Hello, I experienced stress cracks on my drone recently. I'm now thinking shoul I send the drone for a warranty repair or better fix it myself?

I will need the drone in few weeks for few flights so I wonder is it worth voiding the warranty for such a thing? Or should I rather try flying it and then send it to warranty when i'll no longer need it?

I attached a photo of damaged arm, everything else looks fine.

Actually, that doesn't look to bad. Most all of us experience this after some time. The replacement shells are no different, so the problem will come back. If you have warranty left on it, I'm sure DJI will fix it, but no idea how long it will take in your part of the world. They make some great solvent (Weld 4) that will repair the cracks instantly, if you are either out of warranty, or choose to try to repair it yourself. The solvent does work. The other option is to buy a replacement shell and replace it. This is not hard either if you want to try. I personally wouldn't worry a great deal with what you are showing. Just my personal opinion.

how much warranty u got left? I would base the decision on that.. It is unlikely u will get it back sooner than in a month, or so i think based on my experience, as well as what i've read overall....

Phantomski Posted at 2017-5-25 12:01
how much warranty u got left? I would base the decision on that.. It is unlikely u will get it back sooner than in a month, or so i think based on my experience, as well as what i've read overall....

I still have about 6 months left

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-5-25 10:55
Actually, that doesn't look to bad. Most all of us experience this after some time. The replacement shells are no different, so the problem will come back. If you have warranty left on it, I'm sure DJI will fix it, but no idea how long it will take in your part of the world. They make some great solvent (Weld 4) that will repair the cracks instantly, if you are either out of warranty, or choose to try to repair it yourself. The solvent does work. The other option is to buy a replacement shell and replace it. This is not hard either if you want to try. I personally wouldn't worry a great deal with what you are showing. Just my personal opinion.

Fixing wouldn't be an issue (except using threadlocker since I can't find any that doesn't screw up plastic). The only good this about sending it to DJI for a repair would be saved money for a replacement shell. I still have 6 months or so left of warranty and I need the drone till the end of June. I also ordered reinforcement brackets for motor arms. I think I'll try to use as it is and maybe later send it to DJI.

yes, u can use some sort of plastic binding agent and install the brackets, but once you have a month before the warranty expires, you may want to send it in.. just to have it good, then install the brackets on it.. it will serve you longer and better then ;)

Keep in mind that the AC you send in almost certainly won't be the AC you get back.  

fans516b91ad Posted at 2017-5-25 12:26
I still have about 6 months left

It's really up to you. Sending it in could lead to a potentially free repair, but if that's not an issue, then replacing it yourself is pretty cheap. If you damage any other components when you perform the shell replacement, though, you could incur an invoice to get those issues addresssed via a repair service.

From m experience and what I've come to find out the shell isn't covered under the warranty. If you have DJI Care that may be something different but normal warranty won't cover the shell. You can find what's all covered on the website some where but I can't tell exactly where to look.

fans31f7c8b0 Posted at 2017-5-25 16:31
From m experience and what I've come to find out the shell isn't covered under the warranty. If you have DJI Care that may be something different but normal warranty won't cover the shell. You can find what's all covered on the website some where but I can't tell exactly where to look.

It's normally under "warranty period of main parts" when reviewing the after-sales policy.

While generally they do not have a warranty, there have been cases where shell replacements were performed at no charge. It under the stipulation, however, that the AC shows no sign of hard landings, crashes, aggressive flying, and that there is least some other parts that still have <12 months of warranty left on it. That's all handled on a case by case basis after an evaluation by a repair technician.

Phantomski Posted at 2017-5-25 13:25
yes, u can use some sort of plastic binding agent and install the brackets, but once you have a month before the warranty expires, you may want to send it in.. just to have it good, then install the brackets on it.. it will serve you longer and better then ;)

DJI told me if I'll do any self repairs on the shell they will void the warranty. I would have self repaired it and later sent to repairs but since it's either one or another...

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-5-25 20:40
It's normally under "warranty period of main parts" when reviewing the after-sales policy.

While generally they do not have a warranty, there have been cases where shell replacements were performed at no charge. It under the stipulation, however, that the AC shows no sign of hard landings, crashes, aggressive flying, and that there is least some other parts that still have

What if I decide to send it to DJI but for some reason my warranty or something else won't be valid for free repair and I'll have to pay a fee for repairs or shipping. Is there any way to be 100% sure that it won't cost me anything?

I contacted DJI support via chat few weeks ago about this thing but they just told me to send it to DJI for an inspection but they didn't made it clear it will be free for me.

fans516b91ad Posted at 2017-5-26 00:51
What if I decide to send it to DJI but for some reason my warranty or something else won't be valid for free repair and I'll have to pay a fee for repairs or shipping. Is there any way to be 100% sure that it won't cost me anything?

I contacted DJI support via chat few weeks ago about this thing but they just told me to send it to DJI for an inspection but they didn't made it clear it will be free for me.

As explained above, the engineers will assess it firstly after it arrives, if there is no crashes, hard landing or others showing the cracks were caused by pilot error, it will be fixed for free within warranty period.
Since we cannot check the exact reason remotely, we're not 100% sure it won't cost now.

And u may not get your original P3S back. I did the repairs mtself wire Weld-on 4, just waiting for the supports I ordered an will be ready to go, with MY P3S ( only had it for 4 months, with no hard crashes but elected to repair myself)