Warranty for Solo Purchased Though 6th Avenue

[jimloss]

Has anyone purchased their Solo through 6th Avenue and had any success in getting warranty repair?

I know that there has been discussion already about 3Dr authorized sellers and affect on warranty, but 6th Avenue states in their eBay add "Our products are covered by a warranty of 1-year parts and 90-days for labor." and "6AVE will provide a warranty of 1-year parts and 90-days for labor and defects for new products in any case where the manufacturer will not do so."

I purchased a backpack bundle from them in February and yesterday got the "Calibration Error" problem after startup with my third battery - had two good flights on other batteries just before this.

Does 6th Avenue really honor this warranty that they state in their ad?

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

You will not get a warranty from 3DR on that. Any warranty claim would have to be addressed through the eBay seller, who may or may not take it back.

 

[jimloss]

You will not get a warranty from 3DR on that. Any warranty claim would have to be addressed through the eBay seller, who may or may not take it back.

That's what I thought.

If it gets to be too much of a hassle dealing with them (or too costly if involved shipping) I may just repair myself. The error is “PreArm:Accelerometers not healthy”. I re-calibrated, but no change. Is there a procedure to help this? Part to replace?

Does anyone have experience dealing with 6AVE for warranty work?

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

That's not good. Are you familiar with the Tower app or Mission Planner? If so, change parameter SYSID_SW_MREV to 0 and reboot. It will restart, beep, and blink a bunch, and be done. That will reset all parameter on the pixhawk to default. You will then need to redo the level and compass calibrations. I find it unlikely this will help, but it's the one and only step you can do besides send it back. It is probably a hardware problem.

This of course is assuming you're doing the level calibration properly....

 

[jimloss]

That's not good. Are you familiar with the Tower app or Mission Planner? If so, change parameter SYSID_SW_MREV to 0 and reboot. It will restart, beep, and blink a bunch, and be done. That will reset all parameter on the pixhawk to default. You will then need to redo the level and compass calibrations. I find it unlikely this will help, but it's the one and only step you can do besides send it back. It is probably a hardware problem.

This of course is assuming you're doing the level calibration properly....

I first tried Compass and Level calibrations through the Solo app without resetting SYSID_SW_ MREV - Compass cal works, Level cal fails.

I used Tower to set SYSID_SW_MREV to 0, then was prompted through Solo app to do Compass and Level cals. Again, Solo app says that Compass cal works, but Level cal fails.

Something has definitely failed.

 

[Lon Denard]

I first tried Compass and Level calibrations through the Solo app without resetting SYSID_SW_ MREV - Compass cal works, Level cal fails.

I used Tower to set SYSID_SW_MREV to 0, then was prompted through Solo app to do Compass and Level cals. Again, Solo app says that Compass cal works, but Level cal fails.

Something has definitely failed.

Okay, you're going to laugh at me and I'm going to get a bunch of dirt but...when unit#4 did this, I literally turned it upside down and smacked it sharply on the bottom. It started working again and let me do the level calibration. I even went so far a to have it get ready to fly a few times without actually flying it. I still sent it back to 3DR though. Just a thought.

 

[jimloss]

Okay, you're going to laugh at me and I'm going to get a bunch of dirt but...when unit#4 did this, I literally turned it upside down and smacked it sharply on the bottom. It started working again and let me do the level calibration. I even went so far a to have it get ready to fly a few times without actually flying it. I still sent it back to 3DR though. Just a thought.

I am laughing because you bring to mind the post about "smacking it on its bottom".

This fix sounds similar to the one that was posted for a third party repair video of a DJI where they tear the drone open and tap the accelerometer(?) with the handle end of a screwdriver.

Depending on what my repair options end up being I might have to give it a try - I already removed the gimbal - and, by the way, found one of the damping rubbers wasn't inserted through the hole in the gimbal - the other three were - I'll probably get better video once I get the Solo back in the sky.

Whether it's relevant or not, I'm not sure, but I was flying when there were gusts that exceeded 20 mph. Twice while I had the camera rolling the Solo "twitched" right and back to level several times. Maybe the sensor get stuck during one of these rapid movements to about 45 degrees?

 

[DaveB]

It this point I can't see how you could hurt her with a smack on her a** although you could be charged with " Drone Abuse"

 

[jimloss]

Well, I searched to web to find out more on drones and accelerometers - it turns out that it is not uncommon to have them get "stuck" no matter what brand your drone might be.

The "normal" cause for this is an impact (crash). In my case I'm guessing it was the 15 mph winds with gusts in the mid-20's. Coupled with 30 mph fun flying with many quick turns and I guess one of the accelerometers got stuck.

In any case, a firm bump in the opposite direction of whatever the impact was while the drone is turned off is said to "free" the accelerometer. Since there was no impact in my case, I didn't know what direction to bump the poor Solo. I tried from the right with no luck. I tried from the left with no luck. Then I did as Lon suggested, a firm smack on it's bottom - IT WORKED!

IF ANYONE ELSE IS GOING TO TRY THIS, REMOVE YOUR GIMBAL (AS I DID) BEFORE SMACKING YOUR SOLO TO FREE THE ACCELEROMETER. ALSO BE SURE TO USE THE SOLO APPLICATION TO PERFORM COMPASS AND LEVEL CALIBRATIONS AFTER THIS.

Also, you are doing this at your own risk. You could potentially damage the plastic body or internal parts. Use care. In my case, I purchase my Solo from an unauthorized re-seller and 3Dr's warranty wouldn't apply to the Solo's repair.

I had to re-calibrate, then go back and update my vehicle setting as I had done a reset previously, but I tested with 6 power cycles and 4 flights and my Solo is now back up in the air.

Thanks for the "smack it's bottom" idea. I started this thread to find out if anyone had experience dealing with the warranty that 6AVE claims to provide and instead you turned it around and helped me fix my Solo.

The question still stands though, it might be helpful to me or others in the future - does anyone have experience with 6AVE and their "warranty" that they offer on products that they sell?

 

[Lon Denard]

Well, I searched to web to find out more on drones and accelerometers - it turns out that it is not uncommon to have them get "stuck" no matter what brand your drone might be.

The "normal" cause for this is an impact (crash). In my case I'm guessing it was the 15 mph winds with gusts in the mid-20's. Coupled with 30 mph fun flying with many quick turns and I guess one of the accelerometers got stuck.

In any case, a firm bump in the opposite direction of whatever the impact was while the drone is turned off is said to "free" the accelerometer. Since there was no impact in my case, I didn't know what direction to bump the poor Solo. I tried from the right with no luck. I tried from the left with no luck. Then I did as Lon suggested, a firm smack on it's bottom - IT WORKED!

IF ANYONE ELSE IS GOING TO TRY THIS, REMOVE YOUR GIMBAL (AS I DID) BEFORE SMACKING YOUR SOLO TO FREE THE ACCELEROMETER. ALSO BE SURE TO USE THE SOLO APPLICATION TO PERFORM COMPASS AND LEVEL CALIBRATIONS AFTER THIS.

Also, you are doing this at your own risk. You could potentially damage the plastic body or internal parts. Use care. In my case, I purchase my Solo from an unauthorized re-seller and 3Dr's warranty wouldn't apply to the Solo's repair.

I had to re-calibrate, then go back and update my vehicle setting as I had done a reset previously, but I tested with 6 power cycles and 4 flights and my Solo is now back up in the air.

Thanks for the "smack it's bottom" idea. I started this thread to find out if anyone had experience dealing with the warranty that 6AVE claims to provide and instead you turned it around and helped me fix my Solo.

The question still stands though, it might be helpful to me or others in the future - does anyone have experience with 6AVE and their "warranty" that they offer on products that they sell?

I think we'll call it the "Dirty Fonzi" maneuver, or the "Naughty Bird" your choice. I only thought of it because I use micro switches , mercury switches, level sensors, etc and I know they can get stuck. I'm glad that I could help!

 

[jimloss]

A week has passed, and all is good after having had the Calibration Error just after GPS lock was received on start-up. I thought I'd post more information from the DataFlash logs that I copied from my Solo using Mission Planner.

Again using Mission Planner, I opened by DataFlash logs and graphed the readings from IMU3 AccZ.

Two flights prior to receiving the Calibration Error, the values for IMU3 AccZ fluctuated around -9 through the entire flight.

On the flight prior to receiving the error, the value fluctuated normally for just over one third of the flight. At that point the reading flat lined at -156 for the remaining two thirds of the flight. I'm not sure why this didn't have a negative affect on my flight. Maybe another accelerometer is used?

I removed the gimbal and battery from my Solo and using the palm of my hand I gave my Solo two firm smacks on the Solo's accessory bay. My Solo then started and flew normally. Review of the DataFlash log now shows reading fluctuating around -9. All flights since have been good.