TB48 - disaster time

[ChrisRL]

Greetings!
Chris here, bought a couple used TB48's from someone local and they're both bricks.
Did the dji dance and to sum it up, because shipping of LiPos is restricted (they must not ship with FedEx), if your 47 or 48 is older than 6 months (mine were) then they're out of warranty and the only option is to buy new.
If it's under warranty they will send a replacement for free.
No repair or diagnosis possibilities. No re-cell possibilities. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but isn't that illegal? I thought any US vendor needed to keep parts for the items it sells available for at least 5 years after that part has been discontinued. Or is that law not applicable here? I'm pretty upset - I thought I'd be spending some money to get the batteries re-celled, but this is ridiculous.
I actually live not too far from the dji tech center and was able to get someone on the line pretty quickly, but it was really like talking to a brick wall. The person was clearly reading a script an didn't know the first thing about what she was talking about. Very frustrating.
Anyway, I'm hanging onto mine until someone figures out a way to get around this problem. I mean, most of us R/C people came from building their own, and a move like this from an older company like dji seems to be what it is - a great big slap on the face, because they know their customer base, and have no excuse for this.
Rant could continue all day long but you get my drift!

 

[IrishSights]

Greetings!
Chris here, bought a couple used TB48's from someone local and they're both bricks.
Did the dji dance and to sum it up, because shipping of LiPos is restricted (they must not ship with FedEx), if your 47 or 48 is older than 6 months (mine were) then they're out of warranty and the only option is to buy new.
If it's under warranty they will send a replacement for free.
No repair or diagnosis possibilities. No re-cell possibilities. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but isn't that illegal? I thought any US vendor needed to keep parts for the items it sells available for at least 5 years after that part has been discontinued. Or is that law not applicable here? I'm pretty upset - I thought I'd be spending some money to get the batteries re-celled, but this is ridiculous.
I actually live not too far from the dji tech center and was able to get someone on the line pretty quickly, but it was really like talking to a brick wall. The person was clearly reading a script an didn't know the first thing about what she was talking about. Very frustrating.
Anyway, I'm hanging onto mine until someone figures out a way to get around this problem. I mean, most of us R/C people came from building their own, and a move like this from an older company like dji seems to be what it is - a great big slap on the face, because they know their customer base, and have no excuse for this.
Rant could continue all day long but you get my drift!

Hi Chris, Batteries are the one thing I would never ever buy 2nd hand, just asking for trouble imo. You have no proof of original purchase, so you took a chance and it didn't work out. No manufacturer is obliged to replace or repair anything outside of warranty. Your rant is a little wispy to be honest. Having said that there are folks on here have had out of warranty batteries replaced by DJI but they had a purchase audit trail and the DJI 'wind' was blowing in their direction.

PFAW Holder
BNUC-S Qualified

 

[Kilrah]

I thought any US vendor needed to keep parts for the items it sells available for at least 5 years after that part has been discontinued. Or is that law not applicable here? I'm pretty upset - I thought I'd be spending some money to get the batteries re-celled, but this is ridiculous.

The "part" is the entire battery.

You should contact the seller, it's his problem. If the batteries are toast it's becasue he did something wrong with them.

 

[ChrisRL]

Contacted the seller, thank you. I'm very sad to see this part of the industry falling foul of the current business practices of disposable electronics. This is like saying "build your own model aircraft but you have to buy only new, from us and under warranty." No more repair, just replace. Brainless, and not what DIY hobbying was meant to be.
Yes, caveat emptor etc. But people, this is not a car.

 

[ChrisRL]

The "part" is the entire battery.

You should contact the seller, it's his problem. If the batteries are toast it's becasue he did something wrong with them.

Kilrah, thanks for your message. I've contacted the seller, let's see what he says!

Hmm... let's see. If BMW said to you "this car is a single part number", would you necessarily believe them? It's obvious to anybody at all who has dealt with RC that the "single part" battery is built of shell, logic board, cells, buttons, LEDs. If an LED went out, then one then has to replace the entire battery, because dji says it's one part? As in "my headlight on the BMW just blew. Have to replace the car, because BMW says it's one part".... Hmmm...

 

[USsUASDriver]

I feel your pain - having acquired what looked like good used batteries and then needing to replace 2 of them. I can totally understand the post on "avoid used batteries" (unless you know their history really well).

It might be nice if manufacturers offered battery components, but the battery assemblies don't look like they are designed for easy end-user maintenance. And not unusual - most electronic devices (laptops, cameras, phones, etc) seem to treat the battery as a single, non-repairable unit.

I hope the seller can make good if they misrepresented the batteries. Good luck.

 

[Richard in ky]

There is a way to reset your battery by taking the top off, but I don't have the procedure, it is simple and on the internet.
There was a video at one time. One of the new firmware's caused a lot of people's batteries to be bricked whether they were New or old. I had one that was bricked with just a few flights on it luckily they replaced it.

 

[Kilrah]

Hmm... let's see. If BMW said to you "this car is a single part number", would you necessarily believe them?

No, but it's not the case here, that would be "the Inspire including battery, remote and everything in the case is a single part number".

It's just that with today's complexity and manufacturing techniques the size and value of parts has increased since many are not practically repairable at the component level.
If BMW have to repair your car they will not open a faulty engine ECU to troubleshoot, try to find the component that failed and repair it, they will swap the whole ECU "Part".
Same on the inspire, they would repair your machine by swapping the camera, the flight controller, the Lightbridge unit, the battery... but would not repair those parts themselves.

The cells on a battery make for 95% of the value of the battery "part", so it's pointless to replace them. Would cost more in labour, stocking spares, developing procedures etc than swapping the whole battery.

It may go too far in some cases (e.g. the Parrot Disco wing, where basically all the functionality that is usually split into about 6 components is integrated into one big $700 block, meaning that the failure of one means replacement of the whole brick), but we're far from it with DJI stuff.

 

[licensed pilot]

The only thing keeping that beautiful and expensive bird up in the sky is the battery, do you really want to cut corners on batteries?

 

[ChrisRL]

Thanks for your comment I have 5 others in good condition, that's not the point here. The point is that I'm perfectly able to fix these batteries myself, given the correct spare parts. And that's what dji is preventing me from doing. I'd like to think that was down to other than business management practices, but I know the prices of new Li-ion cells, unfortunately, and so do the rest of us who care to look. And yes, I do realize that we're on the bleeding edge of Mark 1 technology, and probably the Inspire 2's power system will be a vast improvement. However, at this point in time, here we sit, and I'm just venting because there are better solutions available to both dji (don't get me wrong, I love my dji!) and ourselves that might be better pursued, that's all.

Best
C

 

[Mad_angler1]

The only thing keeping that beautiful and expensive bird up in the sky is the battery, do you really want to cut corners on batteries?

I know I struggle to comprehend this part

So the Op bought used Batteries with completely unknown history then complains that DJI don't supply parts for something that's a massive fire hazard and requires specialist tools and training to repair.

Sorry but wow.

Now where do I complain that I can't buy individual pixels for my TV ?

 

[ChrisRL]

Individual pixels for your TV is going a little far, angler. However, if your TV stopped working and you knew that it was the power supply unit because you have a degree in electronics and have been fixing things like that since you were a kid, plus the supplier was somebody like Heathkit who used to sell kits and parts for home builders (flame wheel anybody?) and now tells you outright that the TV is now one piece, non-replaceable, wouldn't you be a little upset too? Wow indeed.

 

[Mad_angler1]

Individual pixels for your TV is going a little far, angler. However, if your TV stopped working and you knew that it was the power supply unit because you have a degree in electronics and have been fixing things like that since you were a kid, plus the supplier was somebody like Heathkit who used to sell kits and parts for home builders (flame wheel anybody?) and now tells you outright that the TV is now one piece, non-replaceable, wouldn't you be a little upset too? Wow indeed.

Are you seriously telling me you expect DJI to ship individual Lipo cells ? Show me where ANY manufacture supplies cells for their lipo batteries.

I am also an electromechanical engineer who has been fixing and building stuff since I was 5, I have worked in IT, AV and other industry's as well as Radio and TV, yet I don't expect a lipo cell to be available.

 

[The Editor]

Thanks for your comment I have 5 others in good condition, that's not the point here. The point is that I'm perfectly able to fix these batteries myself, given the correct spare parts. And that's what dji is preventing me from doing. I'd like to think that was down to other than business management practices, but I know the prices of new Li-ion cells, unfortunately, and so do the rest of us who care to look. And yes, I do realize that we're on the bleeding edge of Mark 1 technology, and probably the Inspire 2's power system will be a vast improvement. However, at this point in time, here we sit, and I'm just venting because there are better solutions available to both dji (don't get me wrong, I love my dji!) and ourselves that might be better pursued, that's all.

Best
C

Here ya go.... knock yourself out.
However, bare in mind the cells used in the Inspire Packs are HV Lipos so do not top out at 4.2v.
Anyway.....get your soldering iron out and go for it if you can find similar dimension cells!
3.7V, 1,000-5,000mAh Li-polymer battery

 

[Adelberg aerial imaging]

Long ago I sourced the lipo cells in China. The cells are about 9.00 each and it's a difficult job to replace them

 

[Adelberg aerial imaging]

Really not cost offective

 

[InspiredOne]

Really not cost offective

"Offective" I like that!

Is that a hybrid word?

 

[JimJ]

I will never buy used again. A low charge cycle is not a good thing. These batteries need to be cycled regularly to keep them working. I bought a battery off here and it was junk. I got it to charge by bypassing the circuit board but it was so dead that it has 3 damaged cells. The guy I bought it from wont even reply to me. The 10c discharge output is really pretty weak. I wish Maxamps would provide a better solution. A 100c output would really make these birds perform. I have the new battery adaptor and mounting board coming so I can easily add extra batteries with a higher c rating. Should see a difference.

 

[heygeorge]

Wow! I wouldn't open a LIPO battery unless you really know what you're doing. I race Fast Electric RC boats and batteries are always the weakest link. They will explode if you're not careful and they can start fires that are impossible to put out (They will continue to burn in a bucket full of water). Older batteries will "puff" with use and I have no idea how I would remove a puffed battery from an inspire. If you use them regularly, I would dispose of them after six months.

 

[Ftolino]

I've seen defective one's on eBay for sale with one bad cell for around 20$ . The simple fact is people don't or just simply don't care to be bothered by putting a couple brain cells together an fixing there own **** . Kinda like having a spare tire in there car an waiting for 5 hours for triple A to come do it for them.