Are you facing this weirdest issue in which the drone propellers spinning but not flying? I think yes because you are reading this article. First of all welcome to thedronestop, if your drone propellers are spinning but not flying, there are different types of reasons which occur the problem.
Also, I researched on the internet and discussed with experts to give you a better understanding of why drone propellers spin but not fly and how to fix it. Let’s talk about why it is happening and how to fix it.
Why are drone propellers spinning but not flying?
In most cases, drone propellers are spinning but not taking off or flying because of improper propeller installation. Besides that, motor malfunctions, and low battery power also could cause the issue.
Reason 1: Improper propeller configuration.
You can’t install propellers as you want on the drone. There is a special propeller mounting configuration in order to fly the drone properly and stably. If you mount them the wrong way, the drone won’t take off or flip sideways. Because improper propeller configuration can’t give even force or any force upwards. So If you are just unboxed the drone or this is the first time and you are accelerating the drone hard but not flying, this might be the reason why your drone won’t fly even though the propellers are spinning as fast as it can.
Solution.
The importance of proper propeller mounting configuration is because some of the motors turn clockwise while others turn anticlockwise which gives the ability to fly the drone stably and anywhere you want. You can find the proper propeller installation pattern in the user manual. Most of the time, you can find the pattern by comparing signs on the propellers, with the drone’s arm signs.
Reason 2: The propeller is not sitting on the cradle properly.
As I mentioned before, drones won’t be able to take off if the propellers are not giving a sufficient amount of upward force. So if the propellers aren’t sat on the cradle properly they would spin freely but won’t be able to lift the drone from the ground.
Solution.
- Check whether the propellers are tightly installed to the cradle.
Reason 3: Low battery.
If propellers are spinning slowly, your drone battery might have a low battery. When your drone has a low battery level, the drone won’t be able to spin propellers to the proper rps (rev-per-sec) to take off the drone. So the drone would keep spinning its propellers without taking off. Charge drone batteries fully before the flight.
How to fix the drone propellers spinning but not flying issue.
Follow the below steps to fix the above issue.
Step 1: Charge the battery to a sufficient level.
As I mentioned above, the propellers won’t be able to spin at sufficient angular speed to take off the drone when the battery level is too low.
- Make sure the battery level of the drone is at a sufficient level. If it is not, charge the battery to a sufficient level before flying the drone.
Step 2: Install propellers properly and in the correct configuration.
Almost every drone uses color indicators to indicate the correct propeller installation pattern. You would be able to figure out the pattern by inspecting propellers and mounting motor bases or arms. Below are the common steps for installing many DJI drone propellers.
- You find there are two types of propellers in the propeller set.
- One propeller pair has marks on it and others don’t.
- Install the propellers with marks on the mounting bases with marks. And rotate clockwise to lock them.
- Install other propellers that don’t have marks to mounting bases that have no marks. And rotate anti-clockwise to lock them.
