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Crack...should I send this in?

OrangeHawk417

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Just noticed this small crack during inspection. Should I send this in. Heres the Flight Stats .

Todays Date- September 25, 2021

First Flight:June 10, 2021
Flight Total: 146
Miles: 383.6
Flight Hours: 45.7

IMG_1886.jpeg
IMG_1887.jpeg
IMG_1888.jpeg
 
No. Don’t bother. Autel will leave the burden of shipping cost on you and it’ll return with a new shell that will just crack again in about a month of daily flying like mine did in the same exact spot. The shell is not structural.
 
Thank you for saving me $$ and time.!

I recommend not sending it in either, like @Cicero24 said, you will be out of the drone for a month and I get the feeling it may come back with other issues. I had bad cracking problems with the earlier DJI Phantom series and they were right around the motor mounts. In some areas it looked like the motor was going to literally rip from the mount.

My fix was to take small strands of 50lb test Spiderwire fishing line, lay about 3 of them side by side across the crack, then coat the whole area with the strongest Gorilla glue I could find that was rated for plastic. I used the gel version to layer it on. The cracks never spread and in theory it would take 150lbs of force in that area to expand the crack. Not very cosmetic, and probably not something you want to do if you plan to sell the drone later, but it worked for me.
 
I guess that is a common problem. Down force from Pushing down on the drone to change the battery. I've always held the drone in my hand to swap batteries. Never had that problem. The shells are not expensive to buy. Probably less than shipping the drone in.
 
DarkFox84 Personally, I'd slap some clear polyurethane clear tape over it after carefully letting a little cyanoacrylate (formulated for use with plastic) wick into the crack. These are largely cosmetic/aero shells that hold the sensors in place, the concern might be if the shell gets loose enough to vibrate or rattle.
Curious if you hand-catch, or what else might be causing this? (Ripping around in Ludicrous Mode, or ? Pressing down on the top of the fuselage when swapping batteries? ).
 
I would be curious as well in how you handle the drone, I have about 1,000 miles on mine and it doesn't have this crack. I always face the drone in my hand straight down to insert and remove the battery. I never do it while it is on the ground. To make sure that the new battery locks into place I let the weight of the battery drop the battery into the slot.
 
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When you insert the battery, always just push the battery holders in order to enter without forcing...then just check if is locked, but you see it easily if is not proper locked...
 

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