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Stress cracks?
4225 22 2016-5-9
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Jim Watkins
First Officer
Flight distance : 9132172 ft
United States
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Hello all,

I just discovered these stress cracks (I presume) on my Phantom 4.  I have never had any crashes.  I have never even had any hard landings.  These were not here when I got the P4.  This is worrysome.  Have a look and see if you have anthing similar.

--Jim
2016-05-09 11.41.39.jpg
2016-5-9
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anthonytori
lvl.3
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United States
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Oh man, I don't have any on mine, but will keep an eye out. Thanks for sharing.
2016-5-9
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rayrokni
Captain
Flight distance : 8139875 ft
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The ones on right do look like cracks, the one on left looks like it was chipped, I'd send it back for repair or exchange it where you bought it from if possible.
2016-5-9
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Thunderbird
Second Officer
Flight distance : 339888 ft
Canada
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Scary, Send back to DJI for sure
2016-5-9
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skidoo131
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United States
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How many flights?
2016-5-9
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jwt873
First Officer
Flight distance : 6754350 ft
Canada
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FWIW, My P4 is going on 50 flights and I've got nothing like that at all...    Strange..
2016-5-9
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juliovincentyjr
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Flight distance : 829908 ft
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I'm just over 50 flights ,10 hrs. I haven't noticed any cracks. I will be checking this on every flight now. Thanks for heads up. And good luck with getting it repair. Keep us updated on you end result
2016-5-9
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alirz1
Second Officer
Flight distance : 609833 ft
Canada
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Honestly that entire seam looks like the shell has been opened.
2016-5-9
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skidoo131
lvl.1

United States
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Jim, how many flights?

Also, it could be a bad mold design that got past Quality Assurance at the factory. Meaning, the mold didn't come out right, yet, they said..."sure, put it on through.
2016-5-9
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DJI-Paladin
Administrator
Flight distance : 2408 ft
Hong Kong
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Hello Jim, have you disassembled your drone ever before?
2016-5-9
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calls4u2
Second Officer
Flight distance : 211604 ft
United Kingdom
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DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-5-10 07:32
Hello Jim, have you disassembled your drone ever before?

Heck, something else to check! From some of the videos I've seen online I thought these things were pretty solid. I've seen some dented, but not cracked.

Maybe somehow you received a returned model? Sure looks like it's been opened, maybe a bird with a can opener?
2016-5-10
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Jim Watkins
First Officer
Flight distance : 9132172 ft
United States
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calls4u2 Posted at 2016-5-10 04:05
Heck, something else to check! From some of the videos I've seen online I thought these things wer ...

I think I have about 50 flights.  Never been opened.  I have flown it aggressively in sport mode, but absolutely no crashes or even hard landings.
2016-5-10
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edbighi
Second Officer
Flight distance : 47455053 ft
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Austria
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I've got over 100 flights and nothing yet other than part of a clip fell out from the inside. Today another piece of plastic fell out as well. But still no visible cracks. Regardless, I ordered another phantom 4 yesterday because I still keep an old  habit of flying a phantom while the other is in for stress crack repair. Even though mine shows no cracks in spite of losing two small pieces of plastic, I'll keep a fresh phantom 4 just in case. Mostly cause waiting sucks.Stress cracks suck. Having owned a phantom 1, a couple of 2 visions, three vision 2 pluses, a couple of phantom 3, I'm not new to stress cracks. They all cracked in spite of me having never crashed any DJI product. In my opinion they are nearly impossible to crash. Jim's bird looks either like it was opened before he even got it or is cracking at the clips. Which could be the case considering mine puked a clip already. I'm still of the belief that DJI should bond these things at assembly for extra strength.
2016-5-10
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DJI-Paladin
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Hong Kong
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Jim Watkins Posted at 2016-5-10 21:09
I think I have about 50 flights.  Never been opened.  I have flown it aggressively in sport mode,  ...

I'd suggest you to contact our service center in North America and send the drone to them.Here is the contacting info:
Email: support.us@dji.com
Phone: +1 (818) 235 0789  
Mon-Fri 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (PST)

What's more, could you please tell me your Phantom 4's serial number here? Thank you.
2016-5-10
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jaraxle1zx

United States
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No cracks here and I fly in sport mode 75% of the time.
2016-5-11
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Exib
Captain
Flight distance : 153760 ft
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United Kingdom
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Have you sent it back to DJI
2016-5-11
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Jim Watkins
First Officer
Flight distance : 9132172 ft
United States
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Exib Posted at 2016-5-12 00:57
Have you sent it back to DJI

I haven't decided whether I will or not yet.
2016-5-12
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Jim Watkins
First Officer
Flight distance : 9132172 ft
United States
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UPDATE:  I am not very worried about this now because the cracks have not worsened over time and the shell still seems strong.  So, I am just keeping an eye on it.  You know sooner or later, I'll probably have to replace the shell anyway if I have a crash or hard landing.  So, I am not losing sleep over this.
2016-6-8
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Jim Watkins
First Officer
Flight distance : 9132172 ft
United States
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DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-5-10 18:30
I'd suggest you to contact our service center in North America and send the drone to them.Here is  ...

Hello,

Sorry for my delayed response.  I've been very busy.  Here is the serial number 07DDD320A11185.  I Have never attempted to open my P4.  Since the cracks haven't gotten worse and the shell still seems strong, I really haven't worried about it too much.

--Jim
2016-6-8
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leonardk12.comc
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Have you left it inside a vehicle on a hot sunny day? Could it be heat/cooling, expansion stress?
2016-6-8
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Jim Watkins
First Officer
Flight distance : 9132172 ft
United States
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leonardk12.comc Posted at 2016-6-8 16:25
Have you left it inside a vehicle on a hot sunny day? Could it be heat/cooling, expansion stress?

No.  It's a mystery.
2016-6-8
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DJI-Paladin
Administrator
Flight distance : 2408 ft
Hong Kong
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Jim Watkins Posted at 2016-6-9 05:32
Hello,

Sorry for my delayed response.  I've been very busy.  Here is the serial number 07DDD320A1 ...

Never mind. Feel free to get in touch with our US support in the business hours if necessary.
2016-6-9
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Topviewpics
lvl.3
Flight distance : 623232 ft
United States
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Jim,

I work with injection molded parts and my 2c on this it looks like someone tried to open the shell prior to selling to you.

Or,

Someone at the factory forced the internal clips to connect under stress and kept "under the wraps" from QC. Sorry for that but I believe they do not represent a risk to the integrity of the craft.
2016-6-9
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