Missing boom mount screws

[SanCap]

I am embarrased sharing this but maybe it will help someone. I have an Inspire 1 D model with about 4.7 hours on it. I guess I have not been doing my preflight inspections very well or this just happened on the last flight (which I doubt). At least it was found before a failure. I brought it inside and felt a little movement on the left arm and looked at the mounting screws. Much to my surprise there were only 2 out of the 8 screws still attached. This could have been a catastrophic failure. I will certainly pay more attention in the future.

 

[The Editor]

I am embarrased sharing this but maybe it will help someone. I have an Inspire 1 D model with about 4.7 hours on it. I guess I have not been doing my preflight inspections very well or this just happened on the last flight (which I doubt). At least it was found before a failure. I brought it inside and felt a little movement on the left arm and looked at the mounting screws. Much to my surprise there were only 2 out of the 8 screws still attached. This could have been a catastrophic failure. I will certainly pay more attention in the future.

Wow.....and those screws are meant to be thread locked (blue) as well. Less than five hours for that to happen on six out of eight screws is bad. My guess is they were never tightened from the factory and someone forgot the thread lock that day.

 

[SanCap]

Wow.....and those screws are meant to be thread locked (blue) as well. Less than five hours for that to happen on six out of eight screws is bad. My guess is they were never tightened from the factory and someone forgot the thread lock that day.

My dealer told me it was a probably "Friday Build" and is overnighting me new hardware. I was told not to use thread locker because of the plastic parts.

 

[SanCap]

I should add, check your screws with a 2mm hex wrench for tightness.

 

[The Editor]

My dealer told me it was a probably "Friday Build" and is overnighting me new hardware. I was told not to use thread locker because of the plastic parts.

There is 'dry' thread lock on those screws from the factory. I would advise some on the replacements since that area is subject to vibration.
You can either use the 'dry' stuff if you can get hold of it or you may find if your dealer is sending you genuine replacement screws that will already have the blue stuff on the threads.

 

[SanCap]

There is 'dry' thread lock on those screws from the factory. I would advise some on the replacements since that area is subject to vibration.
You can either use the 'dry' stuff if you can get hold of it or you may find if your dealer is sending you genuine replacement screws that will already have the blue stuff on the threads.

I pulled out the other screws and saw no blue residual on them.

 

[The Editor]

I pulled out the other screws and saw no blue residual on them.

Yup - sounds like a Friday afternoon machine.

 

[Shnooks Nivens]

Re: Friday afternoon machines. That is terrifying and extremely troubling to consider...

 

[SteveT1]

I pulled out the other screws and saw no blue residual on them.

I did a little research.... DJI uses Loctite 243,
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...qmt=b&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_5j5a3yrqm6_b

 

[Shnooks Nivens]

If there are folks being lazy and taking short cuts to keep quota and not taking the time to insure that these rigs are tight and flight worthy... they should be out of a job and DJI really needs to step it up ... seeing that their products seem to becoming nanny copters at this point perhaps they should make it a priority to nanny their employees. This is not a matter to take lightly as it puts people and property at risk and brings the trust and reliability of their products into question. So what now.. people turn every bolt on there machines now to make sure they have not got a "Friday Build" and break the existing thread bond ... this is nuts.

 

[JoeyJoe]

If there are folks being lazy and taking short cuts to keep quota and not taking the time to insure that these rigs are tight and flight worthy... they should be out of a job and DJI really needs to step it up ... seeing that their products seem to becoming nanny copters at this point perhaps they should make it a priority to nanny their employees. This is not a matter to take lightly as it puts people and property at risk and brings the trust and reliability of their products into question. So what now.. people turn every bolt on there machines now to make sure they have not got a "Friday Build" and break the existing thread bond ... this is nuts.

If the the thread lock is dried before screwing the pieces together, would you still be breaking a bond?
I would think not as there really is no bond but rather just dried thread lock to make the screws have a tighter fit.

The OP's story is nonetheless cause for alarm.