Crashed and broke arm

[Jntrees]

Hey guys,

I need my Spark repaired already after a week of owning. I hit my house doing a spiral shot and broke an arm.

What can I expect to pay from DJI? Do you think there are better options?

Thanks guys.

 

[Cody j Waldron]

How bad is it broken can u provide images?

 

[Jntrees]

How bad is it broken can u provide images?

It's cracked at the motor. I glued it but it's still moving so much that the propeller created a small divot on the shell.

 

[Spark 317]

If you don't have the refresh or don't want to pay for repairs and are good at technical repairs, you could do it yourself buy purchasing a new frame for about $25 and transfer everything over?

There's a few YouTube videos on a Spark teardown to guide you along.

 

[Jntrees]

If you don't have the refresh or don't want to pay for repairs and are good at technical repairs, you could do it yourself buy purchasing a new frame for about $25 and transfer everything over?

There's a few YouTube videos on a Spark teardown to guide you along.

Not too interested in doing it myself. There are parts to solder I believe and I've never done that.

 

[Spark 317]

Not too interested in doing it myself. There are parts to solder I believe and I've never done that.

I agree.

 

[Apache j]

I agree.

If you send it back to DJI it will be about 250 r more an all they going to do is change the frame

 

[Bob Radford]

I broke my frame clean off at the motor and repaired it with 5 ton epoxy. It is rock solid. I bought a new frame just in case the repair starts to fail, but so far there are no signs of that. I an pretty handy with repairs, but after watching that video, I am in no hurry to replace the frame.
What kind of glue did you use?

 

[KevinRussell]

This happened to me. I did not have insurance. Guess I had it less than a month...
Broke the motor clean off, wires dangling... I thought about trying to repair myself but didn't.

I opened up a service request with DJI and sent it in for repair, a place in Virginia.
They replaced the body and a set of propellers.
Fortunately the Spark has been great since.
Cost me $157 in total.

 

[Jntrees]

I broke my frame clean off at the motor and repaired it with 5 ton epoxy. It is rock solid. I bought a new frame just in case the repair starts to fail, but so far there are no signs of that. I an pretty handy with repairs, but after watching that video, I am in no hurry to replace the frame.
What kind of glue did you use?

I used the only thing that I had at the time: super glue.

 

[Jntrees]

This happened to me. I did not have insurance. Guess I had it less than a month...
Broke the motor clean off, wires dangling... I thought about trying to repair myself but didn't.

I opened up a service request with DJI and sent it in for repair, a place in Virginia.
They replaced the body and a set of propellers.
Fortunately the Spark has been great since.
Cost me $157 in total.
View attachment 5706

Ouch... That's a bit expensive. It will be an expensive lesson to learn I guess.

 

[suprPHREAK]

This happened to me. I did not have insurance. Guess I had it less than a month...
Broke the motor clean off, wires dangling... I thought about trying to repair myself but didn't.

I opened up a service request with DJI and sent it in for repair, a place in Virginia.
They replaced the body and a set of propellers.
Fortunately the Spark has been great since.
Cost me $157 in total.
View attachment 5706

Odd, DJI quoted me $91 for the same repair.

 

[KevinRussell]

Odd, DJI quoted me $91 for the same repair.

View attachment 5710

Here is my repair ticket:

 

[Spark 317]

What's with the labor rate?

1/2 hour = $30.

1 hour = $65.

 

[Jntrees]

Odd, DJI quoted me $91 for the same repair.

View attachment 5710

That's not bad. If someone on this forum did repairs for a bit cheaper, they could make some good money. I've sent mine in today so I'll be good on this repair. Maybe I'll try it myself in the future.

 

[suprPHREAK]

That's not bad. If someone on this forum did repairs for a bit cheaper, they could make some good money. I've sent mine in today so I'll be good on this repair. Maybe I'll try it myself in the future.

If you are competent at desoldering, it shouldn't be too hard.

What I noticed from mine, is all arms have 3 wires going through them, all soldered to the LED modules at the end of the arms. To replace the frame, you need to desolder all of those connections to thread the wires through the arms, then re-solder them. Careful work for sure.

 

[Jntrees]

If you are competent at desoldering, it shouldn't be too hard.

What I noticed from mine, is all arms have 3 wires going through them, all soldered to the LED modules at the end of the arms. To replace the frame, you need to desolder all of those connections to thread the wires through the arms, then re-solder them. Careful work for sure.

Definitely some research is needed. Sounds like a cool hobby actually. I'll likely try the next one.

 

[Bob Radford]

I used the only thing that I had at the time: super glue.

I suggest breaking it right off and cleaning off the superglue and use a good epoxy glue. It could save you some cash over a repair.

 

[suprPHREAK]

I suggest breaking it right off and cleaning off the superglue and use a good epoxy glue. It could save you some cash over a repair.

I have read good things about Bondic plastic weld, but I have had variable success. Back when Phantoms were cracking at the motor mounts, others swore by this stuff.