Do 9" carbon fiber propellers really improve efficiency?

[PJ105]

So I bought a set of 9" carbon fiber props and tried them one time, and instead of hovering after take off it kept going up, and to the right. It was necessary to correct this by decreasing throttle and moving left, to keep it in a hover. The moment I center the controls, up and right it goes.

- Is this a balancing issue? Or is it because these props are creating more lift than the stock ones?

- also, sellers say that these propellers will also help get more flight time out of your battery. I really didn't have time to test that myself, because of the drift I mention above. But are these propellers in fact more efficient, thereby extending flight time on the battery charge?

Thanks.

 

[EMCSQUAR]

They need to be balanced. You should've bought the P2 blade replacements for the P1 - they're more agressive, they might improve flight time and they're more forgiving in case you bump something.

 

[PJ105]

Thanks, yeah I bought kinda the same, although thay are a generic brand. They seller insisted they've been balanced, and ultimately sent me a second pair which is on the way. Now, what little I flew with these , I could tell that the flight characteristics were more responsive than the stock props. However my main goal is extending battery life. So I don't know yet if this is the case or not. Sometimes (usually?) high-performance is not equal to less power comsumption. If the battery lasts the same, then I'm all for it. But if it takes more energy to turn these props, that's not gonna be optimal for me.

 

[pierrelogic]

In my short experience the upgrade to CF blades increased flight time. I was skeptical too so flew 2 flights with original 8" props for a baseline. Then swapped out 9" P2 props with no other changes for 2 flights and gained about 50 seconds flight time. Finally I added the 9 " CF props on same setup for 2 flights and that too increased flight time by an average of 1 minute on the 9", so almost 2 minutes on the 8" originals.

All I did was hover the Phantom for each test to keep results honest, although unscientific. Your results may vary and how you fly the Phantom has more effect on flight time than simply swapping props out. Aggressive flying will produce less flight time than going smooth & easy on the controls. You do lose some stability with the CF props granted, but the extra flight time is worth it to me. I've tried both balanced and unbalanced CF props and the stability wasn't significantly different between them. However, even balanced CF blades are less stable than balanced plastic props. Again, just my opinion.

I prefer the increase in flight time so only use CF blades now. :shock:

 

[PJ105]

Cool. Did your phantom start to climb fast on its own, without your input? Mine does, at least with this set. So much that I actually have to keep downward pressure on the throttle, just to keep it level.

 

[pierrelogic]

Cool. Did your phantom start to climb fast on its own, without your input? Mine does, at least with this set. So much that I actually have to keep downward pressure on the throttle, just to keep it level.

Negative on that. Certainly not near being out of control. It did exhibit a little more flying around when I stop any input on TX and it's supposed to hover but that was a minimal increase in movement. Climbing fast on it's own though? Not ever seen that unless I intentionally flipped off the TX invoking "please, please come home to daddy" mode.

On the increased movement noted while in hover mode I re-calibrated several times, checked the software settings and everything was within specs. It still moves around a bit more on its own with the CF props than it did with plastics blades. I just learned to expect the behavior. Again, the increase is flight time was worth it.

 

[PJ105]

Happy to report the replacement CF 9" props worked like a charm. Flight characteristics are certainly a little more "choppy", but there is a marked increase in flight time (I didn't really measure flight time, but I flew kinda the same patterns and same circuits around the lake and it did go much longer). Also, I found these props to be quieter as well. Pretty happy camper here!

 

[PJ105]

Cool. Did your phantom start to climb fast on its own, without your input? Mine does, at least with this set. So much that I actually have to keep downward pressure on the throttle, just to keep it level.

Negative on that. Certainly not near being out of control. It did exhibit a little more flying around when I stop any input on TX and it's supposed to hover but that was a minimal increase in movement. Climbing fast on it's own though? Not ever seen that unless I intentionally flipped off the TX invoking "please, please come home to daddy" mode.

On the increased movement noted while in hover mode I re-calibrated several times, checked the software settings and everything was within specs. It still moves around a bit more on its own with the CF props than it did with plastics blades. I just learned to expect the behavior. Again, the increase is flight time was worth it.

Thx. Yeah this set did not have the "gotta climb, gotta climb!" thing, not sure why the first set did. But this one now was very stable compared to the first, although it did bounce around just a bit on hover, and sways a bit, but it does come back to center on those mild lateral ocsillations. And great climb rate on these!

 

[ElGuano]

The longest-flying props on my Phantom were the non-self-tightening carbon fiber 9443s with low-profile alloy nuts. Each prop was something like 3-4g lighter than the standard DJI props, and resulted in about a minute or more in flight time. Once balanced, they flew great. There's something about the pre-balancing and convenience of the stock 9443s though, and I'm running all stockers now. I still like the CF, but they have a bad rap here and elsewhere and it's not worth fighting the battle to advocate for them :roll:

 

[cmturn0]

I have also found a marked increase in flight time and responsiveness with the CF props. What I have found is the "dancing around" behavior isn't so much caused by them being out of balance (although you should definitely balance them too) so much as not being aligned on the hub correctly and the blade tracking is all off. If you hover your phantom about eye level and look at each prop, do both blades follow the same path, or can you see two blades, almost like double vision? If I order 3 sets of (4) blades I can usually make (2) good sets of 4, seems at least one blade in each set is way off alignment. I've tried the RCtimer brand ones, the generic ones like pictured above, and the Maytech brand ones as well, they all seem about the same in this respect. If you take the time to check them, and toss the out of spec ones, the CF blades can't be beat in my opinion. I find it even hovers more accurately than with the oem DJI props.

 

[hedonist222]

Happy to report the replacement CF 9" props worked like a charm. Flight characteristics are certainly a little more "choppy", but there is a marked increase in flight time (I didn't really measure flight time, but I flew kinda the same patterns and same circuits around the lake and it did go much longer). Also, I found these props to be quieter as well. Pretty happy camper here!

Got a link on Amazon.com?

 

[ElGuano]

Re: Do 9" carbon fiber propellers really improve efficiency?

Uncentered hubs?? Yeesh, you really get what you pay for! I have a few cf flat props that have clearly off-center drilled hub holes in them, they can't be balanced.

There are other cf props that are meticulously crafted (the t-motors ones) but those cost a fortune. Make sure you don't tip over with those installed!

 

[hedonist222]

Re: Do 9

There are other cf props that are meticulously crafted (the t-motors ones) but those cost a fortune. Make sure you don't tip over with those installed!

Got a link on Amazon?
For phantom 1?

Thanks

 

[gardenroute]

The longest-flying props on my Phantom were the non-self-tightening carbon fiber 9443s with low-profile alloy nuts. Each prop was something like 3-4g lighter than the standard DJI props, and resulted in about a minute or more in flight time. Once balanced, they flew great. There's something about the pre-balancing and convenience of the stock 9443s though, and I'm running all stockers now. I still like the CF, but they have a bad rap here and elsewhere and it's not worth fighting the battle to advocate for them :roll:

I'm flying now with 9443 plastic clones from eBay (buying 12/2013), they give me by about 1.5-2 minutes longer flight time than the original 8 "propeller. Phantom (P1 The Original, AUW 1200 g) is but a little nervous ...
The battery Dinogy 2800 I have a flight time of about 9.5-10 min.

The question is - are these CF versions (how of them do you write) of the 9443 propeller even longer flight time and calm behavior compared with Phantom 9443 clones ?

I need a CF version of non-self-tightening carbon fiber 9443s, please give me a link to them?

 

[ElGuano]

For non-tightening your best bet is ebay. I have a few and the quality is really hit or miss, but if you can get them balanced, they're fine.

The big problem nowadays is that the descriptions are all bad. Most of them say "self-tightening props" even though they show pictures of NST props with prop nuts. At least some of them claim they send you the props plus prop nuts, which should suggest they are NST...but no guarantees? http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-Self-Tighten ... 27e41b951a

Are there better ones than the 9443s? Maybe, you'd have to fly and test them :/ I've been sticking to stock DJI props lately on the Phantom. They're great and don't need to be balanced, so I have little reason to go back to the CF ones.