Solo Motor Pod Covers from Broken Props

Props break. It's all part of the drone-flying lifestyle. But the broken propellers aren't completely useless – recycle them into these nifty metal motor pod covers with a 10-minute hack!

Here's what we're making:

Why do I want motor pod covers?

Good question – if you always transport Solo in a case, maybe you don't!

But if you ever carry Solo around in a way that leaves the motor pods exposed – strapped to the outside of a backpack, for example, as I've seen some people do – a cover like this one can save the threading on your motor pod from any accidental banging around.

It can also save other things from getting scratched by the motor pod tops– leather car seats, for example.

What do I do?

This is pretty straightforward: we're going to cut the plastic propeller part off of the propellers, leaving just the metal centers to use as thread covers.

Start with your props:

Now take your big cutters and position them carefully right at the edges of the metal part, on the top and bottom of your propeller:

Be super careful with positioning – too far from the metal, and you won't cut all the way through. Too far back and you'll scar the metal center.

Here's what it looks like once you've made the cut:

Snip, snip– both sides!

You should now be able to tug one side of the plastic away with your fingers.

Remove the other side by pushing it out from the blade, like so:

Great! Now you have one motor pod cover!

Rinse and repeat until you have two of each color.

Since these are the same mechanisms as the propellers, they should be a perfect and intuitive fit onto your Solo!