Spark Just Dropped Out Of The Sky!

ed gonzalez · Oct 10, 2017

RCnerd said:
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Well, it JUST happened!...

I was trying to get some sunset shots by my house. I was hovering about 50’ off the ground... got my shots, flipped it into sport mode to just play around a bit before going inside... pushed the stick forward, flew around in a circle, then let off the stick, it pitched back as if to ‘brake’ and... it blacked out and dropped like a stone 50’ to the pavement! Battery separated from drone and broke on impact, motor case broke apart on the leg that impacted and that same leg cracked away from the main body. It’s too late to talk to DJI via chat, so I will have to anxiously wait until tomorrow morning. Not happy at all! I just hope this doesn’t count toward my DJI Refresh, cause I did nothing wrong, it just shut off and dropped like a brick!! Battery still had better than 90%, I had just taken off and grabbed one still shot!

DJI Spark f/w ver. 01.00.0600

**i tested it just for a minute, in a safe environment of course... it powered up, hovered 4ft AGL normally, but I will of course not fly it anymore due to the obvious damage to the body. I am impressed that with the damage it took, it still powered and “flew”, though I’m sure more intense flight would cause further failures...[

ed gonzalez · Oct 10, 2017

This has happened to me and DJI did not honor the refresh plan. Mine fell into the lake and it was right after switching to sport mode. There are hundreds of people complaining of this and DJI refuses to acknowledge the problem. When I sent them the logs and video they said it was inconclusive. They are afraid of a big recall like GOPRO had on their drones, it caused a big drop in their stock price. DJI takes no responsibility for their defective products. Forget the possibility of this dropping on some ones head and hurting them.

notime · Oct 10, 2017

ed gonzalez said:
This has happened to me and DJI did not honor the refresh plan. Mine fell into the lake and it was right after switching to sport mode. There are hundreds of people complaining of this and DJI refuses to acknowledge the problem. When I sent them the logs and video they said it was inconclusive. They are afraid of a big recall like GOPRO had on their drones, it caused a big drop in their stock price. DJI takes no responsibility for their defective products. Forget the possibility of this dropping on some ones head and hurting them.

They are supposed to replace it with the refresh plan no matter if you intentionally fly it into a brick wall.

notime · Oct 10, 2017

Did it stop so fast that it changed its angle far enough to stop the motors?

RCnerd · Oct 10, 2017

ed gonzalez said:
This has happened to me and DJI did not honor the refresh plan. Mine fell into the lake and it was right after switching to sport mode. There are hundreds of people complaining of this and DJI refuses to acknowledge the problem. When I sent them the logs and video they said it was inconclusive. They are afraid of a big recall like GOPRO had on their drones, it caused a big drop in their stock price. DJI takes no responsibility for their defective products. Forget the possibility of this dropping on some ones head and hurting them.

That is concerning since the care refresh should cover no matter what...

RCnerd · Oct 10, 2017

notime said:
Did it stop so fast that it changed its angle far enough to stop the motors?

No, it did pitch sharply though... but not so sharply that it should’ve turned off... when I did that while holding it, I had to tilt it to just about 90deg of level

msinger · Oct 10, 2017

notime said:
They are supposed to replace it with the refresh plan no matter if you intentionally fly it into a brick wall.

Water loss and deliberate damage are actually two things DJI Care Refresh does not cover.

RCnerd · Oct 10, 2017

msinger said:
Water loss and deliberate damage are actually two things DJI Care Refresh does not cover.

View attachment 1584

So I take it to mean that if it tanks in the lake, you have to recover it first and send it back (ALL the pieces) to get a replacement?

msinger · Oct 10, 2017

RCnerd said:
So I take it to mean that if it tanks in the lake, you have to recover it first and send it back (ALL the pieces) to get a replacement?

You got it.

RCnerd · Oct 10, 2017

msinger said:
You got it.

That would stink if it did get lost, but I can understand that as far as preventing fraud...

RCnerd · Oct 10, 2017

Well, I have contacted

RCnerd said:
View attachment 1569 View attachment 1570 View attachment 1571 View attachment 1572

Well, it JUST happened!...

I was trying to get some sunset shots by my house. I was hovering about 50’ off the ground... got my shots, flipped it into sport mode to just play around a bit before going inside... pushed the stick forward, flew around in a circle, then let off the stick, it pitched back as if to ‘brake’ and... it blacked out and dropped like a stone 50’ to the pavement! Battery separated from drone and broke on impact, motor case broke apart on the leg that impacted and that same leg cracked away from the main body. It’s too late to talk to DJI via chat, so I will have to anxiously wait until tomorrow morning. Not happy at all! I just hope this doesn’t count toward my DJI Refresh, cause I did nothing wrong, it just shut off and dropped like a brick!! Battery still had better than 90%, I had just taken off and grabbed one still shot!

DJI Spark f/w ver. 01.00.0600

**i tested it just for a minute, in a safe environment of course... it powered up, hovered 4ft AGL normally, but I will of course not fly it anymore due to the obvious damage to the body. I am impressed that with the damage it took, it still powered and “flew”, though I’m sure more intense flight would cause further failures...

well, I have contacted customer support and ended up filing an online repair request... time will tell if they fix it outside of my care refresh (I hope so)

notime · Oct 10, 2017

RCnerd said:
Well, I have contacted

well, I have contacted customer support and ended up filing an online repair request... time will tell if they fix it outside of my care refresh (I hope so)

Basically care refresh covers almost nothing. Is just another way to collect more money for nothing.

WayneMHK · Oct 10, 2017

notime said:
Basically care refresh covers almost nothing. Is just another way to collect more money for nothing.

Really? I've read multiple stories from folks who say "thank goodness I had Refresh". I'm certainly glad I do.

notime · Dec 9, 2017

WayneMHK said:
Really? I've read multiple stories from folks who say "thank goodness I had Refresh". I'm certainly glad I do.

Try reading the multiple posts where they did not honor refresh. Can't cherry pick to fit your personal ideals.

ed gonzalez said:
This has happened to me and DJI did not honor the refresh plan. Mine fell into the lake and it was right after switching to sport mode. There are hundreds of people complaining of this and DJI refuses to acknowledge the problem. When I sent them the logs and video they said it was inconclusive. They are afraid of a big recall like GOPRO had on their drones, it caused a big drop in their stock price. DJI takes no responsibility for their defective products. Forget the possibility of this dropping on some ones head and hurting them.

RCnerd · Dec 9, 2017

Update on my case...

So care refresh didn’t matter for me... they fixed it under warranty. No charge and no ding against my 2 allowed replacements (with deductible) under care refresh... they didn’t fix it, they sent me a whole new unit! Only problem, I sent them my battery since the case cracked and they never sent the replacement - the shipping confirmation had it listed in the contents, but it wasn’t in the box! New case open to fix THAT issue, but it is on the way now(I think)...

hamtonp · Dec 11, 2017

In regards to RCNerd problem of motor cut out in sport mode, it happened to me too. Lucky for me, I only did it at low altitude in my backyard. First happened late at night. I waited another day to record an actual video of it happening. This video is also cross posted in the DJI Forum. I wanted to see what the mods would say.

Video:

John Car · Dec 12, 2017

I would never trust the phone app or use of gestures. Get a controller for backup just in case the app crashes.

John Car · Dec 12, 2017

hamtonp said:
In regards to RCNerd problem of motor cut out in sport mode, it happened to me too. Lucky for me, I only did it at low altitude in my backyard. First happened late at night. I waited another day to record an actual video of it happening. This video is also cross posted in the DJI Forum. I wanted to see what the mods would say.

Video:

Do the battery click test. Make sure the battery is secured and does not slide back.

Blue Baron · Dec 17, 2017

hamtonp said:
In regards to RCNerd problem of motor cut out in sport mode, it happened to me too. Lucky for me, I only did it at low altitude in my backyard. First happened late at night. I waited another day to record an actual video of it happening. This video is also cross posted in the DJI Forum. I wanted to see what the mods would say

Looking at the video, I see a chance that the craft tilted enough (when bracking) to trigger the auto shut off on tilt feature (stopped when flipped over). Maybe, a 45 degree tilt is all it needs ...

Nathan Swenson · Dec 18, 2017

Blue Baron said:
Looking at the video, I see a chance that the craft tilted enough (when bracking) to trigger the auto shut off on tilt feature (stopped when flipped over). Maybe, a 45 degree tilt is all it needs ...

I doubt it, I have 60 degree tilt enabled and maximum acceleration. Not seeing any issues. I did turn active braking down to 85.