Low Battery Voltage???

[m4v1c]

I was flying the Mavic over a cliff and all of a sudden I got a message, something between the lines of "Low battery voltage, landing right now." I started to panic since the Mavic started to descend in place; I was still able to fly upwards and back to me BUT it continued to slowly descend when my fingers were away from the joysticks.

Luckily, I got it back in time. I'm worried this will happen again and my only thought is that the weather was so cold that it affected the Li battery (I left the drone outside for a good 20-30 min while my phone was charging). I believe the weather was about 35-40 F (1.67-4.4 C) & it was pretty windy. The manual says <5 C, the battery will be affected.

-So how often are you guys checking your battery temperatures? It was so spontaneous and I wish the app gave me a warning BEFORE FLYING to prevent it from crashing. It would be a hassle to be constantly checking every few minutes in colder weather.

-Does the Mavic get cold really fast even when its flying? I feel like the Mavic stays pretty warm when I'm flying and using the whole battery's life. It should only get warmer as I'm flying right? Not colder?

-What's a good temperature range where it's safe to fly? Just above >5 C (>41 F)? I don't want to risk taking the Mavic out in colder weather if it will spontaneously descend!!!

EDIT: Got home from my hike and recharged all three batteries, they seem to be at a good ~20 C & all three were ~12v. I believe this means each battery is healthy (each battery has been charged for less than 20 times).

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

The cold weather definitely impacts the battery performance. I know some people who keep them in little soft side coolers with hand warmers in the cooler to help keep the batteries warm right up until flight time. Definitely helps.

www.FloridaDroneSupply.com

 

[Egika]

Under 15°C DJI Go should warn you about the battery performance.
You are right about the whole thing becoming warm during the flight. But this applies more to the semiconductors inside than to the battery.
Just keep it in your pocket close to your body before putting it in for the flight.

 

[BD0G]

Its good practice to hover in place for a minute or so after takeoff if the temp is really low.

You should set the setting in DJI GO 4 that displays battery voltage on the main screen .

 

[Cyberpower678]

In sports mode, the power draw is great enough to heat the battery up greatly, even in the cold. I can fly in -8°C temperatures while the battery still reports being 30°C warm. The on board computer heats up to and so do the motors when flying. If your battery was too cold it wouldn't let you fly or give a temperature warning mid-flight. You may have a bad cell in the battery.

 

[m4v1c]

I looked back at my warnings log and it said "Critcally Low Voltage. Aircraft will land." This message occurred after 60 seconds of flying on sports mode (as mentioned above, I left the DJI mavic outside for a good 20-30 min in windy 35-40 F (1.67-4.4 C) conditions. I still had control of the Mavic, it just continue to descend when my fingers were off the joysticks. I never got a warning until this one--besides the "Large Wind Velocity. Fly with Caution"

1) What is a good voltage level? ~12 V???

2) What is a good battery temp? What temp is considered not safe to fly?

3) Why didn't I get a warning from GO4 app stating that my voltage was low before flying?

4) Besides keeping the spare batteries warm (eg. putting them in my pockets), do you guys have any other tips?

I've been flying the Mavic a lot for the past week (draining at least all three batteries for the past 5-6 days)
Thanks!

 

[xy_skis]

This happened to me as well when I was over water and, like you, had to use the controller to keep the drone from descending. After landing and taking off again in the same flight, it did not happen again and has not happened since. Never got to the bottom of it, but definitely made my heart race.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[Kilrah]

It would be a hassle to be constantly checking every few minutes in colder weather.

No point in checking it regularly since unless it's REALLY cold (<0°C) it will self-heat enough during flight.
It's before takeoff that you'd want to check the battery page. Avoid <15°C, i.e. if you leave the aircraft outside keep the battery inside or on you until you're ready to go.

If <15°C you may take off but no sport mode or aggressive flying until it heats up >15-20°C.

3) Why didn't I get a warning from GO4 app stating that my voltage was low before flying?

Becasue it isn't low until you pull on the battery like crazy and it can't deliver due to the cold.

 

[Blindluck]

Just happened to me as well, flying along then same warning and started to land. What the hell, but then full stick up, critical warning stayed on but I was able to regain control and fly home.

 

[dewster]

Youtuber: Cruisingoffduty lost his Mavic while flying over rapids in cold weather. It has to be the cold temperatures. His descended with a similar warning.

My electric car suffers in the cold. It actually uses some of its energy to keep the batteries warm when it gets real cold.

Check out the lost Mavic video:

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots