Not booting in cold weather (0°C)

[Grobur]

Hello everyone, I tried flying my drone twice in cold weather (about -1 to 0 °C) and both times, it would get stuck trying to boot (internal cooling fan spinning on full blast). The second time, I tried keeping the batteries warm in my pocket, but it still exhibited the same behavior. When warming the heat sink at the bottom, it eventually booted after a restart. I haven't found any topics about this yet, so I'm wondering if this is normal behavior (an upgrade to the latest firmware didn't fix this issue). In room temperature, it boots up fine every time.

 

[dirkclod]

Where you in a warm location when you last did a IMU Calibration.
We used to do cold IMU calibrations with the phantoms to prevent that. We would go as far as putting one in a refrigerator to be cooler then room temp .
Hey it worked with those. ?‍

 

[Grobur]

Where you in a warm location when you last did a IMU Calibration.
We used to do cold IMU calibrations with the phantoms to prevent that. We would go as far as putting one in a refrigerator to be cooler then room temp .
Hey it worked with those. ?‍

Yeah I was in my room when I last did it. I'll try recalibrating it outside in the garden! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[dirkclod]

Yeah I was in my room when I last did it. I'll try recalibrating it outside in the garden! Thanks for the suggestion.

Let it be colder than tha ambient temperature .

 

[Repaid1]

Hello everyone, I tried flying my drone twice in cold weather (about -1 to 0 °C) and both times, it would get stuck trying to boot (internal cooling fan spinning on full blast). The second time, I tried keeping the batteries warm in my pocket, but it still exhibited the same behavior. When warming the heat sink at the bottom, it eventually booted after a restart. I haven't found any topics about this yet, so I'm wondering if this is normal behavior (an upgrade to the latest firmware didn't fix this issue). In room temperature, it boots up fine every time.

Seems it don't like cold weather? Nor do I

 

[dirkclod]

Seems it don't like cold weather? Nor do I

Nor do I ,why I fly from my truck but just from habit I still make sure
my drone is colder than room temp when I do one.
We don’t have those low of temps when it’s cold here ?
That guy I don’t watch myself so no idea what he says.
I just do what works for me . ?‍

 

[Repaid1]

Nor do I ,why I fly from my truck but just from habit I still make sure
my drone is colder than room temp when I do one.
We don’t have those low of temps when it’s cold here ?
That guy I don’t watch myself so no idea what he says.
I just do what works for me . ?‍

I wasn't promoting his channel BTW, but like he said in his video he was the first (one of the first, to do this test?), so I linked it. I personally, if I "have" to fly in colder weather, take my aircraft from a suitable warmed environment, then launch. All my batteries are kept warm between flights if applicable and for the most part once a aircraft is flown it is warmed enough to swap new batteries in to continue to use. I forgot to say to fast forward to 5:25 for the cold batt part

I "blurp" the throttle a few times for altitude and descend, and repeat for about a minute to ensure everything is warmed for a outward flight as well, just my practice from over the years when I lived in a much colder climate in Ohio.

 

[Grobur]

Seems it don't like cold weather? Nor do I

Thanks for the link; I already watched this video as it was linked elsewhere. However, he doesn't experience the same problem like I do, his drone boots fine but throws a battery installation error, while mine refuses to boot altogether in 0°C.

 

[Repaid1]

Thanks for the link; I already watched this video as it was linked elsewhere. However, he doesn't experience the same problem like I do, his drone boots fine but throws a battery installation error, while mine refuses to boot altogether in 0°C.

I did catch that, but as yours boots fine when warm I figured you have your own answer. As mentioned a COLD IMU Cal may help as I have done them in the past. But for the most part it just doesn't like cold Brrrrrrr!

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Prior to doing an IMU calibration I have stuck a phantom in the fridge before lol

 

[Repaid1]

Prior to doing an IMU calibration I have stuck a phantom in the fridge before lol

It was taught to us by DJI Reps back in the day. Unfortunately the Phantoms IMU cal and the newer aircraft vary greatly. Given that the IMU's have a internal heating element, I fear with the procedural changes as to how the Cals are done would preempt any significant change or help. But I am just going by why the Phantoms liked to be chilled back then and the "Physics" behind it...but who really knows, and it can't hurt to try

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I can't guarantee that is is correct but I do have the impression that some of the M2P/Z's and MM's that I have played with do take longer to boot than others but with nowhere near the variations I have seen in P3adv's.
That said I think I have only been 'required' to do 2 Mavic x IMU calibrations and didn't think about cooling them before hand.