Crashing your drone almost seems like a rite of passage for many new pilots. Instead of taking our time, reading the manual, and practicing in easy mode, many new drone owners head straight out to cities, coasts and more to start capturing their favorite scenes.
And as we’ve heard in the forums, and seen on Youtube, there are a lot of crashes.
So if you don’t have deep pockets or DJI Care, what options do you have for sourcing parts for your DJI Phantom or Mavic Pro drone?
More than you know.
DJI’s own website doesn’t have much in the way of replacement parts, it’s mostly just accessories.
But if you’ve broken your landing gear, destroyed a gimbal or burned out a propeller motor there are a few reliable places to find parts and get back in the air.
One of the best retailers we’ve found for Phantom replacement parts is Adorama. If you’re into photography, you need to know Adorama. Listed as one of the top five electronics retailers by Consumer Reports, and a “Best of the Web” by Forbes.com, they’ve grown over 35 years from a camera shop in New York City to one of the web’s biggest and best online, international retailers. But just like their tag-line says, they’re “more than a camera store”.
A quick search for ‘Phantom 3‘ on their website brings up the usual drone packages, and accessories like batteries and propellors.
But we also find replacement 4K Cameras, drone bodies, and prop motors. The complete list is too exhaustive to publish here, but we wanted to include a sampling of some common parts for Phantom 4 and Phantom 3 pilots who may in need.
Partial Phantom 3 Parts Listing:
Phantom 3 GPS Module – DJI Part 1
$139.00
Phantom 3 Standard CCW Motor – DJI Part 7
$18.00
Phantom 3 Standard CW Motor – DJI Part 8
$18.00
Phantom 3 Flexible Gimbal Flat Cable – DJI Part 49
$46.00
In addition to the above sampling, there are many many more Phantom 3 parts available at Adorama. Some of them are listed as ‘on backorder’ so best to confirm with them directly when they expect shipment.
Because so many drone pilots have a technical background or interest, it’s pretty common for them to do their own routine repairs or be able to find a fellow enthusiast to do it for them.
Not all of the replacement parts are in stock, but all of the ones above were at the time of writing this article.
Partial Phantom 4 Parts Listing:
Phantom 4 CW Motor – DJI Part 24
$18.00
P
hantom 4 CCW Motor – DJI Part 23
$18.00
Phantom 4 Prop Mounting Plate (CW & CCW) – DJI Part 79
$18.00
Pha
ntom 4 GPS Module – DJI Part 1
$159.00
You have to be extra careful when purchasing parts for your parts to make sure they’re coming from a reputable supplier like Adorama. Lots of ebay and Amazon sellers are harvesting used parts for re-sale that come from questionable sources.
With the Mavic Pro being still in it’s first year of life, many parts have not yet come available to check back frequently to see what is being added to inventory.