New stress crack location

It's odd how some get cracks but (most presumably) don't.
Could it be an unbalanced prop or motor?
Or even some other factor like ill-fitting case?

Mine has done a fair few flights since May and no sign of any cracks.
It's always windy here. You would think if the design or material were inadequate they would all get the same thing sooner or later.
I've always thought the issue was some sort of out of balance situation, be it props or motor.

In the OP's case, it looks to me that he previously glued his shell which transferred stress down the arms to where it now cracked just beyond where the glue stopped.

Note that I am just speculating from the picture. I don't know for sure if he previously glue his shell. It seems likely however.
 
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DJI used pretty much the same basic design in 3 generations of product but each time they've upped the power. Now with active breaking, the stress on the frame is much higher.

I bet you, they will quietly introduce a revised shell reinforced at key stress points as part of a mid-cycle update.
 
I've always used UAVbits.com 's Gimbal Guards on my Phantoms. I am starting to wonder if they increase the stability of craft and take pressure off the body by adding lateral strength across the legs.
 
Got it from Helidirect. But from what I'm told they'll be no help at all. Guess I'll contact DJI and see what the deal is

You have 30 days on just about any cc or pp created order.
I would demand an exchange.

There is no way this one is normal. There have been many reports of cracking at the motor mounts, but those were reportedly from various bad batches of plastic and/or overtorque of the nuts at the factory.

Word is that these problems were fixed at the factory. But we have no way of knowing the age of your particular machine at Heli (could have sat on the shelf, etc.).

Either way - within 30 days I would contact them and/or look at your cc or pp terms. If it were over 30-45 days I would contact DJI and get it sent in.

If you are the type who likes DIY you could always buy (or demand from Heli) a shell and swap it out.
 
DJI used pretty much the same basic design in 3 generations of product but each time they've upped the power. Now with active breaking, the stress on the frame is much higher.

I bet you, they will quietly introduce a revised shell reinforced at key stress points as part of a mid-cycle update.

Hard to imagine that the stress was on those particular areas - I can see the motor mounts cracking, but not the main shell near where it connects with the center. Remember that many of the older Phantoms have survived massive falls (100's of feet) without that part breaking.

I think this one is relatively limited. DJI has pretty good suppliers but as we all know China isn't perfect in this stuff like the Japanese and Taiwanese are. DJI has to keep after them to make sure the quality is up to snuff.
 
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Those aren't cracks.. they are VERY obviously divisions between parts


Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 
Is it possible your hand catching is causing the extra stress on the landing gear mount? If you catch it with one hand and have the transmitter in your other hand to kill the power, the weight of the quad could be putting extra stress on the joint as the power is cut. If you catch it you probably need to use both hands on both landing gear, which will be tough if your by yourself...

Just a theory...

I have a P3P always land it my self on the ground and I don't have any cracks anywhere. At least not yet! I did an auto land once and it seems hard to me so I just land it my self.

Hope you get the problem resolved with DJI...

I don't use DJI to resolve any cracking problems. Reason being that the best resolution is a free, new crappy shell again. And that's a best case scenario after 8 weeks. My buddy sent one in beginning of June for cracks. Needless to say he hasn't flown this summer. The crack occurred on the opposite side of where I hand catch. But anyway, if you've ever hand caught you'll see that the stresses are far less than when ground landing. But even if that were the case, one has to ask just how fragile these shells are. But then again, they truly are. In fact I never stare at any one single point on a phantom 3 shell because that staring can overstress that point on the shell. If I could have any phantom 3 I would love to have Blade Strike's or Tahoe Ed's. Those are specially resistant to cracking :) .
 
My
I have those too on both sides near the battery. They have been there since the first day I had mine. They are seams where the plastic is put together (a very poor fit at that). The original poster has a crack that extends into the upper shell. This one appears to be somewhat normal from how mine looks. If you follow it around with a light, you can see it goes along a seam with a straight line at the battery compartment.

I am curious if others do not have them in that exact spot

Mine cracked exactly adjacent, 2 millimeters away from that seam.
 
I've always used UAVbits.com 's Gimbal Guards on my Phantoms. I am starting to wonder if they increase the stability of craft and take pressure off the body by adding lateral strength across the legs.

This location has nothing to do with the ends of the arms unfortunately. DJI really has their work cut out strengthening these shells. They are NOT up to the task. Unless you're flying the 20 meter high, 400 meter away thing. But if you're doing the 100 meter high, 2.5 km flights at the speeds involved in that endeavor, forget it. It will crack. First the side by side arm forward of the lights, the motor mount or two, then this. This plastic at this thickness just isn't enough. It's time for a major redesign.
 
Those aren't cracks.. they are VERY obviously divisions between parts

Exactly. My Phantom 3 looks the same. Its the way they are assembled, those aren't cracks. Look inside the battery compartment on the sides and you can see where this piece snaps into the Phantom. This is part of the design.
 
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On mine it was a crack. Parallel to the obvious part seam line. 2 mm away from it. And extending to the top of the shell. Anyway, glued now the same way I glued motor mounts. DJI should include a tube of super glue in the parts bag.
 
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Sorry to say but we need either carbon fiber shells or titanium.
That implemented would be end of story.
Probably carbon fiber would be the most practical to produce.
 
Exactly. My Phantom 3 looks the same. Its the way they are assembled, those aren't cracks. Look inside the battery compartment on the sides and you can see where this piece snaps into the Phantom. This is part of the design.

Those Are stress cracks.. You can see it is just to the right of the seam. Also you can see it extend above the horizontal seam.
 
Good to know that auto land is kinda rough, (I've never tried it).
Thanks.

I auto land all the time and don't have any cracks on either of my P3P's
 
oddly enough. Hand catching may of caused this. When you grab the landing gear on one arm and then shut it down, the phantom falls from the air and can torque this area.
 
oddly enough. Hand catching may of caused this. When you grab the landing gear on one arm and then shut it down, the phantom falls from the air and can torque this area.
Respectfully disagree. The Phantom weighs 2.8lbs. Not gonna crack anything by putting all 2.8lbs on any one part of this aircraft. If there are cracks running parallel to the existing body seams, they are from torsion/twisting of the arms created by sudden/rapid motor torque changes and possibly also the canted position of the motors which was implemented to prevent the dreaded Vortex Ring State.
 
Looks like even the Phantom1 have divisions between the shell parts. So to me it looks like this is not cracks, but just how the shell is put together. But for the threadstarter the crack goes parallell next to this divisions and also up in the upper shell.

tumblr_mu6a21Sivk1sgzr25o5_1280.jpg
 
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