Chewed up propellers

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I have had a couple of landings when the Phantom V2+ has fallen on its side. The distal ends of the blades are chewed up slightly, maybe 1/2 an inch.

My question is can I still use these propellers? Its minimal damage, but i want to make sure they are ok to fly. It involves the leading edge of the distal end

thanks in advance
 

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I would worry about the props being out of balance. Why risk a $1300 quad to some inexpensive props? You may want to consider hand catching too as that is one way to ensure you don't have chewed up props from landing tip overs.
 
Just inspect them regularly before flight. Just remember, the props keeps her in the air. Just 1 prop failure and its goodbye. It's hard to know, but you may have a microfracture or a small chip towards the centre of the prop that can lead to failure. You need to consider the RPMs and how much force is exerted by the motors.

I would prevent it in the first place by catch landing. It's not hard provided you read up on it. Many here are adopting it because the phantom's skids are too small. A small gust and turbulence can disrupt the phantom, especially when closest to the ground. I would have designed the phantom with poles under each motor as landing gear, but that would be visible in the vids.
 
Props can be changed one at a time, so the cost is not much..

I did a test the other night... about 1" off the tip of just one prop and she will not stay it the air. :eek:
 
I do not think that's going to be a problem. I have been flying with one fourth of the distal part chopped off and I chopped off the other end to make it balanced. it flies like a charm !
 
For cripe's sake! Throw them away!!!
I've seen full-size helicopters brought down by 1/16 inch of contamination on the outer three feet of the blades.

While I'm ranting....clean your blades, people. Bugs, dirt, grass stains, human remains....a little windex on a paper towel would probably solve the majority of the so-called VRS crashes reported. All it takes is one air foil with slightly different aerodynamic characteristics to start a chain reaction of ever-worsening oscillations...the FC responds to a momentary loss of laminar flow, causing a momentary loss of lift on another rotor, which the FC responds to, causing ..... you get the picture.
 
While I'm ranting....clean your blades, people. Bugs, dirt, grass stains, human remains....a little windex on a paper towel would probably solve the majority of the so-called VRS crashes reported. All it takes is one air foil with slightly different aerodynamic characteristics to start a chain reaction of ever-worsening oscillations...the FC responds to a momentary loss of laminar flow, causing a momentary loss of lift on another rotor, which the FC responds to, causing ..... you get the picture.

I totally agree, I have both FC40 and Vision Plus. With the FC40 I use it to test props different configurations etc.

Of concern to me are 3rd party props. I have two sets, one Carbon fibre and the other plastic. Both these sets of props have a sharp leading edge as apposed to the DJI props which have a more aero dynamic leading edge. On the Fc40 most times I use the carbon fibre props I experience VRS if I am not careful. With the other set it is not possible to fly in GPS mode and very difficult in Atti mode.

Take head of what airmotive said, very good advice.
 
I never let my Phantom land, I always catch it in the air, wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy safer on those propellers, never again will you have to worry about it tipping over.
 
Airmotive said:
For cripe's sake! Throw them away!!!
I've seen full-size helicopters brought down by 1/16 inch of contamination on the outer three feet of the blades.

While I'm ranting....clean your blades, people. Bugs, dirt, grass stains, human remains....a little windex on a paper towel would probably solve the majority of the so-called VRS crashes reported. All it takes is one air foil with slightly different aerodynamic characteristics to start a chain reaction of ever-worsening oscillations...the FC responds to a momentary loss of laminar flow, causing a momentary loss of lift on another rotor, which the FC responds to, causing ..... you get the picture.

When you are done cleaning them, spray some WD40 or silicone spray on to paper towel and wipe on the blades.
 
Throw them away!!!
Early on I backed into a birch tree and damaged two props. Props are so cheap and I just ordered a number of sets and keep them in my case. I haven't damaged a prop since, but I have them on hand and in the case so when I do damage one there is no hesitation to put on a new one. Flying a damaged prop not only jeopardizes a rather expensive Phantom but also jeopardizes anyone or anything your flying near.
 
My blades had typical virgin learning to fly bumps and nicks on them from the first 3 months of flying. Decided to quit being so cheap and ordered new set for $30. Not going to write about the cheaper ones I tried, as they are all in the garbage can. Put the new blades on and couldn't believe how much better my bird flew. Your blades denigrate slowly and you don't notice how bad they have gotten until you put a new set on.
 
w0by said:
I never let my Phantom land, I always catch it in the air, wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy safer on those propellers, never again will you have to worry about it tipping over.

That's why I included "human remains' in my list of potential contaminants. :lol:
 
Tip: After landing, always shut off the Phantom by simply holding the throttle down stick full down for about 5 seconds. Do not shut off by using the CSC commands. DOing the latter almost always resulted in tipover landings when I used that method
 
I own a pair a carbon fiber blades and I wasn't really impressed with the flight dynamics. I have owned a number of cp helis and the CF blades would work wonders on them for quick and snappy movements but the flying camera is much smoother with the stock props. Also the one time I tipped the quad on lift off because I was too slow on the sticks on a windy day, I ended up chipping the ends of the CF blades causing an imbalance. So as far as durability goes the soft plastic props are much more forgiving ;)
 
Tip: After landing, always shut off the Phantom by simply holding the throttle down stick full down for about 5 seconds. Do not shut off by using the CSC commands. DOing the latter almost always resulted in tipover landings when I used that method

Off topic but has anyone noticed that if you hold the throttle stick down for a few seconds then whist still holding it down perform CSC and the motors power down without the short burst of power, no tip overs, no nothing, just a smooth power down..
 

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