Replacing props as a precautionary measure

[Jungle Media]

I have had my Air 2S now for one year. Never had any accidents, and the props have never hit anything. Should I replace them at any sort of regular interval as a precaution for wearing out or weakening?

 

[old man mavic]

@Jungle Media it all depends on how many flights you have done in that year ,and the condition of the props themselves, if you are at all concerned about their durability ,then just put a complete new set on the drone and keep the ones you took off as spares
its something that you need to decide about yourself

 

[Volatus Drones]

We’ve had the same props on some of our demo drones for years. A good example is our Mavic 2. Never had a crash or accident in the office. The props are in great shapes so we’ve never replaced them.

We typically tell our customers to look for visual damage. Cracks, splits, chips, bends. If they look fine and you don’t notice any odd flight performance you should be okay. But as @old man mavic said, in the end it’s up to you.

 

[BigAl07]

After literally thousands of hours of logged time we only replace when there is a concern or valid reason to replace them. If they are still solid and show no signs of damage or wear then changing them could be introducing possible failure for not reason. The more you change them the higher your odds are of a bad install or something.

The reasons why we change props:

• Visible Damage (nicks, cuts, bends etc)
• Audible or Visible changes while in flight. Anything suspect with props change them out with NEW.
• Any looseness or sloppiness in the props or their prop to motor connection.
• ANY time we have any type of Prop Strike (even if no damage apparent).

 

[vindibona1]

I agree with most of the others. No need to change props unless you have a specific reason for doing so as listed above. However doing it just to make yourself feel more comfortable is a valid reason. They aren't all that expensive when compared to other components (i.e. batteries). And like someone else suggested, just use the current set as spares, especially because they are tried and true.

Having said that, you should inspect your props (and the motors) before every flight. I'm not sure sometimes why I follow my own advice, but in doing a routine inspection I found a woman's long hair wrapped around a motor which was totally unexpected. It may not have caused a crash, but it certainly would have made the drone harder to maneuver or just that one motor working harder, which would have caused minor control issues at some point.

 

[Corrysplace]

I'm going to start to change mine regularly, after I get the drone back from repairs. Last weekend I experienced a crash due to both rear props breaking at the hub and departing company.
The drone is only 6 months old, and I have only ever hit my thumb (when trying to catch it on landing) and the grass when landing on the lawn with the props.
I'll do it regularly from now on as I was lucky that the flight they let go on was just around our yard draining the batteries, I'm usually flying it from our boat filming our boating and fishing stuff. I'll also always use the rescue float and wetsuit I got from Phantomrain for all flights now.

 

[BigAl07]

I'm going to start to change mine regularly, after I get the drone back from repairs. Last weekend I experienced a crash due to both rear props breaking at the hub and departing company.
The drone is only 6 months old, and I have only ever hit my thumb (when trying to catch it on landing) and the grass when landing on the lawn with the props.
I'll do it regularly from now on as I was lucky that the flight they let go on was just around our yard draining the batteries, I'm usually flying it from our boat filming our boating and fishing stuff. I'll also always use the rescue float and wetsuit I got from Phantomrain for all flights now.

Both rear props broke in-flight? That's most likely due to damage in packing/storing. The odds of 2 props, on the same end of the aircraft, failing at the same time are.... insanely unlikely. I would review my storage/transport procedures deeply as that's not a product failure at all.

 

[Corrysplace]

Both rear props broke in-flight? That's most likely due to damage in packing/storing. The odds of 2 props, on the same end of the aircraft, failing at the same time are.... insanely unlikely. I would review my storage/transport procedures deeply as that's not a product failure at all.

I'm going to have a look, but since new, everything has been stored in a purpose made pelican case. It's only taken out for use, then put back in.

 

[sduck]

No.