Prop Guards - Get DJI and skip the cheap copies

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After chewing up a few blades with tip overs on bad take offs and landings, I decided to buy some prop guards.

I bought a cheap set on ebay. They say Ttongr on them. On the maiden flight with these prop guards, I had some control issues and bumped into the side of a wooden building, then tumbled a few feet to a wooden deck. Two of the prop guards shattered into several pieces. (all 4 props were damaged, too)

The next set I ordered cost me a bit more, but appear to be real DJI guards. The packaging was nicer, the parts look better, feel less brittle, and strike you as a better design. Sturdy yet flexible.

If I had it to do over again, I would have bought the DJI guards in the beginning. They may not have protected the blades much better in a crash like this, but they couldn't have been any worse.
 

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Hmm, same make as those knock off P2 batteries...
 
The DJI guards are the only way to go.
yte4upy3.jpg


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MILLER4PRESIDENT2020 said:
order the carbon fiber ones, lighter and stronger and dont mess up the flight characteristics as much.

The carbon fiber guards I saw were flat and not contoured like the molded plastic ones. I'm sure they are strong but wasn't sure if the shape was as good as the plastic variety. I'd be interested in hearing from people who have used both before I switch.
 
I'm still on the fence about the theory of how prop guards affect the flight characteristics. I've flown with and without and never noticed any type of difference.

Adding my gibmal and gopro changed how my phantom flies.
 
Boomerang said:
MILLER4PRESIDENT2020 said:
order the carbon fiber ones, lighter and stronger and dont mess up the flight characteristics as much.

The carbon fiber guards I saw were flat and not contoured like the molded plastic ones. I'm sure they are strong but wasn't sure if the shape was as good as the plastic variety. I'd be interested in hearing from people who have used both before I switch.

Ive used both and like the CF ones better, even though the plastic ones are rounder, I feel there is more surface area so it is more exposed on windier days
 
I had the same thing happen to me. I ordered the cheaper prop guards and had some serious flight problems while descending.

http://youtu.be/3H0ghefQb_U

I flew it quite easily for a few minutes to test the characteristics and everything was fine. Once I flew it at normal speeds I started seeing and hearing problems. The video above is the props hitting the guards. I only heard this on descending and unfortunately only after I watched the video. There's some obvious flex in the props that the guards were not designed to make space for. On my final decent of the evening the phantom started gyrating violently at about 20 feet. It hit the ground pretty hard and lucky for me only the prop guards broke.

They were a generic brand bought off Amazon from Cheerwing USA. The vendor was kind enough to return the money but I recommend staying away from the cheap alternative prop guards.
 
Do or don't use the longer screws that come with them?
I was reading where using the new longer ones hit the motor and ruined it.
 
In Utopia said:
Do or don't use the longer screws that come with them?
I was reading where using the new longer ones hit the motor and ruined it.

If they are the Dji guards, this is NOT true. The longer screws are a must!

And as far as them flexing and hitting the props. I have done some very aggressive maneuvers in 15/20 mph winds. Ascending, descending, you name it and have never had my guards touch the props.

They do seem to "slow" it down a little bit when the wind is blowing good. That is my opinion. I hadn't actually compared with speed runs but it does feel a little more docile.

There really seems to be a lot of misinformation out there...

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In Utopia said:
Do or don't use the longer screws that come with them?
I was reading where using the new longer ones hit the motor and ruined it.

The longer screws that come with the prop guards can easily damage your motors if they're used when the prop guards aren't on. But yes you should use them when mounting the prop guards.
 
OI Photography said:
In Utopia said:
Do or don't use the longer screws that come with them?
I was reading where using the new longer ones hit the motor and ruined it.

The longer screws that come with the prop guards can easily damage your motors if they're used when the prop guards aren't on. But yes you should use them when mounting the prop guards.

I never thought of this situation.... I guess that's for the same people that need the warning label telling them not to use a hair dryer in the shower! They're out there....

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AmosMoses said:
OI Photography said:
In Utopia said:
Do or don't use the longer screws that come with them?
I was reading where using the new longer ones hit the motor and ruined it.

The longer screws that come with the prop guards can easily damage your motors if they're used when the prop guards aren't on. But yes you should use them when mounting the prop guards.

I never thought of this situation.... I guess that's for the same people that need the warning label telling them not to use a hair dryer in the shower! They're out there....

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Search the forums here, you'll find that's a common noobtrap on the Phantom.
 
I bought the same prop guards ttongr, cause my photon to wash out about 60 ft. Fell straight down with no recoving, broke all props an camera ....
 

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