Phantom 4 Reliability

KingDad1985 · Oct 7, 2016

I'm fairly new to drones and DJI is basically the only brand I've owned. I don't mean to start a negative thread but I'm curious about the Phantom regarding reliability. What is usually without crashes involved the first thing to stop working? These things aren't cheap and I would like for mine to last as long as possible. How reliable can they be? How common are crashes?

star 1 · Oct 7, 2016

That's a good question to ask

Sent from my SM-N900V using PhantomPilots mobile app

JWH · Oct 7, 2016

Along a similar line, I have been wondering about the longevity of the P4, as in number of flight hours before a major failure. I suppose they are too new to know yet.

Jussaguy · Oct 7, 2016

As anything, that's going to be a variable number based on how the person takes care of it.

ussvertigo · Oct 7, 2016

I think motors are the first to fail, we have hashed this before. But without enough data on their average lifespan, it's a guess when to,replace the motors. Much like an aircraft, you would want a safety factor built in. Due to their low cost, I'm thinking of replacing mine around 100-150 hours.

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

KingDad1985 · Oct 7, 2016

I guess we could look at the older phantoms and how they behaved regarding longevity. Since I am new to all this maybe someone that owns a P2 that is still kicking or even a P1

MacCool · Oct 7, 2016

KingDad1985 said:
I guess we could look at the older phantoms and how they behaved regarding longevity. Since I am new to all this maybe someone that owns a P2 that is still kicking or even a P1

I have a P2V+ that I've been flying for almost 2 years. It's been very reliable with two exceptions...about a year ago I had an almost-flyaway due to transient GPS failure, and about a month ago I had a tip-over with stalled prop and fried both an ESC and a 2312 motor. Never had any other GPS problems, and I fixed the ESC/motor with about $35 worth of replacement parts from Amazon.

One of the things that was attractive to me about the P4 was its GPS/GLONASS, redundant compasses and redundant IMUs...both of which are critical components.

KingDad1985 · Oct 7, 2016

MacCool said:
I have a P2V+ that I've been flying for almost 2 years. It's been very reliable with two exceptions...about a year ago I had an almost-flyaway due to transient GPS failure, and about a month ago I had a tip-over with stalled prop and fried both an ESC and a 2312 motor. Never had any other GPS problems, and I fixed the ESC/motor with about $35 worth of replacement parts from Amazon.

One of the things that was attractive to me about the P4 was its GPS/GLONASS, redundant compasses and redundant IMUs...both of which are critical components.

How many hours would you say you have on the P2V+?

MacCool · Oct 7, 2016

KingDad1985 said:
How many hours would you say you have on the P2V+?

I would guess about 170 flights

KingDad1985 · Oct 7, 2016

MacCool said:
I would guess about 170 flights

That is alot! Nice!

srosen · Oct 10, 2016

I had 63 hours and over 3,000,0000 feet with no issues of any kind until yesterday when I got a small stress crack.

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

KingDad1985 · Oct 10, 2016

srosen said:
I had 63 hours and over 3,000,0000 feet with no issues of any kind until yesterday when I got a small stress crack.

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Is that from the same p4? If so I think you have the most hours on a phantom 4. Man I'm sorry to hear about the stress cracks. Where are the stress cracks at? Can you post a picture please?

srosen · Oct 10, 2016

Its the same one

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

srosen · Oct 10, 2016

Here is a photo I sent to DJI a few hours ago

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

srosen · Oct 10, 2016

I guess I may have more mileage (feet) than just about anybody, DJI should fix it for free [emoji3]

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

John1960 · Oct 10, 2016

Agreed

KingDad1985 · Oct 10, 2016

srosen said:
Here is a photo I sent to DJI a few hours ago

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Do you fly in sports mode?

srosen · Oct 10, 2016

RE:Sport Mode Only when I need to. I prefer ATT mode. Most of my flights are over water. ATT mode with wind<8 is a blast on the water.

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

JWH · Oct 15, 2016

I am wondering what caused it to crack. I suppose it is vibration over time, since it hasn't been crashed. It is a cause for concern on the quality of the molded parts.