Neo flyaway into a lake

[Pablodrone]

Took my Neo with me camping and using the palm dronie function it flew backwards and over the water and drowned never to be found. I sent a flyaway to dji yesterday and although I have Dji care they’re saying it will be $89 us for the replacement! This is a $199 drone with insurance. I saw other drone replacement costs less than the Neo and the Neo isn’t even listed on their replacement cost page. The replacement price of 89 is something that was given in an email.

“We found that you have the DJI Care Refresh available and upon your confirmation, I can request a quotation for the flyaway replacement fee of USD 89. The DJI Care Refresh replacement package will include the aircraft body, one battery, and propellers”

 

[Pablodrone]

Does DJI charge 50% for the replacement fee of any of their other drones if you have insurance?

 

[GFields]

I had my Air 3 replaced but don't think I had to pay anything.

 

[Kilrah]

You don't pay for crash damage, you do pay if the aircraft is not retrievable and there is no bound device controlling it that could provide logs of the event since there is then zero proof it actually happened. People could just say "it flew away" when nothing happened, keep it and receive another one for free, and of course some would.

 

[GFields]

You don't pay for crash damage, you do pay if the aircraft is not retrievable and there is no bound device controlling it that could provide logs of the event since there is then zero proof it actually happened. People could just say "it flew away" when nothing happened, keep it and receive another one for free, and of course some would.

Makes sense.

 

[NeoNeo]

The downward IR sensors do not seem to be the best. Did your Neo decide to fly away on its own? The smooth and maybe reflective surface of water is probably too much for the Neo sensors to detect. Similar fly away events when the Neo flight path gets too dark. Just a heads up when flying your replacement Neo.

Only personally know of one other DJI user. We both have passed on the aftermarket replacement programs. We both just fly and replace if we crash and trash. For both of us retrieval of a downed drone could be difficult. My friend is just into video capture and flies mostly over water. Pay up front and maybe never need or pay more if needed. Just personal choice.

 

[Pablodrone]

I launched the Neo from my palm so there was no log available. The drone took off horizontally and dropped into the water.

 

[GerdS]

In such situations the Neo usually has no GPS fix yet, so it must rely on the optical positioning system which doesn't work over water. Typical user mistake.
There is a warning within the manual for not flying over water.

 

[spacewizard]

89 for a flyaway is what I've seen mentioned elsewhere, yes.

 

[NeoNeo]

89 for a flyaway is what I've seen mentioned elsewhere, yes.

Makes sense to have a copay on fly aways. Or too many people will have "fly aways" prior to their aftermarket coverage end date.
Never have purchased after purchase warrantees on anything. Recently looked. The one year plan limits are 2 replacements but only one flyaway. $22 +$89 = $111 vs. $199 for a new kit. Basically a 50% copay if you need to use it. Wonder what the net profit is for DJI on these plans?

 

[ryguy80]

People could just say "it flew away" when nothing happened, keep it and receive another one for free, and of course some would.

I believe the original one would be locked by DJI when the replacement drone is issued to prevent this type of fraud.

 

[Erk1024]

@Pablodrone In any case, I'm sorry you lost your drone. That sucks. I think we're finding that NEO's and water don't mix.

 

[NeoNeo]

Salt water for sure. Freshwater outside of the battery you might be able to dry out the Neo if you can tear it apart to allow air flow. Prior to using a conformal coating on my non-DJI quad a few were exposed to moisture. One sat in a snowbank all winter and was found the following Spring. The Horizon Hobby Nano FPV. Only part needing replacement was the battery. Flew fine. Routinely landing or crashing the 250 sized builds into snow or when landing soaking the quad from the backwash of the melting ice/snow. No landing pad. Was a bit of a dolt. Never considered the potential consequences. FlightTest Ytube video showing the benefits of CorrosionX. Started using. Search if interested in seeing a quad fly underwater. Pre-pandemic era video.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I believe the original one would be locked by DJI when the replacement drone is issued to prevent this type of fraud.

This is my understanding as well.

 

[NeoNeo]

How does DJI lock a drone once it has been activated. Wouldn't you need WiFi connection? In the USA awhile back DJI stopped flight log tracking. Still have the DJI Fly app on the phone for software updates, but where I usually fly (my 40 or my neighbors 80) there is zilch for wifi. Leaving the home property wifi and bluetooth on the phone is off for security reasons. We don't even have 5G cellular except in town. Avata2 and Neo fly fine disconnected from the phone.

 

[Droning on and on...]

The neo is a new animal since it can be flown autonomously. Every other drone catches you eventually by requiring a relogin to your DJI account on Fly periodically.

 

[NeoNeo]

The neo is a new animal since it can be flown autonomously. Every other drone catches you eventually by requiring a relogin to your DJI account on Fly periodically.

Was unaware you needed to log into your DJI account periodically. Only other DJI platform I fly is the Avata2. Friend that flies a Mini Pro 4 noted he had issues one day. I thought that was weird. A glitch. Of course he was not close to any WiFi. Uses the built into his RC-2 "app" to log in. No DJI Fly App on his smartphone.

Last time I logged on to the account using the DJI Fly app was when activating the Neo and downloading the latest firmware for the Avata2, Goggles3 in early October. Guess I will find out if needing to log in the next Avata2 session. Haven't flown it since mid-November.

Does logging into your store.dji.com account count. I log in routinely. Hope is to find a sale price on Neo and Avata2 batteries.

 

[NeoNeo]

Bad thought just crossed my mind. If DJI is banned from the USA and if part of the ban is blocking your account access. Your DJI drones become dust collectors.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Was unaware you needed to log into your DJI account periodically. Only other DJI platform I fly is the Avata2. Friend that flies a Mini Pro 4 noted he had issues one day. I thought that was weird. A glitch. Of course he was not close to any WiFi. Uses the built into his RC-2 "app" to log in. No DJI Fly App on his smartphone.

Last time I logged on to the account using the DJI Fly app was when activating the Neo and downloading the latest firmware for the Avata2, Goggles3 in early October. Guess I will find out if needing to log in the next Avata2 session. Haven't flown it since mid-November.

Does logging into your store.dji.com account count. I log in routinely. Hope is to find a sale price on Neo and Avata2 batteries.

I forgot about the FPV line – DJI FPV, Avata 1 & 2 – I can't recall running into the login issue, as you activate with a tethered smartphone running Fly, or connected to a PC using Assistant 2.

Either way, and with all other DJI drones, you have to initially have a DJI account and log in on either Fly or Assistant 2 to activate.

I have hit the re-login state several times on Fly over the years, probably on GO4 too but we're clearing cobwebs going that far back. There's several threads on MPDC discussing it, over the years. Seems a hard to pin down security measure by DJI, but it's certain that it occurs.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Bad thought just crossed my mind. If DJI is banned from the USA and if part of the ban is blocking your account access. Your DJI drones become dust collectors.

Can't say for sure, but I expect DJI will take care of us somehow, either with a US based substitute server, or a firmware change that gets rid of any functional time-bombs within US territory... something like that.

The ban will end. Probably within a year, a few at the most. DJI wants us to buy a ton of drones when that happens, not have moved on to a competitor with a new loyalty, and animosity toward DJI.

It's very strongly in their interest to keep the existing US fleet, hobby and commercial, flying.