In-flight component temperature check - is this available in the Air 3S?

[BenThe]

Hello everyone,

I am about to fly the Air 3S for the very first time during a hot summer day. Previously I have only flown it in very nice weather, i.e. low 20 Celsius / low 70 F, and in mild winds. I understand there have been a few cases of Air 3S front motor mounts melting in mid air causing a crash, mostly due to filming hyper-lapse in hot weather and direct sunlight.

I really want to avoid that, and short of making sure I keep it in motor after hovering for a while, is there any settings where I can see the temperature of the motors or main board in-flight? I know where to check the battery temp, but I am pretty sure it doesn't show motor temp. I think the drone does track it in the flight logs based on YT vids I saw, but I can't retrieve those until after the fact.

Much appreciated!

P.S. Any tips/tricks on what else I need to do when flying on a hot day are also appreciated!

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

Very interested in the answer living in the Southwest desert.

 

[motocatfish]

Your Air 3S should display a warning notification DURING Flight if anything it measures is overheating.

I was flying slowly next to a cliff face in Moab on a warm day. I got a warning that the Obstacle-Avoidance sensor(s) are overheating & it was disabling O.A. One warning said something "was baking", but it was not on the screen long enough to read the whole warning. I flew it away from the cliff face & it cooled off.

I didn't find the "was baking" entry in the flight log, but the O.A. warnings were there.

Good luck with your flight!

Catfish ...

 

[Cafguy]

I understand there have been a few cases of Air 3S front motor mounts melting in mid air causing a crash, mostly due to filming hyper-lapse in hot weather and direct sunlight.

I would be interested in reading where a mini 3 got hot enough to melt plastic. Not gonna happen.

 

[MS Coast]

I understand there have been a few cases of Air 3S front motor mounts melting in mid air causing a crash, mostly due to filming hyper-lapse in hot weather and direct sunlight.

A skeptic might ask, where were these supposed cases of mid-air motor mount melting reported?

 

[msinger]

is there any settings where I can see the temperature of the motors or main board in-flight?

No

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

I would be interested in reading where a mini 3 got hot enough to melt plastic. Not gonna happen.

He said it was an Air 3s not the mini

 

[BenThe]

Status update, it went fine. I only touched the motors once at the conclusion of a 1.5 hr flight (3 batteries), they were quite hot to the touch after about a 20 minute flight with normal mode, side flying and a 5 minute low altitude hovering in direct sun. I did try to put it on slow cruise control if I was distracted by conversation, to try get some airflow over the motors. Wind is about 30 km/h / 20 mph.

Re: MS Coast:

A skeptic might ask, where were these supposed cases of mid-air motor mount melting reported?

China. I believe one or two was hyperlapse, one was lifting a payload. Obviously the payload case is not within design limits, but still the video showed the motor/rotor assembly breaking in midair causing the Air3S to roll and fall. Can't find it anymore, it was a short/tiktok style video.

 

[MS Coast]

China. I believe one or two was hyperlapse, one was lifting a payload. Obviously the payload case is not within design limits, but still the video showed the motor/rotor assembly breaking in midair causing the Air3S to roll and fall. Can't find it anymore, it was a short/tiktok style video.

TikTok is full of fake videos.

 

[Cafguy]

I only touched the motors once at the conclusion of a 1.5 hr flight (3 batteries), they were quite hot to the touch after about a 20 minute flight with normal mode

That's normal. The Motors will get hot enough to burn your fingers at times (hence the warning) BUT not hot enough to melt plastic. The Motor would quit before it got that hot.

 

[BenThe]

A skeptic might ask, where were these supposed cases of mid-air motor mount melting reported?

TikTok is full of fake videos.

It is not Tiktok, I mean short videos. I can see the motor assembly physically detaching in the slow motion causing the crash, pretty hard to fake.

 

[MS Coast]

It is not Tiktok, I mean short videos. I can see the motor assembly physically detaching in the slow motion causing the crash, pretty hard to fake.

With AI video tools available now, it's not too difficult to create fake videos. For instance, there are videos of infants speaking as adults while firing semi-automatic rifles and velociraptors crashing family picnics.

And even if that one case is genuine, it hardly indicates a significant Air 3S overheating problem causing mid-flight meltdown. This isn't a problem worth fretting about.