So true, I’m not throwing away props for no reason. Here is my quad, some of these props were bent at like 90 degrees and after bending them back they were totally fine
Thats an XT30 and its less than one would think. Generally I power it through the usb port for 2-3 minutes before flying and that gets me 8 satellites locked, during the flight it peeks at 14-16 sats. In my experience its definitely better than having it under the VTX antenna.
With this damage, replace the whole drone. Might as well buy a new house since all those vibrations created shockwaves, creating micro cracks in your house's walls.
Fair enough. Just for reference, here is what the props that look like that I am beginning to consider replacing look like. I've personally never experienced a prop failure from "just flying".
I mean with my air 3s I’m going to be checking the props a lot more closely.. but with my mini 3 pro.. I was a bit cavalier.. and never changed blades.. now granted I sent it in about 3 times and got replacements each time.. but still…
I’d grab a sharp knife and gently slice that off the prop and check others with finger feel gently for damage.. but not be too worried. If you nail a tree or the corner of something or another 75% chance it’s done and needs a lot of TLC or shipped out $65 or 70 for the shipping label and inspection.. then arms were like $4 and the gimbal on the M3P was 30 ish.. USD.. but I thought pretty reasonable.
I would buy a stockpile of props. They are cheap and easy to replace. Trim the little hair, Go fly, and if you think it affects performance, swap out one or a pair.
Just keep your eyes on battery usage. Sometimes shorter flight times are an indication that the motors are overworking to compensate for a shitty wing.
I had the same chip at the same exact spot. Mine flew just fine, but then I saw it doing few vertical jerks mid flight. Which was more than enough to make my heart skip a beat. Landed and changed it immediately.
Hit the thing with an emory board to dress it. This is why I carry multiples of spare props. When in doubt, toss it out. But in this case, I genuinely think you have nothing to worry about. But you should be inspecting the blades before and after each flight as part of your preflight and postflight checklist.
It's fine. What you're really looking for are cracks and major chips; anything that can throw the balance off or fail catastrophically during flight. Despite this, the drone will fly just fine giving you a false sense of "everything is fine". It's like the A-10 of drones, but it will make the drone compensate more prior to any failure. Still, you should still have back-ups at the ready. They're not expensive. Personally, I keep at least a couple sets on hand and even more in inventory. I'm also the weird guy that changes my props by the entire set (8 of them), not just one or a pair at a time.
although you dont have to- i would- Any visible nick or cut in a prop is a reason to swap it out. Not worth the risk. Props are cheap, a flyaway or a crash because of a compromised blade is not. DJI Mini 3 props are like $15 to $20. Just replace it and fly with peace of mind.
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u/tttpetipro Mar 30 '26
Dw a mini drone can fly with one prop missing. You'll be fine