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Crack appeared on my Mavic, I hope it's nothing major.

ch5richards

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After flying my Mavic at the beach in Hilton Head SC I was packing it up and noticed a small crack. It is at the bottom of the plastic piece under the front right arm. It lines up with a screw, so my best guess is that the screw put enough pressure on the plastic that over time, or maybe from just enough of a jolt it cracked. I am about as certain as one can be that that crack was not there until very recently.

The closest thing to abuse I have put my Mavic through was I once, a good while ago, dropped it off a low bed but it was in my Tomcase carry case that I use.

While flying near sunset the Mavic stopped very violently 2-3 times before I realized it was the sun glare messing with the sensor and making it brake very hard. I find it hard to believe that is what caused the crack, but it is roughest thing the Mavic has been through since that drop along time ago.

I am hoping that this is nothing to worry about, I don't like it, but if it will not cause me any problems I can live with it.


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After flying my Mavic at the beach in Hilton Head SC I was packing it up and noticed a small crack. It is at the bottom of the plastic piece under the front right arm. It lines up with a screw, so my best guess is that the screw put enough pressure on the plastic that over time, or maybe from just enough of a jolt it cracked. I am about as certain as one can be that that crack was not there until very recently.

The closest thing to abuse I have put my Mavic through was I once, a good while ago, dropped it off a low bed but it was in my Tomcase carry case that I use.

While flying near sunset the Mavic stopped very violently 2-3 times before I realized it was the sun glare messing with the sensor and making it brake very hard. I find it hard to believe that is what caused the crack, but it is roughest thing the Mavic has been through since that drop along time ago.

I am hoping that this is nothing to worry about, I don't like it, but if it will not cause me any problems I can live with it.


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This is the General Discussion section...


Seems there’s a trend.

 
If it was mine I would just put so epoxy there and push it back in and watch it.
 
After flying my Mavic at the beach in Hilton Head SC I was packing it up and noticed a small crack. It is at the bottom of the plastic piece under the front right arm. It lines up with a screw, so my best guess is that the screw put enough pressure on the plastic that over time, or maybe from just enough of a jolt it cracked. I am about as certain as one can be that that crack was not there until very recently.

The closest thing to abuse I have put my Mavic through was I once, a good while ago, dropped it off a low bed but it was in my Tomcase carry case that I use.

While flying near sunset the Mavic stopped very violently 2-3 times before I realized it was the sun glare messing with the sensor and making it brake very hard. I find it hard to believe that is what caused the crack, but it is roughest thing the Mavic has been through since that drop along time ago.

I am hoping that this is nothing to worry about, I don't like it, but if it will not cause me any problems I can live with it.


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its a stress crack, its one of the reasons for doing an airframe inspection on a regular basis ,i would remove the screw and see if it allows the crack to be pushed back down
then do as @dirkclod suggested and epoxy it down and then put the screw back after it has set for 24 hours
 
I'll add a bit of advice to the previous comments. Epoxying the crack is a stopgap method and will only work for a while IF the epoxy is only filling the crack. The problem is that the end of the crack will still tend to act as a stress riser. In aircraft, it's common to "stop drill" small cracks. This involves drilling a small hole at the end of the crack to stop the crack from propagating. You can then fill in the crack with epoxy etc.

Better still, remove the body and patch that area from the inside. Scuff the surface with sand paper and clean. Then use epoxy resin and a small patch of fiberglass or carbon fiber to cover the damaged area. (Do this on the other side too, while your at it, covering the area that is susceptible to cracking.

It is likely a design flaw, but it would make sense to balance the props too, as vibration may be part of the problem. In another thread, I reported that 37% of my DJI M2 props benefited from balancing (sample size 16), AND 41% of my Master Airscrew props did the same (sample size 12).
 
Just put some epoxy on a thin piece of paper to get it into the crack, then back out the screw until the crack goes back in, let dry for curing time
 
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I'll add a bit of advice to the previous comments. Epoxying the crack is a stopgap method and will only work for a while IF the epoxy is only filling the crack. The problem is that the end of the crack will still tend to act as a stress riser. In aircraft, it's common to "stop drill" small cracks. This involves drilling a small hole at the end of the crack to stop the crack from propagating. You can then fill in the crack with epoxy etc.

Better still, remove the body and patch that area from the inside. Scuff the surface with sand paper and clean. Then use epoxy resin and a small patch of fiberglass or carbon fiber to cover the damaged area. (Do this on the other side too, while your at it, covering the area that is susceptible to cracking.

It is likely a design flaw, but it would make sense to balance the props too, as vibration may be part of the problem. In another thread, I reported that 37% of my DJI M2 props benefited from balancing (sample size 16), AND 41% of my Master Airscrew props did the same (sample size 12).
How do you properly balance the props?
 
How do you properly balance the props?

I made a fixture to align the prop blades.
New fixture to balance folding props
When they are new, or nearly so, the blades are stiff enough to stay in position for balancing with a static balance such as the Du-Bro prop balancer. You will also need a 3mm shaft, as the one that comes with the Du-Bro is too big.
 
After flying my Mavic at the beach in Hilton Head SC I was packing it up and noticed a small crack. It is at the bottom of the plastic piece under the front right arm. It lines up with a screw, so my best guess is that the screw put enough pressure on the plastic that over time, or maybe from just enough of a jolt it cracked. I am about as certain as one can be that that crack was not there until very recently.

The closest thing to abuse I have put my Mavic through was I once, a good while ago, dropped it off a low bed but it was in my Tomcase carry case that I use.

While flying near sunset the Mavic stopped very violently 2-3 times before I realized it was the sun glare messing with the sensor and making it brake very hard. I find it hard to believe that is what caused the crack, but it is roughest thing the Mavic has been through since that drop along time ago.

I am hoping that this is nothing to worry about, I don't like it, but if it will not cause me any problems I can live with it.


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My Mavic Air 2 developed a crack after only six months of owning it. Sent it back to DJI, and they're repairing it free of charge.
 

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Today I noticed a hairline crack on top of my Mavic Air 2 casing above the front propeller arm, item was purchased in May 2020, with not a lot of use due to COVID-19. Drone has not been dropped or had any crash, yet this hairline crack has just appeared. Have contacted DJI and created a support ticket online. From other reports I’ve read it appears DJI blames the owner, and charges a repair cost ! Not sure if this will occurr, but as mentioned this drone has had no crashes or been mishandled. Anyone had this issued repaired under warranty? It appears to be a fault with the casing manufacturing.
 
Today I noticed a hairline crack on top of my Mavic Air 2 casing above the front propeller arm, item was purchased in May 2020, with not a lot of use due to COVID-19. Drone has not been dropped or had any crash, yet this hairline crack has just appeared. Have contacted DJI and created a support ticket online. From other reports I’ve read it appears DJI blames the owner, and charges a repair cost ! Not sure if this will occurr, but as mentioned this drone has had no crashes or been mishandled. Anyone had this issued repaired under warranty? It appears to be a fault with the casing manufacturing.
I only had my Mavic Air 2 five months before the crack appeared on mine on the top left side of the front arm. I didn't have Care Refresh, so I sent it back to DJI for repair. They fixed it, and didn't charge me for the repair.
 
Thanks for letting me know, hope DJI see it as a warranty repair, and not charge me also. I gather this issue is not uncommon, and hopefully DJI have a permanent fix. It appears to show up after some months of purchase, a weakness in the material I presume ? Other than this issue, Drone has had no issues.
 
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