Fifish V6 Propeller Blades Worn Down by Gravel & Weeds

[Eternal Angler]

So I've been seeing reports of Fifish V6 owners saying their propeller blades easily getting worn down by gravel from the bottom of lakes and oceans, also by the weeds that they travel though, so be careful. The QYSEA Fifish V6 is a personal favorite of mine, even though I bought the Geneinno Titan, I was very close to buying the Fifish V6, I still might purchase one in the sometime future do to it's amazing maneuverable capabilities. The Fifish V6 being the first omnidirectional undrwater drone, being able to rotate 360 degrees, do lateral movements, and tilt at a 90 degree angle is pretty amazing. But all that really doesn't mean much unless the drone holds up right?

Here's two reports, I guess you could say the first one is kind of understandable considering the owner said he used the FifishV6 everyday. But another owner said he worn down his propeller blades just within two dives!!! That's totally unacceptable, I've seen what Stan Adam/Stans Legacy said bout his Gladius Mini, despite having 200+ dives his propeller blades are perfectly intact. I think he said at one point he had a motor replaced, but so far it's been a pretty resilient underwater drone.

QYSEA is starting to respond, which is good news, they plan on coming out with these thruster protectors to protect the propeller blades, but I wonder if these covers are going to mess with the maneuverability of the Fifish V6. And will these covers protect you from small gravel on the bottom? Probably not, so I'd still avoid navigating close to the bottom for the time being if you own a Fifish V6. I personally would like to see QYSEA just upgrade the quality of material they use for their propeller blades. I've seen owners of the Gladius Mini say its propeller blades slice right through the weeds.

So the one owner who started the post on the Fifish V6 Group said it cost him $25 for the part which isn't bad, but another $25 for shipping, which to me is kind of high. $25 to ship a small plastic propeller? Maybe it's coming from China, that's why, but either way, $50 is a hefty price to pay to get plastic replacement propeller for the Fifish V6 when they're just made out of cheap plastic. It would be cool for someone to release some designs for 3D printing!

There was another report of some fishermen on YouTube named OriginaldoBo that reported damaging their thruster motor after the Fifish V6 ran over some fishing line. That basically could probably happen to any underwater drone I'd say, but I suspect some ROVs thruster motors and propeller blades are just tougher than others, I wonder if some might just slice right through the fishing line, it really probably depends what pound test it was. It being saltwater and the sea, probably pretty darn thick.

So just be careful out there navigating your underwater drones, you just never know if some monofilament could be laying around on the surface or even on the bottom attached to a lure. Fluorocarbon is even clearer than monofilament, which is a little scarier, it's known for it's invisibility for fishing.

Anyways, if I was the owner of the QYSEA company, I'd say the right thing to do is replace these propeller blades for free and think about using stronger material. I think fishing line on the other hand is more of the pilot's responsibility.

Just remember, I'm not out to get QYSEA or anything, this is just to help notify owners about problems with the Fifish V6, along with pushing the company to improve their underwater drone. This is how we push forward with ROV technology, communication! This is QYSEA's 2nd generation drone, so far I'd say they're doing a stand-up job. I think a lot of the underwater drone companies are, I just hope many don't go under with a recession looming and economies teetering due to trade wars.

I think the QYSEA Fifish V6 is one of the most innovative underwater drones on the market!

 

[DaveM]

Following my first dive with the QYSEA V6 I managed to badly damage 3 propeller blades on one thruster ( see attached photo) and one blade of two other thrusters. The seller is sending me a full set of propellers. I would like to fit the thruster protectors when they come available.

 

[Eternal Angler]

Wow, worn all the way down, crazy. QYSEA needs to upgrade the plastic material they use, thank you so much for sharing Dave. I'm sure they'll sort out this problem with the newer models coming out such as the V6+ and W6, I'm glad they responded quickly with protective covers for the Fifish V6.

 

[DaveM]

The seller said the damage was done because I did not calibrate the drone before putting it in the water even though there was no mention of calibration in the quick start guide. Also the compass in the bottom right hand corner was reading correctly and the indicator in the bottom left showed correct orientation of the drone.

 

[Eternal Angler]

The seller said the damage was done because I did not calibrate the drone before putting it in the water even though there was no mention of calibration in the quick start guide. Also the compass in the bottom right hand corner was reading correctly and the indicator in the bottom left showed correct orientation of the drone.

Instead of making excuses, QYSEA should be fixing the problem, which is trying different material they use for the props or by making the propellers thicker, not blaming the owner for not calibrating.

I have not got a good impression from that company after listening some of the complaints on the Facebook groups, along with Dustin Dunill, who said he was kind of ordered to give the drone back to the company after his video didn't turn out the way they wanted it to, with all the shakiness in the ocean.

I think we should all give some leeway with these consumer ROV companies, this is still fairly new technology, but I think some of them need to work on their customer service. Getting chewed up props just from a one or two dives is inexcusable.

I've sat on the bottom for a long time with the Geneinno Titan, shooting up gravel, sand, and weeds through the thrusters. I went through numerous weed beds, also got caught up some thick boat rope at the marina twice at my local lake Lake St. Clair. The props on the Titan are still damage free and have absolutely no nicks in the propeller blades. I think this is one of the areas where the Titan excels in, with resiliency and dependability, the Titan being $600 more bucks than the Mini and Fifish V6, it better be. But the Titan definitely lacks in other areas... All the underwater ROVs lack in certain areas, without a doubt...

 

[DaveM]

I hope the new blades are a lot stronger than the original ones, they arrive tomorrow. I also ordered the protectors which will arrive on Tuesday. I will keep you updated on how they perform.