Moisture in phone's charging port warning - how serious?

[nros]

Hi,
I was preparing a flight in snowy weather. When connecting my Samsung Galaxy A5 to the remote controller the phone showed an alert "Moisture in charging port detected - disconnect charger and let the moisture dry". The remote controller lights flashed and the phone locked its screen until I disconnected the remote controller. So no flight this time.

My question is - what to do if this would happen mid-flight? Will I lose the Mini or can I still control it ? Has anyone experience of this?

I could have made a test of course, but have to say I got so disappointed I did not even unpack the Mini.

The moisture warning as such is a normal function of this "weatherproof" phone, but in this application it's not good if it disables the remote controller. I guess it might be possible to unplug the remote controller from the phone and land using the remote controller only, but can anyone confirm this?

Is there any remedy other than a) changing to another phone, b) keeping the phone's charger socket completely dry at all times (easier said than done) ??

Thanks in advance

 

[bumper]

Well, it's not terribly serious inasmuch as the MM will return to home if it looses contact with the controller. However, you don't want to leave power applied to electronic stuff with moisture in it. The liquid has impurities in it that allows it to conduct and behave as an electrolyte. This will cause corrosion between dissimilar metals and do bad things within.

 

[Olav van Gerven]

In best case, it only will cause corrosion, in worst case, it might cause a shortage with fatal consequences for (parts of) the equipment connected. Electricity (current) and moisture is never a good combination.

 

[xspwhite]

Hi,
I was preparing a flight in snowy weather. When connecting my Samsung Galaxy A5 to the remote controller the phone showed an alert "Moisture in charging port detected - disconnect charger and let the moisture dry". The remote controller lights flashed and the phone locked its screen until I disconnected the remote controller. So no flight this time.

My question is - what to do if this would happen mid-flight? Will I lose the Mini or can I still control it ? Has anyone experience of this?

I could have made a test of course, but have to say I got so disappointed I did not even unpack the Mini.

The moisture warning as such is a normal function of this "weatherproof" phone, but in this application it's not good if it disables the remote controller. I guess it might be possible to unplug the remote controller from the phone and land using the remote controller only, but can anyone confirm this?

Is there any remedy other than a) changing to another phone, b) keeping the phone's charger socket completely dry at all times (easier said than done) ??

Thanks in advance

Everything needed to fly the little mini is right there on the remote.

No phone is needed. If the app becomes disconnected than use the remote ti guide the little mini home.

 

[netsonic]

My question is - what to do if this would happen mid-flight? Will I lose the Mini or can I still control it ? Has anyone experience of this?

This is a scenario based approach, yet very simple.

1. You do not lose the connection to the remote controller. The Mini can continue and fly if it's connected to the Remote. The only thing you are going to lose is the FlyApp Info display and Video feed. Now if you know where your drone is (as you can see it) there should be no problems as you can continue and fly or you can bring it back and land. As a matter of fact, you could have flown your Mini without a phone, start the motors by CSC and then lift off.

2. You lose the connection to the remote while in mid-flight. The drone initiates RTH if the HP was recorded. Nothing fancy here, but there are several things you need to pay attention to like, obstacles, RTH altitude, wind and other stuff. Better try to restart the remote and hope that it will reconnect. You can then cancel the RTH procedure from the button and bring it in manually.

Please try this in a controlled environment. You are quite new and I understand that you are still learning and this is advanced stuff.

 

[nros]

Thanks for the advice! I had completely forgotten the RTH function.

I went inside and let the charger port dry for a while and went for a retry. Now it worked okay and disconnecting (as well as reconnecting) the remote controller from the phone in flight also worked okay.

I think the lesson learned for myself is to connect the phone and remote while still inside in some dry place like a vehicle, *before* heading out to the flying site, if the weather is wet.

Are you guys using some kind of rain protector in these conditions? I guess a plastic grocery bag will do in an emergency, but any other suggestions ?

Here is a picture of our local pond in today's conditions of wet snowdrizzle. Funny holes in the thin ice

 

[sirbadger]

Personally I'd follow the advise of the manual and wouldn't risk flying in the rain or snow.

Cool picture though.

 

[CallSignShadow]

Personally I'd follow the advise of the manual and wouldn't risk flying in the rain or snow.

Cool picture though.

I went to phantomrain.org for a wetsuit, works perfectly.

Now, in The Most Interesting Man In The World's voice 'I don't often fly in the rain, but when I do, I use phantomrain.org. Stay elevated, my friends'. [emoji2957]

 

[sirbadger]

I went to phantomrain.org for a wetsuit, works perfectly.

Now, in The Most Interesting Man In The World's voice 'I don't often fly in the rain, but when I do, I use phantomrain.org. Stay elevated, my friends'. [emoji2957]

Rain maybe, freezing conditions and rain.. ?

 

[Oswald]

I went to phantomrain.org for a wetsuit, works perfectly.

Now, in The Most Interesting Man In The World's voice 'I don't often fly in the rain, but when I do, I use phantomrain.org. Stay elevated, my friends'. [emoji2957]

Those products look interesting! Usually when it rains here it's raining so hard it wouldn't be worth trying to fly at all. Probably would consider it in snowy areas or places like the Pacific NW where it's drizzling 8-9 months out of the year.

That website however, is really really painful to look at...

 

[bikelike]

I have the same thing with my A5 2017. Today it happened after some hours of cycling in foggy weather. Some time ago it was after camping in moist conditions. In both cases no water as liquid was in play. For me as an outdoor lover, not shy for 'bad' weather that is a real bummer. I wonder an modern iPhone would work better.