Stress cracks...anyone waiting to see before buying?

[Kman]

I'm sure a lot of you have seen the video I made awhile ago of the P3 stress cracks.

A lot of you who have been in the hobby for awhile know stress cracks on the shell of Phantoms has been on every model since the P1.

Looking at the pics of the new P4, the arms look very narrow/thin towards the ends by the motors and they only have one screw on the bottom by the LED holding the shell halves together. Should this be a concern? You can see photos here:
Closeup photos of the Phantom 4

Anyone waiting to see if the P4 cracks like the P3, P2, and P1 before purchasing? I know I am. Based on how many shell revisions the P3 went through I'm just too nervous to pull the trigger on the P4 right away.

 

[Ajginger]

You bet I am, also waiting to see what replacement parts are going to cost.
I money isn't the issue for me, but there are a number of new drones in the p4 category coming out this year so I will see what the pro's/con's are before splashing out for any.

I am kind of dissapointed they could only give 23-25 mins of flight time out of the new battery.
(I know they say 28 min, my p3 was supposed to do 23 mins but is around 19)

 

[CCDD]

I would very much doubt that stress.cracks will be an issue on the P4.

 

[Bigdz]

Like anything just released by DJI it will have its hiccups, but this time unlike the others, I won't fall victim to the hype. I'll give it some time before I pull the trigger, that's if I'm convinced it's worth it. I'm happy with my P3A and I1. Even though it's always fun to have the latest and greatest...

Forgot to mention: the p4 frame suppose to be a better build, stronger. I doubt it will have the stress crack issues some of us dealt with on the P3.

 

[Dirty Bird]

From the "imploding view" video where all the components come together it appears that, instead of the motors mounting to only the bottom half of the shell as on prior Phantoms, the motor mounts on a sandwiched area of both upper & lower shells. The area appears reinforced or some sort of reinforcement piece was also involved. Hopefully the additional structure will improve the integrity of the shell.

 

[Tommymonkey]

Me going to wait till June or July for any reported stress cracks firmware bugs now I will continue to enjoy my P3A.

 

[N017RW]

I understand the hesitation, and I'm not planning to buy one, but I truly believe DJI has learned that lesson and we should see component quality improve.

Regardless of margins these issues cost more money in the long run and tarnish the brand reputation.

 

[Jussaguy]

I'm sure a lot of you have seen the video I made awhile ago of the P3 stress cracks.

A lot of you who have been in the hobby for awhile know stress cracks on the shell of Phantoms has been on every model since the P1.

Looking at the pics of the new P4, the arms look very narrow/thin towards the ends by the motors and they only have one screw on the bottom by the LED holding the shell halves together. Should this be a concern? You can see photos here:
Closeup photos of the Phantom 4

Anyone waiting to see if the P4 cracks like the P3, P2, and P1 before purchasing? I know I am. Based on how many shell revisions the P3 went througch I'm just too nervous to pull the trigger on the P4 right away.

3 words.

War an tee.

Then of course those two words CANT WAIT. o no, not me.

 

[Myetkt]

It hasn't been cheap for DJI to take back shells that need to be replace. As I understand it they pay for shipping as well as the new shell and the people to make the repair. I'm sure they want this problem behind them. Is it worth the gamble to buy now? Was for me.

 

[Kenneth Marsola]

It hasn't been cheap for DJI to take back shells that need to be replace. As I understand it they pay for shipping as well as the new shell and the people to make the repair. I'm sure they want this problem behind them. Is it worth the gamble to buy now? Was for me.

I'm with you brother

 

[jointeffort]

I just bought my P3S and am totally happy. That being said, I totally want the P4. For many reasons. But I will wait till I crash my P3S or have the extra cash down the line. Hopefully by then, all the kinks will be worked out including stress cracks.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[bighi]

I just finished ordering a phantom 4. For two reasons only because I could care less about object avoidance or image tracking. I bought it because of speed and the motor mounting that is exposed in the exploded view video. I looked at that video slowly and cheerfully for days. What I saw impressed me. Plastic quality aside, to mount the motors in such a way, sandwiching the top and bottom shell together, is not just far stronger, but it also helps keep the shell together better than even the strong arms do on the 3. Look again at the video and you will also see that now the clips are on the arms as well.

I'm no stranger when it comes to shell cracks. In fact, if one looks at my posts in this forum, they will see that I've been extremely vocal regarding this matter. I'm a long distance flyer who has never had a crash in three phantom generations but had all of them crack. But this new shell's attachments and motor mounts are far superior. Much better than my 2 phantom 3 where the motors rest on the bottom shell only. Also, I suspect that the true intention of mounting the motors higher wasn't to keep the props out of camera view. That's just an added bonus. The true intent was to sandwich the top and bottom shell and it was easier done with the motors higher. Here is the video for those who didn't notice these details.

 

[Kman]

3 words.

War an tee.

Then of course those two words CANT WAIT. o no, not me.

The P4 shell is not covered under warranty.

 

[Kman]

It hasn't been cheap for DJI to take back shells that need to be replace. As I understand it they pay for shipping as well as the new shell and the people to make the repair. I'm sure they want this problem behind them. Is it worth the gamble to buy now? Was for me.

No doubt replacing the shells is expensive, that's why the P4 shell isn't covered under warranty.

 

[Myetkt]

Can you show link to where warranty says it's no longer covered?

 

[Kman]

Can you show link to where warranty says it's no longer covered?

P4 no warranty for frame, propeller, or carrying case.

 

[30secs]

Guys, I'm sure if there are stress cracks DJI will repair (though kills like the new shell won't have that problem)

I think they put that as people will damage their shells then expect DJI to repair. Too much liability so it makes sense it's excluded. But if it's faulty I'm sure they will as they have with the p3s

 

[bighi]

I'm sure they will repair them unless it's the broken gimbal club folks. Regardless, the way the new shell is designed, top and bottom shell attachment for the motor, is far superior. With this design cracks just might diminish. Me personally, I ddon't give two craps about repairs. I just don't want it to crack period.

 

[Myetkt]

Thats the Apple web site, can you show me where it says that on the DJI web site? Again this shell problem along with with customer service problems are about the 2 biggest problems people talk about on this form. If that's the case, that these things keep breaking from normal use and they stop repairing them it's going to be a PR nightmare for DJI.

 

[bighi]

Thats the Apple web site, can you show me where it says that on the DJI web site? Again this shell problem along with with customer service problems are about the 2 biggest problems people talk about on this form. If that's the case, that these things keep breaking from normal use and they stop repairing them it's going to be a PR nightmare for DJI.

Agreed.