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Starting the air without it ready to fly - ok or no?

ksdehoff

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May 14, 2018
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Just got my new air and have had it in the air a couple of times. I've got a question though about while I'm patching, getting files off it, configuring, logs, etc. Do I need to always have the arms fully deployed and the gimbal cover off or can I pull it out of its case and power it up as a brick - arms tucked and gimbal covered
 
Can't speak specifically about the Air because I have a Pro but . . . with the Pro there is no problem starting with the arms folded. Make sure you remove the gimbal lock. Some recommend to remove the props but it would take less time to just extend the arms.
 
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Take the props off - there was someone here who wanted to run his batteries down so powered it all up to have it take off in the kitchen and it broke so take the props off, not going anywhere then is it?
 
Every time you power it on remove the gimbal cover first. You might damage the gimbal motors otherwise.
 
The Air's gimbal disables itself if it sees the cover is on. I still prefer to remove though.
 
The Air's gimbal disables itself if it sees the cover is on. I still prefer to remove though.

I started mine once with the gimbal on and it gave me a warning. The instructions specifically warn that the gimbal must be taken off before powering it on.
 
The Air's gimbal disables itself if it sees the cover is on. I still prefer to remove though.
Where did you hear that?? I wish it were true, as it would seem a simple thing for DJI to have in place. A couple of times I was just testing stuff in my home, started the MA but "forgot" to pull off the gimbal cover.. and got the warning message.
 
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It shows the warning but stops trying. On the MP it showed the warning but continued trying to force.
 
I do not always remove my gimbal cover or unfold the arms when plugging in to retrieve the files from the Air. You can hear the gimbal banging against the cover and I cringe but hopefully it's not doing any damage. The props twitch a little but again, shouldn't break anything. I'm not connected to the app so I don't see any warnings. It just sits there draining the battery something fierce while all you are doing is downloading the files.
 
I think DJI knows that this will happen a lot. So I'd hope that the design would allow for it. However, the gimbal gears need to move to detect that this is the case. I'd say it's never "good" that gears try to move and don't. I'd say that this always causes some wear on the motors. However, I would think DJI's design would compensate for this "abuse". Also, perhaps it might take 1000, 2000 uses like this to even come close to doing any damage. How many times will this happen over the lifetime of the Mavic.

At the end of the day, I'd recommend trying to remove the cover each time but if you forget every once in awhile, don't worry about it.
 
oooh.... folks... as someone who has burned up a gimbal.... don't tempt fate. if you start it up , have the guard off!
 

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