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Request for part from broken Skydio 2 (3D scan for hook plate now available)

BM2KTom

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If anyone has a broken Skydio 2 that they have replaced I'm looking for the hook plate or prop plate off of one of the blue motors. It's the little plate held on with two torx screws.

My Skydio decided it wanted to fly into a tree while following my vehicle off-road which broke one of the nubs on the hook plate, the drone still flies fine but I'd like to replace the part so I know the propeller won't come off in flight.

I have tried reaching out to Skydio but they don't answer their phones and have so far not gotten back to me, the one person I have found that had this piece broke had to send the drone into Skydio as they would not sell the part separately.

If anyone would be willing to sell me the part so I can get the drone going again it would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: I also had posted this on reddit and /U/thebirdsrchasingme came through:

"
Sorry for coming late to the party but I stumbled across this conversation after I crashed my S2 on my very first flight--got it 2 days ago and killed it yesterday. Like others, it snagged on a tree brach and exploded 2 props plus the RL hanger.

I initially uploaded the flight log and reached out to Skydio for help but got impatient and tried to look for replacement parts on the internet and found nothing. I've been flying DJI drones since the Phantom 3 and you can find just about any part for dirt cheap so I'm really not used to this.

So I decided if I can't buy it, I may as well make it myself. After spending a few hours while enjoying a couple of beers, I came up with the design below. Printed it in PETG and viola! I can now make as many of these as I want to. I'm making my design free for the community to download and use. So feel free to hop on over to thingiverse and grab the STL. If you don't already own a 3D Printer, you really should! :)

Skydio 2 Rear Left Prop Hanger/Hook Plate by kinryanchan

I have flight tested one battery so far at 14 degrees F. Everything seems good so far but please try this at your own risk. I would strongly recommend printing more than one part so you can stress test and see if it holds up to a reasonable amount of force. Also, as you may have noticed every prop hanger is different on this thing. If this is not the one you need, let me know and I will make them as needed.

As a side note, I completely agree with everyone here that Skydio shouldn't treat us like a bunch of 3 year olds. We're all adults that can take responsibility for our own (stupid) actions. :)

Happy flying everyone!"

All thanks go to him, if someone needs another of the hook plates besides this one, let me know and I'll reach out to him.
 

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If anyone has a broken Skydio 2 that they have replaced I'm looking for the hook plate or prop plate off of one of the blue motors. It's the little plate held on with two torx screws.

My Skydio decided it wanted to fly into a tree while following my vehicle off-road which broke one of the nubs on the hook plate, the drone still flies fine but I'd like to replace the part so I know the propeller won't come off in flight.

I have tried reaching out to Skydio but they don't answer their phones and have so far not gotten back to me, the one person I have found that had this piece broke had to send the drone into Skydio as they would not sell the part separately.

If anyone would be willing to sell me the part so I can get the drone going again it would be greatly appreciated.
Picture(s) of plate your looking for would better identify exactly the part your seeking...
 
I have attached a picture of the hook plate, after my ninth call today someone did answer at skydio and confirmed that they will not sell that part separately due to it needing to be properly torqued. Hopefully Skydio realizes that their customers are able to buy accurate torque wrenches and consider selling it for end user repair.
 
Thanks VEGASROBBI your account was the one I was referring to, I'm surprised they supply propellers but not the hook plate, on my crash the propeller didn't break or show any marks just the hook plate broke.
 
The broken hook plate may or may not be the only problem with your crashed S2.

If any of your motors are also out of balance its only a matter of time before the S2 will stop flying properly.

Warranties are strange things.... none that I'm aware of allow maintenance (and follow-up testing) to be done by non-qualified end users.
 
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I've been flying model helicopter since the 90s and have multiple CP helicopters in the garage some with six foot rotor spans and much larger brushless motors than the Skydio. I'm very familiar with the need to balance the blades as my largest helicopter runs at 3200 rpm during 3D flights, I have multiple blade balancers for this exact purpose.

DJI does allow the replacement of the prop plates. If customers are happy relying on Skydio for all future repairs in and out of warranty for simple things then so be it, but I bought my Skydio for drone footage on dirt bike trails miles from the nearest road and if Skydio doesn't allow in the field repairs then the drone has no purpose for me and many others.
 
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.... but DJI nor any other company offers any where near the level of warranty that Skydio does.

Seems like you have a choice to make.
 
A warranty is only has good as it's worth to the buyer.

It seems our usage scenarios and desires are different, maybe having a drone that hardly ever crashes but when it does it needs to be sent back to the manafactuer is okay to you.

I bought the Skydio specifically on it's advertised autonomy and obstacle avoidance, what I have seen so far shows that in my usage scenario (tight forest trails in the idaho back country) the drone is going to have mishaps with tree branches, leafed or not. If every time the drone decides to pilot itself into a branch Skydio's solution is I have to pack it up and send it to them for a month then my ownership of this drone will be short lived and there will be a week old skydio for sale on ebay.
 
We all make choices.... some of them turn out good .... some of them turn out not so good.

Good luck.
 
To add some information Skydio did say that they planned to sell them separately but decided not to at this time so hopefully with customer pressure they will.

Also I'd still like to find this part as a spare even if Skydio fixes it through warranty so if someone has a line on one or some actual helpful information about the question asked it would be appreciated.
 
Initially my customer service rep said they would sell me the hook plate, I told them I had the tools to properly install it(which I do).

Then the rep said he had to clear it with the engineers. The next day he called me and said due to possible collateral damage they would not sell the hook plate and I had to return my S2 for inspection.

I don't think they did this to make money on the repair, I essentially got a new S2 for $200. I was told they found a bad sensor which may have been thrown out of calibration by the crash and needed to be replaced. TBH both my S2's flew great, I noticed no difference with the new one.

I have often replaced the prop plates on my Yuneec Typhoon H, DJI drones.... without issue. None of these drones have the sophistication or abilities of the S2; so maybe there is something to having the inspection. If you hit a curb with your car and destroyed the tire would you get an alignment?

At first it was frustrating to not have my S2 for a few weeks; but now I have the peace of mind it was repaired properly whether it needed it or not. I did fly my old S2 with the broken hook plate and it performed well.

I think the answer to your question is "maybe". If there is demand and field repairs prove positive I can see Skydio selling the hook plate. But if guys are having problems after replacement they may stick to the current policy, time will tell.

Someone may decide to manufacturer the hook plate and sell it aftermarket if there is enough demand. I remember this was the case with the sloppy DJI Inspire prop plates.

I don't know if there is enough information yet for a solid answer. Skydio knows there drone is very complex and a fine balance of many technologies, they will have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the parts they sell. For all we know they did extensive crash testing and determined if there was enough force to break a hook plate there is a likelihood of other damage.
 
Initially my customer service rep said they would sell me the hook plate, I told them I had the tools to properly install it(which I do).

Then the rep said he had to clear it with the engineers. The next day he called me and said due to possible collateral damage they would not sell the hook plate and I had to return my S2 for inspection.

I don't think they did this to make money on the repair, I essentially got a new S2 for $200. I was told they found a bad sensor which may have been thrown out of calibration by the crash and needed to be replaced. TBH both my S2's flew great, I noticed no difference with the new one.

I have often replaced the prop plates on my Yuneec Typhoon H, DJI drones.... without issue. None of these drones have the sophistication or abilities of the S2; so maybe there is something to having the inspection. If you hit a curb with your car and destroyed the tire would you get an alignment?

At first it was frustrating to not have my S2 for a few weeks; but now I have the peace of mind it was repaired properly whether it needed it or not. I did fly my old S2 with the broken hook plate and it performed well.

I think the answer to your question is "maybe". If there is demand and field repairs prove positive I can see Skydio selling the hook plate. But if guys are having problems after replacement they may stick to the current policy, time will tell.

Someone may decide to manufacturer the hook plate and sell it aftermarket if there is enough demand. I remember this was the case with the sloppy DJI Inspire prop plates.

I don't know if there is enough information yet for a solid answer. Skydio knows there drone is very complex and a fine balance of many technologies, they will have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the parts they sell. For all we know they did extensive crash testing and determined if there was enough force to break a hook plate there is a likelihood of other damage.
Yeah I do understand that if Skydio intends to still provide warranty that they would want to inspect the drone after a crash but my main concern is when the warranty runs out are we going to have to send our drones into Skydio for paid repairs after every little mishap.

The hook plate is a cheap plastic part that given enough force will break, maybe there will be other damage to the drone but out of warranty I want to be the one deciding if that damage necessitates sending the drone to Skydio for repair.

I do have access to a 3D printer but don't have access to a 3D scanner to create a 3D model. My fiance works in prosthetics so I might have to enlist her to see if she can make it for me using her companies 3D scanning and printing equipment.

I'm hoping Skydio changes their minds in the future and starts offering this part especially when the warranties start running out on our drones, if this part was available it would of been a 30 second repair and I would of been on my way but instead it's turned into a lengthy process of going through Skydio and searching for the hook plate from the end-users.
 
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I made that argument, I was not looking for warranty repair and was was willing to pay for the parts. I was clear I would accept any consequences if it did not work properly, but that was still their decision. Personally I think they should sell the part under these circumstances at the owners risk.

Maybe they are concerned an improperly repaired S2 could be dangerous or make them look bad.
 
Initially my customer service rep said they would sell me the hook plate, I told them I had the tools to properly install it(which I do).

Then the rep said he had to clear it with the engineers. The next day he called me and said due to possible collateral damage they would not sell the hook plate and I had to return my S2 for inspection.
<SNIP>

That feedback speaks volumes for of how Skydio engineering/management feels about DIY repairs.

Losing control over "any" part of the end product manufacturing/assembly/testing is clearly something Skydio plans to avoid.

It would be one thing if users faced long turnarounds after sending their crashed units in for repairs but a 1-2 week wait is turning out to be an industry benchmark that no one else comes close to matching.
 
That feedback speaks volumes for of how Skydio engineering/management feels about DIY repairs.

Losing control over "any" part of the end product manufacturing/assembly/testing is clearly something Skydio plans to avoid.

It would be one thing if users faced long turnarounds after sending their crashed units in for repairs but a 1-2 week wait is turning out to be an industry benchmark that no one else comes close to matching.
My repair took over a month with really poor communication and updates. Plus the whole wiring money for repair costs was super weird. Now this was last July so maybe things have improved but it was a really horrible experience for me.

Contrast that to DJI I've had two quick turn arounds. Couple years back I flubbed a hand catch on Spark and it hit the ground breaking an arm. That took 10 days from the point I shipped it to get it back. Most recently last August I had Mavic Air fall out of sky due to ESC error, they got me a replacement in exactly a week. Maybe I'm lucky cause I'm next to shipping center or something
 
In hindsight I was probably to hasty in claiming how good Skydio was regarding turn-around times. A lot of my opinion was based what I've read on this forum and that's most likely skewed for any number of reasons.

Covid by itself throws a huge monkey wrench in most repair cycles so even current comparisons between mfgs in different parts of the world (or even from different parts of the USA) gets even harder make.
 
Just an update, my drone is now with skydio hopefully getting repaired. They said the drone dodged the larger trunk at the last second but hit the branches so it wasn't covered. It also took around 11 days to get to the point of receiving the shipping label. I will now post the video soon so people can see its "ability" to dodge certain trees, in fairness the trees did not have leaves on them but I do not know why it dived from back follow to the right into the tree. Skydio did wave the initial $150 evaluation fee but I am on the hook if its anything more, so in the future unless its warranty just one of the hook plates will cost at a minimum $150 to replace.

Luckily reddit user thebirdsrchasingme has made a 3D scan of the hook plates to be 3D printed and made it for free so huge thanks to him. I will be testing these hook plates as soon as I get my drone back from skydio.
 
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I broke a hook plate as well. Had my neighbor 3D print me up a new one. Works great.

A friend of mine is a tool & dye maker. He's fabricating me a replacement Hook Plate out of aluminum. I imaging it might weigh a bit more than the original, but it will certainly be stronger.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
 

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