Hey guys,

So I managed to slightly damage two of my Mini's propellers (of all the things I could of hit, it had to be one of my fingers... don't ask) and no biggie. I have the FlyMore combo, lots of replacements, all good. When I replaced them, I noticed the new propellers have a slightly different code on them compared to the propellers that came with the drone (E4 4726 F for the replacements, A2 4726 F for the initial ones). Looking at these 2 propellers side by side it looks like they have a slightly different curvature... or maybe it's just placebo, can't really say 100% to be honest. The reason I'm asking is because I saw a video where a guy was testing a preproduction version of the Mini and it had trouble staying in the air at high altitudes (7-8000 ft), it just kept descending despite pushing up on the right stick. The reviewer reached out to DJI and they worked out the problem together and so the production version of the Mini no longer has this issue. The fix was a mix of firmware + "more efficient propellers". Which makes me wonder if there's an issue with the propellers on the drone and the replacements having different codes.

Propellers casted in different molds and mold cavities (there are four mold cavities in one mold) are slightly different. The letters are used for distinguishing between molds, while the numbers are used for distinguishing between mold cavities.
The two propellers of the same Mavic Mini motor must be casted in the same mold with the same mold cavities to ensure that the two propellers are exactly the same.

Thanks Mindy, that makes sense.

But...  I saw both of those videos as well, and it was clearly stated that DJI did, indeed, modify the profile of their props as part of the "fix" for the high elevation issue.  And the YouTuber said that the combination of new firmware and the new props (with a more aggressive pitch) DID help immensely.

He flew at at elevation (above sea level) of over 10,000 feet whereas he was having trouble flying at just over 5,000 feet with the original props and firmware.

The town where Iive is, at its lowest, around 5150 feet above sea level.  The nearby mountain is over 8,300 feet, and is a great place for drone flying, so I was concerned, and then relieved when seeing the first video and then the followup.

However, having gotten one of these minis with the fly more kit somewhat early, I will check mine as well.

I've only flown it indoors so far, and thus used the prop guards.  I know they add weight.  But I have noticed that I only get about 12 minutes of fly time, and get warnings.

Update:  I checked my kit (Fly More) and the replacement blades look identical to the ones that came on the drone itself.  However, having come all together as one sealed fly more kit, it would have surprised me if all of the blades were NOT the same.

The person doing the review on YouTube may well have gotten a pre-release or very early unit.  So while his initial blades may have been the original design, later kits and drones will surely have the updated versions.  But I wonder if there's any way for us to be sure we have the "new" blades.  The performance I've seen with mine so far makes me think it may have the "original" blades and might benefit from the updated design.

Someone living near sea level may actually prefer the original blades, which may well have been optimized for low elevations.  But those of us living at higher elevations, or people planning to travel to higher elevations may want to obtain the new-style blades.

It's also likely that one would get the best battery life and performance by having blades optimized for various elevation ranges, so I can imagine a market for low and high elevation blade sets.  The propellers on most aircraft are "adjustable pitch" to allow the pilot to optimize performance for conditions.  I'm tempted to order a new set to see if they're different from what my kit has.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2019-12-5 02:20
Propellers casted in different molds and mold cavities (there are four mold cavities in one mold) are slightly different. The letters are used for distinguishing between molds, while the numbers are used for distinguishing between mold cavities.
The two propellers of the same Mavic Mini motor must be casted in the same mold with the same mold cavities to ensure that the two propellers are exactly the same.

Thanks Mindy, a very interesting post.

I have a flymore combo with drone and even the packs of 4 blades in each pack matched numbers, not all the packs where the same numbers.

In other words the blades in each pack matched but not the numbers in different packs in the combo kit.

Sigmo Posted at 2019-12-6 15:30
Update:  I checked my kit (Fly More) and the replacement blades look identical to the ones that came on the drone itself.  However, having come all together as one sealed fly more kit, it would have surprised me if all of the blades were NOT the same.

The person doing the review on YouTube may well have gotten a pre-release or very early unit.  So while his initial blades may have been the original design, later kits and drones will surely have the updated versions.  But I wonder if there's any way for us to be sure we have the "new" blades.  The performance I've seen with mine so far makes me think it may have the "original" blades and might benefit from the updated design.

The spare blades in my combo did not match the same numbers as the ones fitted to my MM.

grahamjohnson10 Posted at 2-10 18:24
The spare blades in my combo did not match the same numbers as the ones fitted to my MM.

Mine either but I changed all the props (yes I broke then all) and the mini flies without problems. I read here on the forum that allot of people had problems but mine didn't problems at all. My only problem was that I wouldn't be able to unlock NFZ's but now I can.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2019-12-5 02:20
Propellers casted in different molds and mold cavities (there are four mold cavities in one mold) are slightly different. The letters are used for distinguishing between molds, while the numbers are used for distinguishing between mold cavities.
The two propellers of the same Mavic Mini motor must be casted in the same mold with the same mold cavities to ensure that the two propellers are exactly the same.

Thanks for this information. I was already expecting the standard textblock answer of your colleagues. ^^
So this means, we should replace all propellers of both arms (diagonally) when theres a propeller broken?

I replaced already 4 propellers of two arms without taking note/care about the different mold types, so I'm now a little unsure if i should replace the "good ones" as well...

Mizzu Posted at 2-11 00:17
Thanks for this information. I was already expecting the standard textblock answer of your colleagues. ^^
So this means, we should replace all propellers of both arms (diagonally) when theres a propeller broken?

From what I understand, it's just the two propellers on the same engine that need to be 100% identical. If there is a very slight difference between diagonal engines, the flight controller can easily compensate for this by having slightly different RPMs on those engines.

So let me ask you then, if one blade is buggered, do I replace only those two, or do I replace all sets?

Ice_2k Posted at 2-11 01:49
From what I understand, it's just the two propellers on the same engine that need to be 100% identical. If there is a very slight difference between diagonal engines, the flight controller can easily compensate for this by having slightly different RPMs on those engines.

Hm, OK.
I hope we will get an answer from DJI about it as well.
I don't want to "exhaust" one motor more than the other(s).
It's cheaper to replace more propellers than to replace the whole motors in long term.
Not sure how "sensitive" the Minis motors are.

Drone Retard Posted at 2-11 00:09

Holy f... You're really raping your poor Mini.

Mizzu Posted at 2-11 03:33
Hm, OK.
I hope we will get an answer from DJI about it as well.
I don't want to "exhaust" one motor more than the other(s).

I think the answer is in the manual

Ice_2k Posted at 2-11 06:42
I think the answer is in the manual

[view_image]

Well but this doesn't clarify if I have to replace 2 complete propeller-sets (of 2 diagonal motors) or just the propellers of one arm.

I think it does. It's telling you to not replace just the damaged propeller, but both of them on that motor. Since it's talking about the situation when you damaged one of the propellers and telling you what to do, it stands to reason that, if it was necessary to also replace the ones on the diagonal motor, it would say so here as well.
Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, propellers are packaged two by two. If you would need to have four identical propellers for diagonal motors, you would get 4 propellers in one package with the instruction to always use the 4 propellers together.

Mizzu Posted at 2-11 07:55
Well but this doesn't clarify if I have to replace 2 complete propeller-sets (of 2 diagonal motors) or just the propellers of one arm.

I would only change the 2 props of the engine with the broken prop. Why more ... then you also could argue that these 2 new propellers, no matter what type or code, no longer match 100% with the other 6 "old ones" and therefore all 8 would have to be replaced.

Although I have not had to replace any props yet it was my impression that only the 2 blades on the same motor need to be replaced and they both need to come from the same package. I don't think you need to replace the props on the opposite diagonal motor if they aren't damaged.

I would, however like to know if there is a way we can recognize the supposedly newer, more efficient props with a mold code.

RickyinCO Posted at 2-11 09:20
I would, however like to know if there is a way we can recognize the supposedly newer, more efficient props with a mold code.

As far as I know, there is no "newer/older" version of propellers in the release version of the Mini. There was an older version of propellers on beta versions but I saw no reference of that old version making it to the public.