Cold Battery Warning

[tcope]

is..... is WHAT DJI?????? Don't leave me hanging!



Not to mention that I think they need a better language conversion when writing these warnings.

 

[AeroMirage]

I think the missing word is.. RECOMMENDED
I've never seen this, but I generally keep all gear and batteries somewhere warm until flight time.

 

[JakeS]

You should always keep your batteries warm. Keep the in the car before flying or in your pocket. Once in the drone turn it on and hover it till the battery temp is 16-17c then fly it gently till it hits 20c. From there you should be good to fly in cold temps. I do it all the time but I don’t fly far until the battery temps hit 20c.

 

[mjo]

I learned the hard way today about cold batteries. I had a warning about a cold battery but I was not too worried since it was fully charged. That changed after I got it up in the air 50 ft. then I got a low battery warning and it started to land. I guess it used all the energy to warm up the battery instead of using it to fly. Lesson learned!

 

[AeroMirage]

Glad you made it back to the ground without crashing.
15 degrees C = 59 degrees F. At temperatures lower than that the chemistry of the battery is effected. It impedes the flow or electrons, sort of like a clogged fuel filter. The battery did not use energy warming itself, it simply could not pass the energy to the motors.
Best practice is to keep the batteries warm before flying. If they start out warm, they do generate heat during discharge to maintain their warmth. But starting out cold has wrecked many.

 

[mjo]

Glad you made it back to the ground without crashing.
15 degrees C = 59 degrees F. At temperatures lower than that the chemistry of the battery is effected. It impedes the flow or electrons, sort of like a clogged fuel filter. The battery did not use energy warming itself, it simply could not pass the energy to the motors.
Best practice is to keep the batteries warm before flying. If they start out warm, they do generate heat during discharge to maintain their warmth. But starting out cold has wrecked many.

I appreciate your insight. I had never had that happen. I warmed the other up next to the heater in the car and it worked fine.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Lithium batteries hate being cold (or really hot), and that extends well beyond drone batteries. In fact DJI's batteries won't even charge quickly if they aren't at a certain temperature in the high 20C range. Ideal temperature range is around 25C to 60C or so. It is also really bad for lithium batteries to be left with a really low or zero charge for a long time.

The safe operating temperature of the Mavic Air does not extend below 0C which is not very cold at all - flying in colder weather than that or with cold batteries and you're asking for a failure. Warranty will not apply either. With the Mavic 2's you get a bit more leeway, down to -10C. DJI uses battery warmers on their higher-end drones like the Inspire 2 to allow it to fly safely in colder temperatures.

Another common mistake surrounding battery temperatures is when people leave cordless tools in the garage/shed all winter long and all the batteries are completely ruined by spring.

 

[mjo]

Lithium batteries hate being cold (or really hot), and that extends well beyond drone batteries. In fact DJI's batteries won't even charge quickly if they aren't at a certain temperature in the high 20C range. Ideal temperature range is around 25C to 60C or so. It is also really bad for lithium batteries to be left with a really low or zero charge for a long time.

The safe operating temperature of the Mavic Air does not extend below 0C which is not very cold at all - flying in colder weather than that or with cold batteries and you're asking for a failure. Warranty will not apply either. With the Mavic 2's you get a bit more leeway, down to -10C. DJI uses battery warmers on their higher-end drones like the Inspire 2 to allow it to fly safely in colder temperatures.

Another common mistake surrounding battery temperatures is when people leave cordless tools in the garage/shed all winter long and all the batteries are completely ruined by spring.

Thank you for your explanation! I am going to move my cordless tools from the shed to my indoor storage closet! I had not thought about that!!

 

[CanadaDrone]

Thank you for your explanation! I am going to move my cordless tools from the shed to my indoor storage closet! I had not thought about that!!

Yeah what tends to happen is they discharge very quickly in the cold weather and sit at 0% all winter, which will ruin the batteries or dramatically reduce their usefulness come Spring.

Battery maintenance is important for all devices, but isn't always convenient!

 

[old man mavic]

is..... is WHAT DJI?????? Don't leave me hanging!

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Not to mention that I think they need a better language conversion when writing these warnings.

I got the same thing after the new app update