Difficult to Install Props - Is This Normal?

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Hi, all!

I am new to RC. My objective for purchasing a Phantom was specifically for aerial media acquisition. I say this to let you know that prior to working with it, I have had absolutely no experience with this stuff! I haven't a clue as to how it should "feel" when installing the props, and I was quite surprised and concerned with how difficult it was and still is to do. For 3 out 4 of my rotors, the props would not go on without use of pliers and clamps - one to hold the rotor and the other to force the prop down on to the hub. I was very careful to align them according to the shape, but it really had the feel of trying to force a square peg into a round hole. By use of the method explained above, I was able to squeeze the stubborn props down enough to finally get a bite on the bolt, and then use a small crescent wrench to screw the props down to the level that the one non-stubborn prop easily snapped down to. Similarly, attempting to remove the stubborn props is terribly difficult. I'm afraid I'm going to break or bend the arm or mess up the rotor position. This just doesn't seem right. Is there some special tool that facilitates this process? Would it be OK to bore out the hole on the props a little first? It doesn't appear to be the faulty props, as the problem is consistent with the stubborn rotor hubs regardless of the prop used.

The good news is, so far flying has been great! I love it! I have a high altitude video I'm editing and will upload it soon.

Thanks for the help, all!

Chris
 
They can be a bit tricky to install, but not THAT difficult, and shouldn't require tools. (just a little muscle).
but the key is making sure that the notches are lined up.
 
A couple of mine were hard to put on and I found that there was a bit of excess plastic at the bottom of the flat part. Scraped that away and it went on like the others with only gentle pressure needed.
 
I'm going to balance my props very soon, but have procrastinated because I also had such a problem when I was first putting three of the props on my Phantom, and knew they will most likely be difficult to get off. It sure wasn't like the instruction videos I watched where their props went on without any force used. I was a bit unsure about drilling a wider diameter hole. But now, after reading someone's suggestion, after I get the props off for balancing, I will try to scrap any excess plastic off and see if they go back on any easier.
 
AltaFlix said:
Hi, all!

For 3 out 4 of my rotors, the props would not go on without use of pliers and clamps - one to hold the rotor and the other to force the prop down on to the hub. I was very careful to align them according to the shape, but it really had the feel of trying to force a square peg into a round hole.
Chris

Hi there....I arrived at this forum looking for a solution to this exact same problem. Needless to say, I just received my Phantom and discovered how tight my blades were. I thought it was the blades. But I took the troubleshooting one extra step and started testing different blades on each motor. And I was finding that all my blades had the same fit on each motor. In my case, there was one motor that would easily accept all 4 blades....including the 2 spares. And there was another motor that would not accept any of them. The other 2 motors were borderline....one being more difficult than the other. Even after scraping away at some of these blades, I still had one motor that would not accept any blades without a massive amount of force. This was very unnerving as eventually they will need to come off. I second guessed myself all over the place and finally, after seeing this post, I called my dealer. This is just not acceptable for something with such a salty price tag. We shouldn't have to modify OEM parts to fit. And we're talking about a fit that is critical to the motor balance and vibration of this aircraft.

My dealer is sending me a replacement and he is pre-checking the blade fit prior to shipping. He said he hasn't heard of any other complaints so I sent him the link to this thread and another thread over in the 'Help' section of this forum. I also dinged up my motor pretty bad trying to pry off a halfway stuck blade. Once I saw how much I needed to trim off the inside of that prop, I said enough of this.

My understanding is that DJI has had a huge run on these Phantoms...so much so that they can't keep up with production and/or support. There's the answer. Some of us out here are going to be victimized by a rush job to get these things out the door in a hurry.
 
Interesting. I'll have to grab some calipers and measure the shafts on the motors. Hard to believe they would allow that loose of tolerance cutting the flat side.
 
jdjeff said:
My understanding is that DJI has had a huge run on these Phantoms...so much so that they can't keep up with production and/or support. There's the answer. Some of us out here are going to be victimized by a rush job to get these things out the door in a hurry.

You can say that again!
There's no doubt that the company, nor the dealers, were ready for the influx of new users and that prior to this they were mostly dealing with hobbyist who are more forgiving and more savvy with such nuances and glitches.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_leQOs1mM

I happen to have the tool above and it comes in handy for removing stock props.
If you don't have one, just use a thin flat blade screw driver inserted between the bottom of the prop and the motor, then slightly tap the handle with some light weight object.
Note that since the stock props are keyed so it doesn't hurt to apply some grease (the Chap Stick will do fine ;) ) to the bottom of the shaft for easier future removal.
Tips: when you first install the stock prop, wiggle it gently in the up/down motion, remove and insert it back on a few times.
Also make sure you line up the key and the flat side of the shaft PERFECTLY before pushing it home or else you may cause the damages inside the hole thus cause more problems. :oops:
Check the motor screws too because they may come loose with time.
 
Well...I don't know. I also got the Du-Bro prop balancer. That was fun to put together too. I actually had to retap one of the thumbscrews and it's mated threaded rod. All the other thumbscrew threads needed a whole lot of encouragement to break through the chrome plating. That item was $20. I can sort of live with that. But $679 plus camera and other GoPro stuff....ummm....that prop better go on like it does in the video or I'm sending it back. I can see 'a liitle snug' or 'kinda tight'. But the force to get it on and the struggle to get it off....sumthin' ain't right.
 
jdjeff said:
Well...I don't know. I also got the Du-Bro prop balancer. That was fun to put together too. I actually had to retap one of the thumbscrews and it's mated threaded rod. All the other thumbscrew threads needed a whole lot of encouragement to break through the chrome plating. That item was $20. I can sort of live with that. But $679 plus camera and other GoPro stuff....ummm....that prop better go on like it does in the video or I'm sending it back. I can see 'a liitle snug' or 'kinda tight'. But the force to get it on and the struggle to get it off....sumthin' ain't right.

I can't emphasize enough, the need for getting the dealer to be responsive. Mine kept giving me replies to emails but never offered to exchange a clearly faulty Phantom. So I foolishly just played along... problem kept coming back, and finally the **** thing flew off on its own and I was out over $800 for the lost Phantom + camera.
 
Sac D said:
jdjeff said:
Well...I don't know. I also got the Du-Bro prop balancer. That was fun to put together too. I actually had to retap one of the thumbscrews and it's mated threaded rod. All the other thumbscrew threads needed a whole lot of encouragement to break through the chrome plating. That item was $20. I can sort of live with that. But $679 plus camera and other GoPro stuff....ummm....that prop better go on like it does in the video or I'm sending it back. I can see 'a liitle snug' or 'kinda tight'. But the force to get it on and the struggle to get it off....sumthin' ain't right.

I can't emphasize enough, the need for getting the dealer to be responsive. Mine kept giving me replies to emails but never offered to exchange a clearly faulty Phantom. So I foolishly just played along... problem kept coming back, and finally the **** thing flew off on its own and I was out over $800 for the lost Phantom + camera.

Yikes! I am VERY pleased with my dealer response. I never thought he'd offer to replace the whole bird. Even after I told him I dinged up a couple of props and a motor. In that sense, I got very lucky. Can we plug dealers in here? Because he deserves that much.

Man....I'm sorry to hear about that loss.

Edit: I guess we can plug dealers as there is a whole thread for that. But Redrockethobbies deserves a plug for this.
 

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