Battery door replacement

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Broke mine after a crash. I found out about Shapeway's, but at half the price of the whole shell, it's a bit expensive. What are the other options ? Maybe some glue would work for that kind of plastic ?
 
Don't bother with super glue - doesn't bond to the plastic. I am trying 2 part epoxy right now. Will let you know how well it works...
 

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Perhaps somebody who has replaced their battery compartment door with the Shapeways large door might be willing
to let the original go for a low price. It wouldn't hurt to ask. ;)
 
There was quite a discussion recently on rcgroups' Phantom thread about fixing plastic. A lot of people suggested something called Plastex. I suggest you search that forum for more info.

After I broke part of the hinge on the battery door a member here suggested adding a strip of Velcro between the door and the body. I did that and it has worked perfectly to keep the door closed, including during some pretty wild crashes. Wish I'd done it before the door was broken!
 
I replaced mine with the large Shapeways one, so if you want the stock one and willing to pay only shipping PM me.
Or better yet send me the email at tanasit AT comcast DOT net.
I carved a semi-circle on both sides for the battery cables though.
 
I don't understand why the door latch is the flimsiest part of the Phantom. For the sake of 2 or 3 extra mm, I struggle every time to get a feeling of confidence that it won't pop open mid-flight. Velcro, here I come, I think...
 
SimonB, the Velcro has worked so well for me that I don't even worry about getting the door fully latched. I've flown dozens of times with this. A few days I hit a tall tree and dropped the Phantom through the branches onto a metal roof. Quite a thud. The battery door did not come open.

When in doubt... Velcro!
 
SimonB said:
I don't understand why the door latch is the flimsiest part of the Phantom. For the sake of 2 or 3 extra mm, I struggle every time to get a feeling of confidence that it won't pop open mid-flight. Velcro, here I come, I think...

I bought an aftermarket battery which was slightly (< 1mm ) longer than the stock battery, but longer connection wire, made it a very tight fit. Was flying aggressive on the first flight with this battery and at about 80-100 ft altitude, I saw a little black rectangle drop from the Phantom, realized it was the battery just as the copter dropped and followed the battery to the ground.

Ended up having to replace the shell but the innards and props survived the fall. Just got the new larger battery door but have yet to replace it.
 
SimonB said:
I don't understand why the door latch is the flimsiest part of the Phantom. For the sake of 2 or 3 extra mm, I struggle every time to get a feeling of confidence that it won't pop open mid-flight. Velcro, here I come, I think...

It's almost like they gave the battery door design job to the summer intern!

;)

Todd
 
Good idea about the Velcro on the door, I bought a few strips of some 3m velcro type material but much stronger so there is not way that will come loose. I used Velcro on my FPV TX but it had a bit of a wobble and so I got some of this 3m stuff and it hods very strong. I think you could comfortable mount a gopro using it even though I have heard people do that with regular velcro which seems a little crazy to me.

http://solutions.3m.com.au/wps/portal/3 ... e/Details/
 
GearLoose said:
There was quite a discussion recently on rcgroups' Phantom thread about fixing plastic. A lot of people suggested something called Plastex. I suggest you search that forum for more info.

After I broke part of the hinge on the battery door a member here suggested adding a strip of Velcro between the door and the body. I did that and it has worked perfectly to keep the door closed, including during some pretty wild crashes. Wish I'd done it before the door was broken!
I am having a hard time figuring out how this works. Where do you put the velcro?
 
I made a point of trying to do this this morning, and couldn't work out how to place Velcro to hold the door closed without constantly sticking and unsticking it! So, I had a close look at the latch and it appeared to be just a bit too low, meaning that it wasn't creating any lock when closed.

So, I decided to put a little bit of Velcro under the latch to force it up a bit as you closed the door... Bad move, closed the door and it worked so **** well, I couldn't get it open again!

Some 10 mins later, I managed to get the door open and removed the Velcro. So, tis time input it on the bottom of the door phantom part itself and its working a treat. Tight to get open, but there's no way it's coming open in flight. It's just a 3mm x 5mm rectangle of the fluffy Velcro. Perfect.
 
I bought Velcro that is sold off a bulk roll, by the foot, at a local hardware store. You have a choice: white or black. I chose white.

It is about an inch wide, maybe slightly more, and holds very fast. I attached a strip to the battery door, running upwards, about 2.5 inches long. This meets a shorter piece on the shell, just above the door. I find it very easy to open and close the door with the Velcro.
 
I took off the stock door, and replaced it with one long strip of velcro. Best....door....ever :). And it's lighter than a door!
 
Socman, that is a brilliant "fix". Now, how about removing sections of the main hull and covering the holes with even more Velcro? How many grams do you think you can shave off? :roll:
 
I think I'm going to have a bracket for the door that will help with using velcro to make the battery door iron tight. I sent in a simple design to Shapeways last week that I think will make the use of velcro to secure the door pretty clean. If it works, I'll share it with the group for the cost from Shapeways.
 
be jealous =)
not pretty, but i can get a battery in and door closed in seconds...and never have to worry about door popping off.
Plus when using fpv I dont have to worry about damaging wires going through the slots on the door.
btw the black on the phantom is just me hiding my phone number =)
urFSqyJ.jpg
 
@socman: Great idea. Thank you for sharing, don't know why this didn't come to my mind when messing around with velcro today.... :)


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