Just received P3 -Packed like &€%#

Chinese quality used to be terrible, got pretty good, now seems to be getting spotty again. Shipping and packing in the US ranges from awesome to dreadful. If I have to pay full price, I expect decent packing. $1250 is a lot to gamble on.

Leaning towards sending it back. Darnit. Perfect flying weather finally too.
 
Got a call from B&H and they do have one they can send out, so this one goes back and hopefully the new one gets packed better.

Fingers crossed...
 
The gimbal lock was on mine but agree that outer box should have something to stop it moving about.
There's a secondary piece of foam reduces gimbal banging about.
Nothing much inside will come to harm. I would fire it up and if gimbal behaves normally it should be fine.
You don't even need charge it there will be enough power to quickly test (turn controller on first)
 
Since I can get a quick replacement, going that route. If it was a sale item, would risk keeping it. Some stuff tolerates abuse better than others.

DJI should consider hiring an experienced packaging engineer. That clip design is lacking.

Thanks everyone for the input :)
 
Why not fire it up and see if it works? A missing gimbal lock, which we've all had, has not caused any documented problems. Seems a bit extreme.
 
I got mine through DHL, too big box, no bubble wrap what so ever, freely moving Phantom box inside. Gimbal lock off. Flies perfectly, works perfectly. So far all good.
 
Have you actually powered it up to see if it's working? My gimbal lock had popped loose too.
 
My Gimbal was off.... But that mite be better??? That someone did not slam the thing on. It's hard enough for me at times with the camera flopping around to get it on, imagine an assembly line worker trying hard to get them on 100%. More damage that way I think. Maybe it's a robot? Mine's fine in the end run....
 
bbfpv said:
Why not fire it up and see if it works? A missing gimbal lock, which we've all had, has not caused any documented problems. Seems a bit extreme.
Click to expand...

My background is engineering. I did a lot of reliability and failure analysis work over the years. We use the term "walking wounded" for latent defects in products. That's my concern with the unconstrained gimbal assembly. Will it work? Possibly. Will it last? Possibly, but not risking $1250 when I can get a replacement that hopefully will not have been subjected to undue shock. Retired now, so way less money to gamble.

FWIW, the standard we designed to for non-military stuff was 1m drop to concrete floor. When I worked for UPS many moons ago, that was far exceeded.

As always, YMMV
 
Bugs said:
Will it last? Possibly, but not risking $1250 when I can get a replacement that hopefully will not have been subjected to undue shock. Retired now, so way less money to gamble.
Click to expand...
Discounting the wait for a new bird given the fact that the one you're sending back is probably still good, I'd say the opportunity cost far outweighs the actual monetary cost of the quad. My opinion obviously. But given the fact that everyone has received their p3 in the same condition, and everyone is flying with out issues, I'd say you are, again in my opinion, overly cautious. But if the actual price tag on the bird is the determining factor, it only gets worse from here. Some things to consider.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Adam Kontras
I just got my p3p today and the packaging was pretty solid from Advexure. However, the gimbal lock fell off as I was taking it out of the box so surely it was loose. It wasnt completly off though. It took me awhile to figure out how to place the gimbal lock back on because of this mishap
 
  • Like
Reactions: Advexure
They have one to ship set aside for me. Waiting a week is no biggie.

If it were month(s) my decision may have been different.

Someone obviously thought there was enough reason to have a clamp in the first place.

We'll know within a few months if there is any weakness in the system. Large enough data pool to quickly extract trends.

Working in everyone's favor is the relatively low mass of the lens/sensor assembly. Hopefully this will be a case of me being over - cautious. :)
 
Bugs said:
Got a call from B&H and they do have one they can send out, so this one goes back and hopefully the new one gets packed better.

Fingers crossed...
Click to expand...

You sent it back because the box was slightly damaged? Wow.

The packaging is supposed to take the hit and protect the Phantom 3 inside. Looks like it did a good job. If the box is slightly damaged but the product inside is fine, why would you send it back?

For being in shipping, I'm surprised you're blaming DJI for this. Shipping companies are the one you should be mad at. You know the standard for the package - it has to withstand a 6 foot drop in any direction.

I too have worked in shipping my whole career. I know how this stuff works.

EDIT: The gimbal holder doesn't lock into place. Most, when they open their P3 for the first time the holder is laying in the box - including mine. No issues with mine. I've flown over 10 flights now.
 
Kman said:
You sent it back because the box was slightly damaged? Wow.

The packaging is supposed to take the hit and protect the Phantom 3 inside. Looks like it did a good job. If the box is slightly damaged but the product inside is fine, why would you send it back?

For being in shipping, I'm surprised you're blaming DJI for this. Shipping companies are the one you should be mad at. You know the standard for the package - it has to withstand a 6 foot drop in any direction.

I too have worked in shipping my whole career. I know how this stuff works.

EDIT: The gimbal holder doesn't lock into place. Most, when they open their P3 for the first time the holder is laying in the box - including mine. No issues with mine. I've flown over 10 flights now.
Click to expand...

No, I sent it back because it had zero isolation from the overpacking carton, and internal components designed to protect a precision gimbal were completely knocked off from their designed protective position.

A couple inches of packing peanuts or bubblewrap on all six sides of the box absorb and dissipate impact forces. The stuff within is cushioned and ideally stuff doesn't fall off. Simple.

I spent my career designing precision stuff, and have seen the results of abuse they can receive in transit. The DJI clamp could use positive retention and companies could teach their people how to pack expensive equipment. Not really asking much on equipment that costs over $1000.

As stated before, YMMV
 
Bugs said:
No, I sent it back because it had zero isolation from the overpacking carton, and internal components designed to protect a precision gimbal were completely knocked off from their designed protective position.

A couple inches of packing peanuts or bubblewrap on all six sides of the box absorb and dissipate impact forces. The stuff within is cushioned and ideally stuff doesn't fall off. Simple.

I spent my career designing precision stuff, and have seen the results of abuse they can receive in transit. The DJI clamp could use positive retention and companies could teach their people how to pack expensive equipment. Not really asking much on equipment that costs over $1000.

As stated before, YMMV
Click to expand...

Don't be surprised when the gimbal lock is at the bottom of your next P3. It doesn't lock into place.

I haven't heard of anyone getting a damaged P3 due to shipping.
 

Similar threads

Ibmftw
P4 story, funny?
Replies
9
Views
3K
Phantom 4 Discussion
phantom13flyer
P

Recent Posts

Members online

Total: 195 (members: 1, guests: 194)

Forum statistics

Threads
143,085
Messages
1,467,523
Members
104,962
Latest member
argues