Drone crash in cold weather

Brhude · Dec 16, 2018

My friend wanted to video a quarry blast with his mavic pro it was -25 out he put the drone up prior to the blast and it only zstayed in the air for approximately one minute and crashed due to battery failure

Mavic2steve · Dec 16, 2018

Sounds like he didn’t keep the battery warm before going for a flight. If that’s the case I’m pretty sure he ignored a “battery too cold” message of some sorts.

GavieboyDji · Dec 16, 2018

Brhude said:
My friend wanted to video a quarry blast with his mavic pro it was -25 out he put the drone up prior to the blast and it only zstayed in the air for approximately one minute and crashed due to battery failure

Wow -25 I was worried about sending my pro up last night in the uk at -1 and didn't bother in the end. You are suppose to warm the batteries up and hover for a minute while the battery temp rises before even taking off.
And I no in the manual it says the limit it only 0*c so -25 would of been to much for the mavic.

jwt873 · Dec 16, 2018

Brhude said:
My friend wanted to video a quarry blast with his mavic pro it was -25 out he put the drone up prior to the blast and it only zstayed in the air for approximately one minute and crashed due to battery failure

Was the temperature -25C or -25F?

There are many instances of drones crashing. Most of them occur when the temperatures are above freezing.

Do we know whether or not the temperature had anything at all to do with the crash? Or, did something occur during the flight that would have brought down the drone in any temperature?

Can your friend supply a flight log? I fly a lot in cold weather. It would be interesting to see..

ff22 · Dec 16, 2018

Besides the frigid temperatures, could radio signals from the blast zone have added to the problem?

JDawg · Dec 16, 2018

Brhude said:
My friend wanted to video a quarry blast with his mavic pro it was -25 out he put the drone up prior to the blast and it only zstayed in the air for approximately one minute and crashed due to battery failure

DJI Flight Log Viewer - Phantom Help

Meta4 · Dec 16, 2018

ff22 said:
Besides the frigid temperatures, could radio signals from the blast zone have added to the problem?

No ... but the guys doing the blasting might not appreciate you using the radio control around their blast.

sar104 · Dec 16, 2018

Meta4 said:
No ... but the guys doing the blasting might not appreciate you using the radio control around their blast.

It's not going to be an issue - the power levels are way too low. You need a 5 W transmitter in very close proximity to a poorly wired electric detonator to be able to induce a large enough current. I only know of one documented instance where that caused the detonator to fire. These days they mostly use nonel systems anyway, which are completely immune to EM for obvious reasons.

crlmjohnson · Dec 17, 2018

I would like to know, also what cause your drone to go down. I am planning on flying my drone in the snow this winter.

Frank Mavic · Dec 17, 2018

crlmjohnson said:
I would like to know, also what cause your drone to go down. I am planning on flying my drone in the snow this winter.

Don't worry about flying your drone in cold weather. I live in Canada and I fly my MP all winter long since march 2017 . 2 TIPS to do that it's 1-replace your props(plastic) by Carbon fiber because plastic break so easily in cold weather and 2-Put you MP outside only a couple minutes before takeoff to avoid fog in the lens. My lower temp. flight was -21 celcius without any problems. I have a 1st test on Youtube mach 2017 it was -7 celcius but at that time no test available about low temp on MP.

Bigbird48 · Dec 17, 2018

Very cool video nice job

Roylee · Dec 17, 2018

Brhude said:
My friend wanted to video a quarry blast with his mavic pro it was -25 out he put the drone up prior to the blast and it only zstayed in the air for approximately one minute and crashed due to battery failure

Had it not crashed due to battery failure it may have due to one or more of the props fracturing due to the cold.

Frank Mavic · Dec 17, 2018

Roylee said:
Had it not crashed due to battery failure it may have due to one or more of the props fracturing due to the cold.

Maybe. Because on my test in cold weather (-21 C),I've always looked at the battery temp. Start temp 16 celcius and at the ending it was 29,3 celcius . If you takeoff with a battery at a normal temp...there is no reason to have a battery failure,because the temp attempt to rise even in really cold weather. I bring my MP in my backpack and my batteries inside my jacket. No problem yet. I always use carbon fiber props. I think you can avoid many crash using those props. You can experience a little problem the first time you use them because the carbon fiber props are made really tight (fold...unfold). On camera you can see a little shack due to that. Remove the props...Just put some JIG-A-LOO on each pines of the props and move them with your hands until it's move easily, and it's done. Jig-a-loo is a good lubricant in cold weather

maxv77 · Dec 17, 2018

GavieboyDji said:
Wow -25 I was worried about sending my pro up last night in the uk at -1 and didn't bother in the end. You are suppose to warm the batteries up and hover for a minute while the battery temp rises before even taking off.
And I no in the manual it says the limit it only 0*c so -25 would of been to much for the mavic.

0c 0nly? I thought it was lower than that. Around - 7c. No one in Canada would fly if it was only 0c. And they do. Snd st very low temps

Tbredhed · Dec 17, 2018

I fly here in Canada all the time in the cold, my coldest flight has been -35C, -31F. Just remember to keep it warm until just before take off. I usually bring it outside and then take off immediately, then hover for several seconds then your good to go.

As far as carbon fibre props I wouldn't bother the only way the regular props will break is if you crash into something and if that happens carbon fibre will break too.

Once I'm done my flight I usually fold it up and put it in a Ziploc bag and suck the air out to prevent condensation forming on it, I'm not sure that's really needed but better safe than sorry.

Sorry to hear about your crash, very interested to hear the cause.
Cheers

jwt873 · Dec 17, 2018

So far, this winter, I've flown my Mavic 2 as low as -18C (0F) with no problems.

I have a Phantom 4 that has also seen Canadian temps last winter as low as -35C (-31F). As mentioned above, the battery generates heat and gets warmer in flight. The cold has never reduced my flight times.

Frank Mavic · Dec 17, 2018

Tbredhed said:
I fly here in Canada all the time in the cold, my coldest flight has been -35C, -31F. Just remember to keep it warm until just before take off. I usually bring it outside and then take off immediately, then hover for several seconds then your good to go.

As far as carbon fibre props I wouldn't bother the only way the regular props will break is if you crash into something and if that happens carbon fibre will break too.

Once I'm done my flight I usually fold it up and put it in a Ziploc bag and suck the air out to prevent condensation forming on it, I'm not that's really needed but better safe than sorry.

Sorry to hear about your crash, very interested to hear the cause.
Cheers

Carbon fiber props are good when you hit little tree branches...specially in cold weather. They don't break like the original. They are really stronger

ff22 · Dec 17, 2018

Frank Mavic said:
Carbon fiber props are good when you hit little tree branches...specially in cold weather. They don't break like the original. They are really stronger

I know the general advice is don't use 3rd party propellers on DJI drones. Of course, DJI has a vested interest in selling only their products. But I'd be curious what brand of carbon fiber props you've used and recommend?

Frank Mavic · Dec 17, 2018

On amazon.ca https://www.amazon.ca/gp/r.html?C=1...egCb2JWT92N_tt&H=WGFWVWJVMTVRVWF8B9RIDJA4WNAA

they are real carbon fiber

If you are in US for sure you can find them on amazon.com

ff22 · Dec 17, 2018

Frank Mavic said:
On amazon.ca https://www.amazon.ca/gp/r.html?C=1JDTYWBDK5ZYA&M=urn:rtn:msg:2018121800533342bd46b6e88d4d8db8f7c6d0edc0p0na&R=32G1DRQBZX2MT&T=C&U=https://www.amazon.ca/MagiDeal-Pairs-Carbon-Propellers-Accessories/dp/B07CTMKMSP/ref=cm_sw_em_r_dp_dz_U_4regCb2JWT92N_tt&H=WGFWVWJVMTVRVWF8B9RIDJA4WNAA

they are real carbon fiber

If you are in US for sure you can find them on amazon.com

Seems that they may be for the NON-2 Mavic Pro??? Not the Mavic 2 zoom/pro?