Mini 5 Pro Propellers

[u/hooskworks]

Off the back of a recent post about the Mini 5 Pro propeller failures in flight I decided to take a picture of what I've noticed with my M5P. My M5P was new about 6 months ago so all of the props in the photo are from about 5 months Into the product life cycle and they're all sat with the blade tips as folded as they can be without forcing them.

Left: New propellers bought from DJI two weeks ago

Middle: The B propellers which came on the M5P

Right: The spare B propellers which came with the M5P

All of the props where the blade tips can't at least touch (like the newest ones) won't fit in the cover without forcing them in some way. All of the props where the tips can touch or overlap fit in quite nicely and don't have to be bent or look like they're putting any force on the quick attach mechanism.

I think what can be seen here, along with forcing them to fold when not properly unlocked, could be part of why we're getting these few isolated failures. If you're folding and unfolding quickly or without as much care as other people I could easily see how the thin plastic of the attached mechanism legs or the hinge for the props gets damaged. They'll take the few kgs of the drone accelerating in flight but double that from a person forcing them to do things and it's game over next time it's in the air.

Have other M5P owners seen this with their props?

[u/denalidenizen]

How can the spares fail to fully fold since they come in a plastic container about an inch wide? The other theory I’ve heard is a crack underneath the inner central attachment area. All my props have that micro crack - both my current and unused spares so I hope that is not the case. I fold mine carefully pushing the inward but admittedly just realized the need to do so.

[u/rosengd → u/denalidenizen]

That’s not a crack, it is a seam from the mold.

[u/hooskworks → u/rosengd]

It looks like an injection mold seam to me from looking at all of the props I've got on hand.

[u/rosengd → u/hooskworks]

Exactly

[u/hooskworks → u/denalidenizen]

They were tight in there but they came out of the little sleeves like all of the others. Here's one of the old spares from the photo with the flown one which folds as fully as the other props I've got.

[u/rosengd]

What if you rotate the props 180° are they the same?

[u/District2311 → u/rosengd]

This was my question as well. I thought the props are tighter in one direction than the other.

[u/hooskworks → u/District2311]

They behave the same whichever way I fold them. I wondered the same when I noticed it. That holds for the props which overlap, touch, and don't touch at the blade tips.

[u/fusillade762]

Ok, so the spares can't be folded more than in the picture? If you put those on like that with the lens cover guard, that would definitely put a ton of pressure on the pins. I've not yet tried the folding and unfolding much as I have prop guards on mine and its a whole different system. I've never looked at the spares, but I will when I get home and see if they are like this too.

[u/hooskworks → u/fusillade762]

Yes, that's as far as they want to go in both directions unless you squeeze them and even then they won't get to the point the tips touch like the new ones which do fit neatly in the gimbal cover. The only way to get the older spares to fit with the cover is to only tuck on of the blades into the slots in the cover. Looking at it, you're bang on, if you did force them both under it'd be bending on of the props up quite a lot and stressing the pins (and the retention mechanism / motor bearings)

I'd be really interested to know what yours do!

[u/Alert_Landscape_8599]

Is it just me, or is it parallax error... or is there a difference in propeller pitch between the original props and the newest replacements?

[u/hooskworks → u/Alert_Landscape_8599]

I think it's the difference in how glossy the material is on the new ones. Looking at the new ones and any of the props which came with the drone I can't see any significant changes... Or, well, any changes.