I have spent a lot of time researching DJI Repair & Refurbish, and I found that there are several repairs that they do poorly and some that they don’t offer at all.
I’m not sure how long it will be before DJI adds more services to their menu, but these are the issues we need to know about.
Disadvantages of DJI Repair: Expensive –
This one is obvious; if they did what we wanted them to do, they’d be out of a job. They have an hourly fee, so the more work it takes, the more you pay.
Incorrect Calibration – DJI’s published rates are for “Level 1” and “Level 2” repairs only, which do not include calibration. You must select a higher option to get your gimbal or ESC calibration done correctly.
Poor Repair Documentation – The DJI manuals assume that you already have all of the special tools necessary for working on your device before sending it in for repair, but if you’re like me, you don’t have a set of metric nut drivers sitting around just waiting to be used on your quadcopter (see discussion below). That means they will replace or remove the parts you need, replace them with new parts (some of which may be counterfeit), and send it back to you without documenting what they did. Oops!
Advantages of DJI Repair:
You Get a Warranty – Well, duh! But since these guys don’t actually fix anything, it doesn’t mean much.
If you want to make sure your drone is repaired correctly and comes back in working order, you’re going to have to do it yourself. Good news: There are several ways you can save money when doing your own repairs.
1.) Fix the Right Problem
This may seem obvious, but there is no point in replacing or modifying parts that aren’t broken. Before deciding on a course of action for any given repair issue , I check my flight data logs from before the problem occurred and see if they give any insight into what caused the issue.
2.) Save Money on Tools
3D printers are great for making parts like gimbal guards and camera mounts, but purchasing calibration equipment will save you even more money over time (over buying DJI’s expensive replacement parts).
3.) Make Your Own Parts
This is a big one. DJI wants you to pay a ton of money to fix a problem that you could actually fix yourself for about $30 or less, including parts! If you want to make sure your drone is repaired correctly and comes back in working order, you’re going to have to do it yourself.
There are several ways you can save money when doing your own repairs.
1.) Fix the Right Problem
Not only did this explanation get me closer to the root of the problem, but it also saved me time & money by not replacing parts that weren’t broken. Had I just replaced the bearings without checking to see if another part was actually at fault, I would have wasted both time and money unnecessarily!
2.) Save Money on Tools Another big one. DJI wants you to pay a ton of money for replacement parts – but even if they’re genuine DJI parts, you can often save yourself some cash by buying other off-brand replacements instead.
3.) Make Your Own Parts This is a big one. A lot of repair issues are caused by construction hardware issues, which means you could fix your device yourself with construction tools instead of having to send it off for professional repairs. Not only that, you could then use data from construction efforts as part of your troubleshooting process.
Bottom line: DJI repair is quick and easy, but pricey. If you’re willing to fix your own construction drones instead of paying for professional repairs, you could save hundreds of dollars every year!
The construction drone space is currently one of the most exciting things happening in consumer robotics right now. It allows people without any special construction experience to build robots many times more powerful than their cost would suggest . Having access to construction tools like these has given me the power to create all kinds of unique projects that I wrote about on this blog, including my favorite mobile construction robot contest entry ever!
