I made some mods to my Drone Crate

[Reed L]

I picked up a hot knife from Amazon and made some nice adjustments to my Drone Crates box today. Below the controller, I cut in a spot for my Bubble Level for the Speedy Prop Balancer. The rod for the Speedy is shining at the bottom of the tablet holder on the far left. Then to the right of the P3 is the Multi battery charger. I cut it in using the full depth of the knife and it worked smooth being that this was the first cut and first time using a hot knife for styrofoam. In the lower right I had marked a spot to cut out for the Professional Lenses by Rainbowers but the wooden box was too tall to put in there after I checked the depth. So I moved on to the next part.

You can see the bottom of the Speedy Prop Balancer base setting where the battery would sit if it was installed on the Phantom. What I did was simply cut 2 slots for the uprights to slide into this area to hold it in place. I have no plans on ever leaving the P3 in the crate with a battery in basically because I take out the controller on rainy days and play around some. So I won't take a chance on starting the P3 that I have put in the box... lol. I cut these slots shallow enough so that the uprights don't penetrate to the controller, yet deep enough to keep it held in place by the battery box. I just measured and cut these 2 slits with a small saw.

Everything fits tight and it's really nice having everything that I carry, except for the filters, in the one crate. I just couldn't fit the filters in unless I took them out of the box and it's a nice box to have and fits in my other camera case with my 2 other video camera's.

I bought this knife http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069RVTVW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

and I live between Sacramento and Reno. I bought the knife just for this project and now if any of you guys are close enough and see a need to modify your box, you can borrow this Hot Knife or we can meet up and cut your box the way that you want to for the price of the first Beer When I got my case, I did the video review and put it here - "Drone Crates" Phantom 3 Roller Case - Review video | DJI Phantom Forum
Then Drone Crates sent me a message telling me that a few of the cases had the battery openings on the right, cut to close together like with mine and that they are going to send me a new inner. Being that I wanted a place for my charger and everything else to fit in the box anyway, I researched about cutting styrofoam and bought this knife just for this.

So now I have both chargers in there along with the Balancer, my 4 batteries, props, and everything And I'm happy with how easy it was to modify

 

[Reed L]

I just looked at the $35 price tag and that's not what I paid. I paid $15.95 plus shipping from the alternate sellers list
Heavy Duty Hot Knife 130 Watt With Adjustable Cutting Depth From 3-3/4 To 5-7/16 Inch
Sold by: Michaelsons
$23.81
Condition: New - Brand New in Manufacturer's sealed packaging!

 

[MoOriginal]

Excellent write up! And I discovered two new things from reading it. Speedy prop balancer and hot knife [emoji106]

 

[Reed L]

I'm having reservations about putting the DeoxIT bottles in the crate because of possible leakage but... Obviously I have some more room, what do you think?

 

[MoOriginal]

Correction- 3 things learned - DeoxIT from my earlier post ...
I personally wouldnt put that in the case - as I dont think you need it in a carry case that you use for getting the p3 to places.
I guess before you go on a flight you would clean contacts as part of your daily or weekly maintenance so would you need it 'in the field' so to speak ....

 

[Reed L]

Because I travel in a small trailer a lot, I have everything together for storage and travel. Our longest trip ever was this last fall and we were gone for 3 months. So I put the DeoxIt in the FPV hole inside of a baggie under the styrofoam. I bought the DeoxIt D50W wipes and then the Deoxit Gold bottle with the applicator brush. The wipes are really handy for cleaning everything from TV contacts to stereo plugs at home, then I only coat the battery contacts with the Gold. I do have the extra cables, the rubber gimble pads and miscellaneous papers and parts that I won't use stored at home in the stock dji box.

 

[BVC]

Hey that's a pretty sweet setup! I like it!

 

[Reed L]

Hey that's a pretty sweet setup! I like it!

Thanks BVC

I still have more room, so I'm going to cut in a spot for my camcorder and on another note. I numbered the batteries and when they are discharged, I put them back with the numbers upside down... lol. It's complicated, being retired I mean

 

[Reed L]

I made some more mods to my case today and for now until the K1 comes in next week, I am done. I can cut a place in for the tablet and paperwork but I'll wait until it gets here because there's lots of room. There's actually room under the Rainbowers filters now for my 2 camcorders and even my DSLR but I'm not sure if I really want them in the box being that they are my immediate go to cameras and ride in the center console of the car for quick response. Plus when making a movie, I mount a camcorder on a tripod between the seats when driving.

You can see that I have added a few things since the beginning of this post. The opening for the FPV goggles now has my pliers, prop wrench, knives, stylus, trackimo charging cord and the speedy prop balancing rod outside of the small cardboard box. Then inside the box I have my bottle of DeoxIt Gold inside of a ziplock along with extra screws and various parts that could be easily used in the field. Then I made a foam recessed lid for it that is held secure by the lid when the box is closed. It stays in place and also holds everything inside of the opening in place with pressure.

Then I cut in the spot on the left where the tablet holding area used to be to hold the guts and Rainbowers Lens filters and right above that I cut in the circular spot for my DeoxIt cleaning wipes. I now have everything that I use inside of the Drone Crates Box. The rest of the parts and pieces that I don't use daily are in the Phantom Box in the attic. I feel really good about being able to simply grab the drone box while knowing that everything is inside, locked in its place