All it does is rain. Every day. Phantomrain to the rescue!!

[slozukimc]

I have two Mavic Pros. A regular Pro and a Platinum. I want to fly a lot more and all it does is rain, rain and guess what? More rain. I also live in the Fingerlakes region of New York so the prettiest places to fly involve water. Creeks, lakes, ponds, swamps and just plain wet grass and such to land in have kept me inside and away from these hazards with my expensive gadgets.
So thanks to this forum I found out about Phantomrain wetsuits and rescue jackets. I emailed Coal this evening and after a few emails and temperamental credit cards all was set and I have enough gear on the way for both Pro’s and 9 batteries along with one rescue jacket to share between them. Maybe I should see about adding a second. Lol

Thanks again for the help Coal. I will let you, and everyone here know how well they work ASAP.

Mike

 

[BSauce955]

I have two Mavic Pros. A regular Pro and a Platinum. I want to fly a lot more and all it does is rain, rain and guess what? More rain. I also live in the Fingerlakes region of New York so the prettiest places to fly involve water. Creeks, lakes, ponds, swamps and just plain wet grass and such to land in have kept me inside and away from these hazards with my expensive gadgets.
So thanks to this forum I found out about Phantomrain wetsuits and rescue jackets. I emailed Coal this evening and after a few emails and temperamental credit cards all was set and I have enough gear on the way for both Pro’s and 9 batteries along with one rescue jacket to share between them. Maybe I should see about adding a second. Lol

Thanks again for the help Coal. I will let you, and everyone here know how well they work ASAP.

Mike

I’ve always wondered if these really work. To me, it just looks like some foam stickers that are only for peace of mind.

 

[Meta4]

I've always wondered why anyone would want to fly in rain.

 

[slozukimc]

I’ve always wondered if these really work. To me, it just looks like some foam stickers that are only for peace of mind.

I guess I will find out soon enough. The battery seals are most important I think.

 

[slozukimc]

I've always wondered why anyone would want to fly in rain.

I am waterproof. My drone isn’t. I don’t get a lot of time to fly when it is sunny and nice out. The creeks and lakes are prime for exploring and **** happens. I don’t dare play around the water without some form of protection even if all it does is keep the drone from sinking in the event of a crash. Then there is winter. The other 10 months of the year in NY. Lol.

Mike

 

[eEridani]

The drone has a fan, and air channels the fan blows air through. The channels direct the air to the electronics. Thus, when rain drops keep falling, the fan sucks in the water through the vents, and blows the wet air down the channels - directing that rain water into the sensitive electronics.

Not to mention the motors, the gimbal, the visual camera lenses.

But, your drone may not sink if it dips into a stream or lake. Though, not many of us carry boats with us to affect a rescue out on the middle of a lake, not following a drone down a flowing stream it landed in.

 

[slozukimc]

The drone has a fan, and air channels the fan blows air through. The channels direct the air to the electronics. Thus, when rain drops keep falling, the fan sucks in the water through the vents, and blows the wet air down the channels - directing that rain water into the sensitive electronics.

Not to mention the motors, the gimbal, the visual camera lenses.

But, your drone may not sink if it dips into a stream or lake. Though, not many of us carry boats with us to affect a rescue out on the middle of a lake, not following a drone down a flowing stream it landed in.

What folks fail to realize is that those electronics are coated with a protective barrier and the motors are not bothered by water. Have you seen the videos Phantomrain posted? Seems like the products work well but I guess I will see for myself.

I do have a kayak I intend to toss in the back of the truck when flying around the water, just in case. And which is better? Following a floating drone down the creek hoping for a safe rescue or trying to figure out where the darned thing is at the bottom because it sank? I’ll take my chances with the rescue jacket.

Either way I will post here about how they work. And maybe some cool pics and videos to boot.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I’ve always wondered if these really work. To me, it just looks like some foam stickers that are only for peace of mind.

You will be getting your Air 2S soon and you will find out fairly quickly how fast rain gets inside the battery on your first unexpected shower. Its a wake up call, Only takes about 3 minutes in the rain to disconnect.

You will than be forced to only fly on perfect days, and without any chance to capture the storm and when it does rain, you will be in panic mode.

These are issue that were solved with the Wet Suit protecting the Battery and the Power button which gets compromised very easily and When that happens the battery starts to swell .

I think we have close to 300 videos of us Flying in the Rain , so were way past the Peace of mind stage , the Wet Suits allow you to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the rain.

 

[eEridani]

What folks fail to realize is that those electronics are coated with a protective barrier and the motors are not bothered by water. Have you seen the videos Phantomrain posted? Seems like the products work well but I guess I will see for myself.

I do have a kayak I intend to toss in the back of the truck when flying around the water, just in case. And which is better? Following a floating drone down the creek hoping for a safe rescue or trying to figure out where the darned thing is at the bottom because it sank? I’ll take my chances with the rescue jacket.

Either way I will post here about how they work. And maybe some cool pics and videos to boot.

Not the barometer ... not the motor bearings - and generally not the rest of the circuitry.

Most boards have a solder resist that looks like it is protective, but that doesn't protect the components. Few if any manufacturer epoxy or similar conformal coats circuit boards these days. One of the companies I worked for did when we made things that had to be water proof or survive salt environments (mainly ship board systems), anything else was left bare.

And here's a Mavic Air 2 board: no conformal coatings at all:



Here's another image, you can see the solder resist, and clearly see no conformal coatings.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The drone has a fan, and air channels the fan blows air through. The channels direct the air to the electronics. Thus, when rain drops keep falling, the fan sucks in the water through the vents, and blows the wet air down the channels - directing that rain water into the sensitive electronics.

Not to mention the motors, the gimbal, the visual camera lenses.

But, your drone may not sink if it dips into a stream or lake. Though, not many of us carry boats with us to affect a rescue out on the middle of a lake, not following a drone down a flowing stream it landed in.

With well over 300 flights in the Pouring Rain , this is not true, even without the Wet Suit . There is now fan sucking in Rain drops, its just not strong enough .

The Camera is as we have shown in videos Air Tight and the Motors Are Aluminum Brush - Less Motors designed to negotiate water so well that these are the Exact Same Motors used in submersibles .

Out of the 300 Pouring Rain were confident in the DJI drones and the Wet Suit that protect the Battery and the Power Button that allow them to fly in the Rain.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[eEridani]

Lol - okay - a rain drop hitting at 30 mph won't penetrate a perforated grill. Won't get in a spinning motor (with steel shafts and bearings). Won't get into a gimbal with tin contacts.

Not saying keeping the battery well and power button drier won't help, but preventing water intrusion into the drone is impossible.

Have you done wind tunnel tests?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Not the barometer ... not the motor bearings - and generally not the rest of the circuitry.

Most boards have a solder resist that looks like it is protective, but that doesn't protect the components. Few if any manufacturer epoxy or similar conformal coats circuit boards these days. One of the companies I worked for did when we made things that had to be water proof or survive salt environments (mainly ship board systems), anything else was left bare.

And here's a Mavic Air 2 board: no conformal coatings at all:
View attachment 136695


Here's another image, you can see the solder resist, and clearly see no conformal coatings.
View attachment 136696

Once again, we submerge all the drones under water , including the Phantom 4 , and the Boards are somewhat protected however some of the Modules are the weak link,

Both the Air2 and the Mini 2 have a weak Esc module when submerged under water which than needs to be replaced.
as well as the Battery.

This is when we began to understand better how the drones worked. and Each drone had its weak spot.

Thus the Wet Suit were Designed and Engineered around that.

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[slozukimc]

Ya know what I think is the best thing about these if they work as intended? They are great insurance even flying in good weather. The thought of my drone sinking to the bottom of Seneca lake because a storm came up in a matter of minutes on a beautiful day is something I am willing to shell out a couple hundred bucks to prevent. We also have friends with a boat and it would be fun to fly off from that. Hopefully I can land back on the boat but if I don’t. Money well spent right?

 

[slozukimc]

@Phantomrain.org how much winter testing have you done? Seems the rescue jacket would make landing on top of snow work well.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

@Phantomrain.org how much winter testing have you done? Seems the rescue jacket would make landing on top of snow work well.

We have done extensive testing in the Snow and below Zero temps with freezing water and Props. The Rescue Jacket is used intensively by Artic teams in both Alaska and Ant Arctica . The rescue jackets do allow the drone to sit on top of the Snow and many have modified there by adding extra Pontoons to the bottom which can be requested .

This was most likely the most brutal testing test we have done with both water and freezing temps.
When tested with the Mini 2 the Camera was shaking before we took off, .

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[Phantomrain.org]

With over 300 videos it hard to watch them all but this in one on the Rescue Jacket in flight is also a good one to watch.
Both the Rescue Jacket and the Wet Suit has been tested beyond anything a wind tunnel could do for us.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and land on the water.

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[Phantomrain.org]

I've always wondered why anyone would want to fly in rain.

We do it to capture the storm , to get the lighting, the cloud formations and with that comes the adventure.
Every storm is a different view that would never have other wise.

These were all taken in a 20 minute flight in the pouring rain and the frames came out nice which you can see at the end of the video. Storms keep drone flying an adventure as there never the same , its always changing as well as the incredible skies.

The only issue we had was the Audio clipping and going out on the Sony Camera filming the drone because of the Rain.

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Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm

 

[Droniac]

I’ve always wondered if these really work. To me, it just looks like some foam stickers that are only for peace of mind.

That position Minimizes the enjoyment Ive been having during nor’ easters on Long Island NY, although not to dismiss wind gusts issues, but that’s another tale. But the NEOPRENE where its positioned (along with a tad of aesthetics) stops the water, drips off immediately and I’m not frightened of battery swelling as it holds it in place. That’s my 2.5 cents. Awesome product. I just switched colors lol as Coal is diverse in equipping you with color options. My little doo-hickeys Velcro on and off the material nicely too. All Good products IMO. Flysafe. Fly water resistant. Now I myself, need him to make ME a neoprene suit to match as the only thing that occasionally gets waterlogged is me. Godspeed, Droniac.

 

[Droniac]

I am waterproof. My drone isn’t. I don’t get a lot of time to fly when it is sunny and nice out. The creeks and lakes are prime for exploring and **** happens. I don’t dare play around the water without some form of protection even if all it does is keep the drone from sinking in the event of a crash. Then there is winter. The other 10 months of the year in NY. Lol.

Mike

One singer one song. To each his own. It’s all good! Godspeed Droniac.

 

[slozukimc]

We have done extensive testing in the Snow and below Zero temps with freezing water and Props. The Rescue Jacket is used intensively by Artic teams in both Alaska and Ant Arctica . The rescue jackets do allow the drone to sit on top of the Snow and many have modified there by adding extra Pontoons to the bottom which can be requested .

This was most likely the most brutal testing test we have done with both water and freezing temps.
When tested with the Mini 2 the Camera was shaking before we took off, .

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How bad is the video if you leave the gimbal cover on to protect the Mavic gimbal from the wind?