Phantom 4 Advanced...Worth it?

Old Man Grizz · Mar 1, 2020

Howdy Folks!
I’m a long time member of both the Spark Pilots and Mavic Pilots Forums. (I own both).
I have the opportunity to buy a crashed Phantom 4 Advanced for $200. The camera is broken off, and it needs new landing gear. My question is:
Is it worth repairing?
I have totally rebuilt a Spark on a new frame, and I enjoy the challenge, and I realize I may have nearly $500 in parts. It has 3 batteries, and still flies.
I would really appreciate your input on this project. I would be keeping it to join my fleet...
Thanks for your time,
I look forward to hearing from you Folks!!
Old Man Grizz

Ruckert · Mar 1, 2020

The $500 dollars in parts is the hard part to balance worth it, or not. I recently bought a P4A for $535, and it works great, so...$700 (200 +500) that may cross the line.
Unless the repair challenge is what you really want out of it, I would say buy it to sell the batteries.
If you choose to do buy it to sell the batteries, then let me know as I will want to buy one from you.

Starz · Mar 1, 2020

Old Man Grizz said:
Howdy Folks!
I’m a long time member of both the Spark Pilots and Mavic Pilots Forums. (I own both).
I have the opportunity to buy a crashed Phantom 4 Advanced for $200. The camera is broken off, and it needs new landing gear. My question is:
Is it worth repairing?
I have totally rebuilt a Spark on a new frame, and I enjoy the challenge, and I realize I may have nearly $500 in parts. It has 3 batteries, and still flies.
I would really appreciate your input on this project. I would be keeping it to join my fleet...
Thanks for your time,
I look forward to hearing from you Folks!!
Old Man Grizz

How many batteries and what capacity?

Ruckert · Mar 1, 2020

just one...5850mahm, which is what the Advanced ships with.

I'd only be interested in 'official' DJI battery only, I am not interested in after market battery... no knock offs

Can you determine the number of charges the battery has had?

Starz · Mar 1, 2020

The question in post number three is directed towards the original poster.

Ruckert · Mar 1, 2020

Starz said:
The question in post number three is directed towards the original poster.

Sorry about that

Starz · Mar 2, 2020

No problem. I see now the op has answered my question. What a deal!
Would have liked that package myself.

Droneted · Mar 3, 2020

if it comes with a remote and batteries it is a good deal. Landing gear are not too bad to replace. The camera repair may be a challenge if you have never tried it. I would watch YouTube videos of both first. Where are you located? I am in Florida and would be glad to help. I love rebuilding these.

Capt KO · Mar 3, 2020

Ted4797 said:
if it comes with a remote and batteries it is a good deal. Landing gear are not too bad to replace. The camera repair may be a challenge if you have never tried it. I would watch YouTube videos of both first. Where are you located? I am in Florida and would be glad to help. I love rebuilding these.

Ted I appreciate your help in the past. You're only a couple hours away from me and I'm going to head your way someday. Not unannounced. Just to pick your brain and possibly fly a little.

Still waiting on camera parts for another P4P. Let you know if I get in trouble again. Will PM

Droneted · Mar 5, 2020

I have pretty much every part you might need for a P4P camera. Give me a shout if you need something and I will look.

cjc1103 · Mar 7, 2020

I just sent my crashed P4P camera out to Sky Drone Link (Sky Drone Link). They charge $40 to give you a repair quote, which is credited to the repair cost if you decide to repair it. They quoted me $210 to replace several parts, which is cheap compared to a new camera. Of course if I knew how to do it I could replace all the parts myself. Since the camera is the reason I fly a drone, I elected to hire someone who knows how to fix them.

Osmosis · Mar 7, 2020

The P4P is the Bentley amongst all the other Volkswagen drones. Fix it.

cjc1103 · Mar 7, 2020

P4 Advanced/Professional are the workhorses of the commercial drone industry. The Advanced basically the same as a Professional except for a couple of sensors. Sky Drone Link can fix P4 cameras for a lot less than buying a new one. You can get P4 parts on Amazon or ebay, just watchout for factory seconds or outright counterfeit parts. If you are really concerned about that you can buy replacement parts straight from DJI or through an official outlet. P4's are not too difficult to fix, plenty of You Tube videos (not all good though). Buy a precision toolkit, a good quality temp controlled soldering iron, and a good worklight, and get to work.

Old Man Grizz · Mar 8, 2020

Thanks Folks,
I never ended up being in contact with him.
I sent numerous messages, even spoke to him, then nothing.
I have TOTALLY rebuilt a Spark and I was looking forward to working on a Phantom.
Oh Well...Dem’s Da Breaks!!
Thanks Folks!
Old Man Grizz

John Locke · Mar 9, 2020

cjc1103 said:
The Advanced basically the same as a Professional except for a couple of sensors.

I disagree. The P4P is a big step up from P4A IMO. The P4A uses the same weak RC the P4 uses, GL300C. It's a turkey IMO, as the control RF output is weaker than the P3P, so the range suffers using 2.4Ghz having a range of maybe a mile with a windsurfer, unlike my P3P which would go 3 miles with a windsurfer. To fix that I had to use a GL658A inspire controller with my P4 to get a normal 3 mile range, reliably. The P4P uses GL300F which includes 5.8Ghz band. When flying on 5.8Ghz it will support a 3mi range using a windsurfer, just like the P3P. The P4P is awesome, from a range point of view, and camera.

Blade4 · Mar 10, 2020

John Locke said:
I disagree. The P4P is a big step up from P4A IMO. The P4A uses the same weak RC the P4 uses, GL300C. It's a turkey IMO, as the control RF output is weaker than the P3P, so the range suffers using 2.4Ghz having a range of maybe a mile with a windsurfer, unlike my P3P which would go 3 miles with a windsurfer. To fix that I had to use a GL658A inspire controller with my P4 to get a normal 3 mile range, reliably. The P4P uses GL300F which includes 5.8Ghz band. When flying on 5.8Ghz it will support a 3mi range using a windsurfer, just like the P3P. The P4P is awesome, from a range point of view, and camera.

Totally Agree. I own the P4A, P4P, and P4P+. LOVE the Plus. Looking to soon sell the P4A and P4P. I purchased both new. I have BATTS all recently new. All have a great life left according to AirData, Data. I just need to put the Adds together.