P3A hairline cracks.

shroppy · Aug 30, 2017

Grr...

So I bought a P3A (refurbished) just under 3 months ago, not had much chance to fly due to work and courses etc. So far it's made all of 5 flights on 2 different days, no crashes, no rough handling etc. Rather disappointed (to say the least!) to find a hairline crack on one of the motor mounts after the last flight.

I've noticed a few people with the same issues here (sadly, not before buying the thing..) So, how common is this with P3As?

I guess it's back to the supplier as they claim 3 months warranty.. I have emailed them, and am awaiting their reply, and I hope that DJI will honour the rest of the warranty, but I'm not about to hold my breath on that

msinger · Aug 30, 2017

shroppy said:
So, how common is this with P3As?

It's a common issue with P3s. You'll find lots of people talking about it if you search through the threads here.

shroppy · Aug 30, 2017

Yes I'd noticed that.

Doesn't sound great for anyone wanting to use one semi commercially then

msinger · Aug 30, 2017

It doesn't affect everyone. I have four Phantom 3 models and none of them are cracked. However, one of my Phantom 4 models developed some small cracks after only flying it a few hours.

shroppy · Aug 30, 2017

Ah, OK, Maybe just unlucky then, but I'm not at all impressed by it happening after less than 2 hours flying time!

msinger · Aug 30, 2017

I hear you. Nobody is impressed when seeing shell cracks

Newbieguy · Aug 30, 2017

Man sorry to hear this. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a refurbished P3Pro myself.

tel7 · Mar 2, 2018

Hi shroppy,

I'm in NZ and bought a P3S (refurbished) around June 2017 through **** Smith in Ausy and it came pre-fitted with a hairline crack through one of the motor screws (see pics attached). So I reported it within an hour of it being delivered, and **** Smith got it replaced under warranty, without me ever flying it. The replacement seems to not have cracks, but I haven't even made time to fly it yet.
When I raised my concern about this still being an issue with DJI, they responded:
"The crack issue was caused by design and our R&D Department has revised it, so there is no need to worry about this any more. This patch has been out of stock for a certain time and yours is a coin coincidence.
Revising the design has root this cause, no worries. It's glad to hear that the seller agreed to arrange replacement for you. Just proceed it."
It was hard to communicate with these people because their English was bad enough to be ambiguous, but "coin coincidence" doesn't mean much to me without explaining what 2 (or more) coins (or whatever) coincided.
I'm guessing it happened because it was refurbished and the crack was too small for DJI to notice during refurbishing time.

What happened with your warranty claim?

shroppy · Mar 3, 2018

What happened with your warranty claim?

I had it replaced, thankfully. The replacement one came complete with a cracked lens cover, which the supplier said they couldn't replace as their 'supplier' didn't have one.
They suggested sending the whole unit back to DJI... I bought a UV filter for a couple of pounds off amazon rather than go through the expense of returning the whole thing again.
Yet to fly it though!

tel7 · Mar 3, 2018

When you say a cracked lens cover, are you referring to the protector that you remove before flight? If so, I guess a crack doesn't really matter.

Was the UV filter a substitute for it in any way?
DId your P3A come with any kind of UV filter? (I've seen comments about the P3 "stock" filter, which is why I ask.)

Which filter did you buy? Can you provide a link to it's ad?

shroppy · Mar 4, 2018

Yes it was the actual UV filter rather than the removable cover (the filter was a PITA to remove)
The replacement I bought was this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0722PNH9P/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I think there is a different one for the P3A though.