update on recent mod to front arms of MM

[hiflyer201]

Nice mod...Like the pics..tell us about that waterfall..

 

[bumper]

True Confessions time. I forgot to add to my UHMW tape idea, that I don't have an MM and have not tried it! I apologize I forgot to make that clear in my first post. That said, it should work.

Further explanation:

If the arm is an inverted "U" (MM upside down), then the tape will go lateral to the arm and on top of the U. The tape will be wide enough to over lap on each side of the U and then be folded down to adhere to the sides of the U (sorta like a cap). When putting the tape on, be sure to first let the tape touch only one edge of the U leg, along its length. Next, press the tape down along the outside of the arm. Next, you'll want to apply pressure to the opposite side of the U to flex it a little towards the opposite leg of the U (to do this uniformly, if the edges of the U are fairly flexible, you may need to temporarily place popsicle sticks or some other rigid straight object between the arm and your fingers as you squeeze it together. Finally fold the length of tape over to bridge and cover the legs of the U and smooth down on the other side.

 

[old man mavic]

Nice mod...Like the pics..tell us about that waterfall..

thanks it in a place called parc cwm darren in Deri, about 10 miles from where i live, it has a lake as well the waterfall is supplied by the water draining off the surrounding mountainous area, its a nice spot and has a visitor center that does food and drinks it is a handy place to fly if it windy higher up on the mountains

 

[Rchawks]

Could carbon fiber laminate work maybe .007 thick I used it in gliders all the time.

 

[old man mavic]

Could carbon fiber laminate work maybe .007 thick I used it in gliders all the time.

whatever you use it needs to be light and strong ,whether you like me just glue it to the back of the arm ,or make something to fit in place of the foam insert ,the whole idea is to make the arm become a ridgid box section, maybe in time DJI will use something else in place of the foam insert who knows

 

[TDZHDTV]

True Confessions time. I forgot to add to my UHMW tape idea, that I don't have an MM and have not tried it! I apologize I forgot to make that clear in my first post. That said, it should work.

Further explanation:

If the arm is an inverted "U" (MM upside down), then the tape will go lateral to the arm and on top of the U. The tape will be wide enough to over lap on each side of the U and then be folded down to adhere to the sides of the U (sorta like a cap). When putting the tape on, be sure to first let the tape touch only one edge of the U leg, along its length. Next, press the tape down along the outside of the arm. Next, you'll want to apply pressure to the opposite side of the U to flex it a little towards the opposite leg of the U (to do this uniformly, if the edges of the U are fairly flexible, you may need to temporarily place popsicle sticks or some other rigid straight object between the arm and your fingers as you squeeze it together. Finally fold the length of tape over to bridge and cover the legs of the U and smooth down on the other side.

????...... It’s ok I tried with Sellotape to test the idea, although it didn’t make the arm rigid it certainly increased its torsional resistance, on a plus note this tape will probable work well for emergency field repairs when I’m out wild camping and stop any cable rub on my mountain bike.

 

[TDZHDTV]

thanks it in a place called parc cwm darren in Deri, about 10 miles from where i live, it has a lake as well the waterfall is supplied by the water draining off the surrounding mountainous area, its a nice spot and has a visitor center that does food and drinks it is a handy place to fly if it windy higher up on the mountains

So I’ve got your CVV, signature and narrowed down your home address to a 10 mile radius..... just your DOB and we’re sorted! ?

 

[old man mavic]

So I’ve got your CVV, signature and narrowed down your home address to a 10 mile radius..... just your DOB and we’re sorted! ?

in three weeks time you will know my date of birth i will give you a clue its a friday

 

[atsphenomenon]

in three weeks time you will know my date of birth i will give you a clue its a friday

Happy 73rd in advance, OMM

 

[WooZie]

Happy birthday my friend, Omm, I wish you much health and all you want !! maybe till then i will forget, i said you now

 

[TDZHDTV]

True Confessions time. I forgot to add to my UHMW tape idea, that I don't have an MM and have not tried it! I apologize I forgot to make that clear in my first post. That said, it should work.

Further explanation:

If the arm is an inverted "U" (MM upside down), then the tape will go lateral to the arm and on top of the U. The tape will be wide enough to over lap on each side of the U and then be folded down to adhere to the sides of the U (sorta like a cap). When putting the tape on, be sure to first let the tape touch only one edge of the U leg, along its length. Next, press the tape down along the outside of the arm. Next, you'll want to apply pressure to the opposite side of the U to flex it a little towards the opposite leg of the U (to do this uniformly, if the edges of the U are fairly flexible, you may need to temporarily place popsicle sticks or some other rigid straight object between the arm and your fingers as you squeeze it together. Finally fold the length of tape over to bridge and cover the legs of the U and smooth down on the other side.

Just received the tape from Amazon, and I can confirm it significantly changes the torsional characteristics of the front arms, you can still get a little twist on them but nothing in comparison to the stock arm. I’m very impressed with the tape, great suggestion. ?
Oh and it also sticks like ‘s##t to a blanket’ and hardly noticeable when applied.

 

[WooZie]

a picture please, if it is possible, thanks

 

[bumper]

Happy Birthday OMM. Mine's tomorrow . . . three quarters of a century old. Or expressed another way, too dang old!

 

[bumper]

Could carbon fiber laminate work maybe .007 thick I used it in gliders all the time.

Carbon fiber would work fine, the fibers of the fabric should be oriented to cross the bottom of the U arm diagonally and would need to be bonded to the plastic. Depending on how applied, it could be stronger than the UHMW tape, but no doubt more work to install. The advantage of the UHMW tape is it should be quick, easy, effective, light weight (though carbon is very light too), doesn't detract from appearance, can be removed if need be, is inexpensive and can be used for all manner of other stuff - it's even been wrapped around a shaft to serve as a low speed bearing.

 

[GregE]

Happy Birthday OMM. Mine's tomorrow . . . three quarters of a century old. Or expressed another way, too dang old!

Don't slow down- I'm right behind you..

 

[Squire330]

Use an Apple Card to make parts - it's titanium!

 

[Bernie707]

this is a follow up to a thread started by Starz @Starz Checked your props?
it was mentioned that a lot of us were having prop strikes on the body of our MMs this was causing possible damage to the props and the body of the drone
it was noted that due to the design of the front arms which only have a soft foam filling they were very easy to twist
@Starz mentioned his idea to attach a plastic stiffener to the back of the arm to prevent it from twisting
i liked his idea and set about finding something that was light and strong ,i came up with an old credit card and i used it to make two pieces which i glued to the back of the arms and once it was dry i was amazed how stiff it made the front arms
i was asked to let the forum know the results of this mod so today i was able to fly and here are my findings
during the tests there were no prop strikes, and the drone handled as it should it was very gusty and the wind at ground level was around 12 to 18 mph i would not have flown in that sort of wind normally and i only went up to 20 ft as the MM was being buffeted around a lot
while i can not say that the mod is the answer to the prop strike problem i can say that it did seem to help a lot keeping the front arms level during flight
i took a couple of pics to show my flight
thanks for you attention OMMView attachment 92509View attachment 92510View attachment 92512

Thanks for the credit card tip. Where did you get the landing gear? I assume you like it and it doesn’t affect flight performance?

 

[bcfd29]

omm: you live in a nice looking place! where did you get your helo skid landing gear? i enjoy your posts...

 

[Capt KO]

Just received the tape from Amazon, and I can confirm it significantly changes the torsional characteristics of the front arms, you can still get a little twist on them but nothing in comparison to the stock arm. I’m very impressed with the tape, great suggestion. ?
Oh and it also sticks like ‘s##t to a blanket’ and hardly noticeable when applied.

Can you still close the arms with the tape applied?

 

[Capt KO]

This is another time that I wish I had a 3-D printer. Looking at the arm, it seems easy to put a snap on reinforcement from the outside instead of inside the foam area. Basically the same shape as the arm is now.

I have plenty of the tape in case that solution works. Just worried that I won’t be able to close it back into the case.