DJI S-1000 Warning

[jjon667]

Dear DJI and Future Customers of the S-1000


Here is a warning. We recently purchased a DJI S-1000 with folding booms as a feature. The RED PLASTIC BOOM LOCKS are FAULTY. The snap. These parts are made from cheap styrene plastic. Not only to they snap in the air but they can snap on landing. We now have a 15K boat anchor. We have sent emails to DJI with no response. Being here in Los Angeles we took the next course of action. We wen to the service center in which we were greeted with angst and shock and 100% wait 200% lack of service. The rep looked like he ust rolled out of bed and could not be bothered and told me they don't stock ANY PARTS and that I needed to send the entire S-1000 back to CHINA. Really? He asked who sent you , who gave you an RMA. We have a 2500 job this week that needs to be canceled because DJI sells faulty " Professional Gear" We have 40 yrs in RC and have never had such a poor experience. The rep was not even remotely willing to help. My next plan after this is to show up at NAB with rig in hand for everybody to see. Dealers , production companies , distributors and the list can go on. PLEASE see attached photos. BE ADVISED if these boom locks snap in flight you will end up with a catastrophic disaster and if you injure somebody lawsuits , loss of wages. DO NOT buy this product until there are parts readily available. Yes there are 4 spares in the box because I am sure DJI is aware of the problem. They are all broken. View attachment 17387View attachment 17388

 

[ZAxis]

Thanks for the heads up.
We have had out s1000 up and running now for a few weeks and it that time it has been operated in +27degrees and carried down and entire mountain daily for a week with the booms constantly folded and unfolded for shots.
Then went onto another shot in the arctic circle where it was operated at -12Degrees and transported via dog sled, snowmobile and foot over a week with constent operation.
I was weary of the folding booms but the jobs wouldn't have been possible without this quick fold down system. I was also worried about the cold weather affecting the plastic clips but from my experiences they held up very well to the weeks of abuse i gave them. Im not disputing the problem you are having jon but giving a balanced view that not all of them are faulty. I was very particular about checking them as I know DJI's previous history of beta testing on customers.
Sorry to hear of your experiences with it & I hope you get it resolved soon.
Lec

 

[SoCal Blur]

It doesn't seem very wise to use plastic for such a high stress point. I would have thought they were made of billet aluminum. In the intrim, perhaps you can find someone that can makes some out of aluminum for you. It would probably take less time and $$ to get that done then find a permanent solution from DJI.

 

[ZAxis]

I do agree that to have them made out of billet aluminum would certainly make them look the part and reduce the chance of on site faliures. Maybe someone should produce them quickly as I'd defiantly be interested in a set even just for the piece of mind.
Lec

 

[jjon667]

yes it is a very very bad situation. The WILL break, yes they will. Prob with alum is that would will not be able to snap them over the tab on the knuckle. They need to be high impact abs glass reenforced. Z, in those weather conditions they will freeze and snap at any time. The plastic fatigues. I may be going to NAB with the rig an plopping the boat anchor on the table. No as you know the rig flys really well other wise. All of the spare have broken as well.

 

[SoCal Blur]

Do they actually snap shut or do you rotate the locks over aluminum tab on end of the boom when the boom is extended. For the pictures, it seems that is how it would work but not having actually seen one, its just a guess.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Thanks for the heads up.
We have had out s1000 up and running now for a few weeks and it that time it has been operated in +27degrees and carried down and entire mountain daily for a week with the booms constantly folded and unfolded for shots.
Then went onto another shot in the arctic circle where it was operated at -12Degrees and transported via dog sled, snowmobile and foot over a week with constent operation.
I was weary of the folding booms but the jobs wouldn't have been possible without this quick fold down system. I was also worried about the cold weather affecting the plastic clips but from my experiences they held up very well to the weeks of abuse i gave them. Im not disputing the problem you are having jon but giving a balanced view that not all of them are faulty. I was very particular about checking them as I know DJI's previous history of beta testing on customers.
Sorry to hear of your experiences with it & I hope you get it resolved soon.
Lec

Couldn't let that one go uncommented! What an awesome shoot Lec!

 

[ZAxis]

Thanks Ben. They both were great shoots but i was really trying to get across that i have hammered my s1000 in various climates and locations in the 3 weeks I've had the thing and I haven't had any issues with the clips despite the abuse and operation. I do keep an eye on them as they are the main failure point but to me the folding props are more a cause for concern as discussed in a previous thread about the motor mounts wearing out due to vibrations.
have to wait until November for the winter film though!
Lec

 

[jjon667]

SO cal….the clips pivot into place and snap lock over the alum knuckle on the end of the boom. problem is the material will fatigue quickly but you never know when. They break in the same location. yes I have flown with out issue until the clips break. We have not had any crashes but now we have a boat anchor.

 

[deluge2]

I believe one of the distinguishing features of the so-called 'Premium' edition s1000 kits is that the arm locks are anodized aluminum. So using this material is not just a theoretical possibility. Presumably the first units used CNC aluminum parts before, the injection molded parts became readily available. It will be interesting to see how widespread this problem is and whether/how DJI responds. And perhaps who will offer 3-D printed locks that are even more suspect than DJI's plastic ones may be...

Steve

I do agree that to have them made out of billet aluminum would certainly make them look the part and reduce the chance of on site faliures. Maybe someone should produce them quickly as I'd defiantly be interested in a set even just for the piece of mind.
Lec

 

[jjon667]

DJI IS NOT RESPONDING at all. if you could see the DI office in Los Angeles you would be shocked at its state of disarray and the lack for experienced service. They send product back to China and there is NO support in North America. No 3d printed blocks is not the solution as they would not be cost effective or strong enough. They can not be made from Alum as you would not be able to slide the lock over the tabs on the end of the boom. They need to be made of high impact re-enforced ABS. The Premium only has a few machined parts. Not the boom locks.

 

[stevemaller]

I was shocked when I saw how flimsy these locking parts are. Here’s a video showing how they work. And the fact that they’re RED doesn’t make them any stronger. Just more bling-y, which seems to be a design priority. Too bad bling doesn’t fly.

 

[SoCal Blur]

I was shocked when I saw how flimsy these locking parts are. Here’s a video showing how they work. And the fact that they’re RED doesn’t make them any stronger. Just more bling-y, which seems to be a design priority. Too bad bling doesn’t fly.

Where's the "snapping" into place part? It looks like it just rotates into position. If that's true, they certainly could be made of billet aluminum or something similar.

 

[jjon667]

They do snap into place its the vertical play that fatigues them

 

[Chadfish]

I'm just checking in to follow the progress on this issue as it comes. I'm wondering jjon667, did you buy your s1000 direct from DJI, or do you have a dealer here in the US you went through? I'm almost ready to buy an S1000 from TroyBuilt, and I would think they could get parts quicker than going direct to DJI. I'm pissed this came up, but I'm glad to know about it now rather than being surprised in the field. It seems odd that you have broken all of yours and nobody else has.

 

[Tahoe Ed]

I just assembled 6 S1000's for NAB. I personally think that it is one of the best engineered craft that DJI has produced. I would rather have an inexpensive part fail in a crash or "hard landing". That saves the more expensive parts, the arms etc from damage. We have many guys that are flying these with no issues. There was one instance of incorrect production tolerances on a arm and that has been referred to DJI for replacement.

 

[Tahoe Ed]

They do snap into place its the vertical play that fatigues them

Think about the mechanics of how the forces from the motors and arms interact with the attachment point of the arm and I think you will find that this may not be correct.

 

[Bartman]

it looks to me like those red parts only hold the arms in place until you start the motors and then the arms being held up by lift leaving the red pieces with no load on them at all. if the arm isn't going to the fully up position as the red pieces are being forced into position then maybe they'd break but forcing anything into position isn't good practice so if they break it's not really a design flaw.

what am i missing?

 

[gmahan3]

the arms being held up by lift leaving the red pieces with no load on them

Makes logical sense.

 

[Chadfish]

Hey jjon667 can you post video you were shooting when you hard landed? It would be interesting to see how hard you came down to break the pieces.