Fan comes on really fast, and the mavic gets hot

Chris Philips · Apr 20, 2017

Hey guys, so I've done some looking around on line and found that this seems to be a common occurrence, but then some people say its not a good thing. Whats your opinion?

So when i power my mavic up, after about 30 seconds - 1 minute the fan comes on and sounds like its about to explode (over exaggerating but you get the idea). The mavic also gets pretty warm.

Doesn't seem to affect flying or connectivity, or functionality etc, but just wondering what the general consensus is on this.

Cyberpower678 · Apr 20, 2017

Sounds normal.

Chris Philips · Apr 20, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
Sounds normal.

Okay cool. Was just a little alarming but i guess nothing to worry about.

Cyberpower678 · Apr 20, 2017

Chris Philips said:
Okay cool. Was just a little alarming but i guess nothing to worry about.

The drone has an onboard computer with 24 CPU cores. That's going to get hot.

Capra Vecinului · Apr 20, 2017

I wouldn't worry too much either. In any case, should the Mavic get wrecked because of this, it should be a warranty case.

Capra Vecinului · Apr 20, 2017

Somehow related: I find it odd to have the drone started just to be able to play with the simulator. I always have to place it on a higher, ventilated spot, if I want to practice within the simulator, and always think of keeping the drone away from thick carpets, warm spots etc.

Robert Mitchell · Apr 20, 2017

Absolutely normal, Mavic is doing its thing.

Chris Philips · Apr 20, 2017

Capra Vecinului said:
Somehow related: I find it odd to have the drone started just to be able to play with the simulator. I always have to place it on a higher, ventilated spot, if I want to practice within the simulator, and always think of keeping the drone away from thick carpets, warm spots etc.

Yeah ive been making sure if its stationary that it gets plenty of airflow.

Chris Philips · Apr 20, 2017

Thanks for the reply guys!

Former Member · Apr 20, 2017

Both the Mavic and the controller have cooling fans installed. The cooling fan on the Mav is huge for the size of the bird, its the size of desktop computer fan and is not quite as quiet, but fan noise isnt paramount when your drone is 1000 feet away.

The summer is coming, and the fans are going to kick on sooner than they did in the winter time. Thats why its best to start your Mavic and then start to fly, dont leave it sitting on the ground idling while you go do something else.

One last thing, if it gets really hot outside, in excess of 95, you might wait until it cools down to below 90. Once you get in the air, the higher you go the cooler it gets, but if youre doing shooting slow and close to the ground, the Mav is going to get hotter and could cause it to overheat. If anyone finds the need to fly in temps hotter then 95, and they are doing low, slow work, shorten you flight times to 6 or 8 minutes, let the bird cool down, then go back for more. Batteries get hot too with no circulation when hovering, so thats another consideration.

HFMan · Apr 20, 2017

I'm not so sure a very loud, faster startup fan on a Mavic is necessarily normal. My buddy has a fan that is REALLY loud and fast, and comes on shortly after turning it on. It is way way louder than mine, and of course our Mavics are in exactly the same weather conditions. I don't understand how they could be that much different. Mine takes at least a couple minutes before the fan comes on. It almost makes me wonder if some Mavics are heating up abnormally fast, and what might be causing that.

Daniel3257 · Apr 20, 2017

Worry if you don't hear the fan!

Former Member · Apr 20, 2017

Chris Philips said:
Hey guys, so I've done some looking around on line and found that this seems to be a common occurrence, but then some people say its not a good thing. Whats your opinion?

So when i power my mavic up, after about 30 seconds - 1 minute the fan comes on and sounds like its about to explode (over exaggerating but you get the idea). The mavic also gets pretty warm.

Doesn't seem to affect flying or connectivity, or functionality etc, but just wondering what the general consensus is on this.

Can you take a video of you Mav and the fan noise and post it on Youtube then here? Its hard to compare apples to apples without a video to reference to.

Former Member · Apr 20, 2017

HFMan said:
I'm not so sure a very loud, faster startup fan on a Mavic is necessarily normal. My buddy has a fan that is REALLY loud and fast, and comes on shortly after turning it on. It is way way louder than mine, and of course our Mavics are in exactly the same weather conditions. I don't understand how they could be that much different. Mine takes at least a couple minutes before the fan comes on. It almost makes me wonder if some Mavics are heating up abnormally fast, and what might be causing that.

His fan sensor thermostat threshold might be lower than yours. Not a bad thing, his fan is just going to stay on more and longer than yours and drain the battery a minuscule amount more.

Former Member · Apr 20, 2017

If anyones fan is making excessive noise compared to others, you should check the fan for damage, debris and obstructions. You cant access the fan blades from the outside of the drone, but look behind the gimbal for foreign matter that might have gotten past the grill. . Its easy for a bug grass or other things to get in there despite having the grill in front. They are all a little noisy, but if you hear any that sounds like a clicking or rubbing noise, its not normal.

GlennGrant · Apr 20, 2017

HFMan said:
I'm not so sure a very loud, faster startup fan on a Mavic is necessarily normal. My buddy has a fan that is REALLY loud and fast, and comes on shortly after turning it on. It is way way louder than mine, and of course our Mavics are in exactly the same weather conditions. I don't understand how they could be that much different. Mine takes at least a couple minutes before the fan comes on. It almost makes me wonder if some Mavics are heating up abnormally fast, and what might be causing that.

Same situation here. My son and I both purchased at the same time. My fan comes on almost instantly while his takes a minute or two. Mine is also about 30% louder.

That being said, both are giving decent ventilation, and it doesn't seem to be a problem at all.

CashCache · Apr 20, 2017

Thunder-drones said:
One last thing, if it gets really hot outside, in excess of 95, you might wait until it cools down to below 90. Once you get in the air, the higher you go the cooler it gets, but if youre doing shooting slow and close to the ground, the Mav is going to get hotter and could cause it to overheat. If anyone finds the need to fly in temps hotter then 95, and they are doing low, slow work, shorten you flight times to 6 or 8 minutes, let the bird cool down, then go back for more. Batteries get hot too with no circulation when hovering, so thats another consideration.

That would require me to hang up flying for 3 full months here in Arizona since we sometimes don't get under 100 degrees in the middle of the night. That's not going to happen, so I volunteer to be the Mavic temperature testing guinea pig.

Apocalypso · Apr 20, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
The drone has an onboard computer with 24 CPU cores. That's going to get hot.

Yep. Consider the average laptop has 2 cores. X12 computing power.

It's a flying server. A hefty one!

Grungymike95 · Apr 20, 2017

Thunder-drones said:
Both the Mavic and the controller have cooling fans installed. The cooling fan on the Mav is huge for the size of the bird, its the size of desktop computer fan and is not quite as quiet, but fan noise isnt paramount when your drone is 1000 feet away.

The summer is coming, and the fans are going to kick on sooner than they did in the winter time. Thats why its best to start your Mavic and then start to fly, dont leave it sitting on the ground idling while you go do something else.

One last thing, if it gets really hot outside, in excess of 95, you might wait until it cools down to below 90. Once you get in the air, the higher you go the cooler it gets, but if youre doing shooting slow and close to the ground, the Mav is going to get hotter and could cause it to overheat. If anyone finds the need to fly in temps hotter then 95, and they are doing low, slow work, shorten you flight times to 6 or 8 minutes, let the bird cool down, then go back for more. Batteries get hot too with no circulation when hovering, so thats another consideration.

Summer in TX hits 100s on average... should I not fly until winter? Lol.

Former Member · Apr 20, 2017

CashCache said:
That would require me to hang up flying for 3 full months here in Arizona since we sometimes don't get under 100 degrees in the middle of the night. That's not going to happen, so I volunteer to be the Mavic temperature testing guinea pig.

I wouldnt want to have to pay your A/C bill.