Xoar Beechwood Propellers Review / Details (Pics, Video's, Logs, Weight)

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Well, hello there.

There have been a few threads in the past about the Xoar Beechwood Propellers, but i found most of this information to be incomplete and without any sort of conclusion to help someone identify if they actually wanted to purchase these props, and if there were any benefits. So I decided to use some Amazon credit and buy these propellers and share as much information as I could on it with the community. I have logs, weight, pictures and video's to share below. All of this is on a Phantom 3 Pro, the 'B' controller, stock. I'm on 1.8 firmware, iOS 2.8.3 on an iPad Mini 2.

For the record, I have no relationship, affiliation or anything with Xoar or the Amazon seller. I'm some dude who, after a few beers, thought this was a good idea. :)

Product I Bought: Amazon.com: XOAR DJI Phantom 3 Beechwood Propellers 9560 9450 PJP-N-PH3 CW CCW (2 Pairs). 9.5 Inch 2 Blade Genuine Premium Beechwood Props for DJI Phantom 3 Standard, Advanced, and Professional Quadcopter: Toys & Games

Product Details:
  • 2 x Xoar PJP-N9.5X6-PH3 9560 Beechwood Propellers CW Clockwise
  • 2 x Xoar PJP-N9.5X6-PH3 9560 Beechwood Propellers CWW Counter-Clockwise
  • 4 x Aluminum Nut Caps (2 Sliver, 2 Black)
  • (no instructions included)

Amazon experience: 5/5, I ordered June 3, 2016 and it was delivered June 9, 2016. Shipped from Santa Clarita, California to Eugene, Oregon. I paid a total of $46.75 and shipping was free, it did not qualify for Prime. I received no communications from the seller (which was okay), except for the Amazon automated order update emails. Shipped USPS, the box and packaging was really good and secure, the props were very safe.

Testing: I did a basic test to pull some logs and record videos. I flew the Xoar props first and about 15 minutes later i did the stock ones. Same conditions, it was about 65° F, cloudy and 8-12mph winds. I used auto take-off to hover, get video /sound around the phantom of the props, then rose the altitude 100% to 400 ft., stopped and then full down altitude down to landing. I got 2 mins in around the neighborhood, but then it started to rain and I haven't taken it out since. I will fly more and share results over the weekend, but wanted to share this so far.

If someone wants to take the data and do cool things with graphs and stuff to compare, that would be sweet. I haven't had time to analyze it. Also happy to share anything else you guys may find of interest.

Initial impression of the Xoar is a very nice product, but its kinda a pain to do nuts and washers when the stock self tightening props are so easy. It seemed smoother, but slower, I'm excited to try it more.


Weight comparison:


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Xoar Props:

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Healthy Drones Logs: HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Phantomhelp Logs: Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com


Stock props:

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Healthy Drones Logs: HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Phantomhelp Logs: Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Pics!!!!



Package and props
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Using anything but @dji OEM props has been thoroughly frowned upon. Certainly it's not something I would personally try.
I won't even try the carbon fiber reinforced OEM blades.

However, Thanks for your revue.
Sure other members will find it useful, and they shall chime in...

RedHotPoker
 
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Nice test. Have you tried any distance runs with them and compared battery utilization? I'd be interested in those numbers. Fly to 50% same flight path with each set of props.
 
Nice test. Have you tried any distance runs with them and compared battery utilization? I'd be interested in those numbers. Fly to 50% same flight path with each set of props.

hey Ed - i missed your post there. I havent, but i plan on doing it. I've a few weeks off of work, so i can get out to a nice flying spot and test these versus some stock props. I do really like them though, they are quiet .. and feel more solid when I run the external batteries.
 
hey Ed - i missed your post there. I havent, but i plan on doing it. I've a few weeks off of work, so i can get out to a nice flying spot and test these versus some stock props. I do really like them though, they are quiet .. and feel more solid when I run the external batteries.
I might try these, especially since they run solid with external batteries. I'll read up on the reviews, hopefully they're durable.
 
Do you think these perform better than the stock one's?
Right now, yes. I can't measure it in distance gain or power increase, but it feels strong. When i run the externals, its solid. Doesn't bounce around, doesn't float. It sticks there. Turns are sharp, but smooth and fluid. No added vibration on the camera, perfectly still. They perform at altitude and over distances. They cut through bugs like something awful, in a good way. And best of all, they are quiet. I love the sound. Not sure if you can tell from the two video's i posted, but they sound better. It feels like a new set of smooth tires on a sports car. Not sure they are worth the $46 price tag, but i like them a bunch.
 
Some folks asked about vibration with these props. There is absolutely no vibration. Here's a video i did earlier flying in the local foothills. Was 10mph wind, i flew up the hill to max elevation, hovered there for a bit and then ran around doing 53mph for a while. Some hard turns and flying into and out of the wind. video is 4k @ 30fps and an ND8 filter on the cam. I added a color correction filter in premiere to brighten some shadows, but no other correction. I still havent been able to do any performance tests, hope to before the summer is over.

file is processing. should be up in a few mins.

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And, Xoar also updated their page with additional pics and specs. Its here: Xoar PJP-N-PH3 Xoar Precision Pair Beechwood Props for DJI Phantom 3
 
Did you test and or change the out of the box balance? Nice overview, thanks for taking the time regardless of any naysayers :)
 
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Did you test and or change the out of the box balance? Nice overview, thanks for taking the time regardless of any naysayers :)

Ya know, this is the one thing I haven't done. I don't have a prop balancer. Will add that to my list :)
 
Thanks for the review. Very tempting to try these. I wouldn't think of using anything but wood props on fixed wing aircraft and been wanting to try wood on the P3. They advertise the props are balanced horizontally and vertically and I see in your photos small holes drilled in three of the hubs; looks like they really do balance them.
 
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Interesting. However, I do have quite a bit of experience with various props on various multirotors, and I would say a few things in general that surely apply to the phantom as well:

1) plastic props bend, stiff props break. On my racing quads, flexible plastic props would on average survive say 5 or 10 crashes. A carbon prop, although much 'stronger' would break just about every time. They also make it more likely to damage motor or frame, because they transfer the impact rather than absorbing it.

1b) Also, plastic props tend to bend away if they touch you, greatly limiting the damage to people (and objects). Stiff props will cut through skin like razor sharp blades. For this reason alone, I would be VERY apprehensive to use them, particularly for relatively large props like on a phantom.

2) stiff props appear to increase responsiveness. But they dont really, or not much. Stiffer props have a very similar effect to increasing PID values (or general gains in DJI speak). Higher PIDs = snappier response, but only up to the point where you get oscillations. But with carbon props, I have to use lower PIDs to avoid those oscillations and the end result is not that different from plastic props (with higher PIDs). So if you want snappiness, play with your gain settings first.

3) Jello! Flexible props act like shock absorbers in the air. On my miniquads I use no gimbal or even proper vibration isolation plates. Its MUCH harder to eliminate jello using carbon or reinforced props compared to flexible props.

4) all other things equal; lighter is always better. For responsiveness, for flight times. Im pleasantly surprised to see these wooden props being lighter than OEM props. Thats impressive. Im curious to see if there is any impact on flight times. Still, even if there is, for reason 1b alone, Im sticking with floppy props.
 
Stiffer props have a very similar effect to increasing PID values (or general gains in DJI speak). Higher PIDs = snappier response, but only up to the point where you get oscillations.
I would think that it may be necessary to slightly lower the pitch/roll gains for these props. They also have greater pitch (6").
 
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I would think that it may be necessary to slightly lower the pitch/roll gains for these props. They also have greater pitch (6").

Eew. I missed that. 6" pitch is a lot for a 9" multirotor prop. Its too much for efficient hovering, hover times will suck (regardless for wood or plastic). The potential upside is maybe higher efficiency at full speed, but thats a big maybe.

Moreover 9.5x6 is getting really close to static prop stall territory. When doing fast manoeuvres, in turbulent air, or especially in fast descends, I would worry they might stall.
 
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Eew. I missed that. 6" pitch is a lot for a 9" multirotor prop. Its too much for efficient hovering, hover times will suck (regardless for wood or plastic). The potential upside is maybe higher efficiency at full speed, but thats a big maybe.

Moreover 9.5x6 is getting really close to static prop stall territory. When doing fast manoeuvres, in turbulent air, or especially in fast descends, I would worry they might stall.
Agreed, 6" pitch does sound like a lot. However, since Xoar is well respected in the prop business I would expect that these props designed expressly for P3 would have been subjected to a lot of analysis and testing. As you can see the shape of the blades is totally different from the stock DJI props and so would have different aerodynamic characteristics. IMO the industry standard pitch rating is only a reference and when you compare several different props with the same diameter and pitch they will yield different static thrust results. I used to have a bench setup for testing static thrust but, sadly, got rid of it when moving/downsizing.

Bottom line: I can't resist any longer. Going to order a set right now.
 
MO the industry standard pitch rating is only a reference and when you compare several different props with the same diameter and pitch they will yield different static thrust results. I used to have a bench setup for testing static thrust but, sadly, got rid of it when moving/downsizing.

They are two different things. Pitch speed is pretty well defined, and you can easily measure it. Thrust is something else. There is a correlation with pitch speed but its far from linear or even direct. Many other factors play a role there, including the props airfoil shape, width, twist, hub, and not in the least the thing I might worry a bit about: propeller stall.

Then again, 5045 props still work on my mini's, quite inefficient, but it gives good speed, so .. :)

Bottom line: I can't resist any longer. Going to order a set right now.

Let us know!
 
Using anything but @dji OEM props has been thoroughly frowned upon. Certainly it's not something I would personally try.
I won't even try the carbon fiber reinforced OEM blades.

However, Thanks for your revue.
Sure other members will find it useful, and they shall chime in...

RedHotPoker

I always used to use wooden props on my RC aircraft. Usually better than carbon! Remember glow plug motors often spin at 20,000 rpm!
 
Let us know!
I will be doing some performance recording with the current DJI props - power/current consumed, hover duration, vertical acceleration, oscillation tendency, etc. Then compare with the Xoar props and report back. Any suggestions on parameters to measure and record?
 
sure. while hovering, put a finger in the prop and measure how many stitches you need and how loud your scream :)

seriously though, amps pulled when hovering and at various speeds would be great to see. And you might want to repeat that experiment after adding some weight, as it could show a hidden benefit of higher pitched props for people carrying extra equipment.
 

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