Replacement shells

greg r e · May 30, 2016

Does anyone know if the p3a replacement shells from dji crack like some of the original shells?

msinger · May 30, 2016

They new shell design seems to have resolved that issue. Very few people are complaining about shell cracks these days.

Meta4 · May 30, 2016

greg r e said:
Does anyone know if the p3a replacement shells from dji crack like some of the original shells?

Only a tiny fraction of original shells ever developed cracking.
We used to hear reports of cracking 10 months ago but hardly ever do now.

mrgoodwrench · May 30, 2016

Meta4 said:
Only a tiny fraction of original shells ever developed cracking.
We used to hear reports of cracking 10 months ago but hardly ever do now.

The above statement is IMHO, debatable.

I know 5 people with Phantoms. 4 of them, including myself , had the problem with cracked shells. It seems people who are fans of the Phantom platform try and downplay this issue. To say it was a small fraction would be an understatement. I think the number of units afflicted by this problem is far higher than anyone wants to admit and should have warranted some type of recall or extended warranty on DJI's part. But again, nobody wants to hear that.

msinger · May 30, 2016

Larry Tate said:
I know 5 people with Phantoms. 4 of them, including myself , had the problem with cracked shells.

With the old or new shell?

Meta4 · May 30, 2016

Larry Tate said:
The above statement is IMHO, debatable.

I know 5 people with Phantoms. 4 of them, including myself , had the problem with cracked shells. It seems people who are fans of the Phantom platform try and downplay this issue. To say it was a small fraction would be an understatement. I think the number of units afflicted by this problem is far higher than anyone wants to admit and should have warranted some type of recall or extended warranty on DJI's part. But again, nobody wants to hear that.

And out of something like a half million Phantom 3s out there, a thousand or two is a very tiny fraction.
It wasn't something that would cause your Phantom to fall from the sky, DJI gave replacements for anyone affected.
It would be ridiculous recalling all phantoms to fix just a small number with a non-fatal flaw.
And it's something that's all in the past now.

AJAX-14 · May 30, 2016

I don't want to get into a urinating competition here, but this certainly has the potential to be a fatal flaw. Not everyone performs a thorough pre-flight inspecting for cracks. As we have seen here, failure to identify the cracks and continuing to fly with them could lead to a motor divorcing itself from the frame. I think the frame design issue is hit and miss as well. I bought my P3P a month after my flying partner got his. His had the early frame design, mine had the updated, reinforced design. I think that has a lot more to do with the source than the age. I would argue a large retailer, buying tens of thousands of units and holding on to them possesses a higher risk of shipping/selling the early design.

robinb · May 30, 2016

AJAX-14 said:
. Not everyone performs a thorough pre-flight inspecting for cracks.

Maybe true but they should also not fly.?

Its ever so important to do a physical examination and only takes seconds.

mrgoodwrench · May 30, 2016

msinger said:
With the old or new shell?

3 of the old design shells and one new production. None of which were crashed. The old design P3P I have now has a crack between 2 motor screws. Still under warranty but I may try to make it through the summer with it before sending it in.

mrgoodwrench · May 30, 2016

Meta4 said:
And out of something like a half million Phantom 3s out there, a thousand or two is a very tiny fraction.
It wasn't something that would cause your Phantom to fall from the sky, DJI gave replacements for anyone affected.
It would be ridiculous recalling all phantoms to fix just a small number with a non-fatal flaw.
And it's something that's all in the past now.

Again, you seem to be downplaying the issue. I think we have a difference of opinion as to what a tiny fraction is. A thousand or 2 would be acceptable I guess. But I would venture to guess its more like 10 times that amount.

And while it may be in the past for you, I'm dealing with it right now as are many others. The more the price goes down and the more Phantoms flood the market, I'm sure that number will grow.
There are still a lot of old stock out there in retail limbo.

And to say that 'it wont cause the bird to fall from the sky' seems debatable as well. We've all seen the few threads about losing motors mid flight. Tell your non fatal flaw story to those operators. I would think those were probably cracks that were let go too long but I digress. I would think that the operator would catch that on a visual pre- flight inspection long before it got to that point but one shouldn't ***/u/me.

And of course we can send it in and get repaired on DJI's dime but who wants to do that? I want the toy I paid good money for to function as it should for longer than 3 months. If I bought a car that behaved this way, I would surely return it.

Don't get me wrong, I've had a blast with this drone. I think other than the shell defect and a few other minor issues, its a good bird. But the shell issue should have been handled better. It reflects poorly on DJI and with all the new and upcoming competition in the drone market, I will sure consider this experience when buying future drones.

mrgoodwrench · May 30, 2016

robinb said:
Maybe true but they should also not fly.?

Its ever so important to do a physical examination and only takes seconds.

Totally agree with the above statement. Your not being very safe if your not inspecting before flight. Some of the motor loss threads I'm sure could have been avoided with good pre flight inspections.

Pheonix7 · May 30, 2016

I had a new shell P3A. Shell cracked at about 20 flights. No crashes or harsh flight. Replaced with a new shell and waiting on some reinforcement plates. I don't think cracking is resolved, however I think catastrophic failure has been made far less likely.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

rooofey · Jun 19, 2016

Just found a crack in mine. Only about 20 flights and never crashed or hard landings.

msinger · Jun 19, 2016

That's an unusual place for the shell to crack considering you did not crash it. Try contacting DJI support and see if they will cover it.

rooofey · Jun 19, 2016

Ugh just the thought of having to send the drone in for weeks makes me not want to deal with that. It's the top cover so I'll probably just replace it and hope it doesn't happen again