Gimbal cover... Remove before flight or not

[bsshog40]

YouTube - Drone Valley did a test with the gimble cover. Because of the vents behind the gimble, the heat increases with the cover on. Rick used a thermal reader but you can feel the temp difference after 60 seconds of use.
A = No gimble cover and don't forget the gimble locking plate.


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X2. But heck, if they wanna keep it covered and try it, its their $1000. This is also something that should have been covered in the owners manual. Its not, and I would assume that if MPs started heating up and frying parts, dji would have to warranty it. There's no pilot error when there are no clear instructions.

 

[KiterTodd]

The gimbal is pretty fragile, if you are flying with it off would the wind not be causing unnecessary video shake?

The gimbal was designed for this purpose.
You're fine without the cover.


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[Ian in London]

Its up to you mate. If you are just flying for fun it wouldnt hurt to leave the cover on.
I have done my own comparison videos and and yes in some cases you can have so reflections from the glove.

I saw in ebay some "lens hood" which is basically a blacked out gimbal cover with an opening just for the lens, that will "potentially" protect your camera on impact and avoid un wanted reflections.

The user manual states to remove both the clamp and the cover before flight....

Preparing Aircraft
Remove the gimbal cover and gimbal clamp from the camera.

The gimbal cover is used to protect the gimbal. Remove it when necessary.
Using the Gimbal Clamp and Gimbal Cover to protect the gimbal when the Mavic Pro is not in use.

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/Mavic+Pro+User+Manual+V1.0.pdf

But in saying that, the gimbal is pretty exposed and the cover will help protect it if you have a crash. So I got one of these 3D printed open hoods; it's extremely light, fits perfectly and protects the gimbal perfectly without affecting the field of view at all. I leave it in place all the time, when in use and when packed away...

Mavic Lens Hood Sun Shade Lens Hood Protective Cover for For DJI Mavic pro | eBay

Ian

 

[AlanTheBeast]

The number of people making this assumption with no engineering data is pretty shocking. Speculation is useless without data.

First, we have no data for internal temperature limits nor data for normal operating internal temperature ranges. Two, the bottom heat sink gets warm to the touch regardless of flight or motor activity, yet we have no warnings from DJI on how much time you should have motors running for cooling prop wash airflow vs no motors running for other activities like firmware updates. Three, there is a fan inside the Mavic but it is quite small and slow, while all of the hottest parts have a thermal paste bonding the part to the heat sink; we don't know whether the fan is designed for cooling or not, as it could simply be there to ensure the clear cover doesn't fog up in humid air. Four, we have a lot of people posting complaints of all sorts to the forums, yet so far I have not seen one DJI repair bill or even a story about an actual heat-damaged Mavic system. If there were stories of strange odors, stories of smoke, stories of warped plastic, stories of discoloration around any part of the drone, I would give more credence to the idea that the DJI Mavic Pro might need all the cooling it can get. No stories, no data, no problem.

Heat is the enemy of electronics - anything to cool the internals is a benefit. The warmer the ambient temperature, the warmer the electronics will get. As others point out, the manual pre-flight says to remove it.

The props do very little to aid in cooling as the air is directed downward - not at the drone body. Forward flight is a benefit as there will be airflow over the heat sink.

The Mavic obviously activates the fan when it is hot. Just in the time that one fires it up, the fan is often running before takeoff. It wants cooling. I doubt very much this is a de-fogging measure.

I'd lean to caution before any of the engineering data comes to the surface. It can take months before the damage from heat really rears its head. The Mavic came out in the fall (for the northern hemisphere) so I'd venture that the majority of people flying it have been in cooler climes.

Warmer weather is coming - that will raise the internal temperature by the same amount.

Better to err on the side of caution, IMO.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

I would also add the there are 4 props rotating @ X RPM generating a massive amount of airflow., thus cooling the unit.

That airflow is downward, not towards the drone.

Forward flight will result in flow over the bottom heat sink, however.

IMO, best without the gimbal dome.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Down as is down towards the earth?

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Down as is down towards the earth?

Down as in not towards the drone's body.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Down as in not towards the drone's body.

Hmm...

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[Anthony Viscomi]

Down as in not towards the drone's body.

You do know that 2 props turn counterclockwise and 2 turn clockwise on quads

 

[AlanTheBeast]

You do know that 2 props turn counterclockwise and 2 turn clockwise on quads

Sure - but I've also had my hand under the thing in hover - all that air is going downward.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Hmm...

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Ambiguous. Some of those are clearly with a surface immediately underneath so the air has to go somewhere other than down.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Sure - but I've also had my hand under the thing in hover - all that air is going downward.

Trust me the props are cooling the CPU, not sure the "hand test" is valid Also here's a company that makes tethered ground stations for the Inspire and obviously they're relying on the props for cooling airflow:

PowerLine Tethered Drone - sUAS News - The Business of Drones

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Hmm...

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Very ambiguous. For cooling you need air directed at the hot part. Vortex interactions happening away from the drone's body don't mean much. Probably why DJI have a fan sucking in air and getting it over the hot parts inside.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

No denying that the the fan assist is needed, just saying that the props are adding to the air movement/circulation. Another good example is the TX on a racing quad, I've burned up at least 3 of them just by leaving the quad powered on and another by not having the antenna attached which aids in heat dissipation.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

We'll have to agree to disagree. While there may be some cooling from the props I'd bet it's quite little. The only effective cooling one would get in flight is at non-0 speeds, IMO.

With that in mind, DJI do say to remove the gimbal cover in pre-flight if not specifically why.

If you mean you burned a transmitter w/o the antenna attached it's likely because w/o an electrical load (the antenna), the transmitter would over heat since it can't dissipate the RF energy via the antenna.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

I agree that there is NO cooling benefit whatsoever from the props. So I guess can leave my Mavic armed out in the hot sun without the motors running and the internal cooling fan with suffice. Not to mention the heat on the LIPO batteries which the internal fan surely has no affect on.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

I agree that there is NO cooling benefit whatsoever from the props. So I guess can leave my Mavic armed out in the hot sun without the motors running and the internal cooling fan with suffice. Not to mention the heat on the LIPO batteries which the internal fan surely has no affect on.

If you're sitting on the ground with the props turning, you will get some cooling from them as the air can't go very far downward. The whole notion of the "gimbal or not" discussion is in flight, however.

But you know, running the batteries down in the sun while not flying, that sounds very useful. Just let it sit there and enjoy the blinking lights. I must try that, sounds like a blast.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Yes we did get a bit "off topic", nor am I a fan of flying with gimbal cover attached