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Another set of cracks
1153 15 2016-11-9
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PY4CK
Second Officer
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Brazil
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I would like to share with you two photos of identified cracks on the body of my P3P.

The machine has a little bit more than 150 flights on it. Never crashed and most of the landings were caught by hand.

Always looked for unscrewed bolts and cracks and never found any. Just three days ago, I notice these thinny cracks on the body.

The drone is still under warranty (one month to go) and I have already contacted the store I bought it from to claim warranty. They will check with the manufacturer.



IMG_1901.JPG



IMG_1900.JPG


2016-11-9
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Cetaman
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Aloha PY4CK,

     Those cracks are most likely from hand catching your P3P.  The locations of the cracks indicate that in at least one hard catch the right skid was stressed to the right (outboard).  Alternatively, they could also mean that the P3P is regularly carried back to the packing or staging area by the right skid after the motors were turned off.

     Being aware of the problem and being careful should be all the remedy you need.  If you can find a cement that will work with the plastic DJI uses for Phantom skins, you could detach the right skid and apply a little bit of the cement to the cracks (for peace of mind).  But, you will have to test the plastic and cement with an old Phantom skin part.  

     Even cleanly applying a small piece of Magic or clear office tape over the crack will tell you if you need to be more concerned because the tape will show stretch stresses or separate with use.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!
2016-11-9
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Betamace
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Flight distance : 2133 ft
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Cetaman Posted at 2016-11-10 05:07
Aloha PY4CK,

     Those cracks are most likely from hand catching your P3P.  The locations of the c ...

Are the shells ABS plastic?
2016-11-9
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Cetaman
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Betamace Posted at 2016-11-9 11:49
Are the shells ABS plastic?

Aloha Betamace,

     Sorry, but I have never gotten that far and I think DJI finds it to be proprietary.  If you find out let me know.

Aloha and Drone On!
2016-11-9
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RedHotPoker
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Flight distance : 165105 ft
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If you mostly hand catch, why is that vibration damper so dirty! Ha

Maybe you hit the turf a few times and forgot to mention that in the OP? Only you know for sure...

Just saying. Perhaps wash that rubber off and take a better picture... ;-)


RedHotPoker
2016-11-9
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PY4CK
Second Officer
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Brazil
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I garantee, the drine is never carried by the skids and when caught during landing by hand is not by me but a friend meaning it is held by the two skids.

It has some mileage on it and we fly it in a dusty area, reason why the rubber is that way.

I have no doubt that the care taken with this drone is second to none. I just felt like sharing the experience.

I have to say that we fky drones to long distaces and most often with high temperatures and bright sunshine.

Have you all excellent safe flights.
2016-11-12
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Cetacean
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PY4CK Posted at 2016-11-12 11:16
I garantee, the drine is never carried by the skids and when caught during landing by hand is not by ...

Aloha PY4CK,

     Good to hear from you on this again.  We were only trying to point out the obvious.  It is notable that both cracks are in similar locations on the same side.  Our comments only reflect stress causes in such a scenario with hand catches and other vulnerabilities.  If it is a manufacturing problem, such as plastic impregnation in the mold during formation, then the problem will be recurring over time.  We thank you for pointing out the potential problem.  We will keep out eyes open.

     With 150 flights, your P3P has been up there a lot.  But, some problems happen between flights and during handling.  That is what we were commenting on.  If it helps you, great, if not, we tried with what we know.  With your suggestion, we will soon see problems since others have really worked their P3Ps like you have.  

     I wish you were in Hawai'i because I have a P3P skin that I swapped out and so it is just sitting there.  You could test a cement on it for a repair.  Hey, maybe, if you give me information on a preferred cement you have in Brazil, I could test it over here.  I have a few different cements here and you could see if you have them in Brazil if you like.  I am willing to work on it.

     I just looked at my P3P skin and your back crack is just inboard of a bulkhead and where a skid bolt screw attaches.  The forward crack starts where the skid bolt screw attaches and is way inboard of the nearest bulkhead.  The second skid bolt screw in each case is well planted in the foundation for the skids.  The cracks are in the "weakest link in the chain."  Basically, the legs are not going to fall off any time soon.  If you choose, a cement repair or skin swap could be done, but it would be more for peace of mind at this point.

     If you try some of my suggestions, you might be able to put off a skin swap for another year.  Like I said, I have done a skin swap and it was very interesting.  There are actually at least three YouTube videos on how to do it and they are different in that they each emphasize different things about the process.  It was a great learning process for me and I had a lot of fun doing it.  It taught me so much about the P3P and other Phantoms.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!
2016-11-12
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PY4CK
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Thanks for your message mate. But first mine is going straight to the dealer who is envisaging to replace the botton part of thr body under warranty.

Let's eait and see.

Thank you dor your time and advices.

Eduardo
2016-11-13
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PY4CK
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Hi all,

Returning to say that DJI confirmed a replacement under warranty.

All the best.


2016-11-30
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fans913aa526
lvl.3

United States
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Hello,
Since your warranty is about to expire, you will have to deal with cracks again. Mi P3S had exactly the same cracks  since the very first flight. They grew up until I replaced the shell. There's a way to avoid them. My personal opinion is that the cracks were there from the beginning. The cause: over tighten screws. There is a small aluminum threaded insert (nut) for each screw of the landing "legs". The cracks begin there. It doesn't matter if you hand catch or land your Phantom (mine is always landed)  Do yourself a big favor, un tight  these screws a little. Back them up and then re tight to a lower torque. I replaced the screws with longer ones using fiber washers to reduce mechanical stress. If  your propellers are not well balanced, the landing legs will vibrate in flight aggravating the situation. I also added a thin carbon fiber rod to the bottom of  the landing legs to keep them vibrating as a one to further reduce vibrations. BTW, the "new" shell that I mentioned is not really new. It was removed from a new P3S which never was flown and It had a few very small, near imperceptible cracks around the inserts. These cracks have not grown after lots of flights.  Hope this helps
2016-12-2
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JACKODOG-ANDROI
lvl.4
Flight distance : 208383 ft
United States
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can you post some pic's [fans913aa526]
2016-12-2
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fans913aa526
lvl.3

Puerto Rico
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JACKODOG-ANDROI Posted at 2016-12-2 10:08
can you post some pic's [fans913aa526]

Hello Jack,
I have uploaded a few pictures here:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/ ... shell-reinforcement
2016-12-2
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JACKODOG-ANDROI
lvl.4
Flight distance : 208383 ft
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ok! i saw those a couple weeks ago.
2016-12-2
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Rnfaust
Second Officer
Flight distance : 734938 ft
United States
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PY4CK Posted at 2016-11-30 17:10
Hi all,

Returning to say that DJI confirmed a replacement under warranty.

For peace of mind, you might want to have one of these waiting for your newly replaced shell when it returns: Link to Amazon landing gear strengthener.
It's held with little cable ties. I got it because I always hand catch (and no cracks yet after 1.5 years)
Glad to hear you were able to get warranty.
2016-12-2
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Rnfaust
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One more thing... In my opinion, cracks appear from vibration and not so much from bending. I crashed my P3A the first week and severely bent an arm at the motor end. I just straightened everything out using a heat gun. Nothing cracked and no cracks since. Lucky me!
2016-12-2
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PY4CK
Second Officer
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Brazil
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Thank you all for the comments.

Eduardo
2016-12-7
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