I purchased a refurbished Spark th' ninking it might be better than new, presumably having been through QA twice. However I'm beginning to think once a lemon always a lemon. The following is my experience.
After repair I had trouble connecting on 1st flight attempt. DJI support assisted getting connected. On take off instead of ascending Spark flew horizontally into a fence. DJI had me re-calibrate controller, which then wouldn’t connect.
I changed controllers and was able to take off normally. However still no auto connect at 2.4 GHz.
Spark now intermittently loses connection within a few feet.
“compass error” when trying to take off (no nearby magnetic materials). Re-calibrated compass. Compass error messages persist, also loss of GPS in open area, clear sky.
While ascending after taking off altitude seems to display correctly till AC reaches 20-25 ft then indicates loss of altitude, though AC is still ascending resulting in a crash landing from ~20ft altitude (landing on soft lawn). Later Spark “returned to home” several blocks away.
Returned AC to dji a 2nd time after which they reported:
“After carrying out the damage assessment, we found Non-warranty damage. Unfortunately, damage that is not caused by a product malfunction or is out of the warranty period is not covered by DJI aftersales policy. Damage was not caused by product malfunction.”
Following this was an invoice for $329:
Item List
Aircraft Main Board
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 162.00
Total Price: 162.00
Vision System
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 31.00
Total Price: 31.00
3D Sensor System
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 36.00
Total Price: 36.00
GPS
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 14.00
Total Price: 14.00
Repair Service Fee
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 65.00
Total Price: 65.00
Tax (Ca sales tax)
15.31
Freight
0.00
Total Amount
329.87
Discount of Material
72.90
Discount of Service
19.50
Total Payment (USD$)
230.91
Spark would not connect at 2.4 GHZ in Auto channel select -> lost connection ~300-500 ft. Sent AC back to dji ( where main board was replaced (for exactly what reason I wasn’t told).After repair I had trouble connecting on 1st flight attempt. DJI support assisted getting connected. On take off instead of ascending Spark flew horizontally into a fence. DJI had me re-calibrate controller, which then wouldn’t connect.
I changed controllers and was able to take off normally. However still no auto connect at 2.4 GHz.
Spark now intermittently loses connection within a few feet.
“compass error” when trying to take off (no nearby magnetic materials). Re-calibrated compass. Compass error messages persist, also loss of GPS in open area, clear sky.
While ascending after taking off altitude seems to display correctly till AC reaches 20-25 ft then indicates loss of altitude, though AC is still ascending resulting in a crash landing from ~20ft altitude (landing on soft lawn). Later Spark “returned to home” several blocks away.
Returned AC to dji a 2nd time after which they reported:
“After carrying out the damage assessment, we found Non-warranty damage. Unfortunately, damage that is not caused by a product malfunction or is out of the warranty period is not covered by DJI aftersales policy. Damage was not caused by product malfunction.”
Following this was an invoice for $329:
Item List
Aircraft Main Board
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 162.00
Total Price: 162.00
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 31.00
Total Price: 31.00
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 36.00
Total Price: 36.00
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 14.00
Total Price: 14.00
Quantity: 1
Net Price : 65.00
Total Price: 65.00
15.31
0.00
329.87
72.90
19.50
230.91