chipped propellers: do you still use it?

[fcefalu]

Question for the audience, i have 2 pairs of propellers that due to some flirt with the house wall are slightly chipped...
Of course i got them replaced with some new ones, but wondering what do you guys do with old chipped propellers? keep it? trow it away? use it? and if use it when and how?

Thanks boyz

 

[mikee1554]

Bin them now .. not worth the risk of a prop failure in flight...

 

[Blucenturion]

Bin them now .. not worth the risk of a prop failure in flight...

+1

 

[Big Fil]

Get rid of them before you accidentally use them in the future. A chipped blade is also likely a blade that is out of balance. Out of balance blades will cause extra vibrations which can affect both flight of the aircraft as well as the quality of the video.

 

[Squamer]

Toss em.

 

[Wombat55]

Question for the audience, i have 2 pairs of propellers that due to some flirt with the house wall are slightly chipped...
Of course i got them replaced with some new ones, but wondering what do you guys do with old chipped propellers? keep it? trow it away? use it? and if use it when and how?

Thanks boyz

I save my chipped props and put them on my Mavic when I'm in the mood for some excitement and fun! Same thing with my old car tires and old brake pads!

(P.S.: That was all sarcasm!)

 

[Flycaster]

Not just the blade itself being chipped/nicked, but you have to pay real close attention to the locking lugs, if the prop took a shot, that was transfered to the locking lugs also.

 

[dewster]

I wouldn't if I had spares. There is a video on YouTube that demonstrates that the Mavic can still fly on cut props.

 

[X424]

You guys are gonna hate that youtube vid where they basically cut a mavic's props down to ittsy little stubs and the thing still flies. Not saying I advocate that, but a tiny chip at the end of a prop is unlikely to result in a crash. I have a few thousand hours piloting medium and heavy turboprops and you should see how many chips are in our props.

 

[Big Fil]

You guys are gonna hate that youtube vid where they basically cut a mavic's props down to ittsy little stubs and the thing still flies. Not saying I advocate that, but a tiny chip at the end of a prop is unlikely to result in a crash. I have a few thousand hours piloting medium and heavy turboprops and you should see how many chips are in our props.

The blades are so cheap though so why risk it. Sure in most cases it'll fly, but any imbalance will cause more vibrations. Vibrations could cause unnecessary wear on the motor bearings and affect the IMU. The gyros in IMU can be affected by vibrations. Your turboprop plane is not relying on sensors to keep it in the air and the chips would be such a small percentage of the weight compared to what a chip out of one our tiny mavic blaces are.

 

[Wombat55]

You guys are gonna hate that youtube vid where they basically cut a mavic's props down to ittsy little stubs and the thing still flies. Not saying I advocate that, but a tiny chip at the end of a prop is unlikely to result in a crash. I have a few thousand hours piloting medium and heavy turboprops and you should see how many chips are in our props.

That's too broad of a statement. You didn't say what kind of turboprop propellers you're talking about (all-metal? composite?) or how big the chips and dings in them are.

According to my understanding, it's not abnormal for a turboprop airplane propeller to show some slight nicks and dings with use because there is always the chance of nicks and dings due to gravel or pebbles on an airfield. A big reason why nicks or dings in a Mavic's propellers is a concern is that with proper use these propellers should remain in almost pristine condition with no apparent nicks or dings. If you see a nick or ding in a Mavic propeller, that means that at sometime in the life history of that propeller it suffered an off-normal event and hit something hard - something that should not have happened. Therefore, a big nick or ding in a Mavic's propeller would cause me to question not just the mechanical integrity of the propeller material at the location of the nick or ding, but also question how much other parts of the propeller might have been overstressed and weakened such as the locking lugs and the hinges of the propeller.

Bottom line: Throw the propeller away and mount a new one.

 

[X424]

That's too broad of a statement. You didn't say what kind of turboprop propellers you're talking about (all-metal? composite?) or how big the chips and dings in them are.

According to my understanding, it's not abnormal for a turboprop airplane propeller to show some slight nicks and dings with use because there is always the chance of nicks and dings due to gravel or pebbles on an airfield. A big reason why nicks or dings in a Mavic's propellers is a concern is that with proper use these propellers should remain in almost pristine condition with no apparent nicks or dings. If you see a nick or ding in a Mavic propeller, that means that at sometime in the life history of that propeller it suffered an off-normal event and hit something hard - something that should not have happened. Therefore, a big nick or ding in a Mavic's propeller would cause me to question not just the mechanical integrity of the propeller material at the location of the nick or ding, but also question how much other parts of the propeller might have been overstressed and weakened such as the locking lugs and the hinges of the propeller.

Bottom line: Throw the propeller away and mount a new one.

Someone mentioned losing your mavic due to a slightly dinged prop. As I said: highly unlikely. Too broad a statement? Not really. I enjoyed the engineering lesson though.

Personally, I don't fly my mavic without pristine props and that includes wiping bugs off the leading edges. But that wasn't what my post was about.

 

[Ebruce]

Question for the audience, i have 2 pairs of propellers that due to some flirt with the house wall are slightly chipped...
Of course i got them replaced with some new ones, but wondering what do you guys do with old chipped propellers? keep it? trow it away? use it? and if use it when and how?

Thanks boyz

86em-- for sure--

 

[Heavysledz]

they are so cheap.....toss them and remove any doubt in your mind you may have about using the dinged up ones.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Yeah I'd throw them too for the reasons stated but if the chip is towards the outer end of the blades it's very unlikely to cause a blade to fail, I'd more change them to prevent an out of balance condition doing more expensive damage to the motor bearings.

 

[1buddyc]

Why take a chance on losing a $1000 investment for a $10 Prop?

 

[fcefalu]

message received! thanks all

 

[iSilentP]

Don't chance it. Pitch them.

 

[SkyRider]

Toss them. Not worth the risk.

 

[erkme73]

I give them to my 4yo boy. He twirls them around over his head, making a buzzing sound, and screams "I'm a hellihopper!" Pretty darn cute for the first few minutes... Then...