Flying in cold weather?

pierre · Feb 15, 2015

Since i live in Québec, Canada....cold weather is something an operator must consider. I noticed several stills and videos out there that shows the Inspire in cold environments. Does it operate well in minus 5-10 Celsius??? Of course it will take more juice out of the batteries but besides that? I am about to buy the Inspire but flying in cold températures is an issue.

BaldEagle · Feb 15, 2015

There have been a few posts about power decreasing rather suddenly when being flown at that temperature - I had an experience where my %battery went from 35% to 8% within a few seconds and I quickly descended to landing. I think a few others had this experience as well and DJI is now offering a battery warmer perhaps for this reason. I would be cautious without the battery warmer flying in extreme cold

Tahoe Ed · Feb 15, 2015

If you are used to flying in a cold environment then you will not be surprised with the Inspires lipo performance. Below 30% the voltage drops quickly. Better to be close to your home point at that time. Other than keeping your lipos warm, it could be with the DJI lipo warmers or an other method. You should be fine.

pierre · Feb 15, 2015

Many thanks guys but besides the fast draining of the lipos, does the cold weather affect the mechanical parts or the overall flying conditions of the drone?

Tahoejmfc · Feb 15, 2015

It could cause any sort of grease to firm up, also you need to let your copter acclimate to the temperature prior to starting up otherwise you will get gyro drift as they cool down.

Tahoe Ed · Feb 15, 2015

Tahoejmfc and I have flown in Tahoe under a lot of conditions. We have never had a craft fall out of the sky. Both of us know what the limits are in "extreme" conditions. Not that I would call -5C extreme but it is what it is. We have flown much below that temp. Keep the lipos warm and know that the flight times will be lower.

basil · Feb 15, 2015

How does the camera perform in -5c ?

Paul K · Feb 15, 2015

Pierre I fly in -10 -15 C with shorter flight time but no issues ( the sadden battery level drop has nothing to do with could wether) .other than that ,if it is kind of moist wether, the ice build-up on props is a issue ,I use WD40 or silicon lubricant on small pc. of cloth and wipe the props prior to take off ,but still paying close attention to it.Good glove makes big difference in controlling your craft.If you land the craft in the snow ,make sure on snow gets inside ,it could shorten electronic circuits , it is better to terminate the operation and have it dry properly before next flight.I don't think there is any grease lubrication on mechanical parts.

White Airwolf · Feb 11, 2016

People talk about Windchill on the batteries and components.
Keep in mind that Windchill only affects biological living tissue, like our skin.
It has no affect on inanimate objects.
To the batteries and Inspire itself, -30 degree temps is -30 degrees.

jon b · Feb 11, 2016

Lots of posts on this, and, there is stuff you can do to fly in winter (I do frequently in Chicago and Wisconsin)

1 Only fly on fully/freshly charged cells
2 Keep the batteries warm till you are ready to fly
3 establish a low hover and let the cells being their own local action
4 if your telemetry looks stable, proceed with caution.

Battery warmers if it's really cold Inspire 1 in-flight battery insulation/warmer
but I fly in the high teens to 20F (-6-7C) no issues txt.

I have noticed that if I fly with a partially depleted or cold battery, you can experience a precipitous drop to critical levels.

Good preparation and careful battery handling is key

Predator · Feb 11, 2016

pierre said:
Since i live in Québec, Canada....cold weather is something an operator must consider. I noticed several stills and videos out there that shows the Inspire in cold environments. Does it operate well in minus 5-10 Celsius??? Of course it will take more juice out of the batteries but besides that? I am about to buy the Inspire but flying in cold températures is an issue.

Dont worry i live in Aylmer,Quebec and i fly in -20/-30c all the time just take it easy on the throttle because even with the new firmware my Voltage goes in the yellow and Red quite often on very cold days. keep an eye on your Voltage.

And for my American friends we average -18f in the winter here.

Predator · Feb 11, 2016

jon b said:
Lots of posts on this, and, there is stuff you can do to fly in winter (I do frequently in Chicago and Wisconsin)

1 Only fly on fully/freshly charged cells
2 Keep the batteries warm till you are ready to fly
3 establish a low hover and let the cells being their own local action
4 if your telemetry looks stable, proceed with caution.

Battery warmers if it's really cold Inspire 1 in-flight battery insulation/warmer
but I fly in the high teens to 20F (-6-7C) no issues txt.

I have noticed that if I fly with a partially depleted or cold battery, you can experience a precipitous drop to critical levels.

Good preparation and careful battery handling is key

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-6 i wear shorts lol thats spring weather here lucky you

jon b · Feb 11, 2016

Predator said:
Dont worry i live in Aylmer,Quebec and i fly in -20/-30c all the time just take it easy on the throttle because even with the new firmware my Voltage goes in the yellow and Red quite often on very cold days. keep an eye on your Voltage.

And for my American friends we average -18f in the winter here.

Thats cold! So maybe the hand warmers and wrap are a good idea

Michael Morris · Feb 12, 2016

Can anybody with experience of using DJI Lipo warmers post their experience. Yesterday, I few 4 TB 48's with my Inspire Pro, freshly fully charged, in an ambient temperature of around +7C and got only 15 mins flight until down to 30% at landing. The latest DJI Go App warned me to check Battery temperatures (around 14C at start) and advised safe operations should be when batteries are at or above 25C. Consequently, lost a few minutes flight time in low hover watching the battery temperature push through the 25C threshold.

Anyone know what temperature the Lipo warmers keep the batteries at and, most important, how much power they consume? I would imagine much less than hanging in the air hovering, but I could be wrong.

Predator · Feb 12, 2016

Michael Morris said:
Anyone know what temperature the Lipo warmers keep the batteries at and, most important, how much power they consume? I would imagine much less than hanging in the air hovering, but I could be wrong.

The dji batt warmers only use 3% of the battery and it takes around 10-15min to be warm enough to be able to take off in my weather -20c. Best thing is i keep the battery warmer in the car that way i dont have to wait when switching batterys.

The Editor · Feb 12, 2016

Predator said:
The dji batt warmers only use 3% of the battery and it takes around 10-15min to be warm enough to be able to take off in my weather -20c. Best thing is i keep the battery warmer in the car that way i dont have to wait when switching batterys.

Yup - you only have to wait for the first battery to warm.
If you line up the next one in the warmer as soon as you are about to take off, by the time you finish your flight the next battery is nice and toasty.
Repeat and fly as needed.

maccampb · Dec 3, 2016

Doing testing outside yesterday in 0c temps, the X5 camera, while turned on, only recorded 5-7 second clips once a minute instead of a full clip... Anyone else see that or have any suggestions. We were walking the aircraft around versus actually flying at that point...