Anyone flying their P4P for commercial use in cold weather?

[aigs]

Good morning,

As I am currently shopping for my first prosumer drone in order to start my business, I was wondering if anyone uses their P4P aircraft in cold weather? As we have close 5-6 months of cold weather in Québec (Canada) I was wondering if a P4P aircraft is a good choice?

I know that I will refuse any contract for anything under -10C (15F) so that limits the baseline on which I can operate. Please note that in the summer we can go as high as 36C (96,8F) + humidty which can feel like 43C (109,4).

What about the remote controller and smartphone/tablet in that weather? I now that my iPhone 6S+ stops working at around 2C (35,6F) after just a few minutes even on a full charge.

 

[With The Birds]

Commercial or recreational use will make no difference to the principal issue here- the performance of the battery chemistry in low temperatures. Most high spec professional UAV will use LiION chemistry cells. You will be ok at -10C providing you ensure the batteries are warm prior to flying and you appreciate flight times may be reduced.

 

[aigs]

Commercial or recreational use will make no difference to the principal issue here- the performance of the battery chemistry in low temperatures. Most high spec professional UAV will use LiION chemistry cells. You will be ok at -10C providing you ensure the batteries are warm prior to flying and you appreciate flight times may be reduced.

DJI uses LiPo batteries and not LiON, for have 3 other drones (from DJI) LiPo is not always a winning combination that is why the Inspire 2 has built-in heaters and also the Matrices I think.

What about the Remote Controller? and smartphone/tablet? I want to run a 3rd party app like Litchi or something in the likes? My iPhone 6s+ froze in no time outside, any recommendations?

Cheers!

 

[With The Birds]

DJI uses LiPo batteries and not LiON, for have 3 other drones (from DJI) LiPo is not always a winning combination that is why the Inspire 2 has built-in heaters and also the Matrices I think.

What about the Remote Controller? and smartphone/tablet? I want to run a 3rd party app like Litchi or something in the likes? My iPhone 6s+ froze in no time outside, any recommendations?

Cheers!

LiPO is LiION chemistry, it is the packaging (It is the polymer as opposed to liquid electrolyte that gives it its name).

I’m unsure what your idea of a winning combination might be. LiION is the best chemistry currently available in the market at reasonable cost for UAV applications- principally due to the high energy density and current discharge capability. All battery types provide less performance at lower temperatures.

The controller battery will be less of an issue as the current demand is significantly lower than the AC and you have plenty of reserve capacity.

Like the AC battery you will want to have your device at room temperature before flying. What app you run will have no impact.

 

[BigAl07]

DJI uses LiPo batteries and not LiON, for have 3 other drones (from DJI)

You're splitting hairs on this one and for no reason. In regards to this conversation they both rely on a chemical reaction in order to provide energy. Both are "governed" by a MIN and MAX operating temp. The advice from @With The Birds is rock solid and spot on.

LiPo is not always a winning combination that is why the Inspire 2 has built-in heaters and also the Matrices I think.

Those are high end (high $$$) aircraft (at least in terms of DJI standards) so they are going to have more bells & whistles installed. Battery Heaters have been available for other DJI aircraft for a few years now but not included from the factory.

Many of us have lots of experience flying in Cold Weather. We keep our batteries in a small cooler with a hand warmer placed inside for weather below 40deg. Once the aircraft is operational the discharge of energy will self-heat the battery in the aircraft even at very cold temps.

We also use "Toe Warmers" on the back of our iPads in cold weather. They are small and have an adhesive back so they stick to the device very well.

One other thing to keep in mind that in addition to reduced battery performance in cold weather you also want to realize that the plastic components in the aircraft are much more brittle and fragile in cold weather. The colder they get the more brittle they get.

More often than not the limiting factor for us in cold weather is the "Homo sapiens" or otherwise the:

My fingers get cold easily. We have special gloves that allow the thumb and pointer finger to be the only ones exposed but they only allow us to stay outside a few more minutes before time to go in and get warmed back up again in very cold weather.