation would be the larger main board that has the sonic sensor and micro usb port.

So aside from just saving up and purchasing a Mavic pro doe anyone else know any reason why building one from spare parts wouldn't work?

Viperspecops  - Well . . . If you have the skills and are giving the subject some serious thought, I can see how it would be an interesting thing to do.  However, concerning the "activation process," as mentioned earlier, I wonder how that would be done?  Perhaps if you contacted someone at dji and explained that you would be doing it as a self learning project, or some other reason, they would come together with you on doing it, perhaps even incorporate some features they have been thinking on trying.  I say, best wishes for you and the project, let us know how it is going from time to time.

HH1 Posted at 3-6 11:12
Viperspecops  - Well . . . If you have the skills and are giving the subject some serious thought, I can see how it would be an interesting thing to do.  However, concerning the "activation process," as mentioned earlier, I wonder how that would be done?  Perhaps if you contacted someone at dji and explained that you would be doing it as a self learning project, or some other reason, they would come together with you on doing it, perhaps even incorporate some features they have been thinking on trying.  I say, best wishes for you and the project, let us know how it is going from time to time.

From what I have seen of the activation process all you need to do is have it connected to you phone or PC and it's activated. That said would you not be able to activate it if it were already registered with another account? I have seen sites such as Ebay and drone part supplies sell these board, but there isn't any mention there would be an issue for activation. Unless I'm missing something entirely here.

Also if can be certain that I can do this I'd be more than happy to post my progress of the build and the results of it.

I think the cost of the spare parts individually is likely to be similar to or more than just buying a fully assembled unit.  Not to mention the time and aggravation you'll have trying to assemble from scratch.

Damager Posted at 3-6 11:29
I think the cost of the spare parts individually is likely to be similar to or more than just buying a fully assembled unit.  Not to mention the time and aggravation you'll have trying to assemble from scratch.

Well I can't argue that it will be a challenge putting on together from scratch, but personally I think that makes it a fun project.

Viperspecops Posted at 3-6 11:18
From what I have seen of the activation process all you need to do is have it connected to you phone or PC and it's activated. That said would you not be able to activate it if it were already registered with another account? I have seen sites such as Ebay and drone part supplies sell these board, but there isn't any mention there would be an issue for activation. Unless I'm missing something entirely here.

Sorry to say, I do not have the knowledge to answer your question.  Best of luck.

Thank you and I appreciate the response none the less. Perhaps an Admin will chime in with an answer, who knows.

having replaced my gimble  mount, I know it would have been very challenging to do without having had an idea of the various folds in the cable and  how it was routed. I can imagine there would  be a few bits not available on the spares market. A better cheaper way but still very risky would be to buy a damaged one and repair.

Yachtsman Posted at 3-7 10:19
having replaced my gimble  mount, I know it would have been very challenging to do without having had an idea of the various folds in the cable and  how it was routed. I can imagine there would  be a few bits not available on the spares market. A better cheaper way but still very risky would be to buy a damaged one and repair.

I had considered that thought. Buying a damaged drone would provide insight in the cable management for the Mavic as well as supply some components.  I made some attempts to find an exploded diagram for the Mavic, but didn't have any luck there. I know any assistance would be appreciated

Well keeping an eye open for an ebay listing for a Mavic pro. If I'm real lucky I can snag one cheap and save myself a lot of work.

Personally I would suggest saving up and buying a drone direct from DJI. (refurbished as an idea)

As interesting as a self build would be, the complexities of putting an aircraft together is best left to the experts with the right knowledge and the right tooling in my opinion. No warranties, no second chances if you get it even slightly wrong! Imagine spending months saving for component parts, building it, taking it to the sky, and watching it soar away because you got part of the build process wrong, an incorrect torque setting, a pinched cable etc But I look forward to seeing your updates just the same.

M2Wair Posted at 3-8 08:06
Personally I would suggest saving up and buying a drone direct from DJI. (refurbished as an idea)

As interesting as a self build would be, the complexities of putting an aircraft together is best left to the experts with the right knowledge and the right tooling in my opinion. No warranties, no second chances if you get it even slightly wrong! Imagine spending months saving for component parts, building it, taking it to the sky, and watching it soar away because you got part of the build process wrong, an incorrect torque setting, a pinched cable etc But I look forward to seeing your updates just the same.

I won't deny that there is risk involved with a full self build, but that's the excitement and anticipation I do crave there. Also from what I have seen from tear down videos there are some small improvements to be made. For example the wires connecting the motors to the ESC board. I think I'll have a plug for those making any future replacement far easier, The less soldering needed to make a repair the better. Another would be the cable used connecting the camera to the gimbal board. Seems fairly exposed and lacks proper shielding, perhaps I'll add a shrink wrap there and make sure any contact surface are smoothed.  

yes it is possible but financially makes little sense to 100% build from parts. i been attempting this with mavic 2 recently.. finding cheap parts online and once i total cost up, still almost the price of new... $1000-$1300 depending where im sourcing parts how complete parts are.   mavic pro i did same thing with and in the end better to buy $800 refurbish package from dji.

my suggestion if looking for a challenge and want to save money however you can:  find a cheap crashed unit and replace what's broken on it.. if looking at mavic pro 1st gen, anything goes short of water damage, even ripped off camera you can buy whole new camera with ribbons and suspension system and brace for $200 from the right source same with all 4 arms.. get motors, quick release hubs, usually the bearings and shims and wiring for $30 -$40 each ..  

HereForTheBeer Posted at 3-8 10:35
yes it is possible but financially makes little sense to 100% build from parts. i been attempting this with mavic 2 recently.. finding cheap parts online and once i total cost up, still almost the price of new... $1000-$1300 depending where im sourcing parts how complete parts are.   mavic pro i did same thing with and in the end better to buy $800 refurbish package from dji.

my suggestion if looking for a challenge and want to save money however you can:  find a cheap crashed unit and replace what's broken on it.. if looking at mavic pro 1st gen, anything goes short of water damage, even ripped off camera you can buy whole new camera with ribbons and suspension system and brace for $200 from the right source same with all 4 arms.. get motors, quick release hubs, usually the bearings and shims and wiring for $30 -$40 each ..

Definitely not wanting to spend more to build a unit rather than buy one out right. I currently have my eye on an ebay listing for one that has a firmware update problem. With any luck I could snag that for cheap.

Viperspecops Posted at 3-8 11:12
Definitely not wanting to spend more to build a unit rather than buy one out right. I currently have my eye on an ebay listing for one that has a firmware update problem. With any luck I could snag that for cheap.

probably an easy fix, may need to use a modding tool to bypass any system checks dji firmware updates do or have it wiped with a tool.    worst case scenario may be able to find a cheap mainboard to replace in it

Well in either case I'll keep you up to date on what happens. Worst case I can't find a deal on a broken Mavic and will go down the long road of the build

My brother took a liking to some of my later DJI drones - I first started with the P1 and stuck just about every accessory DJI and Zenmuse could come up with to it. He decided to rifle through my collection of parts and victims and make his own, he's a "car guy" so I welcomed the enthusiasm. The main airframe was a MavicP which I had hacked the firmware and done a bunch of mods on and severely crashed it, so that had to be undone first and put back to an early firmware. He bought a gimbal/camera from ebay, a couple arms and esc from elsewhere on the net used.. pieced everything back together with the help of myself. Then the headaches began, first I had to be "initialized" with the serial number that was on the main board - same one that is printed on the sticker. Then I find out.. because I bought that particular MavicP in a private sale from my cousin back in Germany.. I find that I have to get hold of him to answer questions regarding the activation. He does not want to get involved because there was a lot of firmware modifications done to it. So to be quite honest.. I bought my brother a "refurbished" unit from a DJI retailer in Canada. Last year, I sent the Frankenstein MavicP back to Germany and my cousin fiddled with it and sent back a video of it flying without issue. So somehow there was no problem with him plugging in the MavicP in Germany and updating the firmwares naturally there.

I wish you good luck in this endeavor, it is not an easy task!

U

Unicks Posted at 3-9 10:52
My brother took a liking to some of my later DJI drones - I first started with the P1 and stuck just about every accessory DJI and Zenmuse could come up with to it. He decided to rifle through my collection of parts and victims and make his own, he's a "car guy" so I welcomed the enthusiasm. The main airframe was a MavicP which I had hacked the firmware and done a bunch of mods on and severely crashed it, so that had to be undone first and put back to an early firmware. He bought a gimbal/camera from ebay, a couple arms and esc from elsewhere on the net used.. pieced everything back together with the help of myself. Then the headaches began, first I had to be "initialized" with the serial number that was on the main board - same one that is printed on the sticker. Then I find out.. because I bought that particular MavicP in a private sale from my cousin back in Germany.. I find that I have to get hold of him to answer questions regarding the activation. He does not want to get involved because there was a lot of firmware modifications done to it. So to be quite honest.. I bought my brother a "refurbished" unit from a DJI retailer in Canada. Last year, I sent the Frankenstein MavicP back to Germany and my cousin fiddled with it and sent back a video of it flying without issue. So somehow there was no problem with him plugging in the MavicP in Germany and updating the firmwares naturally there.

I wish you good luck in this endeavor, it is not an easy task!

From my research I understand you're able to unlock the board in order to roll back it's firmware. Apparently the firmware is some variant of Android Kit kat that I read. I suppose I'll find out soon enough. Oh and the listing I was watching that had firmware problems really hiked up on price. So I think I may be just buying parts.