Beach Flyers

[Starz]

Something to be aware of. A friend ran across this M2 pro that needed a home. Haven’t determined what issues it may have at this time and would not send this in the air until until I find how much debris is hiding inside. The first observation is the poor thing obviously has had some beach time. I will be opening it up to see just how much sand is inside. More pictures to follow. The goal here is to inform the potential beach flyers of the drawbacks of of flying off a bad takeoff location.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Above or below the tide line?
If below open it over the sink or bath.

 

[Starz]

Bottom cover removed. Doesn’t seem to be from below the tide line but this shows some of the places the sand can hide.

 

[GFields]

Thanks for sharing. This is good to know.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I guess the question that comes to mind is, does it matter?

Any drone that has been flown a lot with ground takeoff and landing, and is not carefully cleaned regularly will have all sorts of dirt, dust, grit in all of these places.

Point is, it's not just sand and beach environments.

So long as it's in static dead spaces, I don't see any "problem" other than tickling the OCD god. Probably a good idea to blow the drone now and then with a can of computer keyboard dust spray – I do now and then when I think of it – but if the sand isn't in articulating joints, motors, or other moving parts, don't get too concerned. Cleaning those voids and various edges and flanges is more aesthetic than functional.

 

[Droning on and on...]

In any case if it works fine and has no problems, snatch it up... Mavic 2 Pros are worth their weight in gold, being the best foldable that still works autonomously with Litchi et al.

 

[Starz]

static dead spaces

The issue that I have in my little brain is that whatever debris gets into the system can migrate to places it shouldn’t be. The lube that DJI uses in the rear swivel joints is a great collector of anything that gets close to those areas. It then acts as sandpaper in that joint. Then you have a cooling fan to consider as a means for moving incoming material into places that it shouldn’t be.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Well, "shouldn't be" is what I was getting at. Is it a problem?

I have no doubt that the majority of owners pay no attention to this, yet I don't recall anyone posting problems because of it.

It simply may be that, what you theorize does not, in fact, happen to any detrimental degree. Doesn't seem we're seeing postings over the years with failures traced back to what are essentially dirty aircraft. Perhaps the engineers considered this in the design, so crud accumulating in those places is benign.

I don't know. I just know that if it causes problems, it's rare insofar as MPDC posts are concerned.

Regardless, I'm one of those that does keep mine clean.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The Wet Suits do a pretty good job of keeping the Sand / Salt out of the drone
as well as protecting the sensors.


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain/Snow and Protect from Sand / Salt

 

[Capt KO]

Electronics and sand don’t mix, best use a launchpad on any natural surface.

 

[Paul Harvey]

Electronics and sand don’t mix, best use a launchpad on any natural surface.

Here here! (Or is it 'Hear hear?')

 

[PHZ]

I often see references to “blow out the dirt”, presumably with compressed air. Would it not make more sense to use a vacuum first, to suck some of that dirt out?

 

[Starz]

I haven’t found a vacuum that has the power to remove what can hide in these aircraft. No real access to get where this material can hide.
This dirt material came out of one motor and the inside of a front leg on a M2 pro that ran into a mud problem. Used a very thin pick and compressed air to remove.

 

[PHZ]

Yikes! That is scary.

Well, my point was don’t force dirt into every micro crevice with compressed air, that would be counterproductive.

 

[Starz]

use a vacuum first, to suck some of that dirt out?

I’ve not found a vacuum powerful enough to extract dirt from any of the pieces in this particular puzzle. Also, if there is ANY metallic particles attached to the magnets in these motors, a vacuum will not pull them out. I’ve always had better results with high pressure air. The chances of anything entering the sealed bearings in the motors would be slim to none.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Something to be aware of. A friend ran across this M2 pro that needed a home. Haven’t determined what issues it may have at this time and would not send this in the air until until I find how much debris is hiding inside. The first observation is the poor thing obviously has had some beach time. I will be opening it up to see just how much sand is inside. More pictures to follow. The goal here is to inform the potential beach flyers of the drawbacks of of flying off a bad takeoff location.
View attachment 172072View attachment 172073

This is the main reason I got into the hand launch / hand land routine for all of my birds. Even on tarmac the amount of crap that gets thrown up beneath the props is phenomenal and with beaches: I wouldn't consider a ground launch even using one of those floppy 'H for Helipad' disks. Clean kit works longer.