It happens to a lot of them. I have a regular p4 and I too have the stress cracks on the back two motors. I bought a new shell, but never installed it. I also fly planes and mini quads, so I fly the phantom pretty aggressively sometimes for fun. But, if you fly it like a Lamborghini, you're going to get stress cracks in the back. For those that baby theirs, they probably won't get them, but if you fly aggressively in sport, they're bound to show up. I haven't had an issue in over a year with near daily flying after discovering them. But, if you want to send your bird off in the mail for weeks or months to get it fixed, do that - but when you get it back, if you again fly it like you stole it, expect them to reappear. I've done some pretty hardcore testing on mine before deciding to just leave it, like attaching a camera to the landing gear and filming at a very high shutter speed to be able to slow it down and assess how it's handling and if there's any danger in continuing to fly - from what I can tell (and from the last year of experience), mine is safe to fly. The shells are super flimsy.
Stress Cracks WTF
- Thread starter bkushner
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I had a P3P didn't had any stress cracks at all until recently I decided to fly it on the beach on a windy day, the winds on the weather app were displayed to be in the 18 mph and I decided to fly it any way. I saw the AC struggle a bit to maintain its position against the wind. This kind of situation for sure will scar any AC, when I landed and check the AC for cracks, I found a couple under the rear motors (that they wasn't there before). After I uploaded the flight log to Airdata and check it, they were gust up to 22 - 25 mph. The pressure under the motor to fight against the wind will mark these AC sooner or later, better yet if we are forcing it to do it. DJI should take a better approach of the design of the AC to prevent this, these machines are no cheap in order to find cracks in so little time of use.
I can say this that I've been doing more flying at higher speed. Using atti mode on a tailwind and I get 50-60 but I always come out of the speed easy and don't just let go of stick. I've owned about 5 drones, P3P. P4, P4P and first I've had stress cracks.
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Well that repair process is a little scary ... I'd need to think about that a bit before giving it a try with super glue and bicarbonate of soda so close to a motor. Maybe more apt to do it where proximity to the motor isn't as close.
From earlier in the thread, I was interested in the "unbalanced prop" thing. Is there a way to proactively inspect and possibly tight the motors so that this never happens?
From earlier in the thread, I was interested in the "unbalanced prop" thing. Is there a way to proactively inspect and possibly tight the motors so that this never happens?
The only "repair" process should consist of buying a new shell on Amazon and disassembling / reassembling inside of the new shell. It's bound to happen again, though, which is why I have a brand new shell collecting dust...
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The first thing I saw that made me question the super glue/soda repair was that when applying the glue, it would probably run across the upper and lower shell gap, and glue the two together.
I would much rather take the top off, and perform the glue repair away from the bottom shell and the motor.
Just my observation.....
I would much rather take the top off, and perform the glue repair away from the bottom shell and the motor.
Just my observation.....
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Yeah , the repair was not the best, you can use better technique. You can use wax to coat where you don't want the glue to go, plus there is a gel type super glue, for filling cracks, that doesn't run so much. Hot Stuff for modeling is much better.
Disassembly and repair done on the inside, would be much better, tape on the outside to stop the glue from reaching then exterior surface.
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It worked for myself and has flew fine for 1 moth worth daily usage, i have got a new shell now which I'll do when i get the time.
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Not saying it was a bad thing, it just could have been done better. But if we are talking field repair here, then sometimes it is what it is.
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yeah? any proof?
what if this whole time the brittle plastic is *on purpose* so that if the aircraft were to hit a plane or a building or a car or something *it* would break apart on purpose?
like crumple zones on cars - not made to be bulletproof but instead made to break and absorb impact.
...or maybe it’s just cheap chinese plastic and a not-that-well-thought-out design, lol.
I'm not sure how fighting a 25mph wind is any different than flying 25mph with no wind. Seems the stress would be the same to me, and I fly over 30mph all the time, like most pilots.
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I
If you have never actually flown a plane, I can under stand your misconception. Flying through the air, at 30mph, if it is smooth, develops lift and smooth flight. But add turbulence, then the g'forces increase rapidly, as the shift in the air causes the aircraft to move from its path of flight. This places a lot of force on the airframe, that is why there is a cruising speed and a turbulent air speed that you may fly. In turbulence, you must slow down to avoid over stressing the airframe. This is true with any aircraft, small or large.
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We should NOT have to fix it after the money we spent on these machines
hot stuff hasen't been made for years.
it was made by Bob Hunter at satellite city.
it was some of the best ca glue ever made.
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