Gutted! 6 weeks in & another crack thread!

[ukglyn]

Well I'm gutted to report that my 6 week old P3A has come back from a flight today with the dreaded cracked shell around the motor screws!

I have always flew this bird cautiously & it has never been crashed, & on all of the 20 odd flights I have hand caught it, so no heavy landings. However today I have developed a hair line crack about 10-15mm long in one of the front arm motor bolts areas.

To be honest I don't want to send it away to DJI for shell replacement, as it will be away a very long time, & also there is no way of knowing that if they replace the shell it wont happen again after a few flights. For the record this is a P3A with new motors & the so called reinforced shell.

I really hope that the new yuneec lives up to the hype, as I would not hesitate to jump from the DJI ship, as I'm sure many others also feel the same about.

What is the best way to stop this crack from spreading further until DJI get their RR's in gear & sort out this problem?

 

[flpholt]

I found one today on my p3s put a little superglue around it

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

I think some people are reinforcing the shells with a plastic polymer, the 3D printed support kits seem to do absolutely nothing, and the best thing seems to be to send it back to DJI (unfortunately)


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[Juhead]

My view is there won't be anymore revisions to the shell as DJI will now be focused on the Phantom X from now on.

It's either fix it yourself, send it to DJI or small claims court.

 

[flpholt]

to be all fair I did crash first day never looked at it until now and found one but is flying with no problems

 

[Mark The Droner]

...

To be honest I don't want to send it away to DJI for shell replacement, as it will be away a very long time, ...

1 week and 2 days

 

[shorttimer]

Sorry to hear about that. I read a number of places where it was said it was a bad batch of resin that caused the cracks but was always skeptical. They reinforced the areas as well as motors which helped some but there are still cracks being reported. If it was me I was use the product plastaid. You can search it here and I know you can buy it on Amazon but it does have excellent reviews.

 

[flpholt]

thanks for that will ck on amazon

 

[exit 4]

Before jumping to Yuneec, take a look at the range they get. Can't go too far with one of them. I like the look of them but when you look at the whole picture, makes you appreciate the Phantom.

 

[shorttimer]

Here is a link to the Plast-aid on Amazon Amazon.com: Plast-aid 80400 Plastic Pool Part Repair Kit, 6-Ounce: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[sonof40]

Me too.

 

[dos_ovnis]

Me too only 16 flights!! New Phantom 3 Advanced (new motors and shell) CRACKS after only 16 flights


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[TheLightSpeedz]

I bought strong arms from UAV bits


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[Illina]

Before jumping to Yuneec, take a look at the range they get. Can't go too far with one of them. I like the look of them but when you look at the whole picture, makes you appreciate the Phantom.

You can put a DBS mod on a Yuneec to increase distance also.

 

[ianwood]

I think there is one recorded case of actual structural failure. Unless the cracks are significant, keep flying.

 

[joshking440]

I would drill very small holes at each end of the cracks and then use a bonding agent. The small holes will stop the crack from continuing on.


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[ukglyn]

I am undecided whether to send off & be without it while its repaired, & obviously no guarantee that the new shell will not again crack after a few more flights, or to repair myself with that plasti-aid stuff.
The only things that worries me slightly is that if I repair myself will I have voided my warranty for any other problems that might come along I wonder?

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

The crack protector uav bits type of things are useless, save the money!! Send it back and have it replaced under warranty, then use the saved money to buy the plastaid. When your unit returns repaired, unscrew the motor mount screws , lift up the motors an reinforce the motor mounts with plastiaid (this way you don't have to pull the whole shell apart. This way you have a brand new shell that is reinforced and probably will be out of warranty long before any cracks show up again !!

Better to have a brand new shell with the plastaid on it than one with cracks already.

My second p3 shipped with a defective transmitter (RTH button was loose), as much as I didn't want to send it away I did because I wanted to start with a working unit. I'm glad I did what I did, the pain of dealing with DJI was actually fairly bearable, but I have to say their overseas live chat (which handles the p3) is completely useless !!! Contact the live chat for the inspire or osmo (those live chats are handled through California, I'm guessing to give a higher level of service to the inspire clients etc) they are much more knowledgable and helpful !! Or even better call them directly !! That's what I did!

My opinion only , use it to come to your own conclusions!!


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[Techcop50]

I have the Plast-aid, and it's a good product. That said, I'd be skeptical about reinforcing the inside of the shell (underneath the motors). You might restrict air flow to the motors and create other problems.

 

[lotusteve]

That's bad news Glyn.. Sorry mate but you need to bite the bullet and send it back to DJI, it will be always on your mind while flying, get it sorted the correct way.