So I've crashed the thing maybe 3 times - all pretty minor low speed/altitude crashes. The propellors took all the damage it seems - they all have lots of scratches, one has a chip missing, but is still mostly all there. It still flies fine. So - at what point should I worry?

haha.. i dont know.. i i have a cracked prop also and it still flies fine..

im guessing people are just going to scream at us to please replace it before they crash.   im tempted to find the limit..  
mine is no where near as bad as that, only like 1/8th inch into the blade and 1/4 inch down the the blade.   no crashes..  just natural crackage/defects popping through.. between me and my GF we put about 45 minutes+ into it since the crack was discovered and maybe about 5 miles into it since..

Sorry, but in my opinion, you are WAY past the time you should worry.  Please!  You're abusing your MP!  What do the other 2 props look like?  You might get away with the "scratched" one, but the one with the chunk missing needs to be replaced-NOW.  They all do.  If you are gentle and can do fine work, you might smooth out the pits and chips, especially on the leading and trailing edges.  The broken one will cause vibration and fatiguing of arm joints, motor mounts, bearings, and various other parts, including camera and gimbal.  Unless you have money to burn on repairs later, and possibly someone's personal property and/or medical expenses due to failure later on when it shakes itself into failure and crashes into someone, you should put all new props on it and examine how you fly.  Fly like the pilot of an aircraft should, not like a kid with a toy.

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2017-8-27 18:34
Sorry, but in my opinion, you are WAY past the time you should worry.  Please!  You're abusing your MP!  What do the other 2 props look like?  You might get away with the "scratched" one, but the one with the chunk missing needs to be replaced-NOW.  They all do.  If you are gentle and can do fine work, you might smooth out the pits and chips, especially on the leading and trailing edges.  The broken one will cause vibration and fatiguing of arm joints, motor mounts, bearings, and various other parts, including camera and gimbal.  Unless you have money to burn on repairs later, and possibly someone's personal property and/or medical expenses due to failure later on when it shakes itself into failure and crashes into someone, you should put all new props on it and examine how you fly.  Fly like the pilot of an aircraft should, not like a kid with a toy.

*starts cutting half my blade tips off  just to upset more of the community*


i mean his blades are trashed, i agree with that but i mean.. its amazing it still flies so well as he claims..  here i am worried about small fracture and he is flying with completely trashed props

also are you suggesting all pilots of aircrafts are responsible?  because i have got to show you some local pilots flying real airplanes dangeriously around here...

ImHereToCrash Posted at 2017-8-27 18:36
*starts cutting half my blade tips off  just to upset more of the community*

also are you suggesting all pilots of aircrafts are responsible?

I didn't see where he ever said or implied that. Are you suggesting that people shouldn't make an effort to be responsible? And nobody's "screaming" that he should replace the props, but there are very valid reasons why he should and none to defend continuing to use them. If you're "tempted to find the limit" then by all means please do and come back and tell us exactly where that is. In fact, if you're really so curious then you probably should be doing it yourself instead of encouraging others to risk their own aircraft and liability.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-8-27 18:48
also are you suggesting all pilots of aircrafts are responsible?

I didn't see where he ever said or implied that. Are you suggesting that people shouldn't make an effort to be responsible? And nobody's "screaming" that he should replace the props, but there are very valid reasons why he should and none to defend continuing to use them. If you're "tempted to find the limit" then by all means please do and come back and tell us exactly where that is. In fact, if you're really so curious then you probably should be doing it yourself instead of encouraging others to risk their own aircraft and liability.

Are you suggesting that people shouldn't make an effort to be responsible?  

..its like you read my mind or something......who are you ....
also where have i encouraged others?  i think your confusing what im saying.. i dont care what people do, sure i feel bad for people and their losses and will help people prevent them where i can.  however this isnt one of those cercumstances where i feel bad for someone needing to spend less than $20 on full prop swap on a $1000 aircraft, and im more then sure he knows it.. however i did give him my geniune feedback, mine have lasted roughly 5 miles since my crack and 45+ minutes airtime.. and my crack is far less severe..   

and yes, i dont want or need premission to treat my aircraft like complete crap either and i have plenty of insurance to cover not only my aircraft dying but also if my aircraft damages something or harms others..  i recently doubled down on my insurance just incase..  my libaility insurance alone is $10,000,000, worst comes to worst, i should be releitively speaking, ok.    no i dont want other people harmed, but im not going to be flying over other people with my cracked prop...  my GF did, i told her not to but i dont control her...

So, props are cheap compared to the cost of a new Mavic Pro. IMO you should go ahead and replace the props to protect your investment. scuffs or light scratches are not a big problem. nicks or chips could lead to a prop failure or at the very least imbalance. The extra vibration will eventually damage the electronics over time and to me it is not worth it.

You don't need to worry short term, but long term just replace the props and move on

Rich

Sorry to hear about the crashes. We do not suggest that you continue using these damaged propellers. Besides, please check if the drone works properly. Contact us if there are any physical damages of the drone.

You know the swiss cheese model?? Is a model for aviation and basically every hole in the cheese is an action taken or a defect in the airlpane.... once all hole are aligned the incident or accidet happen.... so with your propeller you have already aligned a hole and you never know how many hole you have before the catastrofic failure.... But it is just my opinion...

Why risk them? For what they cost and minimal effort to change them it seems daft...

These guys want to know how tough the Mavic really is:

Well, there you have it: one person who's owned a Mavic less than a week says it's fine to continue using damaged props, while everyone else says it's a bad idea.

What a strange risk management some people have.
I guess we see it all around us, people 'think' they will be fine and do something rather stupid.
All goes well (because there are safety limits, or just out of plain luck) and the risk taker is even more confident about his / her decision.
It might never go wrong, true but I for sure would not want to take that risk.
But that is just my opinion

Thanks for the discussion and advice! Yes, I'll change them all out before flying again. And also yes, I'm relatively new to this, so this is part of the learning curve, and I appreciate all the comments!

Use your common sense... without the props the MP can't fly so if they are damaged simply replace them...

sduck Posted at 2017-8-28 08:09
Thanks for the discussion and advice! Yes, I'll change them all out before flying again. And also yes, I'm relatively new to this, so this is part of the learning curve, and I appreciate all the comments!

Best response

Dangerous, new ones aren't that much.

im still flying with a small crack in mine while i wait on amazon shipment..  ;(   it hasn't even shipped yet i checked the order status ;(    the crack hasn't gotten worse and the sounds are essentially the same dont sound differently to me..  so i dont think it is catching more air on the crack still..  so until my new blades arrive im just going to fly around away from people and my GF is off limits from my drone because she keeps  flying over things and people..   i rather my mavic fall in a empty field or in river or something and then ill recover it if i can...  if it fails i dont want it falling onto people or damaging something else..

ShadyDealer Posted at 2017-8-28 01:35
Why risk them? For what they cost and minimal effort to change them it seems daft...

My thoughts exactly.

Replace them

sduck Posted at 2017-8-28 08:09
Thanks for the discussion and advice! Yes, I'll change them all out before flying again. And also yes, I'm relatively new to this, so this is part of the learning curve, and I appreciate all the comments!

As I've mentioned already, I've replaced them.