After 100 flights, 127km, 13hours, P3P conclusion

[Man.Of.Kent]

Thanks Elie for a comprehensive report on your experiences and lessons learnt.

One comment that jumped out was your report that

zip ties on the arms of my phantom helped dramatically reduce the possibility of having stress cracks which, with a bit of care, never had so far.

I wondered how you measured the reduced possibility of stress cracks from using cable ties? I understood that these stress cracks were reported by a small percentage of users, and that there was a particular batch fault responsible for most issues.

Perhaps the cable ties give you peace of mind, but I don't know how you can say that the experience of using ties has reduced your likelihood of arm failure - unless you tied one arm front and back and noticed cracks in the untied arms.

 

[elie kattar]

Thanks Elie for a comprehensive report on your experiences and lessons learnt.

One comment that jumped out was your report that

zip ties on the arms of my phantom helped dramatically reduce the possibility of having stress cracks which, with a bit of care, never had so far.

I wondered how you measured the reduced possibility of stress cracks from using cable ties? I understood that these stress cracks were reported by a small percentage of users, and that there was a particular batch fault responsible for most issues.

Perhaps the cable ties give you peace of mind, but I don't know how you can say that the experience of using ties has reduced your likelihood of arm failure - unless you tied one arm front and back and noticed cracks in the untied arms.

Hey, let me tell you how i did it, i un screwed the arms, and flew it only with zip ties that's how dramatically it helped , another basic thing is physics that we learned in school, any vibration dissipate over any surface the larger it is the better it will reduce its force, zip ties work the same, moving the stress point to another one, which is closer to the body, eventually its stronger there to absorb greater vibrance with no issues, try it your self and ull know why it helped dramatically reduce cracks, cz u dont even need the arms screws anymore hehe. I reduced the torque on the screws and hand tied them too. you go test fly the drone without screws like i did and ill be waiting your comments here. It doesn't have to be tested in a lab to give answers sometimes. Cheers

 

[Man.Of.Kent]

Hey, let me tell you how i did it, i un screwed the arms, and flew it only with zip ties that's how dramatically it helped , another basic thing is physics that we learned in school, any vibration dissipate over any surface the larger it is the better it will reduce its force, zip ties work the same, moving the stress point to another one, which is closer to the body, eventually its stronger there to absorb greater vibrance with no issues, try it your self and ull know why it helped dramatically reduce cracks, cz u dont even need the arms screws anymore hehe. I reduced the torque on the screws and hand tied them too. you go test fly the drone without screws like i did and ill be waiting your comments here. It doesn't have to be tested in a lab to give answers sometimes. Cheers

No need for a lab - you tested in the lab of life! It's comforting to know that the cable tie is as effective as the arm screws as you demonstrated by flying without them - useful back up if you are concerned about screws working loose in flight.

I would still say though, that this is a different issue from protection against cracks. Until a cable tie protected arm lasts longer without cracking than a regular arm you will not know for certain that it is reducing risk as the jury is still out on how the stress cracks appear in the first place. e.g. Someone has posted on this subject with a view that high temperatures in the outer arm caused by the motor working v hard in extreme manoeuvres can weaken the plastic around the screw mounts.

 

[Mr.Spock]

What goggles are those?

The Nebula HDMI goggles

 

[D4T_PoM]

The Nebula HDMI goggles

So do you plug the glasses in to the HDMI of the controller and still have a tablet/phone connected to DJI GO app?

So you can take the glasses off and go back to the tablet/phone, correct?

 

[denodan]

Every 20 flights, take your battery down to 7-8% and recharge fully. This recalibrates your smart chips to charge more accurately and give correct estimate flight times when the battery works out your flight times.

After awhile these smart chips lose accuracy and need re calibrating and tge reason why DJI say every 20 charges to discharge the battery.

Dine it twice so far.

 

[Mr.Spock]

So do you plug the glasses in to the HDMI of the controller and still have a tablet/phone connected to DJI GO app?

So you can take the glasses off and go back to the tablet/phone, correct?

Ok so i have an adaptor from mini HDMI to HDMI its the black cable u see. This i connect to the glasses as they have normal HDMI interface. Yes when u install the HDMI module u get an option in the app that allows you to use both the tablet and have just video feed from the glasses via HDMI with very basic flight stats. U won't get what u see in the app through the HDMI interface is mainly the video feed. U dont
Have to take the glasses off u have simultaneous video feed in the app and glasses.

 

[Mordor]

Like it!

 

[Mr.Spock]

Nikolas, I tightened mine up evenly and as tight as they would go without deforming the shape, mine do not slide, you want to stop the arms from twisting (top and bottom of the arms) of course if you've already cut them short you can just put new ones on and carefully hold the locking end of the zip tie with your thumb and index finger and pull carefully with pliers on the piece that you will be cutting off. Be sure to be as straight as you can with the zip ties and arms so it will snug up nicely. Hope that makes sense.

When u talked about deforming the arms i noticed a slight deformity on mine like a small indent on one of the arms where the top comes together with the bottom but when i removed the cable tie on that arm that slight deformity was still there so is not caused by the tie. Is this normal or did i cause it from the cable tie?

 

[Mr.Spock]

Ok so i have an adaptor from mini HDMI to HDMI its the black cable u see. This i connect to the glasses as they have normal HDMI interface. Yes when u install the HDMI module u get an option in the app that allows you to use both the tablet and have just video feed from the glasses via HDMI with very basic flight stats. U won't get what u see in the app through the HDMI interface is mainly the video feed. U dont
Have to take the glasses off u have simultaneous video feed in the app and glasses.

 

[D4T_PoM]

If it was to ever go from p-gps to p-atti or if there were any errors would it come up on the glasses screen?

 

[bobmyers]

If it was to ever go from p-gps to p-atti or if there were any errors would it come up on the glasses screen?

Good question

 

[Mr.Spock]

If it was to ever go from p-gps to p-atti or if there were any errors would it come up on the glasses screen?

Yes u can see the modes and the sat reception also the rc and video signal strength and the little diamond indicate the home direction. You can find meny videos in youtube that show what the HDMI module output is like. I have not tried any errors i dont think u see them.

 

[Mr.Spock]

Good question

Bob what do you think about the slight deformity that i saw in the other pic bellow?

 

[bobmyers]

Bob what do you think about the slight deformity that i saw in the other pic bellow?

If you had the cable tie at the end of the arm-- it shouldn't have caused that-- looks like is was probably already there. The new shells look like they have beefed them up substantially. I may order one just to have it on hand. Just in case

 

[Mr.Spock]

If you had the cable tie at the end of the arm-- it shouldn't have caused that-- looks like is was probably already there. The new shells look like they have beefed them up substantially. I may order one just to have it on hand. Just in case

Thsank u Bob. Yes the cable tie is there now and i removed it but the deformity did not dissipate it is barely visible i hope it wont interfere with my flight. Yes i saw the thread about the new shells it a big disapointment as i bough my P3A a month ago and i got both the old motors and the old shell. I have contacted DJI and asked for replacement on the grounds of possible cracks (14 flights but many Km dont have any cracks yet). They came back next day from DJI Netherlands but they did not understand and asked for pics of the cracs and the invoice. I send the invoice and clarified... that was today. Unfortunately i am not as confident as u to change the shell and DJI should really recall all old SNs .

 

[bobmyers]

Thsank u Bob. Yes the cable tie is there now and i removed it but the deformity did not dissipate it is barely visible i hope it wont interfere with my flight. Yes i saw the thread about the new shells it a big disapointment as i bough my P3A a month ago and i got both the old motors and the old shell. I have contacted DJI and asked for replacement on the grounds of possible cracks (14 flights but many Km dont have any cracks yet). They came back next day from DJI Netherlands but they did not understand and asked for pics of the cracs and the invoice. I send the invoice and clarified... that was today. Unfortunately i am not as confident as u to change the shell and DJI should really recall all old SNs .

I have a first edition shell with a couple of cracks-- nothing I would consider serious as I have performed repair suggestions and backed the motor mounts screw with snap on prop guard mounts. But there probably will come a time when it has a hard landing or crash-- so, if and when that happens, I will just rebuild-- that is -- unless the P4 is out by then

 

[Jbundy63]

When u talked about deforming the arms i noticed a slight deformity on mine like a small indent on one of the arms where the top comes together with the bottom but when i removed the cable tie on that arm that slight deformity was still there so is not caused by the tie. Is this normal or did i cause it from the cable tie?

No, I've seen some of that but like Bobmyers said your toes are on the end and wouldn't distort there, you should be fine and will be happy in the long run to have done that.

Your got your bird in good shape and liking good![emoji102]

Safe flying

 

[Mr.Spock]

I have a first edition shell with a couple of cracks-- nothing I would consider serious as I have performed repair suggestions and backed the motor mounts screw with snap on prop guard mounts. But there probably will come a time when it has a hard landing or crash-- so, if and when that happens, I will just rebuild-- that is -- unless the P4 is out by then

View attachment 32836

What repairs have u done bob and how? Do u have any pics? Did u open the shell and poured resin glue on the base of each arm?

 

[Mr.Spock]

No, I've seen some of that but like Bobmyers said your toes are on the end and wouldn't distort there, you should be fine and will be happy in the long run to have done that.

Your got your bird in good shape and liking good![emoji102]

Safe flying

Thank u Jb but its brand new only 16 flights on it but i done 35km. I am worried about everything i read so i put on all the protective gear i found....