I don't do a deep inspection on my Mavic before every flight but today I'm glad I took a second to look. Judging by this angle, does it look like anything is out of the ordinary?

No? Removing the prop and turning it upside down reveals a disaster waiting to happen:




I have no idea how long I have been flying my M3E with 2 of the 3 tabs being broken off. If this last one was to break as well there is nothing left to hold the prop onto the motor. In fact, if this was to break like the other two had, it is spring loaded to eject faster than it already would have. These 3 tabs are well hidden and are easy to not notice if they happen to be broken.

But it gets worse...


Here is the bottom side of 2 used ClockWise Mavic 3 Enterprise props. On the left is the broken one from above and on the right is fine. See any other glaring difference?



Why is the one that's broken missing the orange painted tip on the bottom side? DJI, is this a change that was made intentionally or is this an issue with quality control? They have identical model numbers as you can see below.


The possibility of them being counterfiet also crossed my mind. The only replacement props I've ever used are either the ones that came with it, or the single time I purchased a full set of replacements. These came from a well known DJI reseller directly (not Amazon or eBay). So it'd be hard to imagine them being fakes.

You mean they sell fake stuff on Amazon??

Scary enough that I went and checked my M3E because it has high hours.  All good here, but also sending in for the maintenance checkup.  (Minus the props...)

TonyPHX Posted at 11-20 22:18
Scary enough that I went and checked my M3E because it has high hours.  All good here, but also sending in for the maintenance checkup.  (Minus the props...)

Do all of your props have orange tips on the bottom side? It just doesn't seem right that 2 identical part numbers would have such a different design look. It's not a matter of CW vs CCW rotation either. Both type can be seen here with different colored tips.

There's no sign of damage or even a small scuff on the props. So how did the thickest part of the prop break off and disappear? How how did the drone not sense that something was wrong/out of balance?

All of the M3E enterprise props have the orange painted tip. Yes.

I have seen broken tabs on a Mavic 2 prop hub but that was after a very minor crash - I clipped a box indoors and the drone fell about 18" onto carpet. Your prop looks a bit battered, has the drone or the prop been crashed?
More to the point, where are the missing tabs from the prop of the first photo? With my broken M2P tab the loose tab was in the motor and could have jammed the motor. In fact it might have jammed the motor, it was a while ago and I remember the motor getting or being stuck after the crash but I don't remember if its being stuck was the reason I took the prop off or if the motor got stuck after I took the prop off.

I would also check the 'circumferential' width, arc length?, of the remaining tab of the damaged prop. It may be an optical illusion but, in photo 3, the tab looks, to me, to be  thinner than the tabs of the other, 'fully painted' prop.
If correct. from where did you get the troubled prop?

Since I do not have a Mavic 3 of any sort ...... with regards to  "does it look like anything is out of the ordinary?", yes it looks odd.
At a guess the prop in the first photo is sitting well above where it is supposed to.
I assume that that photo was taken after you discovered the problem and that you did not refit the prop 'properly' but merely set it on the motor's top ... for the photo.
At a guess the prop hub should be clamped tight onto the mounting plate and the top of the prop-hub flush with the end of the central shaft.

TonyPHX Posted at 11-20 23:32
All of the M3E enterprise props have the orange painted tip. Yes.

So then I either have knock offs branded as DJI's, or DJI has a quality control issue with mass producing these spare props. I don't think they're fakes. I think DJI made a bad batch of props and sent them out to customers. It would be a crazy coincidence if the 3 tabs on all my props are still fine but 2 have mysteriously disappeared on a factory defected prop.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 11-20 23:38
I have seen broken tabs on a Mavic 2 prop hub but that was after a very minor crash - I clipped a box indoors and the drone fell about 18" onto carpet. Your prop looks a bit battered, has the drone or the prop been crashed?
More to the point, where are the missing tabs from the prop of the first photo?With my broken M2P tab the tab was in the motor and could have jammed the motor. In fact it might have, it was a while ago and I remember the motor getting or being stuck after the crash but I don't remember if its being stuck was the reason I took the prop off or if the motor got stuck after I took the prop off.

Now that you point it out, the remaining tab does look smaller than those on the painted top prop. I'll have to get out all my spare props and see how many I have that aren't painted on bottom. I'm not sure where this specific one came from. It's either what came with the M3E or from Drone Nerds. All my props are kept in the case together and I couldn't tell you which one came from who. It only has 2 possibilities.

I just bought a set from Advexure for my M3 Classic. Same price as everyone else, but best shipping cost and time. Definitely the real deal, paint on both sides.

I just get the feeling those unpainted ones are of questionable origin.  THANK you though for posting about this, because it made me paranoid enough to go and check all of mine.  Yeah, I'm a bit weird and have three Mavic 3's currently.  

With regards to after market props, I did just have a problem with my MAS props on my DJI FPV.  Wrong message forum here to talk about FPV, but I'm pretty sure that the props touched due to some flexing and snapped each other apart.  I always thought these aftermarket props were too close.

I have gathered a decent collection of Enterprise props here and oddly enough, I have a mixture of painted and non-painted. Even 2 that are still in the packaging are missing the paint.


I really expect DJI to show up anytime right about now and give an explination as to what exactly is going on. They weren't purchased from some shady under the table type of buisness. In fact, I still have the reciept from their purchase back in April:

Use a pair of Verniers to measure the tags.
$20 in shipping  for how many props?

I have only ever gotten my enterprise props from DJI and always they had the orange tip.  I am not certain what you would expect DJI to say since it appears you did not buy them from DJI.

TonyPHX Posted at 11-21 13:54
I have only ever gotten my enterprise props from DJI and always they had the orange tip.  I am not certain what you would expect DJI to say since it appears you did not buy them from DJI.

These didn't come from a 1/2 price bin at a flea market. These came from the largest DJI authorized dealer in the USA. Until fairly recently this was the only way to buy DJI Enterprise products. You can order directly now but it wasn't always like that. DJI is still very strict on their branding and pricing with dealers who sell their products. DJI is known for cutting dealers off if they're caught making unauthorized changes in prices.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 11-21 12:17
Use a pair of Verniers to measure the tags.
$20 in shipping  for how many props?

$20 free shipping. I don't want to say it was for 2 props but it may have been a full set. FedEx ended up losing my original package and DroneNerds sent me a replacement. Then a week later my original package showed up unexpectedly. So I got double what I was supposed to. I contacted them asking if I needed to send one back and they told me to just keep it.

I didn't catch this but do you take your props on and off constantly?

I had the same issue with my MAS props of FPV.  I have bright fluorescent orange and after flying several batteries, I could a small unidentified small spec in my bag.  At the end of the day, you take off the FPV prop when I noticed where that piece came from.  Same tab like you show.  So I've flown all day, very hard, with a prop that could potential fly off at any time.  I bet these get weak over time and rough handling.

MAS was happy to send out a replacement set after I sent pics.  Going forward I am super gentle and I check this piece in addition to the blades.

Oh, and I have care refresh so I don't have to worry about a disaster.

Johnnokomis Posted at 11-21 15:47
[view_image]

$20 free shipping. I don't want to say it was for 2 props but it may have been a full set. FedEx ended up losing my original package and DroneNerds sent me a replacement. Then a week later my original package showed up unexpectedly. So I got double what I was supposed to. I contacted them asking if I needed to send one back and they told me to just keep it.

And what's the measurement on the fully painted props?
Being realistic there is no such thing as free shipping, there can't be, all it means is that the seller has factored the shipping cost into the sale price.

The design certainly has potential issues.

Johnnokomis Posted at 11-21 15:36
These didn't come from a 1/2 price bin at a flea market. These came from the largest DJI authorized dealer in the USA. Until fairly recently this was the only way to buy DJI Enterprise products. You can order directly now but it wasn't always like that. DJI is still very strict on their branding and pricing with dealers who sell their products. DJI is known for cutting dealers off if they're caught making unauthorized changes in prices.

Totally agreed, DroneNerds is far from a fleamarket and I have used them many many times.  I would never imply any such thing.  Clearly though those props are off.  The first clue is the paint missing.  If they are DJI genuine, you would think they are like every other DJI enterprise prop we have ever seen.  Really odd!

So DJI is just going to pretend like this isn't a problem? I really expected to get some kind of admin response here. At the same time, this is often the response I get on here. None. Maybe I'm a bit biased because this happened to me but this really seems like a HUGE deal. DroneNerds is the 2nd name on your list of Authorized Retailers. Either DJI screwed up during manufacturing or one of your biggest dealers is selling non-genuine parts. So either way here, this deserves at least a canned response from an admin. If that 3rd tab was to break off and crash then I sent it in with non-DJI props installed.. I guarantee my warranty would have been voided and DJI would have left me up chitz creek.  I'm not asking for a refund I'm only asking for an answer and an explanation as to what the hail is going on.  

Johnnokomis Posted at 11-23 13:14
So DJI is just going to pretend like this isn't a problem? I really expected to get some kind of admin response here. At the same time, this is often the response I get on here. None. Maybe I'm a bit biased because this happened to me but this really seems like a HUGE deal. DroneNerds is the 2nd name on your list of Authorized Retailers. Either DJI screwed up during manufacturing or one of your biggest dealers is selling non-genuine parts. So either way here, this deserves at least a canned response from an admin. If that 3rd tab was to break off and crash then I sent it in with non-DJI props installed.. I guarantee my warrantee would have been voided and DJI would have left me up chitz creek.  I'm not asking for a refund I'm only asking for an answer and an explanation as to what the hail is going on.

I made a booboo. I posted without looking first, my brand new props from DJI store, do NOT have paint on the bottom side. Neither do the ones from Advexure. So far, they are perfect.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this before, but how many hours of flight do those blades have?

In the third and fourth picture at the top, you can clearly see lots of scratches... They are cheap consumable after all, and they should be checked before each flight...

I had to replace a blade once, after hitting a dung beetle in midair...

If they were new, it would be a different story...