So I've had my P4 out in some cold weather - got the "cold battery" warning before taking off - "battery temp is under 59 degrees." Warmed up the battery and took off. Then I got the same warning when flying. Anyone know if this is a problem? It didn't seem to be.
Cold weather flying question
- Thread starter Rob Levine
- Start date
My understanding is that if your battery gets too cold, it can lose power causing your drone to crash to the ground. I was just checking the other day and the manual for the P4 said min temp was 32deg F.(DJI Phantom 4 – Specs, FAQ, Tutorials and Downloads). I know that's different than the battery temp but I was surprised it was that warm.
Yeah, I was really surprised. I've seen others say they've been able to fly in much colder weather. DJI is probably being conservative so that we don't sue them.
You may want to take the battery and put it on your car's or truck's dash, then turn on the defrost and warm up the battery before you install it in "ANY" drone or quad before you go flying. This will give you some extra time in regards to flying. Cold weather will shorten your flight time and sometimes by a great deal, depending on the battery, it's capacity, age and such.
I would suggest not flying if the outside temps are below 40 degree's. Better to be safe than sorry.
I would suggest not flying if the outside temps are below 40 degree's. Better to be safe than sorry.
I use hand warmers and then I put them in my inner pocket of my coat along with the hand warmer to keep them warm, then I let the drone hover for about a minute to let it warm up again.
At my work, if we need to fly, we fly. Temperature doesn't change that. The Inspire I operate gives the low battery temp warning regularly. The only difference I see is about 30% shorter battery performance. I don't have any option other than landing more often and swapping in a fresh battery.
I do have to keep the batteries in my truck where it's warm before installing them. If they are too cold, the aircraft won't even take off. Then, the warning usually pops up within a minute or two of takeoff.
I do have to keep the batteries in my truck where it's warm before installing them. If they are too cold, the aircraft won't even take off. Then, the warning usually pops up within a minute or two of takeoff.
You are in Texas, it doesn't get that cold,if I was in texas i'd fly all the time too.
It was 23 degrees with winds of 25 miles per hour yesterday morning when I was flying. Lowest we see here is single digits.
The Inspire is quite powerful compared to my own personal Phantom. It handles the wind pretty well. I wouldn't have flown my own aircraft in those conditions though. I don't think a Phantom would fare too well fighting against that.
I wish I had an inspire but yeah the phantom wouldn't do to good in those winds.
DJI put this warning in as when the battery temps get low enough the reading on the battery voltage drops. If it goes down to a critical level (not the battery voltage you see in the Go app) the battery will turn off. If the Phantom is in the air when this happens it tends to come down pretty fast. As in, free fall fast. The battery temp is different then the low temp that the Phantom itself will operate in.
This has been posted many times. Warning and motors won't start if the batter is at 20C. You get a warning, motors will start but thrust is reduced at 25C,
15C is the magic number for battery temp for a P4. 15C = 59F. Your battery must be at least 15 C or the firmware won't allow you to start the props. This is probably in your manual.
But to be safe, it would be best to warm the battery to more than 15C. 20C would be good. 25C would be even better. 30C or 35C would be great if the air temps are particularly brutal.
What probably happened is your battery was at or near 15C, and then when you launched the battery cooled down a degree or two due to the air temp which puts it at risk of failure due to pronounced voltage lag.
Other ACs may allow you to fly with a battery below 15C. For example, I've launched my P2V with a battery as low as 10C. But the air temp was high enough that I knew the battery would warm quickly. OTOH, if the air temp was somewhere near freezing (0C, 32F), I would never launch with a battery at 10C. I would warm it to at least 25C.
Thanks everyone for your comments. Has anyone *actually* had a P4 or other drone catastrophically fall out of the sky like has been described here due to cold weather?
No one can really prove that but i asked some drone technician and they only says.. its better to fly when its 22C at least. but did not said it can die it mid air. By logic.. within one minute after took off. the battery tempreture will rise so high. so,, i dont see the reason why the drone could fall dead after 3 to 5 minutes of flying. I hope someone will explain more.
Today I went flying in less than ideal conditions:
Wind @10m was 16km/h, Gusts @10m were 27km/h, Outside temp was 3C, Wind Chill was 0C. Both UAV Forecast and Hover indicated it was not 'Not Good To Fly' because of the temperature. My batteries were in the truck and warm so decided to try it. Litchi said the IMU was warming up and then once it did everything was as normal. It was gusty so I kept the AC close by and continuously monitored the battery level and voltage. The flight was successful, but I had to be really careful bringing it down due to the gusts (did a hand catch) - didn't want to clip a tree branch.
I plan on doing lots more cold weather (even colder) flying so is there anything that I should be aware of or watch out for? I already have a battery warmer bag on order from HobbyKing so that should take care of the batteries but what about the AC and controller? Is the IMU warming up message normal? I am no stranger to cold weather but I have never flown my P3S in cold weather before - today was the coldest so far. Got to dig out my camera gloves as my hands got a little cold.
Thanks for any help.
Chris
Wind @10m was 16km/h, Gusts @10m were 27km/h, Outside temp was 3C, Wind Chill was 0C. Both UAV Forecast and Hover indicated it was not 'Not Good To Fly' because of the temperature. My batteries were in the truck and warm so decided to try it. Litchi said the IMU was warming up and then once it did everything was as normal. It was gusty so I kept the AC close by and continuously monitored the battery level and voltage. The flight was successful, but I had to be really careful bringing it down due to the gusts (did a hand catch) - didn't want to clip a tree branch.
I plan on doing lots more cold weather (even colder) flying so is there anything that I should be aware of or watch out for? I already have a battery warmer bag on order from HobbyKing so that should take care of the batteries but what about the AC and controller? Is the IMU warming up message normal? I am no stranger to cold weather but I have never flown my P3S in cold weather before - today was the coldest so far. Got to dig out my camera gloves as my hands got a little cold.
Thanks for any help.
Chris
Having been an avid hunter in the past one thing that you can use are the Hot Hands, Hot Feet that they sell at any sporting goods store, but Walmart has the best price. The minute you open one of the packets it will stay warm up to 10 hours, so you can use them to heat your hands, feet and of course your battery in your pocket. Do not put them in a closed bag as they must be in contact with air to work properly.
www.walmart.com/ip/HotHands-Superwarmers-10-Pack/33486551
Get the Adhesive backed kind, that way you can stick them on your underwear and stay warm with not problems.
www.walmart.com/ip/HotHands-Superwarmers-10-Pack/33486551
Get the Adhesive backed kind, that way you can stick them on your underwear and stay warm with not problems.
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