Mini 3 overheating when sitting idle

[Yorkshire_Pud]

To be honest I doubt cooling before hand will do much.
I suspect things will heat up quite quickly when the drone is powered on, even more so when the cpu's? are loaded.
The out side of a Mini 2, not cooled by a draught, is warm to the touch after only a minute or two and plastic is benerally a poor conductor of heat i.e. an insulator, so slows the time for the heat to reach the outside of the drone but I wouldn't mind betting the innards are warm/hot in under 30sec.
But.....it's your drone.

 

[MS Coast]

As long as the weather in the fridge is not worse than this , will be ok .

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The problem occurs when you take the drone out of the refrigerator and expose it to warmer, humid air. Then, water vapor in the air can condense on the cooler surfaces of the drone. Condensation while the drone is in the refrigerator is not likely.

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

Looks like there is the first confirmed issue; if the drone is on a table and idle then it will overheat. “iPhonedo” mentioned this in the review.
is this the first DJI drone to exhibit this?

in any way I thought this could be important. Maybe other reviews mentioned it as well?

Same thing with the DJI Tello Drone

 

[Brigs66]

Looks like there is the first confirmed issue; if the drone is on a table and idle then it will overheat. “iPhonedo” mentioned this in the review.
is this the first DJI drone to exhibit this?

in any way I thought this could be important. Maybe other reviews mentioned it as well?

So does the Mini 2, never had a problem..just turn it off...

 

[drekko]

Yeh I just googled this and noticed it gets pretty hot. I have one and just turned it on left it on my desk to adjust my camera settings

Not such a big issue when flying as wind will blow it but not sure what might happen flying this on a hot day during summer
Can get over 40 deg C here in summer

 

[Pushkur]

I installed the firmware today at the shop where I was buying it.
They sat it on a small usb fan to keep it cool while doing it.
I did the same at home while adjusting settings for the camera etc, which took a few minutes.
Its very hot this time of year in Thailand, before I would try to stand next to the drone giving it shade, while it connected and was ready to fly.
Think from now on I might try taking off with the fan underneath when the sun is out.

 

[Cymru]

Thailand has cooked 3 of my M2P batteries with the heat. All swollen after 20ish cycles.

Things like slow moving hyperlapse for 15 mins in the sun really heat stresses the batteries even without the drone itself.

Same as you though even on drones with a fan - i found it beneficial to shade them while they wait for GPS and everything else until flying.

 

[Fell Wanderer]

Switched mine on in the house to play around with the settings and it shut down after approx 10 mins due to overheating. Never had any problems in flight though, just indoors when running idle. In future and especially during firmware updates, I will sit it on one of those laptop cooling fans. The last thing you want is a shutdown during firmware updates.

 

[boldblue737]

I have to assume DJI accounted for things like firmware updates. It's possible that the overheat warning that prevents taking off and flying the drone doesn't prevent it from things like firmware updates and there isn't potential damage, it's just a *flying* restriction. I'm not concerned about the overheating issue aside from the need to understand if I don't fly the drone right away after turning it on, I'll have to be prepared to swap the battery (which apparently gets the temp down almost instantly) before flying and then use the cooled battery next.

 

[siemens6688]

Yup, there is no fan in the mini 3 pro. I just got my unit and while updating the firmware, it show a warning that aircraft idling too long and will auto power off due to heat.

unlike my previous mavic air (1st gen), which has a fan to kick in when hot, the mini 3 dont have a fan (to save weight). although it is warm to touch when updating or testing without motor on, it is hot in the upper part. it will good for about 20 mins if there is no fan blow to it, and it will auto shut down.

for youguy reference, i tried to view sd card content from my ipadpro using usb c connect to mini 3 pro, in 25c aircond environment, it auto turnoff at 20mins exactly. then, i try to usb fan blowing it and try again, it wont turn off anymore. so definitely a sensor inside to prevent overheat.

20mins is more than enough for firmware update (i just done the update without fan blowing btw). but definitely need a fan if you plan to let it seat idle for long time.

Hope my info help.

 

[SkiProiii]

Sorry, late to the game

DJI reply:

Hello, there. Sorry for your inconvenience. DJI Mini 3 Pro is designed without a built-in fan, which can effectively reduce power consumption to make the flight time longer. Additionally, the new structural design with propellers that have been adjusted for a more aerodynamic flight, which allows the drone to use the wind generated by the propellers to dissipate heat, ensuring good heat dissipation effects during the flight.

If the drone stays in standby mode for a long time, its temperature may continuously rise. DJI Mini 3 Pro comes with a built-in temperature control system that the drone can detect the current temperature and decide whether to automatically power off to prevent overheat.
The regular standby time periods of DJI Mini 3 Pro in the stationary state are as follows (measured in an indoor environment with an ambient temperature of 25℃). If exceeding the standby time, the aircraft may automatically power off to prevent overheat.DJI

There are published times which are meant to cover most tasks of transfer, etc. but in my experience too, they are short.