Aftermarket Props Buyer Beware

[C-Mac13]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed yet as I could not find anything searching.

This weekend I had a small crash that broke one of my DJI props on my Phantom 2. A few weeks back I purchased these http://www.ebay.com/itm/291058659443?ss ... 1497.l2649 which are the same ones I believe found all over the place. It's been getting harder to find DJI props so I thought I'd try these.

I installed the one prop on the rear and turned on the P2 and waited for the LED's to blink green. Once the GPS was ready to go I began flying. I was just practicing that day and was doing low level maneuvers and spent most of my time in ATTI mode. The P2 was flying but something just didn't seem right. I did a full throttle climb and the P2 climbed but was drifting to the right rear which just happened to be the same corner as the prop I replaced. I did it a few more times with the same result.

At that time I decided to replace all the props with the aftermarket ones and see how it would fly. After GPS was acquired I took off in GPS mode. The P2 was almost impossible to fly. It would not maintain altitude and kept falling straight down. Any maneuver resulted in slow reaction and it would not stabilize.

From my experience with these aftermarket props I would suggest you stay clear of them. They do not work on the Phantom 2 as advertized.

Below are some side by side photos of the DJI prop and the prop marked O-XOXO. You can see that these props look identical in every way.

They have the same markings other than the DJI and O-XOXO.

Notice the more rounded corner of the DJI prop.

 

[goldfishrock]

In that bottom photo the blade chord looks different. The genuine DJI seems to have a curve on the trailing edge from tip to root. On the o-xoxo it looks straight edge joining tip to root. This would certainly have an overall effect.

 

[poostik]

Thanks for the info.

I almost ordered 3rd party props just yesterday because they were a few bucks cheaper but at the last second, I went with the DJI ones. Glad I stayed away.

 

[ianwood]

In that bottom photo the blade chord looks different. The genuine DJI seems to have a curve on the trailing edge from tip to root. On the o-xoxo it looks straight edge joining tip to root. This would certainly have an overall effect.

Very different looking now that you point it out. Well spotted.

 

[goldfishrock]

The trouble with that 'replica' blade is that lift properties will be worlds apart from the stock DJI Blades. With those, the turbulance generated from the trailing edge will be quite different to the stock blades and being in such close proximity to the other rotors and the P2 itself, the flight dynmaics of the bird will be altered completly.

In the case of the P2, it's probably best to stick to genuine or licensed blades.

 

[C-Mac13]

That makes more since then what the seller is telling me. I filled a case asking for a refund and this is the response I got.

We regret that bring you any inconvenience. It seems the props damaged in transit, not balance now. We would like resend you new items. Could you please close the case? We can send them within 48 hours Hope for your kindly understanding. thanks

I know I'm a newb at this but I'm just not buying the reason for the P2 not maintaining altitude being unbalanced props. If they were just unbalanced I would think it would maintain altitude just be a little wobbly.

 

[ianwood]

Correct. Wobble not total instability. Just explain that you believed from the ad that they were DJI props and not a cheap clone. And, they don't work. They are poorly designed and could damage your very expensive quad. And if you need to, tell them you checked the balance and it isn't the problem. The problem is they are badly designed knock-offs.

 

[Hiway]

...
I know I'm a newb at this but I'm just not buying the reason for the P2 not maintaining altitude being unbalanced props. If they were just unbalanced I would think it would maintain altitude just be a little wobbly.

I will be confirming if they are correct or not in the next week or so (weather permitting) as I just cleaned up the work bench today, balanced a set of vision props (aftermarket) which are the same as what you have- exact same markings and everything.

I discovered that the black topped props were heavy on the 9443 side, and the silver tipped were heavy on the oxxo side... and not just a little. I used more scotch tape on the light side of these props than I could have ever imagined... but they did finally balance. These props are extremely heavy on 1 side across the board... and while I have never flown unbalanced rotors, I would not want to try with any as bad as these seem to be.

I scoured the web and could not find OEM stock DJI Vision props... backordered or out of stock everywhere.

When are you sumbitches gonna learn to keep the good **** secret? I mean, I went through hades getting my Hero Black, and now something as essential as props are scarce?

Sheesh... :roll:

 

[Almmohd]

well I can't keep a secret, you can get original props at B&H. It's in stock right now.
:shock: I should be getting a commission for this :lol:

 

[ShawnSmith]

I have been banging my head against a wall for two weeks. I was on location to film some aerial footage and saw one of my blades was a bit worn. So I slapped a new one on... and thus began two weeks of frustration, calibrations, and curse words. It didn't matter what I did; my P2V would not fly right, it was totally out of control. I had talked to DJI today and decided to send it in for repair and was going to buy a Phantom 2 for a shoot I have in two weeks. So I figured I would check this forum to see if there is any good configuration info and I noticed the post and thought It was weird that the blades I got two weeks ago did not have the DJI packaging like they did previously... Turns out I had some of the xoxo-jerks. I put my dirty old blades on, did the dance one more time and she flew perfectly even with a small chunk missing in one of the blades. I just ordered backup blades from BH. Thank you for this post!!! I am going to link to it in the P2V forum.

 

[Hiway]

well I can't keep a secret, you can get original props at B&H. It's in stock right now.
:shock: I should be getting a commission for this :lol:

I will make a donation to a worthy charity in your name then mate... and write you into the feckin will.

 

[C-Mac13]

I have a few sources that still have DJI blades. Just picked up 6 packs last night and have 3 more coming. Nice having a few local suppliers.

Try these guys they show still in stock. I was going to go by there after work.
https://www.rcdepothobbies.com/category_s/1990.htm

 

[Fximaging]

Holy Cow!!!! You are right!!!!!

I bought a new phantom2 pro from ushobby.com in las vegas. Shipped the next day. Mark is very helpful there. Anyhow, i had been flying it for about a week, and had a few prop strikes during landings, and had used all my DJI props. I had ordered some from ebay, someone claiming they were dji. I installed two new ones, but didnt fly again for a few days. Then I took the quad to a different place to fly, and it didn't want to hover correctly. it was correcting itself all over the place. So, i took it home and did all the calibration mojo, and no change. By this time i had installed the gimbal and go-pro, so i took it off and still no change. After days of messing around, i called Mark at ushobby and told him there was a problem. He said no worries, ship it back and he would replace it. A few days later, he called me and said "hey, what am i missing here? it flies fine." I had only sent him the p2, no props or anything else. I simply told him i wanted a new one, and he shipped me one in about three days.

I put my props on the new p2, took off and - its still flying wacky!!! So i scoured the forums, and started adjusting gains... never got it any better. So i decided to weigh all my props. I had them ranging from 10.6g all the way to 12.8g. so i picked the ones that were the closest and took off.... so much worse!!!! So i scoured the forums again and found this post. I looked at my props and they were all xoxo versions. So i put the best DJI props i had back on (chips and all) and PRESTO! Its flying like a champ again!!! So i reset the gains, and made a few tweaks and now it's super steady!!! Ive added a iosd mk2, and dji's avl58 transmitter, using a lilliput 329w 5.8ghz monitor (which was a nightmare getting the channels set right), which gives me a better image than with the avl58 receiver.

THANK YOU TO THE STARTER OF THIS THREAD! I was getting ready to give up! I now have 4 Pairs on order from ushobby.com. they should be here monday.

 

[Almmohd]

Is there a problem if you change all the props to aftermarket?

 

[Hiway]

Is there a problem if you change all the props to aftermarket?

The problem is the aftermarket props are severely out of balance- so unless you balance them, they will most likely cause issues.

To add to this thread, I flew today using the balanced aftermarket oxxo props and the quad flew... but not nearly as smooth as with my 9443 carbon fiber rotors... not even close. I have some true OEM DJI vision props enroute- once I put the Phantom back together I will check them- but I have faith they will be better. (I crashed too- dual batteries under current setup ain't gonna fly longer than 5 minutes and I almost destroyed my quad on it's maiden fpv voyage- DERP!)

I am extremely disappointed in those rotors, and everyone needs to stay the hell away from them. This thread offers a great pic, and anyone with a balancer can verify my posts on how off they are. No savings if you use a roll of tape to balance them, and to take weight off would be **** near impossible without ruining the profile. I am guessing their molds are tilted and heavy on one side

 

[goldfishrock]

Is there a problem if you change all the props to aftermarket?

Also as we've seen from the photos posted earlier in this thread, some of these after-markets have completly different blade profiles & characteristics which will certainly affect the way the P2 flies.... not for the better.

Best stick to genuine DJI stock

 

[EMCSQUAR]

Here's another twist to aftermarket props - check out position of directional arrows. Spotted this in "buds" collection of props. Word of caution LQQK closely before installing.

 

[ericty]

Here's another twist to aftermarket props - check out position of directional arrows. Spotted this in "buds" collection of props. Word of caution LQQK closely before installing.

OMG. That is just so wrong. F*cking crap knock-offs.

 

[goldfishrock]

That's brilliant.... covering all bases! :lol:

 

[Redline]

Hate to say it but you get what you pay for! Stop trying to save a few bucks, it like buying a Corvette and buying cheap tires and wondering why it handles like crap! Let's face it guys these quads are not cheap as far as quads go and DJI did there homework when making them just go right to DJI when it comes to a rotating part. If you think they cost a lot take a look at TREX-700 I have over $5000 into just one of them if I put a cheap blade on that bird some one would get killed.balanced props are important
Don't take chances on props,not worth loosing your Phantom and your Gopro!