Frozen Battery

[Chaosrider]

Both my drone and it's strobe ended up spending the night in the pine tree, overnight low 23º F.

Are the batteries certainly dead, likely dead, or...?

Thx,

TCS

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

I did the same thing. This situation was rain and above freezing. After the MPP was recovered about 4 days later, the battery was still good... not recommended use, but still good. Apparently as the battery drained to a low point, it shut itself off. I think you are OK.

 

[slup]

Nah ... not likely with only a discharge to shutdown & a night below freezing temps. Had been a greater risk if they had been out in pouring rain.

Charge them monitored ... if they take charge & not develop more heat than usual they should be OK.

 

[citecite]

It might be obvious, but I'd only proceed to charging the batteries after I verified that they are fully dried. The temperature differences might cause condensation/precipitation.


Stefan

 

[slozukimc]

Let them warm to room temp before charging. Should be no worse than accidentally leaving your drone in the car overnight. Or a trip through the cold on a delivery truck, etc. They are fragile to a point but one night in the cold shouldn’t bother it.

Mike

 

[Phantomrain.org]

We tested the Batteries in the freezer over night. straight out of the freezer the battery could not start the drone but after a few minutes it started up. No ill manor to the batteries.

Rain on the other hand will compromise the Power Button quickly and damage the Battery permanently.

So you should be fine as others have pointed out above.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[Chaosrider]

I did the same thing. This situation was rain and above freezing. After the MPP was recovered about 4 days later, the battery was still good... not recommended use, but still good. Apparently as the battery drained to a low point, it shut itself off. I think you are OK.

Hopefully I'll know soon...the tree guy just called, and he's on his way!

TCS

 

[Chaosrider]

Nah ... not likely with only a discharge to shutdown & a night below freezing temps. Had been a greater risk if they had been out in pouring rain.

Charge them monitored ... if they take charge & not develop more heat than usual they should be OK.

Sounds like a good plan.

I'll try to charge the strobe first, just to see if it works.

I never let any of the batteries charge while I'm not here. And I have fire extinguishers for the worst case scenario.

Thx,

TCS

 

[Chaosrider]

It might be obvious, but I'd only proceed to charging the batteries after I verified that they are fully dried. The temperature differences might cause condensation/precipitation.


Stefan

Absolutely. Always the plan, but I didn't mention it.

The humidity is very low here as a rule, and once I get it inside it will dry out quickly.

Thx,

TCS

 

[Chaosrider]

I plugged it in after it warmed up, and it seemed to charge normally. TBD if it actually works, but it seems fine.

TCS

 

[tlswift58]

Both my drone and it's strobe ended up spending the night in the pine tree, overnight low 23º F.

Are the batteries certainly dead, likely dead, or...?

Thx,

TCS

For a Mini 2, which I think you have - should be okay - since they are located inside the drone; unlike Airs / etc.

Would take it all apart - battery out / etc and let it warm up and dry out for a few days. Then charge the battery and put in the drone if it charges up. See what happens just hovering right after take off - checking for error messages / etc. If nothing, then I'd keep a close eye first few flights and keep within a good sight range. If all bodes well - you should be good from that point on.

If you truly suspect the battery and any possible issues - always safer to not use it and not have something else happen in future flights.

 

[Chaosrider]

For a Mini 2, which I think you have - should be okay - since they are located inside the drone; unlike Airs / etc.

Would take it all apart - battery out / etc and let it warm up and dry out for a few days. Then charge the battery and put in the drone if it charges up. See what happens just hovering right after take off - checking for error messages / etc. If nothing, then I'd keep a close eye first few flights and keep within a good sight range. If all bodes well - you should be good from that point on.

If you truly suspect the battery and any possible issues - always safer to not use it and not have something else happen in future flights.

Yes, I have the Mini-2s.

It's so dry here that the entire aircraft, battery included, was dry as soon as I got it back, but I left in in the house for a couple of hours before trying to fly it, just in case.

The drone had no visible damage of any kind.

The battery seems fine and is charging normally.

The only damage was to the Arc strobe-on-the-butt, where a collision with a branch created a rogue power path that has one of the four lights constantly on at low power, as long as the battery has power, even if the switch is off. That one, I'm retiring from flight, although it's not bad as a bathroom night light...

Perhaps, the strobe sacrificed itself to save the drone...

;-)

Thx!

TCS