Bought this 'Alpine White' Drone new from drones direct just over a month ago, and so far it's been nothing but a headache. Constant left camera movement and no real way of flying in a straight line for any length of time has made for an irritating ownership experience.
I've researched this thoroughly over the last week or so and it seems to be something that is inherent to some of their drones, yet so far has no fix. Bought it from Drones Direct in the UK who were quite hapy to take the money but when it came to actual support just pointed me here whilst wiping their hands down with sanitizer after completing the email.
DJI on the other hand seem to have 2 methods to deal with this, offer you a refurb as a replacement that likely has the same issue, or basically ignore the problem citing it to be 'normal'. I've read through these forums with great disgust at dji's half assed 'refurb rodeo' that some people seem to be stuck in.
Firstly i would like to say the Drone is barely over a month old, if you think im going to take some poxy refurb that possibly has seen more action than Helmand Province and more miles on it than a Vintage WW1 Sopwith Camel, as WELL as more than likely having the same issue then there must be something spiking the water at DJI HQ.
This drone and it's controller has seen more calibrations than it has flight time, it rarely ever flies in a straight line, if i go into hover mode the camera usually starts drifting left for no reason yet DJI has told some people this is 'normal'? Talk about being fobbed off, if it's so normal then why not upgrade these owners to the Mavic 2 which doesn't seem to suffer from the same issues for the most part?
Included below is a video i recorded a few days or so back highlighting the issue, you can see right at the start of the vid the camera is yawing left for no reason, and almost any time i stop for any length of time it starts to do the same thing. It should also be very obvious to note the Drone is almost always at an off angle to straight. Anytime i get it moving straight i'm almost always using the controls at an offcenter angle to try and counter the obvious shift it has.
Over to you DJI, if your only answer to this is some kind of refurb then thanks but no thanks, a month old drone should not be replaced with something second hand that in all likelyhood has the same issue.
"Bought it from Drones Direct in the UK who were quite hapy to take the money but when it came to actual support just pointed me here whilst wiping their hands down with sanitizer after completing the email. "
That I would suggest is your problem, perhaps a word with citizens rights and the consumer protection act of 2015 might change their minds.
The calibrations have been done numerous times, makes no difference to how it flies. I googled this issue and came across this thread below which doesn't inspire me with confidence. In the end he got numerous refurbished replacements over multiple exchanges all with the same issue and after these got returned he was told DJI deem "crabbing" to be normal.
Aardvark Posted at 7-26 06:12
"Bought it from Drones Direct in the UK who were quite hapy to take the money but when it came to actual support just pointed me here whilst wiping their hands down with sanitizer after completing the email. "
That I would suggest is your problem, perhaps a word with citizens rights and the consumer protection act of 2015 might change their minds.
I just emailed them again asking about this, bit of a farce after a month you have to accept refurbs with the same issue.
Gerv55 Posted at 7-26 06:27
I just emailed them again asking about this, bit of a farce after a month you have to accept refurbs with the same issue.
If you're outside the return window from the place you bought it from, then it appears that your options are to live with it or send it back to DJI for a replacement, which I realize you already stated very clearly you don't want to do.
Yes, it's almost a certainty that you will get a refurbished replacement, but the odds of that replacement having the same problem are actually pretty low; most people aren't experiencing this problem. Also, while I sympathize with your frustration over the idea of trading an almost-new drone for one that might have a bit of mileage on it, keep in mind that the warranty period is the same regardless of the age of the one you're provided.
Short of returning it, the only other thing I can suggest is to retrieve, upload, and provide a link to a DAT file as was suggested in the other thread on the off chance that there's something environmental causing this.
Usually I do the entire process of resetting the drone by using DJI Assistant 2 downgrading the firmware, then I calibrate the compass and IMU and then I try again to see if the crabbing is still present? If it is then calibrate the remote control sticks together with the calibration. If that doesn't resolve the issue then call DJI Support. Thanks!
Gerv55, shame about the problems you say you are having. Your video, I thought was good, and it looked to me that you were flying it straight, of course except for the very beginning. I have had 2 or 3 dealings with the support folks at DJI and except for two cases of too many folks sending me emails at one time, things always worked out. Give them a try. Although I have to agree, their "quality control" folks have seemed to be on long coffee breaks or just not paying attention, in some cases. Also they are still dealing with the turn-coats in their ranks.
HH1 Posted at 8-25 08:33
Gerv55, shame about the problems you say you are having. Your video, I thought was good, and it looked to me that you were flying it straight, of course except for the very beginning. I have had 2 or 3 dealings with the support folks at DJI and except for two cases of too many folks sending me emails at one time, things always worked out. Give them a try. Although I have to agree, their "quality control" folks have seemed to be on long coffee breaks or just not paying attention, in some cases. Also they are still dealing with the turn-coats in their ranks.
It was flying off kilter for almost all of the video, it was pivoted off to an odd angle. To get it even vaguely flying straight i had to more or less fight against it turning left so it was always at a weird angle when flying.
Gerv55 Posted at 8-28 08:00
It was flying off kilter for almost all of the video, it was pivoted off to an odd angle. To get it even vaguely flying straight i had to more or less fight against it turning left so it was always at a weird angle when flying.
Gerv55 , As I said I would, I took another look at your video, and keep in mind I am looking at what your camera recorded, I'm not seeing your controller video, so to me, except for the little drift to the left at the beginning, the whole video looks nice, and thanks for sharing.