Flying during pollen season

[TMB Aerial]

I searched on this topic and got a few hits and interesting insights to the effects of heavy pollen on "drones". The general consensus is that yes pollen does get on and in components of your drone. The debate seems to be any adverse effects from negatively charged pollen particles.

I'm in Raleigh, NC and the pollen here this time of year is rediculously thick. I typically fly for an hour and my LCD screens are covered in pollen, more so then any other surface which leads me to agree that negatively charged pollen particles are in fact attracted to/ stick to positively charged electronics.

Is anyone else in a heavy pollen area concerned about this and/or does anyone else take preventative measures pre or post flight. If any measures taken, what exactly do you do or recommend doing?

I fly comercially and as of yet have not had to turn away a client due to pollen and wouldn't should I find comfort in it being a non issue or know that I can take preventative steps.

Thanks,
David

I'm posting this in both the P4P and Mavic Pro forums as I own and work with both.

 

[skychatham]

I live in Chatham County and our pollenis just starting. I hadn't thought about the effects. I will be curious to hear what others say

 

[tcope]

Not sure why/how this would be an issue. There are tons of semi exposed circuit boards that would be subject to pollen. I don't see that they would be able to somehow stop a circuit board from operating.

 

[Qoncussion]

Allow me to be the first to post some conjecture here... I would think that the possibility exists for pollen to "possibly" cause problems. I've heard that enough dust on a circuit board can act like a semiconductor. All that's missing is moisture. The same may be true of pollen. It could create a sticky film on the circuits. All that is missing is a humid day - which the East Coast is famous for. So perhaps, with the perfect storm of pollen and humidity, something could be affected.

 

[dirkclod]

We have more pine tree plantains here than anything else.
In the spring when the wind blows it looks like they are on fire
its so thick and have flown through it with my phantoms plenty and never have had any issues.
Now I am bad about keeping all mine blown out with compressed air and that might have kept me from having any
Issue's.
My .02

 

[AlanTheBeast]

We have more pine tree plantains here than anything else.
In the spring when the wind blows it looks like they are on fire
its so thick and have flown through it with my phantoms plenty and never have had any issues.
Now I am bad about keeping all mine blown out with compressed air and that might have kept me from having any
Issue's.
My .02

How do you blow it out? With a can of compressed air or something more violent?

How does the airflow go on the phantom? In the bottom and out the arm vents?

 

[Evo1668]

Where I fly in the UK there are fields of wheat and rape seed. When I was flying my TBS discovery I suffered a catastrophic failure during one flight. The drone ended up flipping 180 degrees and falling from a height of around 85 feet into a field of rape seed. I flew LOS so was easily able to locate and retrieve the drone. Frame was surprisingly unbroken, just broken props and the GoPro came from its mount. On examination it seems like one of the motors had died, on closer inspection of the motor, there were very tiny black spherical balls clumped together all covering the windings of this broken motor and on one of the other motors. A light dusting of the tiny spheres on the remaining two motors. I always wondered if this was due to a build up of pollen.

 

[dirkclod]

How do you blow it out? With a can of compressed air or something more violent?

How does the airflow go on the phantom? In the bottom and out the arm vents?

Vents to try and get any out through the battery box on
the phantoms. Not sure just what to do with the mavic
and I use canned air with little tube.

 

[Chas@JPA]

Flying an Inspire and Mavic here in the LowCountry of Georgia, USA (Chatham County....) as well as middle Georgia. We get the scourge of spring pollen as well. I have had some "yellow tinge" on components after some flights, but just wipe it off with a damp cloth. Lens cleaner for the optics, of course. No probs in two seasons with the Inspire. So far, so good with the Mav as well.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Vents to try and get any out through the battery box on
the phantoms. Not sure just what to do with the mavic
and I use canned air with little tube.

Thanks.

By airflow I meant what is the normal fan direction on the Phantom?

I suspect that at the end of the summer I'll be opening up the Mavic for de-dusting.

 

[TMB Aerial]

Great feedback. I think the pollen here is thicker then most people can imagine until you live it.....it's rediculously thick and everywhere for almost a month, sometimes longer. I'll put some threads I found that have more scientific explanations of what can happen (as well as debates) at the bottom of this post. My real question is should I open up my Mavic and P4P to clean the insides just cuz well it can't hurt OR can it? Do I void any warranty if I open them up? (probably a question for DJI). I'm not comfortable spraying air into the mavic vent and I believe the Mavic pulls air in through the vent behind the gimble so pollen, dust...any small particles just have to be getting in there. I need to confirm if/how the P4P pulls air. I've seen someone mention using a HEPA type filter but not sure if that may be counter productive.

Bottom line it seems that regular cleaning of the inner electrical components could be waranted just by the design of the "cooling system" in these drones. I was most curious if anyone else has a proven method for doing such preventative care? I mean if some TLC can prolong the life then why wouldn't you. These are not disposable items to me, they are tools but hey I clean my wrenches and screwdrivers too

here are those threads:

Pollen and Drones

Nasty Pollen and Drone Control

 

[dirkclod]

Thanks.

By airflow I meant what is the normal fan direction on the Phantom?

I suspect that at the end of the summer I'll be opening up the Mavic for de-dusting.

Frount to back from flying phantoms.
SorryTMP. Didn't mean to over post you.

 

[dmyers7]

Here's a thought of a long term consideration: The fans blow air over bare clean heat sink fins to draw heat off the electronic components. Dust and sticky pollen (it's designed by nature to be sticky) junks up the heatsinks and reduces their ability to give off heat by insulating them. Hopefully the design has enough margin that any "normal" reduction in cooling is acceptable. BTW, the RC has a cooling fan too.

As an example, once a quarter I clean the heatsinks on my 3D printer stepper drives so I they don't overheat and cause bad prints. Why? Because I found out what happens when I don't; especially in the summer ;-)

Does make you go hmmmmmm. I think it's to soon to know if there will be any issues.

You know, a white reflective skin for at least the top is not sounding to bad right now.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Here's a thought of a long term consideration: The fans blow air over bare clean heat sink fins to draw heat off the electronic components. Dust and sticky pollen (it's designed by nature to be sticky) junks up the heatsinks and reduces their ability to give off heat by insulating them. Hopefully the design has enough margin that any "normal" reduction in cooling is acceptable. BTW, the RC has a cooling fan too.

As an example, once a quarter I clean the heatsinks on my 3D printer stepper drives so I they don't overheat and cause bad prints. Why? Because I found out what happens when I don't; especially in the summer ;-)

Does make you go hmmmmmm. I think it's to soon to know if there will be any issues.

You know, a white reflective skin for at least the top is not sounding to bad right now.

The external heatsink should be easy enough to clean - the issue is crap getting inside the MP.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Great feedback. I think the pollen here is thicker then most people can imagine until you live it.....it's rediculously thick and everywhere for almost a month, sometimes longer. I'll put some threads I found that have more scientific explanations of what can happen (as well as debates) at the bottom of this post. My real question is should I open up my Mavic and P4P to clean the insides just cuz well it can't hurt OR can it? Do I void any warranty if I open them up? (probably a question for DJI). I'm not comfortable spraying air into the mavic vent and I believe the Mavic pulls air in through the vent behind the gimble so pollen, dust...any small particles just have to be getting in there. I need to confirm if/how the P4P pulls air. I've seen someone mention using a HEPA type filter but not sure if that may be counter productive.

Bottom line it seems that regular cleaning of the inner electrical components could be waranted just by the design of the "cooling system" in these drones. I was most curious if anyone else has a proven method for doing such preventative care? I mean if some TLC can prolong the life then why wouldn't you. These are not disposable items to me, they are tools but hey I clean my wrenches and screwdrivers too

here are those threads:

Pollen and Drones

Nasty Pollen and Drone Control

Opening it up does not void the warranty as long as you don't damage anything in the process. From the teardown videos, however, the area where the pollen seems most likely to collect means opening the belly plate. The means the thermal paste gets "broken" and you'll have to restore that. (I assume saving or re-shaping the paste that's there (or re-applying it during assembly) will be okay, but I'd probably buy some extra paste before taking the MP apart. That's been years...) Take photos as you take it apart. At that point I think one might be best to vacuum off the pollen and dust. Hopefully one wouldn't have to go further "in" than that.

We have a pollen season here too, esp. pine. But I don't think it's as thick as the SE US.

Reading those articles one concern is the pollen kicked up by the rotors on takeoff/landing. An abatement for that is to use a landing pad.

 

[dmyers7]

If the majority of components that are heat sunk are connected to the bottom body heatsink then we really should have nothing to worry about and is actually a good design. If there are no heatsinks internal requiring airflow then I am even less worried. A little compressed air from time to time through the front grill should be plenty and fine for the life of the MP. In general I would never suggest playing with the paste and reapplying. It's never as good as the first application and if you don't use the good stuff it can thin and migrate out from where it is suppose to be. (I.e. Don't open it if you don't need too)

 

[dewster]

I would be more concerned with the Mavic's intake fan vs. Phantoms.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

If the majority of components that are heat sunk are connected to the bottom body heatsink then we really should have nothing to worry about and is actually a good design. If there are no heatsinks internal requiring airflow then I am even less worried. A little compressed air from time to time through the front grill should be plenty and fine for the life of the MP. In general I would never suggest playing with the paste and reapplying. It's never as good as the first application and if you don't use the good stuff it can thin and migrate out from where it is suppose to be. (I.e. Don't open it if you don't need too)

Air does flow inside the body over the electronics and exits the rear. That is deliberate cooling.
Pollen will be sucked through and will stick wherever it fancies. That is all over.
Since the front air inlet goes via a centrifugal fan, I doubt that blowing air at it is going to remove much pollen especially if it is sticky and/or clinging by static. The fan is going to be a serious obstacle to any cleaning this way. (Maybe blowing from the back in (backwash) would be more effective).

I'm very willing to be wrong on this - I'd tape a piece of tissue paper over the rear vent, loosely, to see what sort of dust and pollen does get blown out before attempting to take it apart.

I agree that thermal paste "maintenance" is not for everyone - why I recommend getting some extra before attempting the open cleaning to be sure that enough is put back. Quality stuff. I haven't done this in over a decade. I just read a review of 5 pastes that "clockers" use - it's important to choose the right one - the "best" for cooling and stability are the hardest to apply.

OTOH, from the video (snapshot below) you can see the paste sits on a heatsink and connects to the outer heatsink. The paste is in "hollows" on that side that mate to "bumps" on the outer heatsink side. That doesn't look all that hard to do, actually. The very best paste is probably better than what DJI are using and won't run.

It's also clear to me that to get to where the pollen is, that first board - the one below - will have to come out. A lot of connectors, some of them small and finicky. Take lots of photos during the disassembly!

 

[TMB Aerial]

Air does flow inside the body over the electronics and exits the rear. That is deliberate cooling.
Pollen will be sucked through and will stick wherever it fancies. That is all over.
Since the front air inlet goes via a centrifugal fan, I doubt that blowing air at it is going to remove much pollen especially if it is sticky and/or clinging by static. The fan is going to be a serious obstacle to any cleaning this way. (Maybe blowing from the back in (backwash) would be more effective).

I'm very willing to be wrong on this - I'd tape a piece of tissue paper over the rear vent, loosely, to see what sort of dust and pollen does get blown out before attempting to take it apart.

I agree that thermal paste "maintenance" is not for everyone - why I recommend getting some extra before attempting the open cleaning to be sure that enough is put back. Quality stuff. I haven't done this in over a decade. I just read a review of 5 pastes that "clockers" use - it's important to choose the right one - the "best" for cooling and stability are the hardest to apply.

OTOH, from the video (snapshot below) you can see the paste sits on a heatsink and connects to the outer heatsink. The paste is in "hollows" on that side that mate to "bumps" on the outer heatsink side. That doesn't look all that hard to do, actually. The very best paste is probably better than what DJI are using and won't run.

It's also clear to me that to get to where the pollen is, that first board - the one below - will have to come out. A lot of connectors, some of them small and finicky. Take lots of photos during the disassembly!

View attachment 9642

I watched this tear down and I can see getting beyond that first board would be tedious. I think you would cause more harm with wear each time you disconnect all those cables and ribbons. I would be curious to see what it looks like under that heatsink bottom after a few more flights in pollen season. I've replaced processors before so the paste doesn't skur me.

All this reminds me of the Apache helicopters that were grounded regularly during the Gulf War due to the desert sand over there which is like talcum powder. They ended up fabricating some type of intake shield/filter. Another reason the A-10 Warthog is just a baddass mofo, those rarely got grounded by anything....including bullets! On that note my P4P is a Warthog....nothing pulling air in on that platform that I can see, although I'm sure stuff still gets in there. Man the P2s were sooooo easy to break down and reassmble.[emoji3]

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[AlanTheBeast]

I watched this tear down and I can see getting beyond that first board would be tedious. I think you would cause more harm with wear each time you disconnect all those cables and ribbons. I would be curious to see what it looks like under that heatsink bottom after a few more flights in pollen season. I've replaced processors before so the paste doesn't skur me.

All this reminds me of the Apache helicopters that were grounded regularly during the Gulf War due to the desert sand over there which is like talcum powder. They ended up fabricating some type of intake shield/filter. Another reason the A-10 Warthog is just a baddass mofo, those rarely got grounded by anything....including bullets! On that note my P4P is a Warthog....nothing pulling air in on that platform that I can see, although I'm sure stuff still gets in there. Man the P2s were sooooo easy to break down and reassmble.[emoji3]

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I have a P4P and there is definitely a fan in there...