Stress Cracks Phantom 4, what do I do?

[jbolf6]

Hi all pilots. I purchased a Phantom 4 new in January and have lovingly taken care of it. It has had no crashes or hard landings, I hand catch all landings. Today after a flight I notice stress cracks on the upper landing gear that go right into the shell. Will DJI do anything about this under warranty, if not, what should I do to repair them? Epoxy?

 

[macoman]

That's very weird that something that is taking well care still cracking. The quality of the plastic seem to be one of the worse.

 

[msinger]

Yes, you should contact DJI support for help.

 

[ROD PAINTER]

Just bought a P4 at Best Buy. Now thinking about returning it. Opinions pro or con?

 

[WV. Rootman]

What seems strange is two separate pieces of plastic have stress cracks in the same location. My guess is at sometime there was a large amount of force placed on that landing gear. Did you buy it refurbished? Maybe the screw was put on too tight.

 

[jbolf6]

What seems strange is two separate pieces of plastic have stress cracks in the same location. My guess is at sometime there was a large amount of force placed on that landing gear. Did you buy it refurbished? Maybe the screw was put on too tight.

Nope, it was brand new

 

[jbolf6]

I

Just bought a P4 at Best Buy. Now thinking about returning it. Opinions pro or con?

I love this drone but if I were you I would take it back

 

[John Locke]

Just bought a P4 at Best Buy. Now thinking about returning it. Opinions pro or con?

Some owners have stress crack problems and others don't. It's hit or miss. I just had my P4 replaced under warranty 2mos ago due to body cracks, it was 9mo old. However, I don't regret buying the P4, we've done a lot of traveling together. I've flown all over the country and it's been very reliable and amazing to fly. I have photos and video of places that were unimaginable 5yrs ago. No other brand is going to give you a better value for the dollar, cracked body or not. The software and features of the P4 are way better than anything else in this price range, bar none. The only thing I was disappointed in was the GL300C stock controller that limited the range to less than a mile in most places. I had to buy an Inspire GL658A to get the normal 2 to 3mi range I was getting with my P3P. With that in place, it's a great bird. But if you have the money, buy the P4P, not the P4 or P4A. The range will set you free, not to mention the 20mp camera.

 

[Geoelectro]

I notice some having stress cracks mention babying their bird including hand catching. I've done a lot of hand catching myself and I believe that adds stress to the legs and mounts. More recently I've refrained from hand catching unless necessary. Thoughts?

Geo

 

[r62ewa]

I notice some having stress cracks mention babying their bird including hand catching. I've done a lot of hand catching myself and I believe that adds stress to the legs and mounts. More recently I've refrained from hand catching unless necessary. Thoughts?

Geo

Good point. If you only hold on the lower leg there is the possibility of stress from the weight of the drone. When I hand catch I grab as high as I can and have my thumb right up on the body but I can still feel a little flexing. Hand catching the same leg repeatedly would add some stress I'd imagine.

 

[Theeraphon]

I notice some having stress cracks mention babying their bird including hand catching. I've done a lot of hand catching myself and I believe that adds stress to the legs and mounts. More recently I've refrained from hand catching unless necessary. Thoughts?

Geo

I thought so too.

 

[tevek]

Good point. If you only hold on the lower leg there is the possibility of stress from the weight of the drone. When I hand catch I grab as high as I can and have my thumb right up on the body but I can still feel a little flexing. Hand catching the same leg repeatedly would add some stress I'd imagine.

In my case, I developed tiny hairline cracks on three of the four legs after only 3-4 flights from new when manually landing. I have hand caught the last 140 times in the same fashion as yourself and the cracks have not developed any further. I'm thinking sub standard plastic or an inferior method of connection of the legs to the body during design and construction.

 

[DanMan32]

Better cracks in the landing legs than the arms.

 

[John Locke]

I've done a lot of hand catching myself and I believe that adds stress to the legs and mounts. Thoughts?

So you're implying DJI didn't design the P4 to be held by the landing gear, the part that takes the most punishment when landing on the ground? Sounds silly to me.

 

[Theeraphon]

So you're implying DJI didn't design the P4 to be held by the landing gear, the part that takes the most punishment when landing on the ground? Sounds silly to me.

When you land your bird on level surface, all the force is distributed on both legs. But if you hand catch it, the force will be at the point that you hold you bird. I think he has a point.

 

[John Locke]

When you land your bird on level surface, all the force is distributed on both legs. But if you hand catch it, the force will be at the point that you hold you bird. I think he has a point.

It's hovering in the air. There's no force any different than holding the craft by one landing gear with the motors off. You're saying DJI didn't design the craft strong enough to hold the craft with one landing gear. I'm sorry, but that seems silly to me, but that's me. I just don't buy that theory, but believe what you want.

 

[Theeraphon]

It's hovering in the air. There's no force any different than holding the craft by one landing gear with the motors off. You're saying DJI didn't design the craft strong enough to hold the craft with one landing gear. I'm sorry, but that seems silly to me, but that's me. I just don't buy that theory, but believe what you want.

If you hold on one leg while the bird is hovering, I have to agree with you. But once you are powering it down, the bird is trying to descend while you are trying to hold its position. That's when the force comes in. It might not be the cause of all landing gear cracks. But it might be the combination of all things like plastic quality issue, screwed to tight etc.

 

[DanMan32]

I don't think it is so much of an up/down force normally encountered on a flat surface land but rather holding by one leg with no counter upward force, all of the quad's weight is trying to bend the leg. If you take drinking straws and fashion a 4 leg table with cardboard as the top, it can hold some weight. But if you grab your straw and cardboard table by one straw and put weight, the straw bends and the table flops over.

 

[jeffames226]

If you hold on one leg while the bird is hovering, I have to agree with you. But once you are powering it down, the bird is trying to descend while you are trying to hold its position. That's when the force comes in. It might not be the cause of all landing gear cracks. But it might be the combination of all things like plastic quality issue, screwed to tight etc.

You do realize that that its not possible to generate ANY downward force whatsoever with these birds right?

 

[mrfish]

Some owners have stress crack problems and others don't. It's hit or miss. I just had my P4 replaced under warranty 2mos ago due to body cracks, it was 9mo old. However, I don't regret buying the P4, we've done a lot of traveling together. I've flown all over the country and it's been very reliable and amazing to fly. I have photos and video of places that were unimaginable 5yrs ago. No other brand is going to give you a better value for the dollar, cracked body or not. The software and features of the P4 are way better than anything else in this price range, bar none. The only thing I was disappointed in was the GL300C stock controller that limited the range to less than a mile in most places. I had to buy an Inspire GL658A to get the normal 2 to 3mi range I was getting with my P3P. With that in place, it's a great bird. But if you have the money, buy the P4P, not the P4 or P4A. The range will set you free, not to mention the 20mp camera.

Please excuse my ignorance but what causes the range differences between the different Phantom 4 models?