Flying in winter
- Thread starter Big Gus
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The Phantom manual recommends not flying in temperatures below freezing. It's possible to do so though if you keep the battery warm prior to flying and you watch the battery voltage while flying. Keep in mind that the battery won't last as long in colder temperatures.
With the new firmware for the batteries you won't be able to start the motors if the batteries are below (I think) 20F. I have a prior post on this with the correct temp. I think it stops at 20F and you get limited power at 25F. This is battery temp. That is what is important.
What happens when it's really cold out and I put a nice warm battery in the P4? As the battery is used it will warm up all by itself.
I recently flew my P4 in 29F degree temps with no issues. I've flown my P3A in temps as low as 19F with no issues. I keep my batteries in a insulated bag until I'm ready to use them. I always use full battery packs and start bringing it home sooner than in warmer months...
You can start the engine and take off with cold batteries, but if the internal temperature is below 16C (61F) a warning will pop up on the DJI Go screen telling you to let the battery warm up before flying. I've had this happen once. What I did was take off and hover for a minute or so until the battery temperature got above 16C. If a battery is kept in a vehicle or in a house, it should be much warmer and this shouldn't be an issue.
The battery is totally enclosed and it generates its own heat during flight. Because of this, cold batteries haven't been an issue with me so far. I took a flight yesterday with and outside temperature of -4C (25F).
The battery had a 100% charge. The battery temperature at takeoff was 17C (63F)
Even though the ambient air was -4C, the battery's internal temperature warmed up to 44C (111 F) during the flight.
I flew for 15 minutes (The charge was 25% when I landed). This is about what I get on warm summer days.
I plan to fly in even colder temperatures.. I'll report my findings
The battery is totally enclosed and it generates its own heat during flight. Because of this, cold batteries haven't been an issue with me so far. I took a flight yesterday with and outside temperature of -4C (25F).
The battery had a 100% charge. The battery temperature at takeoff was 17C (63F)
Even though the ambient air was -4C, the battery's internal temperature warmed up to 44C (111 F) during the flight.
I flew for 15 minutes (The charge was 25% when I landed). This is about what I get on warm summer days.
I plan to fly in even colder temperatures.. I'll report my findings
You just blew the "expect shorter flight times" out if the water. Your experience is what I had expected.
NoCo Drones
NoCo Drones
Thanks jwt I guess I really don't have TOO much to worry about, I'll just keep an [emoji872] on the voltage n I'll be fine
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We have flown our P3 Adv last winter. It was before DJI released firmware update to battery that reduced performance in cold weather.
It was about -10 to -12 C° (google for F) and we had to wait till drone will heat up battery. Once it got warm enough to take off (I think it took about 3-5 mins to warm) it flew without problems. But we were aware of voltage and battery life and I must say that voltage was dropping quite fast. I think I could push out maybe 60-70 % of usual flight time.
We had 2 extra batteries and we kept them in our inside pockets so they were warm and it took no extra warming in drone to take off.
My advice - fly smoothly and don`t do any hard movements (unless you absolutely need to) on drone. Especially if you want to rise to higher altitude do it slowly. And when battery voltage goes into red just stop and hover to regain some voltage back. So you have to plan your shots - get in position, hover to regain voltage and then do your shot.
It was about -10 to -12 C° (google for F) and we had to wait till drone will heat up battery. Once it got warm enough to take off (I think it took about 3-5 mins to warm) it flew without problems. But we were aware of voltage and battery life and I must say that voltage was dropping quite fast. I think I could push out maybe 60-70 % of usual flight time.
We had 2 extra batteries and we kept them in our inside pockets so they were warm and it took no extra warming in drone to take off.
My advice - fly smoothly and don`t do any hard movements (unless you absolutely need to) on drone. Especially if you want to rise to higher altitude do it slowly. And when battery voltage goes into red just stop and hover to regain some voltage back. So you have to plan your shots - get in position, hover to regain voltage and then do your shot.
I'll be testing different OATs (Outside Air Temperatures) this winter as many weeks go by and the OAT never get above freezing. It gets down to minus 40°F and colder.
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When flying in sub freezing temperatures I can't help but wonder if the cold air puts additional stress on the plastic.
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I don't know about the plastic but metal will shrink ever so slightly in extreme cold.
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My suspicion would be that the battery's power would start decreasing rather quickly which could spell disaster pending on the circumstances. 
