DJI Spark

[irvine]

Hello all recently I hit branches of a tree damaging the gimbal. Rest of the drone us fine. When turning the drone on the gimbal takes on a mind of its on and goes haywire.

Also the sensor goes off all the time even if I am not near any object. Contacting a few repair companies I have been quoted £280 to £300. I only paid £300 for my Spark.

Any genius out there that may be able to help me and fix it. Willing to offer a £100 or should I cut my losses and buy a new one. I also own a mavic platinum. Please try and help me out. Regards Irvine Portsmouth UK

 

[PhantomFandom]

Hello,

I see your post hasn't been answered yet so I will give it a stab. I have repaired Phantom 3 and 4 drones but have not repaired a Spark. Typically when it comes to Phantom repairs I always look at the value proposition of doing so. For instance I repaired the IMU on a Phantom 4 by replacing the main controller board in the drone. The part cost me $100 and it was just a matter of the time it took me to do the repair. Since a Phantom 4 is at least $1,000 new, it made sense. I will look very carefully at the situation if the repair starts to exceed 50% of the full value.

With a Spark, I can't see how anything more than $100 to maybe $150 would make sense to repair unless you knew going in that nothing else was wrong. In your case it seems that not only is the gimbal broken but you also have issues with the forward facing obstacle avoidance sensors. That means that it could end up costing you even more once they open it up. So if you can get a new one for 300 pounds, I would take that route. Also you have a perfectly good controller so you can purchase the Spark by itself without the controller. You also end up getting another brand new battery in the deal. Personally I would buy a new one in your situation.

 

[Andre Levite]

Hello,

I see your post hasn't been answered yet so I will give it a stab. I have repaired Phantom 3 and 4 drones but have not repaired a Spark. Typically when it comes to Phantom repairs I always look at the value proposition of doing so. For instance I repaired the IMU on a Phantom 4 by replacing the main controller board in the drone. The part cost me $100 and it was just a matter of the time it took me to do the repair. Since a Phantom 4 is at least $1,000 new, it made sense. I will look very carefully at the situation if the repair starts to exceed 50% of the full value.

With a Spark, I can't see how anything more than $100 to maybe $150 would make sense to repair unless you knew going in that nothing else was wrong. In your case it seems that not only is the gimbal broken but you also have issues with the forward facing obstacle avoidance sensors. That means that it could end up costing you even more once they open it up. So if you can get a new one for 300 pounds, I would take that route. Also you have a perfectly good controller so you can purchase the Spark by itself without the controller. You also end up getting another brand new battery in the deal. Personally I would buy a new one in your situation.

First let me express that I am sorry to hear what happened!

The Spark is pretty tough but when it does break the repair is often too difficult for the average consumer or so expensive that it is "totalled". That is why I implore you to consider DJI Care if you do get a new drone.

It's not enough to just be careful and cautious -- there are plenty of things that can still cause a crash that are out of your control. I paid my first repair or of pocket but now I have DJI Care for all my drones "just in case".