Mavic Pro extreme cold flights

[Jack Mackinnon]

Hello all! Today was the first very cold day today in Canada, and as the snow caked the ground, I took my Mavic Pro out for a flight. I distinctly remember flying my Phantom 3 Standard in -40 Fahrenheit weather last winter. So I wasn’t too worried about flying today. As usual, the Mavic performed perfectly. No problems to report. Today it was 5 Fahrenheit. DJI does not recommend flying in anything less than 0 Celsius, although I did just that today. Perfect flight, solid footage. If your getting butterflies in your stomach about your Mavic being cold this winter do not worry. Performed like a dream as usual.

 

[Nightshade]

Just keep an eye on your batteries. Lipo batteries don't like the cold much.. keep them warm if you can.. put them in the drone, fly it and then get them back out of the cold.. probably wait till temps normalize before charging them again too..

Keep it in mind when flying high or far.. since battery life may be quite a bit shorter.. and it may think it's got range to return when it doesn't. Other than that, just don't bash it around too much since the plastic will be brittle. props won't bend as much and may even snap..

Bottom line for me would be to still have fun.. just not as much extreme fun as can be had in the summer months.

 

[Scobo]

I had mine out for it's first flight yesterday in 5°C with a wind chill making it feel like 0°C.
The Mavic was fine but my ipad mini went from 45% charge to 5% in 10 minutes.

 

[Nightshade]

I had mine out for it's first flight yesterday in 5°C.
The Mavic was fine but my ipad mini went from 45% charge to 5% in 10 minutes.

Yeah.. Lithium polymer batteries don't like being cold. Imagine if you were a couple of KM out with it saying 60% battery left.. then saw it go from 60% to 5% in like 3 minutes.. You'd have to land and go for a hike hoping you can find it.. but if you keep that in mind and stay close.. less risk of drama.

 

[51 Drones]

LiPos get warm when discharging, so flying in extreme cold is no issue at all. I do it often. Only thing to consider is condensation going from cold to warm.

Watch the first tip in this video:

 

[Nightshade]

LiPos get warm when discharging, so flying in extreme cold is no issue at all. I do it often. Only thing to consider is condensation going from cold to warm.

Watch the first tip in this video:

Yeah, they do stay warm when discharging.. and when charging. But don't start out with an extremely cold battery..

I had raced RC cars quite a bit and we also messed around in the winter months. initially I was not doing anything to keep the cells warm before use and the first couple of packs were okay.. but after that the runtimes were much shorter and power delivery was different... Eventually what we started packing the batteries to keep them warm before use.. much better results.

wait till the cells are back to at least room temperature before recharging too.. condensation is the killer like you mentioned..

and plastic is brittle if it's super cold out.. so be gentle.. I have broken sooooo many parts in the cold.. snapped a chassis in half on a jump that should have never caused damage.. (and learned to not run 6S in the winter..)

Fun videos.. subscribed..

edit:
Found this info.. hopefully links are allowed..

Cold Weather Drone Flying Tips
LIPO Battery Cold Weather Usage Tips

 

[Scobo]

LiPos get warm when discharging, so flying in extreme cold is no issue at all. I do it often. Only thing to consider is condensation going from cold to warm.

Watch the first tip in this video:

I'm not taking any tips from a guy who waxes his Mavic.
Speaking of stupid tricks, I have an idea which I might try today to stop my ipad battery from draining so quickly in the cold. I have one of those microwaveable heat pads which I use for back trouble. I'm thinking of strapping it to the back of the ipad to keep it warm.

 

[Scobo]

Yeah, they do stay warm when discharging.. and when charging. But don't start out with an extremely cold battery..

I had raced RC cars quite a bit and we also messed around in the winter months. initially I was not doing anything to keep the cells warm before use and the first couple of packs were okay.. but after that the runtimes were much shorter and power delivery was different... Eventually what we started packing the batteries to keep them warm before use.. much better results.

wait till the cells are back to at least room temperature before recharging too.. condensation is the killer like you mentioned..

and plastic is brittle if it's super cold out.. so be gentle.. I have broken sooooo many parts in the cold.. snapped a chassis in half on a jump that should have never caused damage.. (and learned to not run 6S in the winter..)

Fun videos.. subscribed..

edit:
Found this info.. hopefully links are allowed..

Cold Weather Drone Flying Tips
LIPO Battery Cold Weather Usage Tips

Those hand warmers are a great idea. They stay warm for quite a while.
I have some of those too.
Maybe better than the heat pad actually as they don't get quite so hot.

 

[raytom]

Yeah, they do stay warm when discharging.. and when charging. But don't start out with an extremely cold battery..

I had raced RC cars quite a bit and we also messed around in the winter months. initially I was not doing anything to keep the cells warm before use and the first couple of packs were okay.. but after that the runtimes were much shorter and power delivery was different... Eventually what we started packing the batteries to keep them warm before use.. much better results.

wait till the cells are back to at least room temperature before recharging too.. condensation is the killer like you mentioned..

and plastic is brittle if it's super cold out.. so be gentle.. I have broken sooooo many parts in the cold.. snapped a chassis in half on a jump that should have never caused damage.. (and learned to not run 6S in the winter..)

Fun videos.. subscribed..

edit:
Found this info.. hopefully links are allowed..

Cold Weather Drone Flying Tips
LIPO Battery Cold Weather Usage Tips

Dji drones, at least my inspire and the Mavic, dont start when the akku is to cold, I get an message that i should warm up the Akkus to , I think, 15° C before starting....