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The effects of heat on Mavic; Some good news

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It finally got up to near 90° today, so I thought that in light of some recent battery and Mavic operating temperature questions, I would do some research with my temperature gun.

I took 2 Mavics out in my SUV to a nearby park which was around a 20 minute drive. The sun was shining on one side of the car during the trip. The ambient temperature outside was 88°f (31°c). I had the air conditioner in my SUV set to 78° and the 2 Mavics were in the back in their OEM DJI boxes.

After opening the tailgate of the car, the temperature of the Mavic box that was in the shade was 106°, the other box that was in the sun was 130°. After leaving the back hatch open for 10 minutes, the box that was in the sun was 146° and the box that was in the shade was 110°. The temperature increase might have been due to the SUVs tinted windows not protecting the Mavics after opening the back hatch.

I opened the box of the Mavic that was in the shade, and the Mavic body and battery temperature were 99°, or 11° cooler than the outside of the box. I opened the other box that had been in the sun the whole time, and the inside of the box including Mavic and battery was 100° despite the outside of the box being 146°. My conclusion is that despite one being in the sun and one being on the shade, keeping the Mavics inside the boxes kept the Mavic temperatures significantly cooler than the outside of the box, and well within the tolerances of the Mavic battery operating temperature.

I also tested the screen and back temps of my Samsung Galaxy Note 5, and it was 98° to start after 10 minutes inside the car with hatch open in the shade.

To further the test, I decided to go for several flights to see what the affects of flying on an 88° day would have on the Mavics operating temperatures. I made note of temperatures using both the temp gun when it was on the ground, and the DJI Go app for battery temperatures when it was in the air. I temped the battery itself, the Mavic battery tray under the battery which is right on top of the FC ESC board, the propulsion motors, and the internal components through the exhaust ducts in the rear, and last the heat sink on the bottom of the Mavic.

Outside the car, in the shade during my preflight, I let the Mavic sit for 10 minutes in the off position and the temp was 91° on all components. Took the Mav up to 250' and hovered for around 3 minutes, battery temp per DJI Go was then 102°. I then tried flying in sport mode, at 350' and throttle wide open for 6 solid minutes in straight lines. Battery temp per DJI Go was surprisingly only 114° after the speed run, or only 12° higher than when it was hovering. I decided to continue the sport mode speed test, and left it wide open for the remainder of the flight, total sport mode speed run time was 15 minutes, total flight time 18 minutes. The temperature of the battery per DJI Go was 122° after 15 minutes of continual full throttle flight. That is just around optimal operating temperature for a Lipo battery. My conclusion about flying wide open in sport mode on an 88° day with a 5mph wind at 350' altitude, is that the battery stayed within its designed operating temperature range.

After landing, I temped the outside of the battery and it was 111°, propulsion motor temperatures were between 103 - 105°. I pulled out the battery and the hottest spot on the underside of the battery was 123°, and the battery tray inside the Mavic was the same temperature which means that the FC ESC board under the battery tray did not raise the battery tray temperature or the battery temp at all. Heat sink on the bottom of the Mavic was 115° at its hottest spot. Internal components were temped through the exhaust ducts on the aft of the Mavic, hottest reading I could get was 96°, cooler than any of the other Mavic components, probably due to the cooling fan and forced incoming air through the front grill.

Gimbal motor temps were hottest 110°. Controller temps never exceeded 110° taken through the top exhaust grill.

In summary, I flew the Mavic at it's maximum speed for 15 minutes on an 88° day at 350' altitude, and every single component was well within or below it's designed operating temperature. My main concerns were the battery, motors, and FC ESC board, but the FC board was the coolest part of the whole aircraft despite being cramped inside a tight body. I think the air being forced into the front, and also the cooling fan help immensely.

I intentionally did not wait for a hotter day since DJI recommends not flying in temps in excess of 95°, but I will probably do another test in the summer on a 95° day and report the results.

If there are any proofreaders that have had to endure this long winded post, and can help me abbreviate it while still making the relevant points, Im sure anyone reading this would appreciate it. Please feel free to edit it as you wish and send me a conversation.

Thanks for reading.
 
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Thanks for infos. These two weeks I'm in Greece and the temperature here is between 28 and 31 degrees and I was wondering if it safe to fly the Mavic with that temperature.... but as you said it not going to be an issue.

Now I'm thinking if it would be safe to fly it on August because the temperature here is gonna be above 36 degrees....
 
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Thanks for infos. These two weeks I'm in Greece and the temperature here is between 28 and 31 degrees and I was wondering if it safe to fly the Mavic with that temperature.... but as you said it not going to be an issue.

Now I'm thinking if it would be safe to fly it on August because the temperature here is gonna be above 36 degrees....

Even at 36°c you might be ok, just keep checking DJI Go during the flight to monitor your battery temperature especially if you are going to be zooming around in sport mode. If youre going to be slow flying and filming, it probably wont be an issue, but still check DJI Go for battery temps.

Going to Greece and seeing the Acropolis and Santorini are on my bucket list.
 
Even at 36°c you might be ok, just keep checking DJI Go during the flight to monitor your battery temperature especially if you are going to be zooming around in sport mode. If youre going to slow flying and filming, it probably woint be an issue, but still check DJI Go for battery temps.

Going to Greece and the Acropolis is on my bucket list.

Super! Because I always flying in normal mode or tripod mode.
If you are planning to visit Athens during the summer, be aware because in Athens the temperatures between June and August are 38-42 C degrees.
 
DJI who is developing these gadgets is situated in Shenzhen. Guess what their temperature in summer is :)
 
DJI who is developing these gadgets is situated in Shenzhen. Guess what their temperature in summer is :)

Yes its not as warm as other climates, Shenzhen summer highs are around 85 and winter lows are around 60. In terms of sales and development, I think the majority of their products are designed for the north American and European markets where temps might be warmer and cooler. Thats why 95°f is highest recommended flight temp and 32° is the minimum. ;)

DJI Temps in China.jpg
 
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Surprised there is no Temp alarm/warning.
Well there is [sort of ] If its too cold it starts shivering. [ some people would blame it on the gimbal ] And if its too hot it won't come out from the shade.:p
 
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Thanks for infos. These two weeks I'm in Greece and the temperature here is between 28 and 31 degrees and I was wondering if it safe to fly the Mavic with that temperature.... but as you said it not going to be an issue.

Now I'm thinking if it would be safe to fly it on August because the temperature here is gonna be above 36 degrees....
Flying veey high humidity in Vietnam Sa Pa and Halong Bay. The past week at approx 32C. Will be doing more in next 2 days with temps likely to be up to 35C. Have only had one high motor amp warning in sport mode. Battery temps at end of flight near 40C. Not much greater really than a typical flight at 25C. PS The filming at 1080 60fps in his climate has been spectacular. Absolutely faultless...

A little word of caution for newbies flying in different countries. I nearly lost my Mavic Air in a rice terrace when the wifi cut out only 20 metres from me. Lucky to be closer enough to grab it before plunging into water. Always check and carefully analyse your local wifi traffic before first flight.

What happened?

It was the auto wifi channel select. The Mavic Air got chopped by heavy 2.4 GHz signals near our home stay. Normally flies at 5 GHz auto mode.

Lesson learnt ALWAYS check wifi in area and set your drone to custom mode. I switched to a quiet 5ghz channel in custom mode and had zero problems afterwards.

Sensible steady throttle on warm days going easy in sport mode at 30-35 should keep your bird happy.
 
I did two flights this past weekend in Austin, TX where it was right around 100F on those days. The only problem I noticed was that it seems like when my iPad Mini gets hot from the sun I get massive performance degradation from the device. The video gets very choppy, stalls frequently and I get a lot of warnings that the mobile device CPU is overloaded. I got my Mavic in December, so this is the first time I've flown it in hot conditions.

Is it strictly the heat of the iPad that is causing CPU issues? I have never had a problem with this device before (around 75 flights).
 
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Is it strictly the heat of the iPad that is causing CPU issues? I have never had a problem with this device before (around 75 flights).

Yes it's possible. Devices sometimes malfunction before the Mavic does in extreme conditions. Most devices, IOS and Android, dont have cooling fans, and even though Apples processors run alot cooler than others, heat can be a problem, especially in direct sunlight where temps can be 100° outside but higher on your device.

Which iPad do you have? Are you using the iPad in between the 2 controller clamps?
 
Yes it's possible. Devices sometimes malfunction before the Mavic does in extreme conditions. Most devices, IOS and Android, dont have cooling fans, and even though Apples processors run alot cooler than others, heat can be a problem, especially in direct sunlight where temps can be 100° outside but higher on your device.

Which iPad do you have? Are you using the iPad in between the 2 controller clamps?

Thanks for that - I have the iPad Mini 2 and I use it between the clamps.

It was super hot after only being out there 5 or so minutes. I try to retreat to a shaded area on my patio, but then my signal goes down the drain.
 
Thanks for that - I have the iPad Mini 2 and I use it between the clamps.

It was super hot after only being out there 5 or so minutes. I try to retreat to a shaded area on my patio, but then my signal goes down the drain.

Many people use an additional mount and a sun shade to shield their devices from the sun. It cuts down on the sun beating on your device, and also gives you a a glare free view of the device.
 
You could try one of these. I have One and love it. It is an invaluable tool when flying in the bright sun.

I think a side effect is that iPad will absorb much less heat from the sun

75410783-5EE4-410F-960F-FF0480C6B1CB.png
 
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Most of the semiconductor parts are fine even at way higher temps - 50-60°C, even 70°C.
I was testing my drone after repair today, thermometer was showing 100.5°F outside (its borked at fahrenheit), i had no problem with temperatures.
 
Most of the semiconductor parts are fine even at way higher temps - 50-60°C, even 70°C.

They might very well be, but I would never knowingly exceed 120° - 130°f in any of the components in the Mavic, especially the battery. The core board temperature is controlled by an electronic thermostat and is cooled directly by the cooling fan and keeps things between 90 - 100°f while operating.

On desktop computers, the cooling fan often sits directly on top of the thermal paste on the chip. The Mavics fan is a little bit further away than that.
 
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