Stress Crack

chopperguy · May 14, 2017

Looks like I've been bitten by by the stress crack bug, it happened today during a flight. I know this because I religiously check my bird before and after each flight. My question is what further damage can this cause? I really don't want to send it back to DJI because I know how I take care of my things and everything works perfectly, it has only 43 flights total has never crashed or landed hard. I think I would rather pay for a new shell then take a chance getting a refurbished unit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, by the way it is still well within the one year warranty since I activated it in Feb of this year.

wa5tef · May 14, 2017

Ouch! Is there any chance you could fix it yourself? I would put clear plastic packing tape over the spot rather than sending it to DJI and then have to get another stress crack in yourself dealing with their customer support! Anyway you already know you'd get someone else's crashed drone back!

Keep us posted about this. Thanks for letting the group know.
Jim
WA5TEF

AeroMirage · May 14, 2017

That sux.
Is this a P4 or P4 Pro?

jogforfitness · May 14, 2017

chopperguy said:
Looks like I've been bitten by by the stress crack bug, it happened today during a flight. I know this because I religiously check my bird before and after each flight. My question is what further damage can this cause? I really don't want to send it back to DJI because I know how I take care of my things and everything works perfectly, it has only 43 flights total has never crashed or landed hard. I think I would rather pay for a new shell then take a chance getting a refurbished unit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, by the way it is still well within the one year warranty since I activated it in Feb of this year.

That's probably where one of the mounting screws is located and there's (imo) a lot of torque in that area when flying. It definitely needs addressed. You could watch a YouTube video on how to replace the shell yourself then make a decision from there. Look at the bright side,,,, you're still under warranty.

chopperguy · May 14, 2017

wa5tef said:
Ouch! Is there any chance you could fix it yourself? I would put clear plastic packing tape over the spot rather than sending it to DJI and then have to get another stress crack in yourself dealing with their customer support! Anyway you already know you'd get someone else's crashed drone back!

Keep us posted about this. Thanks for letting the group know.
Jim
WA5TEF

I definitely am very mechanically able to fix things, been around R/C vehicles for some time and routinely tear them them down after races and go through everything to make sure they are ready for the next race. I have one experience already with DJI customer service over a bad brand new battery, it did get replaced but was a nightmare dealing with them.

chopperguy · May 14, 2017

jogforfitness said:
That's probably where one of the mounting screws is located and there's (imo) a lot of torque in that area when flying. It definitely needs addressed. You could watch a YouTube video on how to replace the shell yourself then make a decision from there. Look at the bright side,,,, you're still under warranty.

My other question is would this bird be safe to fly in the meantime? What other damage if any could occur? I know it's under warranty but like I said I hate to deal with DJI again, it was a hassle to get a bad brand new battery replaced! They finally did but long story short it took almost 2 months before I got it. Was thinking about contacting them, sending pics and see if they would just send me a new top half of the shell so I could replace it myself. My biggest fear is sending my bird, which works perfectly, in and getting a refurbished unit plus the down time waiting for DJI.

chopperguy · May 14, 2017

AeroMirage said:
That sux.
Is this a P4 or P4 Pro?

It is a P4

GrammatonxXXxCleric · May 14, 2017

I'd want to have a close look at the motor mounting area. If there are cracks there it could be deadly. Gorilla epoxy layer in those areas will strengthen it. But if the plastic under the motor mount screw areas are cracked then take care of that first. If the cracks are only on the top half, not connected to the parts the motors are attached to, then epoxy would fix it. If you get a new shell, paint the inside with epoxy in those places.

DarkDrone 1 · May 14, 2017

DJI's CS is just about as bad as the bodies on these Phantoms.

I'm still waiting to receive a reply from them regarding a crack that has started from the motor (top side).

It's been a week now!

This on a P4 that has less than 30 easy flights with maybe 10 minutes total of sport/atti mode.

I'll never buy a Phantom anything again until it is proven that this major flaw in their molding process has been rectified!

GrammatonxXXxCleric · May 15, 2017

If the shells are vacuum molded there isn't anything that can be done other than increase the sheet thickness purchased before manufacturing. But you can build up the thickness where needed with epoxy.

Sprtbkryder · May 15, 2017

That's the top shell half and that one requires that the complete Drone be torn apart. If it were me I would buy the shell off Ebay or wherever and send it to Paul Shaffer at FPVCustoms.com and let him swap it out for you. He has a 48 hour turn around time and he does it right.

Sprtbkryder · May 15, 2017

As wide as that crack is you almost could fill it in with Plast-Aid maybe. Look it up on Amazon. I've repaired a few cracks in mine with the stuff and it seems to be working for me.

omid B · May 15, 2017

My theory is that perhaps the propeller or the motor is off balance. Are the clips for the propeller that have the 3 screws loose??

chopperguy · May 15, 2017

omid B said:
My theory is that perhaps the propeller or the motor is off balance. Are the clips for the propeller that have the 3 screws loose??

Thanks for all the replies guys! None of the clips for the props are loose, that is also something I check before each flight. As of now my plan is to get a new shell, perhaps reinforce the inside as I have heard on here and install the new top half of the shell. I've pretty much decided to steer clear of DJIs customer service or lack there of, even though it's still under warranty. I'll update this as I move along with the repairs, again thanks for all the advice it is definitely appreciated!!!

omid B · May 16, 2017

chopperguy said:
Thanks for all the replies guys! None of the clips for the props are loose, that is also something I check before each flight. As of now my plan is to get a new shell, perhaps reinforce the inside as I have heard on here and install the new top half of the shell. I've pretty much decided to steer clear of DJIs customer service or lack there of, even though it's still under warranty. I'll update this as I move along with the repairs, again thanks for all the advice it is definitely appreciated!!!

Just becareful it doesn't void the warranty. Good luck!

driehl · May 16, 2017

I'm am amazed that the p4 shell is cracking, I've had 3 of them with no issues ever.. I am wondering , are you an aggressive flyer with heavy breaking and descent? Are you flying in sport mode? Thanks

chopperguy · May 16, 2017

driehl said:
I'm am amazed that the p4 shell is cracking, I've had 3 of them with no issues ever.. I am wondering , are you an aggressive flyer with heavy breaking and descent? Are you flying in sport mode? Thanks

I don't feel I am a aggressive flyer, I would say 90% or more of my flying is done in the normal mode with a little sport mode now and again. There is some breaking, nothing I would call heavy. After this happened to mine and doing some searching on here there are definitely issues with cracking on the phantoms.

chopperguy · May 18, 2017

Quick update, dropped my bird off at Maverick Drone Systems today after talking with Adam. Saw them on here and since I live only about an hour away I figured I would check them out. Dropped it off about 3:30 this afternoon and Adam said they would have it done by noon tomorrow. So far I couldn't be happier!

Sprtbkryder · May 19, 2017

chopperguy said:
I definitely am very mechanically able to fix things, been around R/C vehicles for some time and routinely tear them them down after races and go through everything to make sure they are ready for the next race. I have one experience already with DJI customer service over a bad brand new battery, it did get replaced but was a nightmare dealing with them.

Trust me it ain't no rc car bud. You better know what you're doing if you plan to tear it completely down.