Hate to add another crack thread

Super glue with baking soda stops it dead in its tracks for me. Been using super glue since the P2 and it works like a charm.

Super glue is brittle and attacks most plastics.

I fail to see how this would be a better choice than epoxy resin.
 
Never seen one this bad.

All 3 of the phantoms I had suffered hairline cracks, but this looks almost like crash damage to get into that state.

Did you ignore the hairline cracks or something? This just happened like that?
It's a new bird as long as I fly straight and easy all my flights are long distance the p3 was fine.today I flew it and was flying it very aggressively hard banking 180 turns.up down just burning off the battery.i then landed and how can you not notice that!!!i have been flying for 3 years now this bird has never been crashed.besides if I did crash it why would I post it if it's my fault?i am just reporting my experience with the p3.i enjoy flying and doing mods that's half the fun but replacing shells all the time is costly I would rather buy more batteries then shells.Also the cracking seems to always be #3/#4 motors???
 
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It's a new bird as long as I fly straight and easy all my flights are long distance the p3 was fine.today I flew it and was flying it very aggressively hard banking 180 turns.up down just burning off the battery.i then landed and how can you not notice that!!!i have been flying for 3 years now this bird has never been crashed.besides if I did crash it why would I post it if it's my fault?i am just reporting my experience with the p3.i enjoy flying and doing mods that's half the fun but replacing shells all the time is costly I would rather buy more batteries then shells.Also the cracking seems to always be #3/#4 motors???

Ok man fair enough. I did notice a mark on the top of the motor thats why I asked.

For me, it's always the motors with the silver top, either the (back left) or (front right motor) that suffer cracks under neath them.

Non of the black top motors seems to crack... Isn't that strange?
 
How can you tell if you have new or old motors?

"It adds extra weight to the bird causing less battery life. If u have P3 with new motors, don't worry u will not get cracks"

That´s absolutely not backed up by facts, since many new motor P3s have suffered cracks all the same. Don´t believe that, just fly your P3 and keep an eye on the shell, that´s all.
 
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"It adds extra weight to the bird causing less battery life. If u have P3 with new motors, don't worry u will not get cracks"

That´s absolutely not backed up by facts, since many new motor P3s have suffered cracks all the same. Don´t believe that, just fly your P3 and keep an eye on the shell, that´s all.
You quoting me doesn't answer my question. How can you tell if you have new or old motors?
 
Sorry I was just trying to go straight to the point of your quoted statement, since it doesn´t matter the motor type to the crack problem. Anyway a simple search will bring up like a 100 threads or more where you can see pics of both old and new ;)
 
How can you tell if you have new or old motors?

His statement is not true.

The newer motors make no difference as to whether it cracks or not, it's the shell it self or torque issues.

With that said - There's plenty of threads on here including mine, showing cracks with both - including the new shell design(s) along with the new motors (flat top).

The newer motors have flat tops btw.
 
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"It adds extra weight to the bird causing less battery life. If u have P3 with new motors, don't worry u will not get cracks"

That´s absolutely not backed up by facts, since many new motor P3s have suffered cracks all the same. Don´t believe that, just fly your P3 and keep an eye on the shell, that´s all.

Agreed Alex.

I wish people would stop giving false information. It's a little annoying when they have no proof to back it up.

I have posted many threads with pics in my experience with cracking, along with many others of course.

New motors with new shells doesn't stop cracking either... Just for the record.
 
I have seen so many threads on cracks.. and it all seems to boil down to the same solution, back the screws out and just snug them up .. Can someone possible make a thread with this solution to stop all the cracked threads? Every photo looks the same. Maybe a thread stating right after unboxing loosen the motor screws and snug them back , then proceed with set up. Maybe a read first or a sticky
 
I think it all boils down to a design flaw with the original shells. In fact, I just received my P3A back from DJI today where they replaced my cracked shell (old style) with the new one that has the additional X-bracing. You wouldn't notice unless you've had both, but the newer shell does feel better made and more sturdy. Guess time will tell for sure.
 
I think it all boils down to a design flaw with the original shells. In fact, I just received my P3A back from DJI today where they replaced my cracked shell (old style) with the new one that has the additional X-bracing. You wouldn't notice unless you've had both, but the newer shell does feel better made and more sturdy. Guess time will tell for sure.

I´ve done warranty analysis for the bike industry, and my business is design & construction so I have seen a bit of structure failure already in my life. Although the shell design may be flawed (IMHO it´s not), my slightly educated guess is that it´s more a material issue than design-related.

When the problem is in the project, most if not all shell cracks would start, and develop, cracks with similar or the same pattern. Same spot, same evolution. But above that, a huge number of shells would crack, a major percentage really, and - very important - spread evenly throughout the P3 batches too.

That´s usually the way when something has a design flaw, and judging from what we see in forums it happens quite randomly. We see different cracks in different spots developing in different ways - happening in different places and with different versions and batches. New motors, old motors, new shells, old shells, tight screws, loose screws... Lots of possibilities, nothing seem to be 100% accurate or safe.

Material inconsistencies across versions and batches are very, very common in such cases. It could explain the apparent randomness of cracks. Also, for a company like DJI it´s way more common to have third-party supliers screwing up (QC) than internal R&D or design/project and engineering doing it wrong. Likewise, in construction it´s very rare to have a bad projected or calculated structure, but quite common to have a flawed or badly executed one. That theory could also explain battery issues, the principle is the same.

Before the P3 we had the P1 and P2, P2+, etc. They would have fixed it, but it was happening with the P2 and it´s still happening. We´ll see about the P4 but it´s a slightly different construction, and DJI may have improved the plastic and also the QC with shell suplier so it´s hard to tell. Likely, IMHO.

Now, no one really knows the percentage of shells with cracks, but it´s fairly accepted that most P3 shells are flying OK out there - even in the face of the big noise generated by pilots with cracked shells, which is usually what happens since users of anything with problems tend to complain in much larger scale than happy, problem-less users.

As I said before, that´s just my opinion on this crack thing. It makes sense to me, there´s always some logic behind this. My P3P has almost 300 flights, a few rough landings, lots of wind, heat, high speeds and extreme manouvers, etc. Everything but the extreme cold, since I live in more tropical climates - that´s why I have a feeling that temperature might be an issue. And it´s intact. Old shell, old motors, no bits nor glue...

Either way, this is a puzzling one for sure, this crack issue... still hauting P3 pilots I see.. and for some time to come! :p
 
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I´ve done warranty analysis for the bike industry, and my business is design & construction so I have seen a bit of structure failure already in my life. Although the shell design may be flawed (IMHO it´s not), my slightly educated guess is that it´s more a material issue than design-related.

When the problem is in the project, most if not all shell cracks would start, and develop, cracks with similar or the same pattern. Same spot, same evolution. But above that, a huge number of shells would crack, a major percentage really, and - very important - spread evenly throughout the P3 batches too.

That´s usually the way when something has a design flaw, and judging from what we see in forums it happens quite randomly. We see different cracks in different spots developing in different ways - happening in different places and with different versions and batches. New motors, old motors, new shells, old shells, tight screws, loose screws... Lots of possibilities, nothing seem to be 100% accurate or safe.

Material inconsistencies across versions and batches are very, very common in such cases. It could explain the apparent randomness of cracks. Also, for a company like DJI it´s way more common to have third-party supliers screwing up (QC) than internal R&D or design/project and engineering doing it wrong. Likewise, in construction it´s very rare to have a bad projected or calculated structure, but quite common to have a flawed or badly executed one. That theory could also explain battery issues, the principle is the same.

Before the P3 we had the P1 and P2, P2+, etc. They would have fixed it, but it was happening with the P2 and it´s still happening. We´ll see about the P4 but it´s a slightly different construction, and DJI may have improved the plastic and also the QC with shell suplier so it´s hard to tell. Likely, IMHO.

Now, no one really knows the percentage of shells with cracks, but it´s fairly accepted that most P3 shells are flying OK out there - even in the face of the big noise generated by pilots with cracked shells, which is usually what happens since users of anything with problems tend to complain in much larger scale than happy, problem-less users.

As I said before, that´s just my opinion on this crack thing. It makes sense to me, there´s always some logic behind this. My P3P has almost 300 flights, a few rough landings, lots of wind, heat, high speeds and extreme manouvers, etc. Everything but the extreme cold, since I live in more tropical climates - that´s why I have a feeling that temperature might be an issue. And it´s intact. Old shell, old motors, no bits nor glue...

Either way, this is a puzzling one for sure, this crack issue... still hauting P3 pilots I see.. and for some time to come! :p

Good points and it sure makes sense. Temps could be an issue, but when mine cracked it wasn't too cold to think it would cause plastic to hairline crack just like that. (winter sun was still around at the time here in the UK), I was mostly hovering no more than 30 feet up. Bought the quad home, a few hours later I checked it over and noticed hairline crack under one of the front motor arms around the 4 screws. I wonder if warmer temps at home and bringing it out from the cold caused it to crack?

No one really knows..

I remember a firmware update that mentioned something about cold temps causing more harm to the battery than anything else.. Unless I missed something in the manual, DJI never told us we can't fly them in winter, on a clear day with no wind??

I have seen people fly them in snow and stuff, much colder than it is here and they don't seem to have any problems... Unless some are lazy and never check for cracks until something goes wrong.
 
I live in Canada I flew many times in -7/-8/-9 c that's cold not to mention the wind chill is double that.no cracks coz I only flew straight out and back.my stress cracks come from hard flying 180/360 rotations loop de loops this was in atti mode.flying fast forward then reversing just playing with it!!! What we need is a p4 body for the p3 come on Dji!!!!!????
 
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I´ve done warranty analysis for the bike industry, and my business is design & construction so I have seen a bit of structure failure already in my life. Although the shell design may be flawed (IMHO it´s not), my slightly educated guess is that it´s more a material issue than design-related.

When the problem is in the project, most if not all shell cracks would start, and develop, cracks with similar or the same pattern. Same spot, same evolution. But above that, a huge number of shells would crack, a major percentage really, and - very important - spread evenly throughout the P3 batches too.

That´s usually the way when something has a design flaw, and judging from what we see in forums it happens quite randomly. We see different cracks in different spots developing in different ways - happening in different places and with different versions and batches. New motors, old motors, new shells, old shells, tight screws, loose screws... Lots of possibilities, nothing seem to be 100% accurate or safe.

Material inconsistencies across versions and batches are very, very common in such cases. It could explain the apparent randomness of cracks. Also, for a company like DJI it´s way more common to have third-party supliers screwing up (QC) than internal R&D or design/project and engineering doing it wrong. Likewise, in construction it´s very rare to have a bad projected or calculated structure, but quite common to have a flawed or badly executed one. That theory could also explain battery issues, the principle is the same.

Before the P3 we had the P1 and P2, P2+, etc. They would have fixed it, but it was happening with the P2 and it´s still happening. We´ll see about the P4 but it´s a slightly different construction, and DJI may have improved the plastic and also the QC with shell suplier so it´s hard to tell. Likely, IMHO.

Now, no one really knows the percentage of shells with cracks, but it´s fairly accepted that most P3 shells are flying OK out there - even in the face of the big noise generated by pilots with cracked shells, which is usually what happens since users of anything with problems tend to complain in much larger scale than happy, problem-less users.

As I said before, that´s just my opinion on this crack thing. It makes sense to me, there´s always some logic behind this. My P3P has almost 300 flights, a few rough landings, lots of wind, heat, high speeds and extreme manouvers, etc. Everything but the extreme cold, since I live in more tropical climates - that´s why I have a feeling that temperature might be an issue. And it´s intact. Old shell, old motors, no bits nor glue...

Either way, this is a puzzling one for sure, this crack issue... still hauting P3 pilots I see.. and for some time to come! :p

Perhaps, but I've noticed that there aren't as many crack related threads on here these days, which I attribute to the majority of Phantoms now sporting the new shells. Of course, my perspective on the matter may be biased having been one of the unlucky victims of the infamous cracks.
 
I live in Canada I flew many times in -7/-8/-9 c that's cold not to mention the wind chill is double that.no cracks coz I only flew straight out and back.my stress cracks come from hard flying 180/360 rotations loop de loops this was in atti mode.flying fast forward then reversing just playing with it!!! What we need is a p4 body for the p3 come on Dji!!!!!????
I think they unfortunately have no interest in doing that. They've to sell p4
 
How can you fix cracks?, by crikey! I've ordered mine yesterday and have to expect this?


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
How can you fix cracks?, by crikey! I've ordered mine yesterday and have to expect this?


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Relax and just fly your bird. It´s been said that only a small fraction of P3 may develop cracks, most are OK. Keep an eye out on the shell, and as a rule on every other part of your P3 - that´s nothing out of ordinary, should be standard procedure just as it is with general RC aircrafts and other hobby models. Good luck and happy flying!
 
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