Center of rear sensor getting foggy from inside - Vision Sensor Blocked (Mavic Air 2)

[Yaros]

Hello, recently I started having a problem with the rear sensor getting a little foggy in the center and then a warning on the screen pops up saying: Vision Sensor Blocked. Fly with caution.
Then when I try to fly backward with sensors enabled it randomly emergency stops. This also happened to my friend flying the Air 2S...
It started happening to both me and my friend around 5 days ago, maybe it's because it's colder here or something, but still strange to me.

Did anyone have similar experiences?

 

[slup]

Yep, we have seen condensation issues before ... especially this time of the year where you're carrying in cold equipment into a warmer inside ambient temp. ... that will directly set off condensation on the surface of all cold parts.

If you've used your drone in the cold, pack it tight inside something air tight outside, take it inside & wait for it to warm up before taking it out.

To get rid of the condensation inside the sensor you could pack the drone together with something absorbing like silica gel pads inside a plastic bag & let it sit there for a couple days.

The error you get correlates well with the foggy lens ... the sensor will either see it as an obstacle or as blocked.

 

[Yaros]

Yep, we have seen condensation issues before ... especially this time of the year where you're carrying in cold equipment into a warmer inside ambient temp. ... that will directly set off condensation on the surface of all cold parts.

If you've used your drone in the cold, pack it tight inside something air tight outside, take it inside & wait for it to warm up before taking it out.

To get rid of the condensation inside the sensor you could pack the drone together with something absorbing like silica gel pads inside a plastic bag & let it sit there for a couple days.

The error you get correlates well with the foggy lens ... the sensor will either see it as an obstacle or as blocked.

Yes, but this happens during the flight, not after it.
The temps here aren't too low, 15 degrees Celsius (about 50 Fahrenheit)...

 

[slup]

Yes, but this happens during the flight, not after it.
The temps here aren't too low, 15 degrees Celsius (about 50 Fahrenheit)...

Could have been really moist air you flew through up there, a lot of air going through the internals when flying.

 

[akdrone]

I can say with some certainty it isn't simply due to low temps. I took a short hop the other day at -30F and a week or two ago I was flying at temps from -20 to +5F including going up through fog and returning with frost on my props. We did half a dozen flights that day moving from one spot to the other with the drones (FPV and 2s) coming in from the cold to the car and back out after a typical drive of 30min to 1hr. Frankly I was shocked I did not have any condensation issues. Our car was opened and closed so often we probably had very low humidity in the car when the drones entered and then they warmed up at a reasonable rate. At one point I did put mine up on the car's dashboard to thaw out the props and try to ensure the lens wasn't going to fog/frost up but we never did have a problem. I've done a great deal of photography in very, very cold temps and would typically leave my car freezing cold when bringing expensive lenses in and out, taking care to put them into a well sealed case if I wanted to warm up the car and never taking them out of their case when coming into our warm home after a night shooting. We're talking -50F at times. I have learned that some lenses can be more prone to the problem of fogging up than others. Same make, same lens type and some exhibit a problem more than others. I attribute that to some having a better, airtight seal than others. I'm delighted my FPV is behaving as well as it is, as does my friend 2s. My advice mimics Yaro's. Have an airtight case and when you finish in the cold put the drone in the case before allowing it to warm up if at all possible. Once cold, keep it cold. When done, don't open the case in a warm place for several hours. If you have what seems persistent fogging, put desiccant packets with it in an airtight container until the fogging is gone.