Send to DJI or Repair Myself??

[Pheonix7]

I recently found a stress crack after only 5hrs of flight on my P3A. No crashes or even close calls. I am easy on the throttle during braking to reduce stress, but the hairline fracture appeared at the motor support screws anyway. I am very competent with electronics and feel this would be fairly easy for me to change out the lower shell myself especially after watching several videos. My hesitation with sending it to DJI is the stories I've read where people received controllers back all scratched up, missing metal badges, scratched shells etc... Cost isn't a concern as the shell is relatively cheap, and I wouldn't be without a bird for 10 days. What do you all think? I've also ordered some UAVbits reinforcement parts to help prevent this from causing a motor breakaway leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Is the P3 as easy to disassemble as the videos make it look?? Not to mention I'd enjoy getting my hands into the bird to understand its electronics layout and function. Thanks for any replies!


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[msinger]

I am very competent with electronics

It should be a piece of cake for you then.

 

[CafeRacer]

I recently found a stress crack after only 5hrs of flight on my P3A. No crashes or even close calls. I am easy on the throttle during braking to reduce stress, but the hairline fracture appeared at the motor support screws anyway. I am very competent with electronics and feel this would be fairly easy for me to change out the lower shell myself especially after watching several videos. My hesitation with sending it to DJI is the stories I've read where people received controllers back all scratched up, missing metal badges, scratched shells etc... Cost isn't a concern as the shell is relatively cheap, and I wouldn't be without a bird for 10 days. What do you all think? I've also ordered some UAVbits reinforcement parts to help prevent this from causing a motor breakaway leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Is the P3 as easy to disassemble as the videos make it look?? Not to mention I'd enjoy getting my hands into the bird to understand its electronics layout and function. Thanks for any replies!


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If you decide to do it yourself you may also consider some cosmetic work as well. That's one of the biggest hesitations people have in either, painting, hydro dipping, etc. Its very intimidating to some to take it apart. Just a thought-


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[henick]

DJI turnaround is way better IMO. They have treated me ok I guess. Either they're better or people are too sensitive.

 

[Prairie Pyro]

There are other shops doing repairs. I have one in my state that does work for a insurance company and take in other AC

 

[dirkclod]

Change it out yourself . Just take pictures and your time .Makes you see it in a different light when you do .
I open mine up when it's bad weather just to look at it and check connections .
You ether love to mess with this stuff or you don't .Or do as others have said and send it off .
I had my 4K TX open before the battery was charged .Just me
And like Café said you can do whatever to the new shell you want before you ever start .
First thing I did do to both my 3's was to fix them clips so I didn't have to deal with them no more when I did open em up .
My 2 cents

 

[Reed L]

If you decide to do it yourself you may also consider some cosmetic work as well. That's one of the biggest hesitations people have in either, painting, hydro dipping, etc. Its very intimidating to some to take it apart. Just a thought-


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+1 on this. Buy the new shell and then paint it, dip it, or whatever first. Just make sure that you get the right version of shell for your P3. Once you have the strong arms in theirs no worries, they really make a difference.

 

[li2099]

I was in a similar situation as you last week.
1 crack right out of the box on 1 of the arms.
I decided to just repair that with epoxy.
Someone here also suggested mixing baking soda in there to form a super hard plastic repair.
You can do that while you hydro dip your new shell.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Sounds like you are like me (or I you). I had a cracked shell and did it myself because I didn't want to be without it. Since I was going to have it apart I decided to get the shell hydrodipped as well as painting other parts. I say go for it and customize it to your liking. You will be glad you did.


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[Pheonix7]

Ok so... I DID IT. Took photos and my time. Found the hardest parts to be opening the old shell (the new one came not closed together thankfully. They also had the main board stuck down with double sided tape making removal of the board annoying. I didn't do any painting or anything YET, but now that I feel comfortable with it I won't hesitate in the future when I decide on a color pattern. Did an indoor test flight and all is well so far. I will take her out later to really stretch its legs. After I made the opening post, I went to Amazon and found a shell that shipped overnight, so at that point I couldn't resist. Any tips for opening the shell for later?? Those clips made it super annoying.


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[dirkclod]

I used a butter knife to pry with but after I did get it open I made them like this .
This to this others to .
I have over 300 flight's with them like that and no problems .
Glad you did it and good luck

 

[MasterBlaster]

After I did it I wasn't afraid to "man handle" it the second time. I will say the first time I closed it there were a few spots that the top and bottom didn't line up perfect. I took it back apart and got it right. The seam should be perfect. If it's not, have another go at it.
Was the section by the battery compartment the hardest for you as it was me? I have learned to go their last and it's a breeze

Congrats on your R&R!


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[Pheonix7]

Those were aggravating screws to get to. I think what had me scratching my head the most was the taped down board. I hadn't seen that in any of the tear down videos I watched. Seemed the board just easily came out after plugs were loosed. Took some delicate force to free it from the tape. On a side note for some reason it fixed my tilted horizon somehow. Not like I was trying to fix it. It does feel good to know that I feel confident with any repair that may be needed in the future now after seeing the guts and the basic setup.

Just got back in from full test flight. Hovered for 5 minutes to ensure good comms and function before a light flight around the yard. Slowly worked up to a more aggressive flight and all is well. I will re-inspect chassis for any new cracks. Glad I took advice from the board on a good pre-flight checklist or I may have not found the initial crack to begin with.


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[MasterBlaster]

Nice! I was so nervous flying for the first time after tearing mine down the first time.
It builds character

 

[Drone Master]

Haha, Wait till you try to take a P4 apart!!

 

[henick]

Yeah watch a teardown video it'll tell you where to push to get the clips to release. If you know where they are it's easy.