3DR Support and Service.

[BillHally101]

Hi all after recently having had contact with 3DR's support I just had to put my expierience into the group here as I have read many negative comments about them and maybe that is so for some people but that was not my finding. I bought my Solo a couple of months ago whilst on holiday in the USA and brought it back to England, it's flown great for me but last week I had it come down whilst flying for what appeared to be no apparent reason. I extracted the logs for the flight and sent them to 3DR, I was lucky enough to find a great guy in support who read the logs and found that the reason for the crash was a motor pod failure. In a couple of days 3DR have diagnosed the issue and despatched me a new gimbal, motor pod and two sets of props to get me back into the air. All I do know is that this level of after sales service would never have happened with any company from the UK I am sure of that and I can only commend 3DR for their expert level of help and support that they have given me.

Bill

 

[RDA]

Wow very good! I'm still waiting 3 months to get my logs read!!! Contacted them twice via email! We're very busy, we'll get to it asap! Lol

 

[FlyGuy80]

Hi all after recently having had contact with 3DR's support I just had to put my expierience into the group here as I have read many negative comments about them and maybe that is so for some people but that was not my finding. I bought my Solo a couple of months ago whilst on holiday in the USA and brought it back to England, it's flown great for me but last week I had it come down whilst flying for what appeared to be no apparent reason. I extracted the logs for the flight and sent them to 3DR, I was lucky enough to find a great guy in support who read the logs and found that the reason for the crash was a motor pod failure. In a couple of days 3DR have diagnosed the issue and despatched me a new gimbal, motor pod and two sets of props to get me back into the air. All I do know is that this level of after sales service would never have happened with any company from the UK I am sure of that and I can only commend 3DR for their expert level of help and support that they have given me.

Bill

Nice to hear! From what I have read, the motor pods are supposedly good for up to 150 hours flight time. I have had to replace 2 motor pods in my new/primary Solo since I purchased it almost 2 months ago. The motors used on Solo from the factory are the SunnySky X2216-12 880KV II's, which are NOT the highest quality motors, but are cheap enough to replace when they go bad... I replaced the 2 motor pods that went bad on my primary Solo with 2 spare motor pods from one of my parts Solo's and all is well ... definitely a good idea to check motor temps after each flight using a laser thermometer... from my personal experience, baseline temp of the motor magneto and shaft/bearings should read between 93 and 98 degrees (F). if you start seeing temp readings consistently higher than that, it could be indication the motor has a problem and could fail soon. One project that I completed recently, was to replace all motors on one of my spare Solo's with new SunnySky X2216-12's, while reusing the old motor pod (ESC) board. this is definitely the route I will be taking once I have exhausted my supply of spare motor pods , as the SunnySky motors are cheap at $15.00/each from BuddyRC.com, compared to $40 each for a complete motor pod assembly

 

[Viper126]

Nice to hear! From what I have read, the motor pods are supposedly good for up to 150 hours flight time. I have had to replace 2 motor pods in my new/primary Solo since I purchased it almost 2 months ago. The motors used on Solo from the factory are the SunnySky X2216-12 880KV II's, which are NOT the highest quality motors, but are cheap enough to replace when they go bad... I replaced the 2 motor pods that went bad on my primary Solo with 2 spare motor pods from one of my parts Solo's and all is well ... definitely a good idea to check motor temps after each flight using a laser thermometer... from my personal experience, baseline temp of the motor magneto and shaft/bearings should read between 93 and 98 degrees (F). if you start seeing temp readings consistently higher than that, it could be indication the motor has a problem and could fail soon. One project that I completed recently, was to replace all motors on one of my spare Solo's with new SunnySky X2216-12's, while reusing the old motor pod (ESC) board. this is definitely the route I will be taking once I have exhausted my supply of spare motor pods , as the SunnySky motors are cheap at $15.00/each from BuddyRC.com, compared to $40 each for a complete motor pod assembly

This brings up a good question. The average user needs to have some indication s change is needed. Not everyone carries around a temp gauge. So how do we know one or multiple should be change out ? Is there something in Solex or tower?

 

[Maxheadspace]

Wow very good! I'm still waiting 3 months to get my logs read!!! Contacted them twice via email! We're very busy, we'll get to it asap! Lol

I only had one occasion that I needed support. I used the chat feature, and although it took a while to get through (maybe half hour?), he walked me through the fix and I was back in the air right away. I was happy with that. That was about six months ago. When folks need customer support, I always recommend the chat feature. I've heard folks fail through that route too, so I don't know it's guaranteed to get a response.

 

[FlyGuy80]

This brings up a good question. The average user needs to have some indication s change is needed. Not everyone carries around a temp gauge. So how do we know one or multiple should be change out ? Is there something in Solex or tower?

Solex does track total time flown on each motor individually, and this can be reset when an individual motor/pod has been replaced. 3DR says motors should last 150 hours. I've had 2 fail by the 10 hour mark. Could be just my luck, or the 150 hour rating 3DR solo gives the factory motors is exaggerated.

Also, turning each motor by hand, you can get a pretty good idea if there might be any issues with the motor bearings or magnets/magneto .... when turning the motors by hand, you should feel what I best know how to describe as a soft "clicky" feel as the motor turns. if the motor feels like it is dragging when turned by hand, could be bearing or magnets issue. I have heard that on the SunnySky motors, the magnets that line the motor bell housing have a tendency to detach from the wall of the bell housing... you should definitely hear and feel that when the motor is turned by hand.

Another method that some people use for testing motor pods, is to check for vibration using a vibration app on your phone, sitting the phone atop the solo battery, with the solo turned on, and running each motor thru a motor test using the Mission Planner Software on PC.

 

[FamilyFlyGuy]

I only had one occasion that I needed support. I used the chat feature, and although it took a while to get through (maybe half hour?), he walked me through the fix and I was back in the air right away. I was happy with that. That was about six months ago. When folks need customer support, I always recommend the chat feature. I've heard folks fail through that route too, so I don't know it's guaranteed to get a response.

Ditto Chat worked for me.

RDA, I'd give chat a shot if I were you

 

[Stealth]

Ditto Chat worked for me.

RDA, I'd give chat a shot if I were you

CS Chat is not working for over a month. 3DR discontinued the phone CS at the end of last year.
The only way to get CS Help is by e-mail.
I wonder when will CS e-mail end? Hope not soon as it is our last resort to get help from the OEM.

 

[BillHally101]

An update on my situation. Fedex just came to my door here in the UK and delivered the parcel from 3DR containing a new Gimal, Motor Pod and two sets of props. They even included some extra's like a Solo neck strap and a beer carrying bag and loads of stickers and manual's. This parcel was only posted in Tijuana, Mexico on the 13th barely 4 days ago! Now I will get my Solo back flying with their help. Absolutely terrific service and I am astounded as to how quick this has been sorted for me,

Very Happy

Bill

 

[FamilyFlyGuy]

CS Chat is not working for over a month. 3DR discontinued the phone CS at the end of last year.
The only way to get CS Help is by e-mail.
I wonder when will CS e-mail end? Hope not soon as it is our last resort to get help from the OEM.

I used chat last month, but it only worked during their local business hours (PST) and if someone was available atm.
Hope your can try a different time and get through.
Anyone else know if they've stopped online chat all-together?

 

[Stealth]

I used chat last month, but it only worked during their local business hours (PST) and if someone was available atm.
Hope your can try a different time and get through.
Anyone else know if they've stopped online chat all-together?

E-mailed Gio Marin from CS last month and he confirmed that 3dr discontinued the chat.