Inspire Arm Supports Load?

[emtea]

Does anyone know if the side arm supports actually hold any load? I'm talking about this part: Buy Inspire 1 - Left & Right Arm Supports | DJI Store

Reason I ask is because one of the screws on the bottom of the support arm that holds it to the bottom cover is stripped. I'm guessing I should probably be fine with just one screw?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I can't get to mine right now so I can't see exactly where that goes, but I'm going to offer you a little old-school RC builder's advice. Get you a bottle of instant CA (Superglue). Pop a drop in the hole and let it dry. WELL. Pop another drop in the hole and let it dry well too. You're not trying to close the hole with it, you're trying to coat the walls where the screw goes in. You may have to do this once or you may have to do it multiple times. Watch your work and decide when you think it's enough. Again, you're not trying to fill in the hole but to get that wall solid and hard again. You're not using the CA to hold the screw. You're using it to rebuild the walls of the hole.

Take the other screw out and go to the local hobby shop and find one like the one that was in there. (I assume the old one is gone.). Self threading is better if it's not a metal walled hole. Replace the screw. Don't tighten it too tight but don't make it loose enough that you might as well not have gone to the trouble either, if that makes sense. It should be fine. This obviously works better with self-threading screws with "larger" threads, which I bet is what this is, but the technique is valid for about anything. There are millions of screws in RC aircraft all over the world being held in by this technique. It's worth a try. It won't cost you $5 to try it.

There are a million things that can go wrong with an RC aircraft. Some you can't help. Anything you can fix on the ground is on you. Fix what you can to eliminate the problems that you CAN eliminate. You'll be glad you did.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

If that doesn't work, I would absolutely replace the necessary part. See the last paragraph above. I may even "still" replace it depending on whether I trusted the fix for the long haul or not. That's a judgement call based on your mechanical knowledge. I would re-evaluate the craft and the importance of the part and decide whether I wanted to fly in in the interim or not while I waited for a part. We all want to fly all the time, but common sense has to prevail. Only you can decide whether it's safe to do so or not. That one's always on you.

Happy flying!

 

[emtea]

I see what you mean, I've filled it with silicon sealant and put the screw back in. I'm still wondering if this part does anything...it's the vertical piece that connects the top cover to bottom cover, right behind the main aircraft arms.