How to Stop Stress Cracks on a phantom 4 standard

Most Phantoms never exhibit any cracking - without any "preventative" measures.

Look on the forum for several types of solutions. Several manufacturers make reinforcements for the motors that do work well in my opinion. There is also a "solvent" type glue you can use.
Contrary to Labroides statement, if I understand him correctly, I have seen quite a few Advanced, Pro's, and Standard with these cracks, but I haven't heard many issues regarding the Phantom 4's yet. I thought they were made with better materials.
I have had them on my Advanced on 2-different shells now. I don't believe I fly that aggressive, but I do fly a lot and they seem to show up. I did put the reinforcements on my second shell after the cracks started showing up and it stopped them from getting any larger. I actually glued them to my shell with epoxy. Made the arms much firmer. I think if I were to replace the shell a third time, I would put them on from the get-go. Anyway, I will be interested to hear from other Phantom 4 owners to see if they are also having any problems. I think this has been an issue since the Phantom were first introduced, but like I said, I thought there were improvements to the shells on the 4-series.

My standard 4 got a stress crack and DJI replaced it under warranty. I don’t aggressively fly either and was surprised to see the small crack I had.

Thanks so much

I found significant stress cracks on my P4P landing gear and ordered a replace set of gear from Multi-copter warehouse, but have yet to install them. Yesterday, inspecting the airframe I noticed a very small crack at the end of one of the arms on the upper shell. I seldom fly in Sport Mode, or aggressively and land very gently, manually, on a landing pad over grass. I feel that there are substandard materials involved and too thin in order to save on weight and lengthen flight time. I also hear that newer P4P's and P4A's have a more robust lower shell and landing gear and have seen comparison photos online of these. Not sure if my response will be to send in for warranty work or fix small cracks myself with various glues, etc...

Fiveform 2 Posted at 2017-7-31 03:46
I found significant stress cracks on my P4P landing gear and ordered a replace set of gear from Multi-copter warehouse, but have yet to install them. Yesterday, inspecting the airframe I noticed a very small crack at the end of one of the arms on the upper shell. I seldom fly in Sport Mode, or aggressively and land very gently, manually, on a landing pad over grass. I feel that there are substandard materials involved and too thin in order to save on weight and lengthen flight time. I also hear that newer P4P's and P4A's have a more robust lower shell and landing gear and have seen comparison photos online of these. Not sure if my response will be to send in for warranty work or fix small cracks myself with various glues, etc...

Hey, Fiveform 2, if it is under warranty why not have them replace it. I have never sent anything in to DJI, but I see these horror stories of people not getting the same aircraft back. I'm guessing that may not  be the case for a shell replacement. I agree, to bad they can't come up with a little more durable material. But with that being said, I do a little repair work for other phantom owners in my area, and have done quite a few shell replacements. I must say though these are the phantom standard, advanced and the Pro....not a P4 yet. Anyway because the shells for these will never get any better, what you buy today is still short of being good enough in my opinion. The last couple I have done I have actually used some 2-part epoxy for plastic, mixed it up, and dabbled a very small amount inside the brand new lower shell around where the motor bolts into......around the little supports etc. before I transfer everything. I have also put on the 3-D printed motor reinforcements after assembly as part of the shell replacement. This adds very little weight at all to the phantom, and you can't notice any difference the way it flies. I have 2-of these I have done this to and it has been 3-4 months now and both units show zero signs of any cracks whatsoever. I think this is a permanent fix as far as I am concerned. Just thought I would share that with you if you decide to do it yourself. Good luck!

How to stop stress cracks on DJI products... thats so easy.

STOP USING THIS PRODUCTS hahaha

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-8-3 04:38
Hey, Fiveform 2, if it is under warranty why not have them replace it. I have never sent anything in to DJI, but I see these horror stories of people not getting the same aircraft back. I'm guessing that may not  be the case for a shell replacement. I agree, to bad they can't come up with a little more durable material. But with that being said, I do a little repair work for other phantom owners in my area, and have done quite a few shell replacements. I must say though these are the phantom standard, advanced and the Pro....not a P4 yet. Anyway because the shells for these will never get any better, what you buy today is still short of being good enough in my opinion. The last couple I have done I have actually used some 2-part epoxy for plastic, mixed it up, and dabbled a very small amount inside the brand new lower shell around where the motor bolts into......around the little supports etc. before I transfer everything. I have also put on the 3-D printed motor reinforcements after assembly as part of the shell replacement. This adds very little weight at all to the phantom, and you can't notice any difference the way it flies. I have 2-of these I have done this to and it has been 3-4 months now and both units show zero signs of any cracks whatsoever. I think this is a permanent fix as far as I am concerned. Just thought I would share that with you if you decide to do it yourself. Good luck!

I'm extremely reluctant to send my drone back to DJI because it is very unlikely that I will receive my own drone back. I have read a number of documented reports of getting back someone else's because the repair shop simply repairs what one was sent in for, puts it on the shelf, then sends it on to someone else. This decreases the turnaround time, however you may get one back with marks, scuffs, or worse, something else wrong which was undiagnosed. For cracks in plastic I have ways of mending those permanently. Also, I'm no longer flying in Sport mode due to the potential for lots of stress on the shell

Dirty Bird Posted at 2017-8-7 03:31
Two reasons to repair or replace yourself:

1 - Time lost waiting for repair.

Exactly why I'll become proficient at doing it myself. Like my car, at least I know of all the issues and that the repairs have a history with me.

I'm on my third shell on my P4 and it's less than a year old.

Do not use Loctite on any bolts near plastic.  It will craze and crack in time.  Loctite warns about this on their Loctite Blue page.  They make some approved for plastics, but it four times the cost and much harder to find.  Cheaper to use the Blue, but not good overall.  Motorcycle shops learned this long ago when windshields cracked off in the wind and broke off.  Been there.

Read the first "Not Recommended For" on their website here:  Locktite Blue info.  Somehow I suspect this is much of the cracking airframes as I've seen the blue stuff on screws before.

10 months ago DJI replaced my cracked shell,and i paid 47 euro for shipping costs.I instantly installed reinforcements under the motors and flew with them everytime.Now i have cracks again and i am out of warranty.I just ordered a new shell(just the bottom for 22 euro) and going to replace it my self.I hope it will live the day to see the 3nd shell...

I dealt with a cracked lower shell on a P4P recently. Thread below.

Stress Cracked P4 Shell - Common Issue? Brittle Plastic?

When I looked into it, as noted in this thread as well, there were quite a few examples of others with the same issue. Obviously this is a problem with their parts...

In my case, I specifically requested just the lower shell to be replaced. I was very direct that I wanted the same aircraft returned. They emailed me a no cost invoice that the lower shell had been replaced and then shipped me a different aircraft. Ugh.