I have not crashed or hard landed my P3A and regularly hand catch it for landings.  It is developing cracks in the screw holes and on the body itself.  I am starting to read more and more about this cracking issue.  Who else has cracks with around 10 hours of total flight time or more?  This is extremely disappointing.  I know I can send it in, but that means i'm without it for 6 weeks.  I would rather have DJI send me a shell and I will do the replacement myself.  

Discuss.

I have heard "stress cracks" mentioned but have never experienced it. I'm going to look harder. If it were me I'd probably patch them up and wait until wintertime to turn it in for warranty.

thanks I going to take a look myself

Just wondering, are these all cracks or could it be cast flashing, irregular line in the mold

jack1144 Posted at 2015-7-1 08:37
Just wondering, are these all cracks or could it be cast flashing, irregular line in the mold

Check this thread.  http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... 26&page=1#pid158832

I had also never heard of the cracking issue until it was brought up a couple of days ago. The P2 and P3 have this problem.

I surmised that if you use the mounting brackets supplied with the removable prop guards and bond them into place that the cracking won't happen around the motor mounting holes. As for the other screw locations, there's probably not much you can do unless you're willing to open your unit and epoxy around the fastener locations.

Ya I see . Could be a major issue. Thanks.

gregg1r Posted at 2015-7-1 08:45
Check this thread.  http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... 26&page=1#pid158832

I had also never hear ...

I don't mind opening the top and applying glue somewhere if it stops the cracks. I'd prefer doing that over gluing the seams together. What kind of epoxy?  Is the shell made of polycarbonate or polystyrene?

2nd question to anyone from DJI- if I glue it now can I get a warranty she'll replace,net later on if I send it in before my 1 year is up?  This would not be fun to own this thing for a little over a month and then have to send it in for 6 weeks of repair due to a faulty shell or assembly process.

Djjddj Posted at 2015-7-1 10:32
I don't mind opening the top and applying glue somewhere if it stops the cracks. I'd prefer doing  ...

It would be best to double-check with DJI before opening the shell. Some people have posted that DJI says opening the shell voids the warranty.

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I'm still amazed that after only 10 hours you are regularly hand catching your landings.
I presume you've had previous experience using other drones.

editfx Posted at 2015-7-1 15:10
I'm still amazed that after only 10 hours you are regularly hand catching your landings.
I presume y ...

This is actually my first drone. As said previously, it's never been crashed. I'm a middle aged adult and I'm careful with my (so far) $1500 toy.

I hand catch because I don't want the feet to get dirty and I don't want to risk tipping it over. I don't know if you are inferring that hand catching is a difficult skill to master, because it isn't.

I urge anyone to check their screw holes who have flown over 10 hours. I guarantee you this is going to become a widespread issue as everyone starts racking up time on their drone. I wouldn't have even noticed at this stage, but I read a post about it and decided to check mine and then noticed I had the beginnings of the problem too.

jack1144 Posted at 2015-7-1 08:37
Just wondering, are these all cracks or could it be cast flashing, irregular line in the mold

They aren't flash casting or molding cracks. These screw holes were perfectly smooth two weeks ago when I first read about this and checked it. These cracks started forming over my last two flights.

How many hours is on your bird?

Have you closely inspected?

I got the exact same cracks on mine.     What should I do return it or what?

I'm going to keep checking.. I have 3 hours of flight time and all looks good.

I wonder , if putting rubber grommets, or "o" rings around the screws would prevent it?

I have the same. Started 2 weeks after I got mine.     According to DJI support this afternoon, you have to send it in for repair.   A manufacturing defect will cause you two months without your drone.   What company does this besides DJI.  Most companies send you a replacement or repair kit.     There are other posts about it.   What DJI should do is allow customers to send it back to where they bought it and get a refund or replacement.  

Re cracks: I haven't developed an opinion (conclusion) regarding the cracks everyone is experiencing yet. I'm wondering just how damaging they actually are. I know people might reference the problems with passenger planes and the cracks they've had, but I'm not sure that translates to our little drones. Here is why: I mentioned earlier that I backed into a tree with my P3 and crashed it, bending one engine pod (for lack of a better word.) There was no other damage, not even a prop. When I couldn't purchase a new shell (frame), I decided to try to straighten mine. Even though the motor end of an arm was bent enough that the prop scraped the fuselage, I was able to disassemble the shell and straighten the upper and lower halves in a vise. I found the plastic to be quite strong and flexible. There were distortions where it bent, of course, but everything was able to be manipulated back to spec without cracking or ripping or breaking. I was pretty amazed. I did not use any glue. That's why I wonder about the significance of reports of tiny crack lines. I've read a lot of these reports and I don't think I've ever read of one resulting in an actual aircraft failure, and there have been a lot of Phantoms in the air for a few years now. I don't pretend to have all the data - I'm just adding my little experience to the mix.

Rnfaust Posted at 2015-7-18 17:10
Re cracks: I haven't developed an opinion (conclusion) regarding the cracks everyone is experiencing ...

Yes, I wouldn´t care either. I had several cracks at my Phantom 1 because the former owner mounted Propguards (for whatever reason) and overdid the torque. And I did not use Zip ties or glue. Just used it with cracks and nothing happened.

And I never would handcatch the Phantom 3 in order to protect the shell. Sounds like a bad joke to me.

Btw. Its very easy to do soft manual landings with it, it won´t tip over. For beginners I would suggest some training on a windless day @ a place with some flat areas to land on.

I do hand catch, but mostly to show to bystanders how stable it hovers…..I can, as well as most other pilots, land on rice paper without causing a tear.

Rnfaust Posted at 2015-7-18 17:10
Re cracks: I haven't developed an opinion (conclusion) regarding the cracks everyone is experiencing ...

The motors are physically looser in most cases when you have cracks you can move them slightly, You can feel that the integrity of the shell is compromised, and the worse it gets the worse it gets. Also the cracking on the P2 is a different situation, than the cracking on the P3

Yep... I'm also Seeing outline where cracks are developing on mine as well. Tilted horizon, and a whacko VPS thing.. I like the newer remote, but in the short term I wish I would have kept my p2v+I have faith it will be worked out, but many of the folks that represent dji post here and other places that the issues we have here are the minority...and it looks like I would be out of use for 2+ months.I'm not using it much anyway, may wait til I find replacement and ship in then

The timeliness and attitude on these items is poor to say the least.The tilted horizon issue is from day one, they can't make app save settings?  Acknowledging firmware a month ago, and nothing, cracks appear to be wider spread problem than acknowledged.

I'll be the control for this experiment since mine was crashed, the shell opened to straighten it, and painted, thus voiding any potential warranty. It still flies great so let's see how long I can go without buying a new shell.  (They aren't yet available for purchase) I'll keep you posted. And let me know when they change the shell design.