Refurbished Spark.

[Davenwolf]

My refurbished Arctic white Spark arrived today
I purchased it online from Kogan Australia last Thursday arvo and it arrived today (Tuesday Morning).
Now I'm particularly fussy when it comes to purchasing tech gear (anything for that matter) and I took a big chance of being disappointed with a refurbished unit but the Drone looks pristine. There's not a mark, scratch or fingerprint on it. The controller and batteries are the same. The packaging and all the accessories look factory packed and are also perfectly clean. Honestly I wouldn't of known except for the "Refurbished unit" sticker on the box.

So now I'm charging everything up and will read through the manuals. I've watching tons of videos so hopefully I shouldn't have any trouble setting it all up.
There's only one problem......It's Pi**ing down rain here and will be for the next week by the look of the forecast.
Here in Australia we were well due for a good soaking as most of the country is in drought ATM so I can't complain too much.

My girlfriend said she will buy me DJI Care cuz I'm such a wonderful guy

I'll update this post once the unit is up and flying but so far, superficially anyway it looks like buying a refurb is not a bad thing.

P.S. Watching batteries charge is like watch paint dry but with pretty lights.

 

[Davenwolf]

Ok Remote connected to spark and app but I can't seem to get the phone to connect only. The QR code doesn't work and adding the Spark wifi name manually doesn't seem to work.
Anyway I had a brief opportunity on my verandah to at least try taking off with the remote. All good 12 satellites at home
Spark and remote updated, Spark IMU and Compass calibrated. so I'm close to being fully set up.

 

[Marksspark]

Ok Remote connected to spark and app but I can't seem to get the phone to connect only. The QR code doesn't work and adding the Spark wifi name manually doesn't seem to work.
Anyway I had a brief opportunity on my verandah to at least try taking off with the remote. All good 12 satellites at home
Spark and remote updated, Spark IMU and Compass calibrated. so I'm close to being fully set up.

I think that in order to connect your drone to the phone only you have to delink the connection to the Drone and the controller that you have already established. I would suggest you search this on youtube as there are many videos on this. You have to press and hold the battery button while the drone is powered up for a certain number of beeps. As suggested many a youtube video on how to do this. I myself would rather fly just with the remote control but have encountered this same issue and this was the fix for it.

 

[abtocmeptb]

If you want to connect drone to phone do not power up remote. Just power up your drone.
WiFi of your drone should be visible after that in phone settings.

 

[Davenwolf]

I think that in order to connect your drone to the phone only you have to delink the connection to the Drone and the controller that you have already established. I would suggest you search this on youtube as there are many videos on this. You have to press and hold the battery button while the drone is powered up for a certain number of beeps. As suggested many a youtube video on how to do this. I myself would rather fly just with the remote control but have encountered this same issue and this was the fix for it.

Yeah thanks, I know how it's done it just doesn't want to go into discover mode. I'll try this arvo away from my home wifi and all the other interference I prolly had yesterday.
Hope the rain eases up today :/

 

[Davenwolf]

If you want to connect drone to phone do not power up remote. Just power up your drone.
WiFi of your drone should be visible after that in phone settings.

Tried that.

 

[Davenwolf]

Interestingly I have 1/2 a dozen micro-usb cables laying around the house but only one worked with the OTG adapter and that was the cable from my Tello.

 

[Davenwolf]

Update: The Spark is flying beautifully. Had beginner mode off in minutes then on to sports mode as I'm on 17 acres with most of it cleared so i can zoom around easily. Reached a height of 103m today but the rain was on it's way and the light was getting low.
I had no dropouts at all using an OTG cable and was getting around 17 satellites. Return to home landed within millimetres from the home point.
So I'm very happy with buying a Refurnished unit.
I do have to scan the QR on the remote every time I fly though.
Not a particularly good photo but next time I'll play with the manual settings when the rain isn't heading my way.

 

[JoostGT3]

My refurbished Arctic white Spark arrived today
... I took a big chance of being disappointed with a refurbished unit but the Drone looks pristine. There's not a mark, scratch or fingerprint on it. The controller and batteries are the same. The packaging and all the accessories look factory packed and are also perfectly clean. Honestly I wouldn't of known except for the "Refurbished unit" sticker on the box...

Awesome mate!
I bought my refurbished spark fly more combo recently, and have been flying for a couple of weeks with it.
After some other user's post today, I went to check my serial number and found out that it doesn't have an R in it and apparently that means that it was a brand spanking new unit! (even though the sticker on the box said it was refurbished...)
My suspicion was that they only recycle the internals and put them in new outer shells, then sell them off as refurbished, bu it might be that they were actually selling new units as being refurbished.

 

[Davenwolf]

Awesome mate!
I bought my refurbished spark fly more combo recently, and have been flying for a couple of weeks with it.
After some other user's post today, I went to check my serial number and found out that it doesn't have an R in it and apparently that means that it was a brand spanking new unit! (even though the sticker on the box said it was refurbished...)
My suspicion was that they only recycle the internals and put them in new outer shells, then sell them off as refurbished, bu it might be that they were actually selling new units as being refurbished.

Yeah mine has no R in the serial number either.

 

[Spark 317]

Being marked as previously owned or refurbished could be a good thing.

My Copilot use to work for Hewlett / Packard that delt with computer contracts with schools and business.

The client would over order, get what they need, and send the rest back without being used. They may have been opened and because of that, H/P couldn't sell them as "new" and had to resell as used / refurbished.

 

[RPL]

Buying a refurbished unit is the way to go, especially if you want the fly more package. Mine is a refurb and it performs absolutely flawless. In fact, my refurbished Spark performed better out of the box than the other (brand new) DJI models I’ve owned over the years.

 

[Kb9mnm]

I bought my "R" model almost 3 weeks ago and yes, it's like new! I got the fly more package from Drone Geeks in Florida for less than the price of a new Spark w/o the controller. Couldn't be happier!

 

[Sparky007]

I bought one of the refurbished units too and couldn’t believe how close to new it looked. I would definitely do this again to save some money on my next update !

 

[tmarez]

Hey, I bought a Refurbished Spark with the Fly More Combo.
Everything has worked perfactily. Ive been flying it for a couple months now.
Its great! I have had zero issues . I was to verry skeptical about it but the Dealer assured me it would be good,and at a great price. Have Fun ! p.s. the GO 4 app has some connectivity issues at times, so watch that.

 

[Dezskillz]

My refurbished Arctic white Spark arrived today
I purchased it online from Kogan Australia last Thursday arvo and it arrived today (Tuesday Morning).
Now I'm particularly fussy when it comes to purchasing tech gear (anything for that matter) and I took a big chance of being disappointed with a refurbished unit but the Drone looks pristine. There's not a mark, scratch or fingerprint on it. The controller and batteries are the same. The packaging and all the accessories look factory packed and are also perfectly clean. Honestly I wouldn't of known except for the "Refurbished unit" sticker on the box.

So now I'm charging everything up and will read through the manuals. I've watching tons of videos so hopefully I shouldn't have any trouble setting it all up.
There's only one problem......It's Pi**ing down rain here and will be for the next week by the look of the forecast.
Here in Australia we were well due for a good soaking as most of the country is in drought ATM so I can't complain too much.

My girlfriend said she will buy me DJI Care cuz I'm such a wonderful guy [emoji14]

I'll update this post once the unit is up and flying but so far, superficially anyway it looks like buying a refurb is not a bad thing.

P.S. Watching batteries charge is like watch paint dry but with pretty lights.

Welcome to the World of the DJI SPARK. By the way I'm a Painter so I actually do have to watch paint dry on top of watching my batteries. Lol [emoji23]