Anyone having heat issues?

[JoshC]

Heat issues? It definitely gets hot, but it's never been an issue for me and prevented a flight. The main thing to do is to avoid leaving it turned on except in flight. Exceptions such as when you're at home doing a firmware update, I recommend using a fan on it to remove heat. One time I was waiting around 5 minutes for the right moment to take off and it got a bit hot, so avoid turning it on until you plan to actually fly.

 

[MS Coast]

Heat issues? It definitely gets hot, but it's never been an issue for me and prevented a flight. The main thing to do is to avoid leaving it turned on except in flight. Exceptions such as when you're at home doing a firmware update, I recommend using a fan on it to remove heat. One time I was waiting around 5 minutes for the right moment to take off and it got a bit hot, so avoid turning it on until you plan to actually fly.

Or let the props run at idle if you've switched it on and your takeoff is delayed?

 

[EyesWideShut]

My Mini 3 Pro isn't here yet to test but here's a suggestion. If a fan isn't readily handy, I wonder if leaving the rear legs folded (or partially folded) and sitting the drone up on it's butt would allow for some better air circulation. Rather than the heat being contained in the drone, the heat might rise up and out thru the front air scoop and aid a little in cooling. Anyone got an infrared thermometer?

 

[KLRSKIR]

Anyone got an infrared thermometer?

See this post on page one. Also, flipping the unit over will help heat dissipate from the airframe. I haven't had any issues with the Mini 3 Pro, but it never sits too long while "on."

 

[MS Coast]

My Mini 3 Pro isn't here yet to test but here's a suggestion. If a fan isn't readily handy, I wonder if leaving the rear legs folded (or partially folded) and sitting the drone up on it's butt would allow for some better air circulation. Rather than the heat being contained in the drone, the heat might rise up and out thru the front air scoop and aid a little in cooling. Anyone got an infrared thermometer?

That makes me wonder if the circuitry is configured so that the drone could draw power from the USB connection alone, without a battery installed. Having the battery compartment open would certainly reduce heating.

 

[KLRSKIR]

That makes me wonder if the circuitry is configured so that the drone could draw power from the USB connection alone, without a battery installed. Having the battery compartment open would certainly reduce heating.

I know that the drone sees power without a battery installed (LED 1 & 2 will blink in succession), but I don't have the gumption to try to power on the aircraft plugged to power w/out a battery installed. If damage were to be done, I'm not willing to wait for weeks for a replacement unit, of which they are in very limited supply.

 

[Harryscopic]

It continuously builds up heat if the props aren't spinning. There's a computer, radios, sensors and power electronics inside a small space, without active cooling, that's an expensive heat source. The outside temperature can contribute a fraction of the heat, but this thing is hot with the motors off by design, it's in the manual. Mine shut down after firmware updates and during log downloads, so now I'm not going to do anything without a fan or the props turning.

The fly more kit should include a fan!

 

[Dynamic Learning Machine]

I got this battery operated fan. It’s got a 20,000 mah lithium ion battery. Amazon $39.
It lasts forever.

Works perfectly.

I put my drone and battery in the refrigerator before updating. It alone will work at keeping heat down during updates.

 

[MS Coast]

I got this battery operated fan. It’s got a 20,000 mah lithium ion battery. Amazon $39.
It lasts forever.

Works perfectly.

I put my drone and battery in the refrigerator before updating. It alone will work at keeping heat down during updates.

Although it probably won't be a problem if you put the drone in the fan airstream immediately, chilling a drone to 38 F can produce condensation on the interior. With a fan that size, I doubt there's any need to pre-cool the drone.

 

[Kwright1]

I appreciate this thread! I have had a Mini 2 which has been great but I wanted something with better quality video and avoidance hence the Mini Pro 3. I did exactly as it seems everyone else did - I turned it all on, did updates and started tweaking the settings. After only a few minutes I get the overheat warning and the battery and drone body were surprisingly hot! Never an issue with the 2. I have also noticed the battery at 50% after only a few setting changes and a quick up/down to check out the controls. So I guess I know where the heat is coming from. Clearly I will need to be mindful of cooling the unit down and only turning it on when I want to fly it. A bit frustrating as quite often I need the unit while I find the right spot to start taking shots. Aside from this "surprise" I love the quality and versatility of the unit.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

I put my drone and battery in the refrigerator before updating. It alone will work at keeping heat down during updates.

I would rather not recommend to do this, you could really damage the internals due to Condensation - Wikipedia

 

[JoshC]

I appreciate this thread! I have had a Mini 2 which has been great but I wanted something with better quality video and avoidance hence the Mini Pro 3. I did exactly as it seems everyone else did - I turned it all on, did updates and started tweaking the settings. After only a few minutes I get the overheat warning and the battery and drone body were surprisingly hot! Never an issue with the 2. I have also noticed the battery at 50% after only a few setting changes and a quick up/down to check out the controls. So I guess I know where the heat is coming from. Clearly I will need to be mindful of cooling the unit down and only turning it on when I want to fly it. A bit frustrating as quite often I need the unit while I find the right spot to start taking shots. Aside from this "surprise" I love the quality and versatility of the unit.

just put a fan on it when it's not flying and it's fine. I bring this camping fan with me for most shoots

 

[Cymru]

No issues here. Firmware upgrades done in a 28c room along with fairly long setup times and image transfers.
Yep it gets warm but ive not had a warning.

 

[Harryscopic]

Is it possible that the differences in heating that we are experiencing are simply due to production tolerances in some component? What else could it be?

 

[Ken1403]

Mainstays Personal Rechargeable USB Portable Tabletop Fan in Black, Head Swivels Vertically​

(4.5)4.5 stars out of 128 reviews128 reviews
$10.50 At Walmart This helps with the overheating issue.

 

[MS Coast]

Is it possible that the differences in heating that we are experiencing are simply due to production tolerances in some component? What else could it be?

It's not likely that variations in components could be the explanation. Here are some possibilities.

• Difference in ambient conditions - temperature and air movement
• Length of time drone was powered up (Has anyone clocked the on time when a problem occurred?)
• Was the battery hot from being recently charged?
• Were the battery and drone hot from being flown recently?
• Differences in wifi speed. Poor wifi would make update times longer.

Are there really differences? We don't have any quantitative information yet. It may be that all the drones are behaving similarly and overheating after similar lengths of time. Some people see problems because their drones are powered on longer during firmware updates and photo file transfers.

 

[Harryscopic]

It's not likely that variations in components could be the explanation. Here are some possibilities.

• Difference in ambient conditions - temperature and air movement
• Length of time drone was powered up (Has anyone clocked the on time when a problem occurred?)
• Was the battery hot from being recently charged?
• Were the battery and drone hot from being flown recently?
• Differences in wifi speed. Poor wifi would make update times longer.

Are there really differences? We don't have any quantitative information yet. It may be that all the drones are behaving similarly and overheating after similar lengths of time. Some people see problems because their drones are powered on longer during firmware updates and photo file transfers.

Well I can give my quantitative information that seems comparable to what others have mentioned and yet make fun of the overheating issue:

• 28ºC, 38%RH, light breeze from window
• just under 10 minutes before warning and shutdown
• battery at room temperature, charged hours earlier
• battery and drone at room temperature with no flights
• wifi strong and fast, besides, USB transfer doesn't use wifi

Standard battery, not the plus. European location. That was about a week ago, I haven't repeated it.

I was just curious if under an engineering perspective this could be dismissed as acceptable within tolerances.

 

[MS Coast]

Well I can give my quantitative information that seems comparable to what others have mentioned and yet make fun of the overheating issue:

• 28ºC, 38%RH, light breeze from window
• just under 10 minutes before warning and shutdown
• battery at room temperature, charged hours earlier
• battery and drone at room temperature with no flights
• wifi strong and fast, besides, USB transfer doesn't use wifi

Standard battery, not the plus. European location. That was about a week ago, I haven't repeated it.

I was just curious if under an engineering perspective this could be dismissed as acceptable within tolerances.

There's one good data point. I suspect we'll never know what DJI considers to be a typical overheating time.

Mine overheated once when I was initially updating firmware via wifi, but I hadn't noted the time but I'd guess that it was in the neighborhood of 10 minutes. I used a fan to finish the updates and now I dodge the issue by removing the card to do file transfers.

Were you transferring files via USB? How quick is Quick Transfer? I've not seen any mb/min kind of figure.

 

[Harryscopic]

There's one good data point. I suspect we'll never know what DJI considers to be a typical overheating time.

Mine overheated once when I was initially updating firmware via wifi, but I hadn't noted the time but I'd guess that it was in the neighborhood of 10 minutes. I used a fan to finish the updates and now I dodge the issue by removing the card to do file transfers.

Were you transferring files via USB? How quick is Quick Transfer? I've not seen any mb/min kind of figure.

I was downloading log files via USB 2.0. First the Assistant retrieved the files then it compressed them into one file. The result was about 3GB and lasted about 10 minutes. The first time it shut down before finishing, then after a while it eventually came through.

 

[MS Coast]

I was downloading log files via USB 2.0. First the Assistant retrieved the files then it compressed them into one file. The result was about 3GB and lasted about 10 minutes. The first time it shut down before finishing, then after a while it eventually came through.

I'm assuming that you had to restart the drone and start the transfer again. Did it start again from scratch with the transfer or did it retain the part of the file that was moved in the first attempt and pick up the transfer from there?

For a reference on Quick Transfer speed via USB, I just moved 2.85 GB from the drone's SDHC card to the SSD on my laptop via USB 3.0 in 2:43. Given the lack of a fan in the Mini 3 and the speed difference I'll continue pulling the card to move files.

(After taking off too many times without a card in a drone, I now keep a clip by the card reader and attach it to one of the drone's arms when I remove the card.)