Propellers and Battery Life

[MarcoF]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering what is the propellers life? how many hours can you fly before you have to change them to prevent failure during flight?

Also, how many charges can i squeeze of a battery?

i'm trying to calculate the cost of flying, and that's why i need that info! Also because i don't want to crash because of propeller or battery failure during flight.

Cheers!

 

[The Editor]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering what is the propellers life? how many hours can you fly before you have to change them to prevent failure during flight?

Also, how many charges can i squeeze of a battery?

i'm trying to calculate the cost of flying, and that's why i need that info! Also because i don't want to crash because of propeller or battery failure during flight.

Cheers!

Battery - Impossible to say since there are too many variables. How people fly them, how they store them, how and when they charges them (still warm from the last flight etc)
Some packs could last 200 (or more cycles) some will be done at 80 or 90.
You replace when you need to replace them.
Props - Same again. You could take off, clip a tree and need a coup!e of new props for your second flight. Or, if you inspect them every flight and get no stress cracks or hub cracks they can last almost indefinitely.
Both these items are consumables and milage will vary.
You fly. You replace when necessary - to try and 'squeeze' as much as possible out of either is foolish IMO.

 

[MarcoF]

I know it's not possible to exactly say! but may be there is an amount of flight time or hours of use or cycles for the batteries and propellers that you should replace them even if you don't see anything wrong at simple sight.

It's not that i want to squeeze as much time as i can. It's that i want to know how much should i expect them to last under normal circumstances before a have to change them to prevent an unwanted crush caused by them failing because of fatigue or something like that.

I thought that it was already set up by DJI.

 

[SanCap]

I know it's not possible to exactly say! but may be there is an amount of flight time or hours of use or cycles for the batteries and propellers that you should replace them even if you don't see anything wrong at simple sight.

It's not that i want to squeeze as much time as i can. It's that i want to know how much should i expect them to last under normal circumstances before a have to change them to prevent an unwanted crush caused by them failing because of fatigue or something like that.

I thought that it was already set up by DJI.

There is no hard and fast rule for the props unless they are damaged. Create a predetermined lifespan for yourself such as 8 months or 50 hours. What kind of environment do you operate in, large temperature swings, sandy dusty area, etc. Props are cheap so make a reasonable lifespan that you are comfortable with. I personally will not use them for more than 50 hours and wind up changing mine around 35 hours. If I can not determine how much time is on them I throw them away. If I have bent them in a case and they sat there for a few days I throw them away.

 

[Brett]

After listening to the Drone U podcasts for a bit, I have decided that as I plan to be operating commercially, I will be replacing my props every 10hrs regardless. I don't want to take any risk at all and considering they're only $20 pair it's a small price to pay.

 

[Farnk666]

Hi Marco,

Condition is more important than age in this respect, due to the many variables as already outlined.
Until recently, I was using the original set of self tightening props that came with the Inspire back in March 2015. I checked them thoroughly before each flight though!

They were only replaced due to a crash (not me at the controls!) where the inspire hit the top of a tree and fell 25-30 meters. All the props were toast.