Welcome DJI Spark Pilot!
Jump in and join our free Spark community today!
Sign up

Spark RC controller - removable sticks mod possible?

the video is here! english subs available. I hope you'll enjoy it and it will clarify any doubts


been busy lately finally check and find this, going to watch it soon, big thanks, might have some more questions down the line, hope I won't be too much of a bother.
any info for the epoxy type and size of drill bit to use?
 
Last edited:
been busy lately finally check and find this, going to watch it soon, big thanks, might have some more questions down the line, hope I won't be too much of a bother.
any info for the epoxy type and size of drill bit to use?

the epoxy used was this one I'm not sure if it's available everywhere, but I guess that any other 2-component epoxy with similar properties should work :)
as for the drill - I had few of them and started from the smallest [which eventually turned out to be perfect]. after the sticks ordered on aliexpress came to me, I measured them with caliper and because drills were dirt-cheap, I bought few sizes, can't remember them correctly and unfortunately they were from the stationary shop so I can't check the ordered sizes :( but probably were few between 3mm and 4mm [maybe something like 3.5, 3.7, 3.2 etc.]. best way is to measure the new sticks' thread, as yours can be little bit different than mine.

in mail notification I can see that you also asked btw USB port - yes, the shield was removed - it was kinda glued with thermal-paste. I was thinking to replace it, but in the end used the same paste [it looked different than paste that I had and used on computer's CPU, so I didn't wanted to mix it].
 
  • Like
Reactions: arx.aerial77
the epoxy used was this one I'm not sure if it's available everywhere, but I guess that any other 2-component epoxy with similar properties should work :)
great thx for the helpful info, gonna try to find if any of my friend have a measuring caliper or just eyeball it with a regular ruler.

IMG_20200907_184859.jpg
for the replacement sticks i got this cheap online apparently its for mavic 2.
IMG_20200907_184930.jpg
but it turns out to be smaller than the spark thumbstick
IMG_20200907_185012.jpg
i can screw it in but its loose
IMG_20200907_185038.jpg
what do you suggest, should i epoxy the hole and redrill it? or should i get a bigger stick?

IMG_20200907_185133.jpg
for the moment i just leave it as it is

by the way this is my spare remote that i got online for cheap ( something is very wrong with it, when i charge it through the micro usb port the battery got depleted instead of charged, and the back side got quite hot. the battery it self is fine I've confirmed it. which is the reason i asked about replacing the port, but the more i think about it, i think the port is not the problem. got any suggestions? I don't really know much about electronics)

anyway thanks for all the assistance so far, this has been a fun project, especially since i found out I'm not the only one who had the idea of modding the spark RC sticks to be removable.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2020-09-07-18-47-47-47_743e33170befb8303cd6da83c10dfea8.jpg
    Screenshot_2020-09-07-18-47-47-47_743e33170befb8303cd6da83c10dfea8.jpg
    385.9 KB · Views: 1
  • Like
Reactions: Spark 317
great thx for the helpful info, gonna try to find if any of my friend have a measuring caliper or just eyeball it with a regular ruler.
for the replacement sticks i got this cheap online apparently its for mavic 2.

mine were without rubbers, but I've noticed I can easily take down original rubbers and put them on new sticks :)

but it turns out to be smaller than the spark thumbstick
i can screw it in but its loose
what do you suggest, should i epoxy the hole and redrill it? or should i get a bigger stick?

it sounds like those are similar to mine - at first they seemed to fit but were too loose to be safely used. that's why I tried the epoxy way, and I think it would be the best for you also :)

by the way this is my spare remote that i got online for cheap ( something is very wrong with it, when i charge it through the micro usb port the battery got depleted instead of charged, and the back side got quite hot. the battery it self is fine I've confirmed it. which is the reason i asked about replacing the port, but the more i think about it, i think the port is not the problem. got any suggestions? I don't really know much about electronics)

well.. I'm not an expert with electronics [I mean: I like & can play with soldering iron, but mostly going step-by-step on some schematics ;) I don't "understand most electronics in real time" haha], but I'm guessing that some pin-damage can also make the battery to be drained instead of charged. maybe RC thinks that you're connecting a phone and not a charger - this can be caused because of faulty pins too I guess, as the two data pins are sometimes used to signal what device/charger is connected [Samsung phones used that to determine if you're using original charger or not. there was some "magic" combination of resistance checked on the pins AFAIR]. I can be wrong tho.

anyway thanks for all the assistance so far, this has been a fun project, especially since i found out I'm not the only one who had the idea of modding the spark RC sticks to be removable.

no problem :) I was genuinely surprised that nobody started this project earlier, so I'm happy that I'm not the only one trying now :)
 
tried the epoxy way,
there's so many variations of epoxy i just don't know which one, there's the black one, gray, yellow, clear, there's the 5 minutes set, 10 minutes set there is even the 6 hour, 12 hour and the one that set and hardened after 24 hour.... usually for boats...which one should i use?
 
there's so many variations of epoxy i just don't know which one, there's the black one, gray, yellow, clear, there's the 5 minutes set, 10 minutes set there is even the 6 hour, 12 hour and the one that set and hardened after 24 hour.... usually for boats...which one should i use?

if it helps: mine was gray in the end. one component was white-ish, other kinda dark grey. it was recommended as the stuff for cold welding of various materials, even steel, and is doing fine even in 315 degrees celsius - manufacturer's paperwork says it is good for welding engine parts, gearboxes, screws, lawnmovers and all moving parts under stress etc. o_O it has 25 minutes of being flexible for forming, then about 4-6 hours for first drying, and full rock-solid fixing after 12-15 hours. I've got also other one transparent, something for welding glass or PVC I guess but it seemed to be less stiff and durable.

generally speaking - knowing that it will be really thin layer, and even thinner/smaller threads, I was searching the strongest one that I can drill later, and that is fairly easy to use. my friend wanted to bring me some fiberglass-thing [car putty?] that is used to fix the cars' hood etc. but that would be overkill with the steps it needs to work ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: arx.aerial77
great thx for the helpful info, gonna try to find if any of my friend have a measuring caliper or just eyeball it with a regular ruler.

View attachment 13359
for the replacement sticks i got this cheap online apparently its for mavic 2.
View attachment 13360
but it turns out to be smaller than the spark thumbstick
View attachment 13361
i can screw it in but its loose
View attachment 13362
what do you suggest, should i epoxy the hole and redrill it? or should i get a bigger stick?

View attachment 13363
for the moment i just leave it as it is

by the way this is my spare remote that i got online for cheap ( something is very wrong with it, when i charge it through the micro usb port the battery got depleted instead of charged, and the back side got quite hot. the battery it self is fine I've confirmed it. which is the reason i asked about replacing the port, but the more i think about it, i think the port is not the problem. got any suggestions? I don't really know much about electronics)

anyway thanks for all the assistance so far, this has been a fun project, especially since i found out I'm not the only one who had the idea of modding the spark RC sticks to be removable.
Send it in to DJI repair. I just got my controller back and it looks brand new.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
14,593
Messages
118,799
Members
17,988
Latest member
KguaooNex