Alert: Battery temperature too Cold

[akdrone]

I'm mentioned in other threads that I have flown at -20F and colder without problems with my DJI FPV and Mavic 3. Just yesterday I was flying my Avata and got a message, something along the lines of "Battery Temperature too Cold" or something like that. I returned back to my launch spot and flew around very close to launch but had no actual issue. It was -10F and strong winds. The winds were strong enough that at one point I could not make any forward progress at all until I lowered my altitude from 250ft to 20 feet.

 

[old man mavic]

@its a well known fact that a cold battery ,will reduce the cells capabilities, to allow the normal chemical process to take place ,as they discharge ,which in turn reduces their power output ,when a high current flow is required ,such as ascending or being in sports mode,you mentioned -10F, and strong winds, which would have made the wind chill temperature even lower
yes the battery temperature will begin to rise during the flight ,and hovering for a couple of minutes just after take off will aid in this ,but the flight time will be reduced overall,

 

[akdrone]

But interestingly, and probably because of their larger batteries, neither my FPV nor my Mavic 3 would have been fazed by a similar flight. In fact I have checked the logs and viewed those batteries after flying in extreme temps only to find they remained at roughly room temperature. I assume that is because they are working and under load they are generating their own heat. All very interesting.

 

[old man mavic]

@akdrone ,looking at the position, and fitment of the battery, it appears to be quite exposed ,within the frame of the drone body ,compared to inside on other drones ,maybe this could have been a contributing factor

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

I'm mentioned in other threads that I have flown at -20F and colder without problems with my DJI FPV and Mavic 3. Just yesterday I was flying my Avata and got a message, something along the lines of "Battery Temperature too Cold" or something like that. I returned back to my launch spot and flew around very close to launch but had no actual issue. It was -10F and strong winds. The winds were strong enough that at one point I could not make any forward progress at all until I lowered my altitude from 250ft to 20 feet.

I bet you’re a lot of fun to fly with. I like your challenging attitude.

 

[akdrone]

@akdrone ,looking at the position, and fitment of the battery, it appears to be quite exposed ,within the frame of the drone body ,compared to inside on other drones ,maybe this could have been a contributing factor

I think that's an astute observation. Being entirely exposed must be a big factor. I'm glad I was reasonably close to my launch.

 

[akdrone]

I bet you’re a lot of fun to fly with. I like your challenging attitude.

That got a chuckle. If you wait till it's above 0F locally you'd end up sitting on your a(* for half the year . I've slept outside at -40F without a tent so -10F...meh. Hardly cold enough to bother with long pants > .

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Sadly we do not make a Wet Suit or Snow Suit for the Avata, which makes a world of difference on the battery by as much as 6 degrees on the battery alone. Sorry about that.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[angelfig119]

@its a well known fact that a cold battery ,will reduce the cells capabilities, to allow the normal chemical process to take place ,as they discharge ,which in turn reduces their power output ,when a high current flow is required ,such as ascending or being in sports mode,you mentioned -10F, and strong winds, which would have made the wind chill temperature even lower
yes the battery temperature will begin to rise during the flight ,and hovering for a couple of minutes just after take off will aid in this ,but the flight time will be reduced overall,

 

[angelfig119]

I don’t think windchill factor applies here

 

[akdrone]

I don’t think windchill factor applies here

while it's true that wind chill means nothing to an object sitting around outside, if you have an object that is being heated from within then if it sits in still air there will be a gradient of heat surrounding it as it will warm up the air next to the object. If wind blows that heat away it will indeed cool off more quickly. It may be that a 2mi/hr wind will move the heat away as efficiently as a 50mph wind so it is true that a "wind chill chart" probably does not apply but wind will play at least some role in cooling off an object that is generating heat. Drones are an interesting case in that the battery is constantly heating itself (as many Mini Pro owners learn when they let their drone sit doing and update until it overheats and shuts down...).

 

[mobilehomer]

while it's true that wind chill means nothing to an object sitting around outside, if you have an object that is being heated from within then if it sits in still air there will be a gradient of heat surrounding it as it will warm up the air next to the object. If wind blows that heat away it will indeed cool off more quickly. It may be that a 2mi/hr wind will move the heat away as efficiently as a 50mph wind so it is true that a "wind chill chart" probably does not apply but wind will play at least some role in cooling off an object that is generating heat. Drones are an interesting case in that the battery is constantly heating itself (as many Mini Pro owners learn when they let their drone sit doing and update until it overheats and shuts down...).

Kinda like blowing on your soup!

 

[angelfig119]

while it's true that wind chill means nothing to an object sitting around outside, if you have an object that is being heated from within then if it sits in still air there will be a gradient of heat surrounding it as it will warm up the air next to the object. If wind blows that heat away it will indeed cool off more quickly. It may be that a 2mi/hr wind will move the heat away as efficiently as a 50mph wind so it is true that a "wind chill chart" probably does not apply but wind will play at least some role in cooling off an object that is generating heat. Drones are an interesting case in that the battery is constantly heating itself (as many Mini Pro owners learn when they let their drone sit doing and update until it overheats and shuts down...).

 

[IFlied]

Kinda like blowing on your soup!

No, that’s evaporative cooling