Faulty Phantom 4 from DickSmith

Lmaddy1 on 05/10/2016 - 17:26

Hello,

I have faced an issue with a Phantom 4 I recently purchased and just seeking your input on that.

I got a Phantom 4 from DickSmith last Friday and it flew alright, had the tilted horizon problem but it was somewhat corrected after an IMU calibration. Today, the gimbal stopped working and the camera tilt isn't working either. I did another IMU calibration with no joy.

My question is, can this be considered as a DOA issue? Because it stopped working after 4 days and I didn't fly it a lot either. There weren't any crashes.

Thanks a lot!

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Comments

  • hell0 on 05/10/2016 - 17:40
    -2

    I'm not too sure to be honest, let's see some answers below!

    • maddy1 on 05/10/2016 - 17:42

      I'm not sure either, I bought it from Ebay and paid through PayPal if that helps?

    • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2016 - 17:43
      +4

      Amazing input, thanks for the comment.

      • PVA on 05/10/2016 - 22:51
        +2

        I agree, but yours ( and mine) are not much better 😀

        • hell0 on 05/10/2016 - 23:03

          Sorry, it's just that I have alerts when somebody uses my name and always respond… The post started with 'Hello'

  • hell0 on 05/10/2016 - 17:43
    +1

    Ok, did you take off the foam from the gimbal? It's a white foam block that stops the gimbal from movement during shipping although cnsidering you had a horizon issue I dare say you have done that… However, I would just say it didn't work at all and go through DJI support so that you come back to Dick Smith with the right info.

    • maddy1 on 05/10/2016 - 17:50

      I did take that off and the plastic cover as well. Camera stays tilted and from what I can understand, it should be an issue with the motors in the gimbal. I do think it's reasonable for the gimbal to fail with wear and tear (say in 1-2yrs) but if it failed in three days (with only around 3 flights without accidents), I would think there's a problem with that and can be considered as DOA, but I'm not too sure.

  • altomic on 05/10/2016 - 17:52
    +1

    what did DSE say when you contacted them?

    • maddy1 on 05/10/2016 - 18:04

      they didn't get back to me yet. I contacted them through ebay saying the gimbal stopped working. It seems that you can assume this as a DOA according to several forum posts I found in internet, however I'm not quite sure.

  • maddy1 on 05/10/2016 - 22:43

    Update: It works now but the gimbal becomes very slow to adjust at times, this is starting to worry me too much.

    • Duff5000 on 06/10/2016 - 00:18

      Tell them you want it swapped over. Or just start a return request saying you want a full refund or exchange as the unit arrived faulty.

      • maddy1 on 06/10/2016 - 10:10

        I told them I want a refund because it was faulty within few days of arrival, what I'm not sure is what is considered as DOA

        • hell0 on 06/10/2016 - 11:16

          When I used to work in Myer selling PC's it was 30 days.

        • maddy1 on 06/10/2016 - 13:51

          @hell0: That sounds reasonable, I think it should at least be 7 days if not 14 days or 30 days. When you pay 2000+ for something, isn't it wrong to expect it to work at least a week properly without breaking?

        • Duff5000 on 06/10/2016 - 16:32

          Did you downvote me for replying to you? What is wrong with people around here?

          what I'm not sure is what is considered as DOA

          There is no official legal "DOA" period. You are entitled to a refund whether it works the day it arrived or not.

          Some business may say something faulty within a week is "dead on arrival" some may say a month. It doesnt matter what they call it, it is faulty and you want your money back. If it doesnt work as advertised then you are entitled to a refund, if they want to call that DOA or not is essentially meaningless.

        • maddy1 on 06/10/2016 - 19:45
          +2

          @Duff5000: Hi, thanks mate for the clarification and I didn't downvote you, I think your comment was constructive :)

  • maddy1 on 06/10/2016 - 13:53

    Update 2: DickSmith didn't reply me on ebay yet so I called them and told them the issue I have, they said their technician will call me but that hasn't happened. I also sent an email to ebay asking about their money back guarantee which seems to be my easiest choice.

  • maddy1 on 07/10/2016 - 20:36

    Update 3: DickSmith replied today after calling them and asking for prompt response. They suggest that they'll give me a postage-paid label for return and when they get the drone, they'll inspect it and if they don't find a fault, costs will be involved which I'm assuming return postage. What I'm concerned about is that this issue seems to be intermittent and in the off chance that it doesn't show up when they check it, I'll get the faulty drone back and will have to pay postage as well ending up at a worse situation than I started with. I have recorded the issues I have (photos+video) and sent them through ebay so Ebay can see that on record.

    This is the pic of the tilted gimbal - http://imgur.com/a/66QUL

    It sometimes goes away after an IMU calibration but returns mid-flight or randomly when using the drone. I can't figure out what triggers the tilt, not like I'm doing any crazy movements either. I'm worried that DickSmith guys will test the drone on a good day and figure out that there's no problem and try to pin it on me. Any suggestions or things I should be aware of?

    • maddy1 on 07/10/2016 - 20:48

      @Duff5000: and @hell0: and @altomic: anything I should watch out for? Thanks in advance guys, appreciate it.

      • Duff5000 on 17/10/2016 - 13:42

        Weird, didn't get a notification from being tagged.

        Just tell them it is intermittent. If you are worried just put a vid on youtube and send the link in with it.
        From my experience suppliers rarely check reported problems and even less so if the problem is reported as intermittent. It isnt worth their time.

        If they got it back and found obvious issues that were caused by a user (like hair stuck in a moving part ect) then they will charge you.

  • hell0 on 08/10/2016 - 01:00

    You know the best bet to make sure it is DOA is to get in contact with DJI and see if they can confirm that the item is DOA. Once they do this simply include a copy of their statement together with the Phantom. Also, print out your and write down what has gone wrong with the product since purchase… Include this all with the Phantom.

    • maddy1 on 08/10/2016 - 09:05

      thanks mate, that makes sense.

  • maddy1 on 06/11/2016 - 12:12
    +1

    took a long time but finally got the refund for my Phantom 4.

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