phantoms and crazy/super glue

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  1. I'm about to order a P3 tonight. Probably P3A cause I'm more into flying than camera work. Here is my question for those of you with over, say, 20 flights on a P3 cause that's what it takes, has the issue in the picture below been solved with the P3? I ask because, frankly, I'm starting to get annoyed at this little phantom issue. I don't crash. I'm a far and high flyer which is why the P3 appeals to me. But I'm getting tired of breaking out the super glue for twenty flight old phantoms. This week I retired a P2V+ v2 that had one too many stress cracks. It had over 100 flights but they started to show up at flight 15 or so. I had a brand new in box v3 that I didn't feel like using due to the "pray they don't fry" motor wiring. But last Thursday I said what the heck, I'm getting a P3 anyway, let's see if they improved the plastic on the v3. Nope, after about 15 flights there it is. Again, no crashes, hand catch every time and this time I was babying the thing to the point of delicately tightening the props in order not to stress it. So, to those cranking out P3 flights, you seeing improvements on structural integrity? I'm getting one anyway but am just hoping to stop super gluing :(
 

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I have no scientific evidence to back this up but honestly the P3 feels sturdier to me. Both the plastic and the added weight from the extra gear makes it feel less like a toy. I haven't cranked out too many flights but I flew my P2V+ 3.0 a bit before upgrading to this and never experienced stress cracks. Here's to hoping your flight profile doesn't crack the new one. May I ask how you're storing your phantom after flights?
 
My flight profile is get it up about a meter, hover there for a few secs to see if all is ok, then go forward and up to about 100 meters and fly around. Nothing stupid. Right now every phantom I've had has cracked around there. Balanced props and all. Crashes are a different matter but in my case I don't crash. So I'm hoping they fixed a problem that is truly unacceptable at this price range. Hell, I keep buying them but this is ******** for lack of a better word.
 
How do you store your drone after flight? Going from really cold temps, then flying an aggressive high altitude mission which'll generate a lot of heat on your motors, then back to storing it immediately in a case where it can't vent could cause such cracks. Idk I'm just speculating at this point. I haven't seen too many cases of cracks such as yours especially for someone who hasn't crashed. Better luck with the next drone.
 
I store it on top of my dining room table. I've taken every precaution possible. Believe me, these cracks aren't rare. Just search right here on the forum. Some guys had cracks just after three flights. I've come back from 1 km, 300 foot high flights and there were no super high temperatures on the motors. Nah, it's just brittle plastic that was always too thin at the most highly stressed part of the quad. Most people out there are not even aware of the cracks because they never bothered to look. I'm hoping this disappears on the P3. Only time will tell.
 
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I've seen plenty of similar examples posted but mine hasn't done it.
I think the P3 case is significantly redesigned internally so could be stronger.
They do seem to have noted and addressed a range of issues without proclaiming every one.
On the other hand it has more power which could stress things more.
 
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One thing for sure after seeing pics of the inside of the P3 is that reshelling will be a far easier process. Just one main board to chuck in a new shell instead of all these components.
 
Pretty impressive repair.
 
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Well I'll be darned. You were right about people not knowing about the cracking because they hadn't looked. I just checked my P2V+ and it has similar cracks in the same location on 3 of its arms. I've had it a year and like you, never crashed in 60 or so flights. I guess I'm not that concerned since it's not going to get much use after I get my P3.

I still want to fix these cracks. You said Crazy Glue is what you use. Do you have any specific techniques that you recommend? Or things to avoid?
 
See, I told you. And maybe this issue would be addressed on the P3 if only people would notice. Trouble is they don't. But the cracks are there. I bet at least half the forum members have them. We should do a survey. Broken gimbals need a crash or bad landing to happen. Not this. Cracking requires just flying. This is not acceptable in a quadcopter at this prices range. If I were to send my phantoms for every flying related stress crack I would have barely flown. Anyway, I'm **** curious to say the least about what people are seeing on the P3 after a few flights. Not flying around a tree either. Real flying as in DJI advertising videos.

To fix it just take the shell apart and get to the crack. Try to spread the section a bit to get crazy glue in there. Put it on and then wipe the excess quickly. Get some humidity by blowing on it to help the CA or crazy glue. I make the repair look a little nicer by using extremely fine sandpaper on it. Then put it back together. The best tools I've found for the job of taking the shell apart are these.
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Do me a favor, fly your P3 around and let me know how it goes with cracks. Now you know what to look for. Mind you, I'm ordering one regardless, but I would still like to know. I feel that it is very easy for DJI to address this and they would if only folks would look and voice their concern. This is the absolute only phantom issue that requires no user error to manifest itself. I suspect this happens on vertical decents for which the shells weren't strong enough to handle for their firmware set speeds. Believe me, DJI knows this is going on but figures nobody bothers to look so no complaints there.
 
I'll definitely be inspecting for this when I get a P3. The local Drones Plus shop said they would receive their first shipment this week. If they don't I'll be gone till the end of May so I might not be able to get it until then.
 
Crazy glue is one of the worst things to use on any plastic that will flex and vibrate. Crazy glue makes it more brittle. You need to use some thin CA to join the pieces, then add thick CA on the inside (so you dont see it) with accelerator to add strength.
 
The "Krazy Glue" brand I have is CA according to the label. Sure smells like it too. I just checked. I like your idea of using some thick CA on the inside for reinforcement. That wouldn't make sense though if it made the plastic brittle.
 

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