A less noisy Mavic

[PaoloOne]

Guys,

I have found a P3 video were a guy was suggesting to use some extra fine sandpaper (500 or so) to smooth the edges of the props since as they come they were not found very smooth edges, a bit sharp.
I have been very light in sandpaper usage and if some plastic was taken off is just matter of microns, not enough to change the balance of them in any way and in any case I did it symmetrically. I did this especially on the leading edge, making it smoother.
I have also removed that "3380" number that is embossed.

After this little hacks it seems to me that my Mavic is more quiet.

Has anybody tried something similar?

Please don't tell me the story of possible disbalance that they might cause because, I repeat, it is so few removed and is anyway symmetrical....

 

[temptation]

Will try that.. maybe even with extra fine 1000 sandpapper..

 

[Top Hat]

Paper nail pile that thing they use in nail salon, that's what I'm using to smooth the edges of my props.

 

[Pp09nlk2n]

Would love to know if it is "real" or just a placebo effect.
Someone should try a before and after with a decibel detector

 

[HiVac]

I use this sound pressure level meter....

SPL Meter on the App Store

It works pretty good, and would definitely give you a reference reading if you flew one sanded and one unsanded set at a set height.....

Maybe close enough to really tell....

I'm interested!

 

[PaoloOne]

I use this sound pressure level meter....

SPL Meter on the App Store

It works pretty good, and would definitely give you a reference reading if you flew one sanded and one unsanded set at a set height.....

Maybe close enough to really tell....

I'm interested!

Good idea, I'll try to test tomorrow

 

[omod]

Good idea, I'll try to test tomorrow

Any update?

 

[PaoloOne]

Any update?

yes, indeed is slightly less noisy this is with brand new props:

This with the one made smooth:

 

[theAlexanderGraham]

As someone who in another life use to be involved with spending WAY to much money on car stereos, those phone apps are pretty notoriously unreliable.

90-95 db range is pretty loud. The Mavic is significantly quieter than that.

For example, my son is a motocross racer and by regulation exhaust noise can't exceed 96db at full throttle.

Those bikes are LOUD. Enough that guys in the pits are wearing ear protection. It's uncomfortable to be inside an enclosed two car garage with that thing under throttle.

Similar to something here, this particular exhaust is rated at 96db.

 

[PaoloOne]

90-95 db range is pretty loud. The Mavic is significantly quieter than that.

I agree that could be not reliable as absolute value but it lets say that could be 5 dba quieter indeed, I think that could be a decent result considering that this will impact even more the props efficiency, what do you think?
Consider that both tests were made inside, 2m distance and I really think that under such indoor conditions I would not bear for long time that noise.

 

[theAlexanderGraham]

I agree that could be not reliable as absolute value but it lets say that could be 5 dba quieter indeed, I think that could be a decent result considering that this will impact even more the props efficiency, what do you think?
Consider that both tests were made inside, 2m distance and I really think that under such indoor conditions I would not bear for long time that noise.

To clarify, I'm not disputing the fact there could be an improvement made with sanding. Simply that the perceived readings on the app are likely falsely high.

This isn't your fault, just a limitation of the iPhone, etc. used to measure, as their microphones aren't in any way similar to professional sound monitoring equipment.

The example I was trying to create with the motorcycle exhaust can also be compared to a gasoline powered lawn mower, which is around 95db.

You can hear your neighbor mowing several hundred feet away with multiple fences, trees, etc between you and him.

You can't hear a Mavic hovering three feet off the ground in that same yard at the same distance.

It's conjecture based on relative sounds of other objects, coupled with experience measuring sound pressure, but I'd guess the Mavic to be considerable quieter, pehaps 75-80 db.

For reference, the human ear isn't capable of detecting a difference of more than 3db, and a 10db increase feels "twice as loud".

 

[Chun]

Db shmebe fly drones from 5 years or even 2 years ago ,or most on the market today, mavic is pretty quiet

 

[Hightower]

what about using there native "voice memos" app for iPhone? it may be more accurate and it displays Db levels...

 

[armoredsaint]

lol - how about spray wax on the plastic body, it'll make it slicker.

 

[Kingkong]

I read somewhere once that the major cause of noise in roto type aircraft was a blade crossing the turbulence from another blade EG the blades on a rear of a helicopter this may be why in some military drones you find a cowling around the rotors

So design a cowling and u might reduce thw noise quite a bit

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

I Lived through the 60s 70s and 80s now suffer for enjoying all those bands especially Led Zep, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath.
A few decibels here or there don't affect me.

 

[Blucenturion]

That 2 Stroke sounds better than Vivaldi to my ears. Rev it up!

 

[dewster]

My Mavic is quiet during a fast ascent. Noisy when just hovering. Sometimes it sounds like bees at lower altitudes. It's pretty quiet at or above 200 feet.

 

[rydfree]

I agree that could be not reliable as absolute value but it lets say that could be 5 dba quieter indeed, I think that could be a decent result considering that this will impact even more the props efficiency, what do you think?
Consider that both tests were made inside, 2m distance and I really think that under such indoor conditions I would not bear for long time that noise.

Each increase in db is roughly 33% louder than the last ( intensity/ what you hear ) so 5 db would be pushing 3 times as loud . Not likely . Measurement of pressure in db (what you feel ) takes roughly 6db to double .
Also don't underestimate the imbalance that "carefully" removing material from a prop will cause . I have several precision prop balancers from my 3D heli days and it takes a very small delicate swipe of sandpaper to upset the balance .

 

[PaoloOne]

You may be right and I may be lucky but my feeling is that is really flying better and smoother, maybe auto-suggestion but here mavichelp.com has included this as one of the fixes.