Rough landing, landinggear screwthreads stripped?

[MissStabby]

On a recent flight i had kind of a rough landing where all the weight came down on one of the two landing gears
The drone itself seems fine, no prop damage or other weirdness however, When recovered i found that the center screws were still in place but the outer screws were launched away by the gear pivoting inwards.

At home i replaced the screws and bent the landing gear back into its original shape, mostly.
Though after a second flight i noticed the screws i put in seem to have fallen out mid-flight.
I'm suspecting the levering motion of the gear has stripped the threading on the body shell, is there a way to fix/re-thread these holes or is the only option a replacement shell??

 

[cascadeflyer]

Epoxy is your friend.

 

[MissStabby]

are there any good tutorials on using epoxy to rethread the screws using epoxy?
(assuming you dont mean just glueing the gear to the drone)

 

[Mal_PV2_Ireland]

I'd say put in a bit epoxy and then put the screws back in. If doesn't hold this time you're looking at a new shell

 

[BarryM]

are there any good tutorials on using epoxy to rethread the screws using epoxy?
(assuming you dont mean just glueing the gear to the drone)

Before you try epoxy maybe hot glue or neutral cure silicon? That way you'd still be able to remove the screws, whereas epoxy could mean a permanent fix and very hard to dislodge.

 

[PTCX]

I stripped one of the same threads and fixed it by putting a longer screw through from the inside of the shell and then put a nut on the outside to hold the gear.
I have done the same with all the landing gear screws on my main bird so I could use extensions between the shell and landing gear to get extra gimbal/camera clearance.

A few screws are heaps cheaper and easier to fit than a full shell swap.

You may need to remove the ESC to install some of the screws depending which ones are stripped.
The screws under the ESC will need some insulation over them to stop direct contact with the ESC board.

 

[MissStabby]

hmm good idea, though wont all the extra metal reduce the flying time a lot?

 

[cascadeflyer]

Wax the screw's epoxy doesn't stick to wax.

 

[locoworks]

helicoil the bust thread??? but it will need a strip down to be sure you don't get metal filings floating around inside the shell.

 

[IflyinWY]

I stripped one of the same threads and fixed it by putting a longer screw through from the inside of the shell and then put a nut on the outside to hold the gear.
I have done the same with all the landing gear screws on my main bird so I could use extensions between the shell and landing gear to get extra gimbal/camera clearance.

A few screws are heaps cheaper and easier to fit than a full shell swap.

You may need to remove the ESC to install some of the screws depending which ones are stripped.
The screws under the ESC will need some insulation over them to stop direct contact with the ESC board.

That sounds like a real good idea. Did you epoxy the screws in place so you don't have to open the shell to remove the gear?

The little bit of weight you will add with a few screws and nuts shouldn't affect flight time too much.

Which bird are you flying MissStabby?

.................................... WELCOME TO THE PARTY

 

[MissStabby]

I'm flying a (third hand) first generation Phantom, previously only flew with a Cheerson CX-10a nanoquad, they are fully manual and great fun and they fit in your pockets

 

[IflyinWY]

I was playing with the Hubsan 107C before the FC40. Fun stuff, all manual too.

 

[PTCX]

That sounds like a real good idea. Did you epoxy the screws in place so you don't have to open the shell to remove the gear?

The little bit of weight you will add with a few screws and nuts shouldn't affect flight time too much.

I only put glue on the one thread that was stripped very badly.That is on my stock standard Phantom.
On the Phantom I did all the screws the threads where in good condition so they are just tightened down well and I don't need to open the shell to take the landing gear off.

The weight gain from the longer screws and nuts is only a couple of grams.How you fly or wind strength would have a greater effect on flight times.

 

[MissStabby]

A thing that really surprised me was the fact that the full manual mode with the phantom doesn't automatically reset it's pitch to level after the right stick has returned to neutral position. So the sticks are basically just say, "pitch more in that direction, and then hold that pitch unless ordered to pitch in the other direction" instead of "stick pitches forward, drone pitches forward, stick is neutral, drone is neutral" Are there any ways to make it pitch to level when no input is given? (besides just using atti mode)

 

[MissStabby]

Fun fact, i tried the epoxy but the screw just dug out the entire layer of epoxy upon screwing in the screw to test it out. though upon closer examination i discovered the threads ran a lot deeper than the reach of the screws. So i just got a slightly longer screw, and it instantly solved the problem!