DO THEY REALLY IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OR IS IT JUST FOR LOOKS?

Search for carbon to see the last few times people have asked.  Bonus points if you can find anyone with actual numbers showing a real improvement in anything.

Labroides Posted at 2017-2-15 08:03
Search for carbon to see the last few times people have asked.  Bonus points if you can find anyone with actual numbers showing a real improvement in anything.

i knew it! thank you for the reply and i heard they break more easier since they are more brittle

#shotxclvck Posted at 2017-2-15 08:58
i knew it! thank you for the reply and i heard they break more easier since they are more brittle

They will only break if you hit something with them! Very little stress on them otherwise, which is why DJI have chosen to use just run of the mill plastic, it works and works well in it's correct application.

MerlinL14 Posted at 2017-2-15 10:13
They will only break if you hit something with them! Very little stress on them otherwise, which is why DJI have chosen to use just run of the mill plastic, it works and works well in it's correct application.

Do you have these carbon fiber prop on your drone?

The DJI carbon props are notably stiffer than the plastic props; the one thing I've noticed is that the Phantom is more sensitive to directional change; it fairly 'snaps' over more rapidly than with the plastic props. That and the carbon fiber coolness.

#shotxclvck Posted at 2017-2-15 10:15
Do you have these carbon fiber prop on your drone?

No just the DJI supplied plastic ones.I do however have carbon props for my 27% and 33% RC aircraft and a few other small lekkie RC planes where weight, balance and rigidity are a major factor in using them.

i use carbon fiber props i bought thrue ebay.and they work fine they make lesser noice than plastic props do.but if you hit somthing while they are spinnning there will be some chops but they are stronger

I want to set up a test where I anchor the quad and use high-speed photography to see the difference in prop deflection between the two.

I would pay to watch that!
Or, you could just buy a spare motor and ESC and set it up as a bench test rather than putting your $400 quad through hell.
Motor and  ESC ~$20.

A book I have ("Living The Drone LIfe") states that the expected life of the plastic props is 20 hours of flight time, and because failure is usually a catastrophic event for the drone, you should replace them at 10 hours. The book also states that they tend to lose shape ("tracking" or "creep") as the hours build up.

A close friend of mine, a mechanical engineer who builds carbon fiber structures for air and spacecraft, states that a properly designed carbon fiber reinforced structure will not creep or track, and will also not fatigue. Of course, we don't know exactly how DJI builds their carbon fiber reinforced props, but I am wondering if in addition to other properties, they should have a much extended lifetime - barring solid impact.

Just some thoughts.

I'm assuming that they don't break as easy of which tells me that when/if your props do come into contact with something that there would be more stress on the motor and shaft of the motor and the motor mounting area. I prefer the plastic ones it came with because they have more give on impact and they perform just fine. Just MHO.

fans9e4cc205 Posted at 2017-4-17 07:10
A book I have ("Living The Drone LIfe") states that the expected life of the plastic props is 20 hours of flight time, and because failure is usually a catastrophic event for the drone, you should replace them at 10 hours. The book also states that they tend to lose shape ("tracking" or "creep") as the hours build up.

A close friend of mine, a mechanical engineer who builds carbon fiber structures for air and spacecraft, states that a properly designed carbon fiber reinforced structure will not creep or track, and will also not fatigue. Of course, we don't know exactly how DJI builds their carbon fiber reinforced props, but I am wondering if in addition to other properties, they should have a much extended lifetime - barring solid impact.

.......... if that was the case, there would be countless guarantee claims against dji so I really wouldn't worry about it.  If it was a problem, dji would have sorted it.

"A book I have ("Living The Drone LIfe") states that the expected life of the plastic props is 20 hours of flight time, and because failure is usually a catastrophic event for the drone, you should replace them at 10 hours. The book also states that they tend to lose shape ("tracking" or "creep") as the hours build up."

Yeh well someone should tell my P3s and also many other models i have that i should have changed my props long time ago !! 20hrs - that's funny !!

The plastic used in DJI props is actually Engineering Plastic ... not just any old plastic.

Use of CF props ... fine ... many people use them for 3D / Precision flight because of lack of flex ... but for a P3S ?

Nigel

fans9e4cc205 Posted at 2017-4-17 07:10
A book I have ("Living The Drone LIfe") states that the expected life of the plastic props is 20 hours of flight time, and because failure is usually a catastrophic event for the drone, you should replace them at 10 hours. The book also states that they tend to lose shape ("tracking" or "creep") as the hours build up.

A close friend of mine, a mechanical engineer who builds carbon fiber structures for air and spacecraft, states that a properly designed carbon fiber reinforced structure will not creep or track, and will also not fatigue. Of course, we don't know exactly how DJI builds their carbon fiber reinforced props, but I am wondering if in addition to other properties, they should have a much extended lifetime - barring solid impact.

I've never replaced props on any drone I've ever owned over the past 6-7 years.  The plastic props will last hundreds upon hundreds of hours.  It's useless to replace the props unless there is damage as they definitely will not lose their shape as the hours build up.  I've actually never even replaced one due to sun damage as of yet.

It sounds like whoever wrote that was just making things up.

fans9e4cc205 Posted at 2017-4-17 07:10
A book I have ("Living The Drone LIfe") states that the expected life of the plastic props is 20 hours of flight time, and because failure is usually a catastrophic event for the drone, you should replace them at 10 hours. The book also states that they tend to lose shape ("tracking" or "creep") as the hours build up.

A close friend of mine, a mechanical engineer who builds carbon fiber structures for air and spacecraft, states that a properly designed carbon fiber reinforced structure will not creep or track, and will also not fatigue. Of course, we don't know exactly how DJI builds their carbon fiber reinforced props, but I am wondering if in addition to other properties, they should have a much extended lifetime - barring solid impact.

Hahahaha.
Bogus info (20 hrs).