Repair, Sell as is, or Part out?

[John]

I have an Inspire 1 Model 600 system for which I'm looking for recommendations on what to do with it. It has had 3 crashes:
- January 2015 - covered by warranty;
- July 2015 - crashed into a tree; was fine; just needed new X3 camera;
- November 2016 - crashed into a tree; gimbal & camera knocked off. Needs a couple of cables, a re-heating and reshaping of a landing leg, and new gimbal. Pics attached.

- The whole system consists of:
- Aircraft body (1) - needs a couple of cables & reshaping of one leg; is stuck in landing mode & does not change to flying position for fitting into case; don't know if putting a new camera on it will resolve the issue.
- Remote controllers (2); one of which has never been used & still has its plastic film on
- Camera with gimbal (1) - needs new gimbal
- Propeller set - 1st quick release version (1)
- TB47 battery (1) - 40 charges
- Battery charger (1)
- ND filter (1)
- Manual pack (1)
- Power cable (1)
- Remote controller charing cable (1)
- Micro USB cables (2)
- Harness (1)
- Camera / gimbal box (1)
- Carrying case (1)

What are your thoughts?
1) Replace camera & gimbal; replace the 2 gimbal cables; use hair dryer to reshape landing gear? (Guessing less than $500 in cost if landing gear does not need replacing)
2) Sell whole system as is? What is the fair market value these days? If so, on which website, user group, or Facebook group?
3) Part it out, i.e. sell parts? Which parts? What are their fair market values? If so, on which website, user group, or Facebook group?

 

[Advexure]

@John - Are you still looking to use this Inspire 1 if you were to repair it? Your decision should depend on what your needs are. There is still a pretty good market for used Inspire 1 units but if you go the route to repair and then sell just make sure you're doing high quality repairs. Selling the unit with the potential for further issues could put you into trouble with the buyer so be real diligent about repairs.

Here on the IP forum as well owners groups on FB there are units being sold all of the time. I would first recommend listing it in the classifieds here on the forum. You'll be able to research past listings and come up with what you believe would be a fair market value as you know the condition of the unit best.

I would not recommend parting the unit out. Keep things easy for yourself.

 

[DStew]

I'm in the same boat pondering do I repair my Inspire 1V2 or buy a new bird. A tree limb got me and it fell 20 feet onto grass but both the R side took the impact and the arm didn't break, just the receiver fitting it goes into broke. And my X3 camera gimbal snapped off (eBay here I come.) BTW I think a snapped off X3 is Gods way of telling you he wants you to get the X5, but that's just me. Looks like the smaller R side arm lifter/adjuster thing pushed the piece in the center off center as well. Dunno.
So do I repair it (and where) or do I replace it? I am leaning heavily towards repair. I am not interested in the I2 just yet as I have 4 fairly new TB48's and love the Inspire 1.
I read good reviews of the SLC Utah repair place and may just send it there and cross my fingers.
Cheers,

 

[Jason Boucher]

I have an Inspire 1 Model 600 system for which I'm looking for recommendations on what to do with it. It has had 3 crashes:
- January 2015 - covered by warranty;
- July 2015 - crashed into a tree; was fine; just needed new X3 camera;
- November 2016 - crashed into a tree; gimbal & camera knocked off. Needs a couple of cables, a re-heating and reshaping of a landing leg, and new gimbal. Pics attached.

- The whole system consists of:
- Aircraft body (1) - needs a couple of cables & reshaping of one leg; is stuck in landing mode & does not change to flying position for fitting into case; don't know if putting a new camera on it will resolve the issue.
- Remote controllers (2); one of which has never been used & still has its plastic film on
- Camera with gimbal (1) - needs new gimbal
- Propeller set - 1st quick release version (1)
- TB47 battery (1) - 40 charges
- Battery charger (1)
- ND filter (1)
- Manual pack (1)
- Power cable (1)
- Remote controller charing cable (1)
- Micro USB cables (2)
- Harness (1)
- Camera / gimbal box (1)
- Carrying case (1)

What are your thoughts?
1) Replace camera & gimbal; replace the 2 gimbal cables; use hair dryer to reshape landing gear? (Guessing less than $500 in cost if landing gear does not need replacing)
2) Sell whole system as is? What is the fair market value these days? If so, on which website, user group, or Facebook group?
3) Part it out, i.e. sell parts? Which parts? What are their fair market values? If so, on which website, user group, or Facebook group?

The repair option is a good way to go but spend the extra money to get it done right. Instead of trying to heat up the landing gear foot I would replace it. They are not very expensive. As far as the camera / gimbal goes. It usually sells as one unit, and they usually sell from $250 to $500 used on E-Bay depending on how good of a deal you get.

If you want to get rid of it and sell it. Your best bet is to part it out.. You will get a lot more money for it parted out then you would by fixing it and selling it.

But this is just my opinion.

 

[John]

I'm in the same boat pondering do I repair my Inspire 1V2 or buy a new bird. A tree limb got me and it fell 20 feet onto grass but both the R side took the impact and the arm didn't break, just the receiver fitting it goes into broke. And my X3 camera gimbal snapped off (eBay here I come.) BTW I think a snapped off X3 is Gods way of telling you he wants you to get the X5, but that's just me. Looks like the smaller R side arm lifter/adjuster thing pushed the piece in the center off center as well. Dunno.
So do I repair it (and where) or do I replace it? I am leaning heavily towards repair. I am not interested in the I2 just yet as I have 4 fairly new TB48's and love the Inspire 1.
I read good reviews of the SLC Utah repair place and may just send it there and cross my fingers.
Cheers,

I went the repair route. The X3 camera is en route back from DJI repair, costing $173 with a TAT< 1 week; the $4 ribbon cable purchased from DJI arrived in a week; & used a hairdryer to reform landing gear and super glue to re-secure the landing gear piston. May sell the system down the road but for now, it will serve as my back up UAS & use it specifically for mapping. I've found that using an X5 for mapping with Drone Deploy, Map Pilot, or SkyCatch makes for a more complicated work flow in the field as one needs to use the DJI Go app 1st to set ideal aperture and focus (even in AF mode).