S800, is it safe now?

[maxwelltub]

So the internet is great at supplying information, but it is also a cacophony voices and opinions. I am totally sold on buying a z15 gimbal, and I would like to have a hexa copter that packs away as nice as the S800 for a similar price point. My reservations are in regard to all the reports of flips and uncontrolled crashes due to mechanical error. I am interested to take a pole on what peoples thoughts are on the S800 now that all "bugs" have been fixed. Or rather, have all the bugs been fixed? Seems like most of threads about flipping S800 are pre October 2012. Thanks in advance for you help.

 

[Dubliners]

I've been flying a 550 with naza/GPS in preparation for the s800 suite of products : ) and I have zero RC experience. The stability of the naza is unbelievable. From what I hear in austin DJI USA HQ, they are very very confident of the 800 WKM and zen and I know 3 people with them all flying very happily. It would seem those pitfalls are behind them, and lets hope any ahead will be minor to non existent.

 

[maxwelltub]

Thanks for your response. I have been flying for a while now as a hobby. I work in the film industry so I've always wanted to combine the two. Some of the issues regarding the s800 seem to be related to faulty design of the esc and the gps/ compass unit. However those issues seem to be resolved for the most part. Also heard some chatter about folks using batteries with too high of a C rating and over stressing the connections of the quick release. Hopefully all these issues are resolved.

 

[DennyR]

I never had any problems with the S800 because I never used the bad GPS units. 250 trouble free flights, that is not to say that it is perfect by any means. The arms need to made stiffer and the prop.s need to changed.

 

[maxwelltub]

Oh ya, if I go with the s800 I would put apc props on it. I have the GPS unit for my Naza, but could not get it working as well as I hoped and never ended up using it.

 

[Kilby]

250 trouble free flights...

Denny, I thought you were one of the first people to have yours fail. Didn't it take a swim in the sea and get filled with salt water?

 

[DennyR]

Fortunately that was not mine. After the fix it never failed again, That is, once I had fixed it for the guy with DJI's help with the cost of parts. That is the same one that I used on the Shark commercial because it had been tested to death. Only with my own modified Zen. I had three in total that were built for customers who are still running trouble free as far as I know. The issue with the GPS was found and resolved several weeks before DJI even acknowledge the problem existed. After that accident it spent a week on the oscilloscope, I did not know what was wrong but I did know where the problem was so it was easy to avoid. I can say with total confidence that the S800/Zen is now a reliable package that with careful set-up and a few mods. can deliver anything up to broadcast level TV.