Very thin crack on lower arm - repair/return?

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Hi all
My P3A is 9 months old, never crashed it or knocked it. Don't generally fly it aggressively.
Noticed a very thin crack on the shell.
Options: ignore / repair / return to DJI.
Opinions anyone?
 

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Look more closely at your photo. I think you have multiple cracks. A lot of Phantoms get these. My first P3 got them after less than an hour. DJI "fixed" it under warranty but I was without it for 3 weeks and I got sent back a different unit, not the one I sent them. The unit I got back had different problems and I sent that back as well; took over a month to get that one back. My advice is to fix it yourself if you are able. Use Plastaid to reinforce all four arms.
 
Thanks for your reply. I had a closer look through a magnifying glass. No other cracks spotted.
I have sent a support request to DJI but I will probably just repair. Can you recommend a good video? I guess you can't actually put glue inside the crack as it's so thin, so glue goes over the top?
 

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Reply from DJI:

Thank you for contacting DJI Support.

We apologize for the experience you have had with your
product. We understand that your aircraft incurred stress cracks.

In regards to these cracks, all Phantom series
experience stress cracks. these are usually caused by: flying the aircraft
under extreme weather condition that can make the body frame brittle, flying
the aircraft above or below the operating temperature, excessive motor
heating and vibrations, accidental
bumps/drop when not in its protective case, hard landings and crash.

Please make sure to avoid such occurrence and if there
are signs of stress cracks, respond to this e-mail if you want to process a repair for you.

Thank you for understanding


Best Regards,
Amadeo P.
DJI Technical Support
 
Further response from DJI when I questioned whether it would be repaired under warranty or not:

Thank you for the prompt response,

With regards on the warranty, The repair team are the ones that will provide you the information regarding that once they're done with the analysis.
but it will be approximately be under the warranty repair based on the information that we gathered.

Thank you for choosing DJI


I just don't think I can be bothered with the hassle of sending it back. I've had it 9 months and done over 100 flights and the crack is very tiny.
 
Great reply from DJI. Admitting that there is a serious design flaw with the Phantom series and then trying to blame it on you. We spend hundreds of dollars on their product and that's the response they give to new customers. The cracks will only get worse over time. As I mentioned above, they were taking responsibility for this, but maybe they no longer are. To fix properly you'll have to open up the shell and reinforce each arm around the motor with the Plast-Aid compound that I mentioned. There are videos on YouTube that show how to separate the shell. A second and simpler option would be to buy reinforcing plates that screw on under each motor on the bottom of the shell. There are varying opinions on whether or not these work, but I use them anyway. You could try this first and if things get worse then open up the shell. Some folks do repair cracks from the outside by grinding out some more material and then filling in with epoxy.
 
...A second and simpler option would be to buy reinforcing plates that screw on under each motor on the bottom of the shell. There are varying opinions on whether or not these work, but I use them anyway. You could try this first and if things get worse then open up the shell. Some folks do repair cracks from the outside by grinding out some more material and then filling in with epoxy.

Thanks, I will try the reinforcing plates. I didn't know these existed. One more question: plastic or metal ones?
 
Acuallly you have to remove the top of the shell. The plast aid goes on the bottom around the motor mounts. Do a search. Stress cracks. Plenty of information.their
 
Can anyone advise whether plastic or metal reinforcing plates are better?
 

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