Loctite reacts with phantom shell

[Aerialvelocity]

This weekend I set aside to do a motor swap on my p3p. Finished up Saturday night and went out for a test flight the following morning. After arming and lifting off there was a really bad vibration. Upon landing and inspection of the motors I noticed the motor pods/mounts where really cracked. The shell had not had these cracks the night before after my install. I pulled the shell apart and removed the motors and the plastic disinagrated in my hands. I was careful to use the loctite sparingly by some did get on the plastic. I'm now wondering if dji will warranty the shell or not because I was installing after market parts.

 

[dirkclod]

Did you use the blue Loctite ?

 

[Aerialvelocity]

Yes

 

[LuvMyTJ]

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum. I hope that you will take advantage of the benefits that come with membership and that you will be able to use the forum for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in Phantom quadcopter’s.

That is bad news indeed. There are other threads here where people found out the hard way that blue Loctite and plastic don't mix. I doubt DJI will help you since you modified it and used Loctite on it. Hard lesson to learn for sure. You could order a new shell and transfer everything over if your handy like that.

 

[Dirby]

there is a plastic loctite.

 

[Aerialvelocity]

My first multi rotor build was a mikrokopter hexa. Learned alot about firmware pid settings ect.

I was a dji hater for a long time till the p3 came out. I'm very impressed how much you get for the price. It would be impossible to build a diy quad at this price.
So I think I learned a good lesson by messing up my shell. If it isn't broke don't mess with it. Dji did a good job on this and aftermarket motors ect. Aren't going to make it perform better.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

I built an X525 airframe with a KK2 board a few years ago... I know what your saying. The P3 is a lot of tech & goodness wrapped up in a nice package for a great price. Back then, if someone said I'll sell you a GPS multi rotor with FPV, a gimbal & 4K camera for just over a $1000 I would have fell over from shock!

And let that loctite set up before screwing it in.

 

[flyNfrank]

You're right that the P3 is extremely impressive compared to what we went through prior to.

It sounds like you were very lucky to get your aircraft back to home point in one piece. At least at this stage you have something to work with. Good luck with the replace/repair.

 

[yawnalot29]

I use clear nail polish. I wonder if i should open it up to take a look.

 

[alokbhargava]

I use clear nail polish. I wonder if i should open it up to take a look.

Queen of the house must be wondering why is she loosing her nail polishes so quickly.

 

[Aerialvelocity]

You're right that the P3 is extremely impressive compared to what we went through prior to.

It sounds like you were very lucky to get your aircraft back to home point in one piece. At least at this stage you have something to work with. Good luck with the replace/repair.

I got a few feet off the ground and it had a pretty violent shake to it. So I set it down immediatly.

On the positive side of this, I can now dye my new shell. I really dislike the white.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

I got a few feet off the ground and it had a pretty violent shake to it. So I set it down immediatly.

On the positive side of this, I can now dye my new shell. I really dislike the white.

Do a search here as many have dyed parts. I did my shell and you must use 'poly-dye', to the same stuff used for cotton shirts. You can pick it up in the same place right next to the cotton dye.
FYI - Be sure to do it in a WELL ventilated place, like outside as it smells terrible!

 

[Aerialvelocity]

Do a search here as many have dyed parts. I did my shell and you must use 'poly-dye', to the same stuff used for cotton shirts. You can pick it up in the same place right next to the cotton dye.
FYI - Be sure to do it in a WELL ventilated place, like outside as it smells terrible!

I use to use the RIT dye on my rc cars. The poly dye you mentioned, is it a different formula dye that works better with the phantom plastic?
Can you mix to get custom colors?

 

[LuvMyTJ]

The regular stuff won't take due to the plastic type. The regular works with the props fine but the TX & shell it won't. Poly dye will. I am not sure about mixing it with others but I assume you could.

Both colors are dyed.

 

[Aerialvelocity]

The regular stuff won't take due to the plastic type. The regular works with the props fine but the TX & shell it won't. Poly dye will. I am not sure about mixing it with others but I assume you could.

Both colors are dyed.

View attachment 38181

Now that's cool! Exactly what I want to do. Thanks for the info.

To go a little more off topic. I assume by your screen name your a jeep guy. I work at Synergy mfg in CA. We make suspension and steering kits for jeep and dodge 2500. I like taking the phantom out on the trail.

 

[NCFlyGuy]

Well this is bad news for me indeed. This past Friday afternoon I installed the detachable prop guards and I placed a very small amount of blue loctite on the end of each thread as I had noticed that there was a small bit of a blue thread locking material on each of the original threads.
Now with this done, am I now not safe to fly? In the past, I have always used a threadlocker in all of my other RC builds namely helis with absolutely no issues whatsoever.
Any thoughts on this?

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Well this is bad news for me indeed. This past Friday afternoon I installed the detachable prop guards and I placed a very small amount of blue loctite on the end of each thread as I had noticed that there was a small bit of a blue thread locking material on each of the original threads.
Now with this done, am I now not safe to fly? In the past, I have always used a threadlocker in all of my other RC builds namely helis with absolutely no issues whatsoever.
Any thoughts on this?

If the Loctite did not get on the plastic you are good to go.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Now that's cool! Exactly what I want to do. Thanks for the info.

To go a little more off topic. I assume by your screen name your a jeep guy. I work at Synergy mfg in CA. We make suspension and steering kits for jeep and dodge 2500. I like taking the phantom out on the trail.

Yes sir, you would be correct. Mine sports a Rubicon Express 4.5" Super Flex from the good days at RE.

 

[NCFlyGuy]

I feel so stupid, I guess I should not fly it I should plan on a new shell purchase. Anyone have a recommendation on where to buy from to ensure I get a new style shell? I have the old motor/ shell version.

 

[Aerialvelocity]

Well this is bad news for me indeed. This past Friday afternoon I installed the detachable prop guards and I placed a very small amount of blue loctite on the end of each thread as I had noticed that there was a small bit of a blue thread locking material on each of the original threads.
Now with this done, am I now not safe to fly? In the past, I have always used a threadlocker in all of my other RC builds namely helis with absolutely no issues whatsoever.
Any thoughts on this?

I would keep a very close eye on the plastic. Maybe pull the guard and see if any cracks have formed. My personal experiance is that if I had stayed in the air much longer, one of my motors would have definitely flown off and cause alot more damage.