Inspect your P3 before flight!

[Lifted Chevy]

Man-tight methinks

I totally agree but it was the insert that was a hair too big and the screw was still four threads out when it snapped the plastic on one of the deep holes close to the led cover. Thankfully DJI replaced the shell. Got it back a few days later.

 

[m0j0]

If the shell cracks send it in. I had mine fixed and returned in 9 days total. Was incredibly fast and it lasted until I sold it for my upgrade.

 

[m0j0]

They even replaced a motor that I had no idea was bad. My experience was pretty incredible actually. The Phantoms shell is just poorly designed. To be honest it has been my only complaint regarding DJI. If you fly it the shell will eventually crack. Repair is very easy. You can do it in about 3 hours. Get some Dixie cups for the parts.

 

[m0j0]

I have sent it in once took 9 days. I repaired a second P3p for $60 the cost of Dixie cups and a small precision screw driver set. I must say doing it myself was more rewarding and the turn-around time was 3 hours versus 9days.

 

[macoman]

The Phantoms shell is just poorly designed. To be honest it has been my only complaint regarding DJI. If you fly it the shell will eventually crack. Repair is very easy. You can do it in about 3 hours. Get some Dixie cups for the parts.

I have 40 flights so far and no single crack. I have been babysitting my phantom and so far so good.

 

[DKG13CC]

As you would have seen the GPS connector is a trap for some, carefully remove it before yanking the lid off.

And dont forget to re-attach the bugger!!

 

[Phill2]

Sorry I should've been clearer. There's no issue with using the blue loctite on the motor bolts as it's metal-to-metal.
The metal-to-plastic screws don't need any locking compound.

EDIT - I've just been looking at the type I've been using and it's 425, which is safe to use in plastic.

425 is super glue
You'd wanna be quick getting the screws in if you put it on the threads

 

[Numone]

425 is super glue
You'd wanna be quick getting the screws in if you put it on the threads

Yes, it does include cyanoacrylate, but it's a low-strength Threadlocker, not a superglue.

 

[DKG13CC]

Just a thought, but everyones car dashes here crack in TX, due to the excessive UV. Save for the folks like me who really love cars and use Armor All or other plastic conditioners. Wonder if these products would be good for our drones?

 

[HWCM]

Just a thought, but everyones car dashes here crack in TX, due to the excessive UV. Save for the folks like me who really love cars and use Armor All or other plastic conditioners. Wonder if these products would be good for our drones?

Armour all is not really a plastic conditioner. It just makes car interiors look silly by making them shiny and slippery.

 

[johnp44]

Something tells me that you did something violent with your bird... these cracks can't pop up just out of nothing.

Yes they can!

 

[Borocay]

My P3P cracked almost in the same place on one arm on the top. I was just flying it normally and it cracked one day. The only thing I did differently was to change the original propellers to the ones sold on DJI's website that have the composite hub with gold stripes on the tip. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the crack but it sure caused the P3P to fly differently. Maybe that caused undue stress. Regardless, DJI repaired it for free. I will be sticking with the original blades from now on.

 

[Easy-V]

At what point do you address this? Mine has some fine hairline cracks, and it isn't affecting flight.

 

[heykool69]

I barely have 5 very short flights in 8 months. I fly very conservative and only within 50 yards radius. But reading this thread scares me. Will definitely check my drone on my next flight.

 

[macoman]

At what point do you address this? Mine has some fine hairline cracks, and it isn't affecting flight.

If you have fine hairlines, I will try to see how long and deep their are. If they are not too long, I will put some kind of glue for plastic so it does not spread. But if their are long and deep, a shell replacement will be necessary.

 

[BenjaminD]

This what happened to me, doing a pre flight saw that one of the motors was loose tighten it back up , maybe you have a loose motor and the vibration is causing the cracks!

 

[DKG13CC]

Armour all is not really a plastic conditioner. It just makes car interiors look silly by making them shiny and slippery.

Tell that to all the people whose dashes look like spiderwebs down here. Armor all is just the most well known brand, but it does work. And yes, if you over-do it it comes out like the old Soul Glo skit.

 

[BillP3P]

I have less than 10 actual flights on this thing and I was going to fly yesterday so I gave her a looksee and to my surprise here's what I found.

Note: I've never had any crashes or impacts of any kind with this Phantom.

View attachment 83064

These are the worst of the cracks but there were cracks on each arm. DJI really did us dirty with the P3.

The last flight was my furthest at just over a mile and heading back to the take off position, I hit 30 mph with a tail wind. Before that flight, there were no visable cracks or anything. I flew for about 45 min that day.

The crack in the left photo looks pretty risky but I had cracks like the right photo under similar number of flights. At the time, sending it back to DJI involved months of waiting. I used clear JB Weld (epoxy) and coated the bottoms of each arm underneath the motors making sure I didn't get any in the screw holes or separation line between the upper and lower half. I put two coats on (dry time between them) to give it extra strength. That's was 2 years and probably 60+ flights ago. Haven't had a problem since. No new cracks. Old cracks didn't get bigger. It's kind of old school but if you've flown RCs for a while, it's how we used to keep them flying . That's said, personally I'd replace the body because of the crack in left photo. Having been thru this, I wish I had strengthened the arms as soon as I bought it (before the cracks). It was a common problem back then but you never think will happen to you. LOL. Good Luck. Happy flying...

Update: Added photos of epoxy fix. The "clear" epoxy has yellowed over the 2 years since the fix but it's done the job. You can see it's a fairly thick coat to strengthen the design flaw area.

 

[kenjuen]

I have less than 10 actual flights on this thing and I was going to fly yesterday so I gave her a looksee and to my surprise here's what I found.

Note: I've never had any crashes or impacts of any kind with this Phantom.

View attachment 83064

These are the worst of the cracks but there were cracks on each arm. DJI really did us dirty with the P3.

The last flight was my furthest at just over a mile and heading back to the take off position, I hit 30 mph with a tail wind. Before that flight, there were no visable cracks or anything. I flew for about 45 min that day.

I have never had cracks after 100+ flights, is braking at 100%? I set mine at70 and always tried to fly smoothly.

 

[Wiegand]

Unfortunately the problem is known and common on other aircraft too.
I looked at and thoroughly investigated the defect and came to a definite conclusion.
Often the compound of the plastic is not excellent but the main cause is the excessive tightening of the screws.
On many new Phantom and Yuneec shells I loosened all the screws that were always absolutely overtightened and I narrowed them with just light and correct load.
The defect has never been presented after hundreds of flights.
The Chinese have done great things but have not yet learned how to properly tighten the screws.