When I was going through forums I found that many DJI Mavic Air users encounter many issues and problems with the Mavic Air. Personally, I also have faced some of them and was able to fix them after researching on the internet. So In this article, we would talk about almost every problem and issue you might encounter when DJI Mavic Air and how to fix it.
Common Problems With DJI Mavic Air.
We would be talking about the following common problems regarding DJI Mavic Air. Also, I would put the detailed article link to each problem for further troubleshooting.
- Problem 1: DJI Mavic Air not connecting to the controller.
- Problem 2: DJI Mavic Air not turning on.
- Problem 3: DJI Mavic Air not recognizing sd card.
- Problem 4: DJI Mavic Air won’t calibrate.
- Problem 5: DJI Mavic Air not hovering in place.
- Problem 6: DJI Mavic Air won’t take off.
- Problem 7: DJI Mavic Air GPS not working.
- Problem 8: DJI Mavic Air battery is not charging.
- Problem 9: DJI Mavic Air controller keeps beeping.
- Problem 10: DJI Mavic Air wifi not showing up.
- Problem 11: DJI Mavic Air keeps losing signal.
Problem 1: DJI Mavic Air not connecting to the controller.
The DJI Mavic Air would refuse to connect to the controller if your Mavic Air aircraft or the controller is insufficiently charged, the current firmware is outdated, or the controller is unpaired from the aircraft. Besides that, having different firmware versions in your Mavic Air aircraft and controller also causes this kind of issue.
Solutions.
- Charge the Mavic Air aircraft and controller fully or to a sufficient level. When the controller or the aircraft has low battery power, weakens the connection between them. It’s almost impossible to send and receive signals when the distance between them keeps increasing.
- Check whether both Mavic Air controller and aircraft are on the same and latest firmware. Keep the same firmware version in the Mavic Air aircraft and the controller. DJI has emphasized the fact that the controller won’t able to connect to the DJI aircraft if they are in different firmware. Read How to update DJI Mavic Air in-depth.
- If you replaced the controller or the aircraft pair them first.
- If the DJI Mavic Air Aircraft indicators blink yellow, you need to link the aircraft to the controller. Open the DJI GO app and go to the camera view. Then click on the three dots at the top left corner and click on the controller icon. Scroll all the way down and click on “Linking RC”. Once you have done that, the remote controller would start to beep. Then press and hold the function button of the Aircraft for about three seconds. Then the Aircraft would blink red and blink green when the pairing process succeed.
- Update DJI Mavic Air Firmware.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone not connecting to the controller and How to fix it.
Problem 2: DJI Mavic Air not turning on.
As you know DJI Mavic Air has an intelligent battery with embedded sensors that can detect harmful temperatures and environments which could damage battery cells. Therefore most of the time DJI Mavic Air won’t turn on when it encounters harmful temperatures and environments and to keep the battery safe. That’s why most users face this issue after leaving the drone inside a warm closed area something like inside a car or turning on the Mavic Air in a frigid area. Besides that, faulty battery, outdated battery firmware, and firmware glitches also could cause this issue.
Solutions.
- If Mavic Air Battery is too warm take it out and let it cool. the DJI intelligent battery responds only if it’s the battery at a safe temperature.
- If you are in a frigid area or winter season, give it a few minutes to warm up. The lower temperature is also not friendly with lithium polymer batteries. So they have to warm up before working.
- Check whether the Mavic Air battery has gone into hibernation mode. If your battery indicator LEDs flash red even after connecting to the charger, the battery might have gone into hibernation mode. Power on the battery and wait until the LEDs turn off. Then connect the battery to the charger and plug it. Leave the battery in the charge for a few hours to come out from hibernation mode and charge.
- Update Mavic Air firmware.
- If the Mavic Air Battery is swollen or damaged replace it. It’s advisable to replace the battery if it’s swollen, damaged, or leaky. Usually, DJI recommends replacing the battery once it reached 300 – 500 full charging cycles.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone Won’t turn on and how to fix it.
Problem 3: DJI Mavic Air not recognizing sd card.
If your SD card is formatted in a file system that differs from the “FAT32” or is incompatible with the DJI Mavic Air, it would refuse to recognize the SD card. Besides that firmware issues, malware, and corrupted SD cards cause the same issue.
Solutions.
- Check whether the SD card you are using is compatible with the Mavic Air. If you have an incompatible third-party SD card, you would have to upgrade your SD card. Check out the DJI Mavic Air Product Info page and check whether your SD card is compatible.
- Repair the SD card using the Windows command prompt. Use an SD card adaptor and connect the SD card to the PC. Open the command prompt and type “chkdsk” then leave a space and specify the SD card driver letter (Ex: chkdsk D). and hit enter. Once the process is done the sd card is repaired.
- Format the SD card.
- Update DJI Mavic Air Aircraft firmware.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone not recognizing SD card and how to fix it.
Problem 4: DJI Mavic Air Won’t Calibrate.
Usually, DJI Mavic Air won’t calibrate or keeps failing the calibration process because of performing the calibration indoors and the aircraft is surrounded by a lot of electromagnetic interference. Go to an open wide area away from powerlines, communication towers, huge buildings, or any electromagnetic interferences.
Solutions.
- Charge the battery fully or to a sufficient level before calibration. charge the aircraft at least above 50% before calibration.
- Perform the calibration outdoors. As I mentioned before, Go to an open wide area away from any electromagnetic interferences.
- Calibrate the Aircraft on a flat surface.
- Update Mavic Air firmware to the latest version. Read this how to update DJI drone firmware article to figure out how to update DJI Mavic Air properly.
- Check whether you are calibrating the drone properly. Read DJI Drone IMU & Compass Calibration article to figure out how to calibrate DJI drone in-depth.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone won’t calibrate and how to fix it.
Problem 5: DJI Mavic Air not hovering in place.
The main reason why DJI drones (including DJI Mavic Air) won’t stay still and keeps drifting is because of miscalibrated Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), or the compass. Other than that, Electromagnetic interference, malfunctioning motors, and distorted propellers can unstable the Mavic Air.
Solutions.
- Avoid Electromagnetic interference. Avoid flying in environments that surrounded powerlines and communication towers.
- Calibrate DJI Mavic Air IMU & Compass. Read the How to Calibrate DJI Drone article for further discussion about calibrating Mavic Air.
- Check Mavic Air’s propellers. If you have installed propellers in the wrong pattern, the aircraft should almost flip and keeps tilting in one direction. If that’s the cases check at propeller installation pattern. Other than that if propellers are distorted after a crash or storing, replace the propeller set with new ones.
- Check whether a motor is malfunctioning. Hold the drone with its belly and just up the controller right stick a little bit and inspect whether some motor giving uneven force which causes to drift.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone is not hovering one place and how to fix it.
Problem 6: DJI Mavic Air won’t take off.
Usually, the Mavic Air won’t take off when the Mavic Air aircraft is unpaired from the controller, its IMU or compass required calibration, or is in a no-fly zone. If your aircraft propellers are still spinning at sufficient angular speed, you might have installed propellers in an improper pattern.
Solutions.
- If the Mavic Air Aircraft indicators blink yellow, first link the Mavic Air aircraft to the controller.
- Calibrate Mavic Air IMU & Compass. If IMU or Compass required calibration, the DJI GO app would pop the error and refuse to take off. Read How to calibrate DJI drone IMU and Compass.
- Update the DJI Mavic Air Firmware.
- Install propellers in the correct pattern. As I mentioned before, If you are unable to take off even though the propellers are spinning, you have installed them in the wrong pattern.
- Check whether you are in beginner mode and have GPS Signals. Beginner mode requires GPS and refuses to take off the aircraft with low GPS signals. You can solve the problem just by disabling beginner mode.
- If you are in a Geofenced area Unlock it. you have to unlock the geofenced area before flying in the area. Open the DJI GO app and keep following the steps to unlock the area.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone won’t take off and how to fix it.
Problem 7: DJI Mavic Air GPS not working.
In most cases, poor internet connection, outdated Mavic air firmware, outdated DJI Go app, and environmental interferences are the major reasons why DJI Mavic air GPS not working. Most importantly, there are some instances where mobile device settings or glitches caused this issue.
Solutions.
- Connect to a strong internet connection.
- Try to connect GPS signals in an open wide area. If you are surrounded by huge buildings, dense woods, or signal towers that could be the reason.
- Update DJI GO app if it’s outdated. the outdated DJI GO app might malfunction with current firmware. Go to DJI Downloads center and install the latest DJI GO app.
- Try with another device. When I was searching for a solution for DJI Mavic Air No GPS signals, I found that one guy was able to solve the problem by switching his phone.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone not connecting to GPS and how to fix it.
Problem 8: DJI Mavic Air battery is not charging.
In most cases, DJI Mavic Air refuses to charge when its battery detects higher or lower amperage or voltage. Besides that, heated or damaged battery cells, outdated battery firmware, and faulty or broken charger cause this issue. If the Mavic Air battery indicators flash solid red, the battery might have gone into hibernation mode.
Solutions.
- Plug the charger into a power outlet with the required voltage and current. Usually, the DJI battery charger voltage is around 100 – 240 V and the amperage is 1.4 A.
- Kick the Battery out from hibernation mode. If the drone battery went into hibernation mode, the indication LED of the battery would flash solid red when turning on. Also, it would keep flashing red even after connecting to the charger. Turn on the battery and wait until (about five minutes) the solid red light goes out. Then connect the battery to the charger and plug it. Then leave the battery for a few hours and the battery would come out from hibernation mode.
- If the Mavic Air battery is warm, take it out from the aircraft and leave it in an airflow. If you just finished the flight, the battery must be warmed because of Joule heating. So it would refuse to charge because it could damage the battery cells.
- Upgrade the DJI Battery firmware. To upgrade the battery firmware, update the aircraft firmware while keeping the battery in it.
- Check whether the charger is Faulty or broken.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone Battery not charging and how to fix it.
Problem 9: DJI Mavic Air controller keeps beeping.
Most of the time users are able to understand the Mavic Air controller’s beeping codes of faulty or low battery, return to home activated, or disconnected from the aircraft. Also, the miscalibrated joysticks error also causes the controller keeps beeping and many users confuse are unable to figure out the cause and how to fix it. Besides the above reasons controller bugs also could cause the same issue.
Solutions.
- Calibrate controller joysticks. When joysticks are miscalibrated, the controller detects the error and keeps beeping. Launch the DJI GO app and connect the aircraft. Then turn off the aircraft. Go to the controller settings of the app and tap remote calibration. Once you tap it the controller would stop beeping, but we are not done yet. you will notice virtual joysticks on the screen are not centered. Tap calibration and move virtual joysticks 100% to every direction. Then click finish and turn off the controller.
- Update Firmware of the remote controller.
- Reset the remote controller. The controller might have glitched setting that caused keep beeping.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone & Controller keep beeping and how to fix it.
Problem 10: DJI Mavic Air wifi not showing up.
As I found most of the time DJI Mavic Air wifi not showing up and is not detected because of issues with Mavic Air aircraft wifi settings, outdated firmware, and mobile device’s wifi settings but there is a huge probability that the mobile wifi settings and glitches cause this problem.
Solutions.
- Turn on airplane mode and turn off it. This action would completely shut down the networks on your device and turn them on again. Then it would be looking for detecting the new devices.
- Enable the Networking and Wireless option of your mobile device. If you have disabled the Wireless option on your mobile device, it won’t detect new devices. Go to Settings, Privacy, Location Services, and system services on your device. Then check whether the networking and wireless option is enabled.
- Reset the network settings of your mobile device.
- Reset DJI Mavic Air Settings to default. Current Mavic Air settings might cause this issue. So you need to reset them. Press and hold the linking button for 5 seconds to reset the Mavic Air.
- Update Mavic Air firmware.
- Try with another device.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone Wifi not showing up and how to fix it.
Problem 11: DJI Mavic Air keeps losing signal.
In most cases, the Mavic Air keeps disconnecting from the controller due to Usually, crowded or poor signals, High levels of electromagnetic interference, low battery power and firmware glitches.
Solutions.
- Avoid Electromagnetic interference. Electromagnetic surroundings like near power lines or power towers interfere with radio signals so always avoid this kind of surroundings.
- Face sides of antennas toward the drone. This would help to send radio signals directly to the aircraft. Because radio waves are coming out from the sides of antennas.
- Update the Mavic Air firmware.
- Change the frequency of radio signals. Open the DJI GO app and go to the “Wifi Settings” section of the app. Then Change the channel mode to 2.4 GHz to desired channel mode. 5 GHz recommended.
Read the Detailed Article: Why Drone keeps disconnecting from the controller.
