Catastrophic design flaw of Phantom 3

[Chris Vedeler]

This is absolutely infuriating! The frightening "stress crack" topic has been cover hundreds of times all across the web now. When a motor flies out of its hub things have come full circle. (I've reluctantly sent my bird in to DJI because of a random 400 ft spinning fall from the sky. Too much damage to easily fix especially for something that's still under warranty.) Regardless..... there really needs to be a serious competitor to arrive on the scene and raise the bar for DJI. I mean my event, many others and now this one is almost - I say this with all kindness - laughable. I've investigated others since I've had to send mine in for "assessment." When getting serviced through DJI I've found the average wait to get an issue resolved, fixed or replaced (for a product under warranty) is 70-83 days. ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?!

GoPro.... please.... show us the bird you've promised to release in 2016.

I hear you! This is clearly a design flaw, and a fix would be fairly simple and something that could be retro-fitted to existing birds.

That said, the Phantom 3 packs a whole lot of technology for very little money. I know my wait time for repair / replace will be months. After searching the web all day I have become resigned to that fact. My wife, seeing how bummed out I was today actually told me to just buy another one in the mean time since it is something I enjoy so much. The thing is that two Phantoms cost less than anything else that is better.

 

[MattyDread]

Gully - give us a clue?

 

[Zoti]

That's not good at all and what I was expecting eventually will happen with these cracks. I think we will see more of these soon with worst results.

I have designed these motor mount brackets you can download and print yourself. I don't know how much it will help once the cracks break the motor base completely off but it might help not crashing completely.

DJI should fix this and fast.

Phantom 3 motor mount reinforcing bracket. by Zoti

 

[aokman]

wow that is some scary stuff, I wonder if the prop guards help with this since they reinforce 2 of the mounting screws with an extra layer of plastic to distribute the load. Just put prop guards on mine for indoor tight stuff and will definitely keep an eye on this...

 

[snerd]

That's one good wife! I'd hang on to her!

 

[Chris Vedeler]

That's one good wife! I'd hang on to her!

You have no idea how good I have it!

 

[fhagan02]

I hear you! This is clearly a design flaw, and a fix would be fairly simple and something that could be retro-fitted to existing birds.

That said, the Phantom 3 packs a whole lot of technology for very little money. I know my wait time for repair / replace will be months. After searching the web all day I have become resigned to that fact. My wife, seeing how bummed out I was today actually told me to just buy another one in the mean time since it is something I enjoy so much. The thing is that two Phantoms cost less than anything else that is better.

I'm right there with you. I flew my P3P and fly my P2/H4-3D with GoPro constantly. I do color and grading tutorials on-line not to mention film and editing for a living.

I actually thought the same thing in my panic.... "2 months?! Well I'll just buy another P3P and I'll have a back up when the replacement arrives." Then I thought.... "Wait a minute....Why?" Indications from healthydrones.com and a couple other programming guru's that looked at my flight data are leaning toward the likelihood that my bird had...a motor failure. My P3P had just started to get stress cracks. (I'd meticulously apply crazy glue, in layers after drying, to stop or keep this at bay.) Your motor flew off. So it's inevitable with the current build of a P3. It's gonna happen... and you will only become aware of a "problem" in mid flight. So every time my P3P slams into the ground its $1300 or 2 months of BS. I get it. Things fail. S**t happens. I do get this. But for anything to go wrong, with something under warranty, and then take 2+ months to remedy? Not acceptable. This fact alone is reason enough to rethink my brand loyalty. This is a company's customer service way of saying, "We don't care... we'll get to it...when we get to it... or something."

That's why I mentioned GoPro's quad. With two P2's and Zenmuse gimbals, I've purchased A LOT of GoPro stuff. So naturally I have a higher likelihood that something might be defective. I had a camera that was defective and had to be returned. It was investigated and then replaced, free of charge, within 8 days of them receiving the defective camera. THEN I got an email one week later asking if my new camera was functioning to my liking. Wow. So... I continue to purchase GoPro products even thought I had experienced a defective piece of GoPro equipment. Customer service at it's best.

So I'm on the fence. Do I give in and get sucked into buying a new one? More money to DJI for another quad that will inevitably fail. Hopefully get brand new P3P in NOVEMBER. Don't open it. Put it on Ebay and keep the money for something new from some company that deserves and appreciates the business?

Or perhaps I should just calm down and eat some fruit or something.

 

[Phantom 3 TomD]

Mine has cracked also. I sent an email to DJI asking for warranty repair. Never heard from them. Then I started reading on here about their poor customer service I decided to fix it myself. First I tried super glue but that ate into the plastic and made it soft. The crack greatly weakened the arm. I could easily twist it left to right. I was afraid to fly it. So I took black electrical tape and kept some good tension on the tape as I wrapped it several times. It worked! So this is how I'm flying it now until I figure out a better solution.

 

[Bryce]

Same crack here... Engine tore out of arm and it came crashing down. 90+ days in repair and a new lower frame and motor. They made me pay for it.

 

[cjmwales]

That's another item to add to the pre-flight checklist then!

Actually, I'll check this tonight - it could explain why my P3 always yaws to the left when pitching forward to accelerate.

 

[Norm Walker]

Hate to hear this guys.
Now I'm pretty worried as most of my flights are over water.
Here's a thought.
I bought quick attach prop guards for my bird and can't see me using them unless flying inside.
The bosses that you fit to the outer arms are pretty sturdy and I think saved a bit of damage when I flew into a tree recently. My fix is going to involve using epoxy glue to attach these bosses to the underside of the arms before screwing the motors in. Before I do this I will have to drill a hole in the outer ends of the bosses to give access to the T6 screw that hold the end of the arm together.
This would definitely beef up this area of the bird.
If I get a chance I'll video the process and post it on the forum.
Good luck with your dealings with DJI.

 

[Justin Namon]

I'm right there with you. I flew my P3P and fly my P2/H4-3D with GoPro constantly. I do color and grading tutorials on-line not to mention film and editing for a living.

I actually thought the same thing in my panic.... "2 months?! Well I'll just buy another P3P and I'll have a back up when the replacement arrives." Then I thought.... "Wait a minute....Why?" Indications from healthydrones.com and a couple other programming guru's that looked at my flight data are leaning toward the likelihood that my bird had...a motor failure. My P3P had just started to get stress cracks. (I'd meticulously apply crazy glue, in layers after drying, to stop or keep this at bay.) Your motor flew off. So it's inevitable with the current build of a P3. It's gonna happen... and you will only become aware of a "problem" in mid flight. So every time my P3P slams into the ground its $1300 or 2 months of BS. I get it. Things fail. S**t happens. I do get this. But for anything to go wrong, with something under warranty, and then take 2+ months to remedy? Not acceptable. This fact alone is reason enough to rethink my brand loyalty. This is a company's customer service way of saying, "We don't care... we'll get to it...when we get to it... or something."

That's why I mentioned GoPro's quad. With two P2's and Zenmuse gimbals, I've purchased A LOT of GoPro stuff. So naturally I have a higher likelihood that something might be defective. I had a camera that was defective and had to be returned. It was investigated and then replaced, free of charge, within 8 days of them receiving the defective camera. THEN I got an email one week later asking if my new camera was functioning to my liking. Wow. So... I continue to purchase GoPro products even thought I had experienced a defective piece of GoPro equipment. Customer service at it's best.

So I'm on the fence. Do I give in and get sucked into buying a new one? More money to DJI for another quad that will inevitably fail. Hopefully get brand new P3P in NOVEMBER. Don't open it. Put it on Ebay and keep the money for something new from some company that deserves and appreciates the business?

Or perhaps I should just calm down and eat some fruit or something.

fhagan, love your posts and editing/retouching tutorials. I'm the last person to support big companies but DJI has grown exponentially in the last 5-7 years. They are now a multibillion dollar company in a time frame some companies would dream of hitting it big. I think in 5 years or less (if they haven't imploded/exploded) they'll have that customer service locked in. right now their efforts are on streamlining the products and getting them out. something worth noting is how much more effective their updates are. at least 25-30% of flyers avoid update within first week because of past updates with older models and trouble they caused. now the updates are as smooth as they get. they're young and trying to provide an affordable product for the masses leaving customer service by the wayside and using lighter cheaper shells in creating them. I will admit they are much more affordable post but any time I would need one is if my bird crashed and that's a little too late and probably not my only cost. i think it's about time they offered carbon fiber builds for an additional $250-$300 (I'd pay it).

compare that to another young company like GoPro, only about 2-3 years older than DJI and they're customer service is off the chain! though I wonder how they're customer service will be on quads they sell to the masses. their cameras can take a beating, but will their quad be able to? and if it's as dope as we hope it is, they might be in over their heads with repairs from newbies and amateurs crashing them while providing the almost no hassle return policy. in due time we will see I'm sure.

to OP, good luck with repairs. I would just do them myself bc right now DJI's turnaround time basically means my warranty is junk. I just hope the motor and shell is all that's wrong with it. I actually spent the additional $159 to insure my new drone from any drops and spills in the future when purchased from dronedudes and dronesetc . it's an investment that is almost guaranteed to pay for itself.

 

[nhoover]

I've inspected mine a few times and repaired (small) cracks I found with Bondic. One after about 20 flights in June and 3 more a couple of weeks ago after 85 flights. After seeing SO many of these stories it sure sounds like a design flaw to me. Will look into the kit. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Norm Walker]

Just looked at the drone after my last post and don't think I even need to glue those bosses on. The fact that they are bolted through into the motors, makes the arms heaps more solid. the only way you could loose a motor would be for the complete end of the arm to break off. I think I'll just leave them how they are and keep an eye on the screws etc. They only cost $25

 

[ELHEAPO]

I put these on my p3. It really stiffens the arms

You put what on your P3 arms to stiffen them?

 

[Albert R.]

Fellow Pilots,

After reading this post I decided to purchase the UAV BITS Strong Arms (based on the post recommendation) Strong Arm reinforcement plate
Ordered late last night and received shipment confirmation less than 12 hours later. Looks like a solid product and great customer service. By now I would have hoped that DJI would have stepped up and offered these as a free upgrade.
Sorry for your loss but thanks for providing us with the awareness.

 

[andr3s]

Fellow Pilots,

After reading this post I decided to purchase the UAV BITS Strong Arms (based on the post recommendation) Strong Arm reinforcement plate
Ordered late last night and received shipment confirmation less than 12 hours later. Looks like a solid product and great customer service. By now I would have hoped that DJI would have stepped up and offered these as a free upgrade.
Sorry for your loss but thanks for providing us with the awareness.

thanks for the link. placed order this morning.

OP sorry for your headache! being that i bought my first one just 48hrs ago that gut wrenching feeling i got a couple times already, i got just looking at your pictures.

 

[FredSheldon]

Doesn't look like my tie wrap solution would have helped here.

Yes, I think the Strong Arm solution is the best way to go.

 

[jasonb777]

From what I have seen, , most of the shell cracks are only on the rear arms. Don't know if that's the same with yours. What I did was I took the top shell off and reinforced all the inside of the arms with bondic where all the areas could possibly crack from flight alone. Of course this might not help in a crash but it did stop the small stress cracks I was getting on both of the rear arms.

 

[Buckaye]

As soon as I saw this thread I installed the strong arm mod on one of my birds and will be completing the same upgrade to my second P3P tonight... it really does make the bird's arms seem way more solid... and after seeing this - I didn't want to risk it any longer. I have not noticed any stress cracks at all on either of my two P3P's and I do a lot of flying with them - but I don't want to wait

The installation is pretty easy but you'll need a couple of torx wrenches to remove the old shell screws and apply the new ones - as well as a hex wrench for the motor mounts.