Best way to storage a drone

[SeattleDrone]

Well it's that time of the year, more bad weather days then good. It's a hit and miss type for days when it's good for flying. What's the best for the drone and battery for storage, I got a p4a, do i keep the battery charged up, what's is the best way to go, I like to keep things ready to fly just in case a good day comes around but dont know if this is good idea or not
Thanks guys
Sorry for the long post

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Well it's that time of the year, more bad weather days then good. It's a hit and miss type for days when it's good for flying. What's the best for the drone and battery for storage, I got a p4a, do i keep the battery charged up, what's is the best way to go, I like to keep things ready to fly just in case a good day comes around but dont know if this is good idea or not
Thanks guys
Sorry for the long post

That's the exact reason I get a wetsuit,ok in summer here but winter and spring days just terrible,,my stuff ready to fly everyday, had a few flights now in the rain and and no water problems...I think these are worth ever cent ,makes all weather drone,,can't complain at that

 

[Weston Ney]

ok in summer hereView attachment 114537

Yeah, rub it in...
JK![emoji39]

 

[solentlife]

Its actually very simple ... you don't need to special storage at all ... this applies to ALL DJI models ...

Find a nice convenient spot where your bag / box can sit ...

The RC and AC can quite happily sit in them for as long as you like ... nothing needed. Except occasional check that RC still has some charge in its battery.
The batterys ? Charge them up and let the DJI software take care of them by auto-discharge to storage. Occasionally check battery charge level and if you find only 1 solid + 1 flashing LED - then charge up full again and let auto-discharge do its job again.

DO NOT TRY TO KEEP BATTERYS FULLY CHARGED CONTINUOUSLY ...

If you find a good day to fly ... what is so different to usual ? I live in Baltics where winter drops to -20C or lower ... snow and ice etc. etc. - doesn't stop me ...
I just charge up as normal - go fly.

No need for any fancy gimmicks or tricks. Winter can provide some of the best shots ..... all that snow and sun glinting of it ... sun through the sparkly trees .... birds standing on the ice ...

For me - winter is far more interesting shoot than summer ...

 

[Andy9]

I agree with about winter. What is no good about it are my frozen fingers.
And autumn can be very nice too.

 

[Andy9]

That's the exact reason I get a wetsuit,ok in summer here but winter and spring days just terrible,,my stuff ready to fly everyday, had a few flights now in the rain and and no water problems...I think these are worth ever cent ,makes all weather drone,,can't complain at thatView attachment 114537

Well, I believe that that wetsuit serves you well. I only don't know how many falls were because of the rain without wetsuits in general.
If non, how can you evaluate the wetsuit?

 

[Midlife Flyer]

In the above photo, I notice an RC with some stickers upon the controller. They appear as good reminders. Can someone enlighten me as to what they illustrate and if they are homemade or can be purchased decals. Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 120647]

There are differing versions so if you have specific requirements you'd need to google them etc. and check what they offer but the following seems a fairly typical example.
Perhaps the most useful are those with beep and LED code stickers

P3T-UK DJI Phantom 3 Sticker Set / Controller Stickers 743970154341 | eBay

Click here to see description.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[solentlife]

I agree with about winter. What is no good about it are my frozen fingers.
And autumn can be very nice too.

I have a pair of those Touch Tip gloves which allow a good 20mins before hands go cold ...

But the actual problem I find is not so much the cold on the hands ... its the touch screens do not like the cold. They are designed for short exposure and then back in case / pocket etc.
We subject them to long stints in the cold and they become intermittent in use.
Solution ? Make sure you know how to use the Controller buttons etc. !

 

[solentlife]

Simple print and clear tape can provide labels ... in your own language / terminology ??

 

[Andy9]

You can buy it whatever you like just search for Phantom accessories or Stickers for Phantom RC.
Very cheap.

 

[DKD2262]

In the above photo, I notice an RC with some stickers upon the controller. They appear as good reminders. Can someone enlighten me as to what they illustrate and if they are homemade or can be purchased decals. Thank you.

I got mine on Amazon, they are nice to have as a reminder

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Well, I believe that that wetsuit serves you well. I only don't know how many falls were because of the rain without wetsuits in general.
If non, how can you evaluate the wetsuit?

More wet days here than fine and get some good weather shots,sure there is long fine spells but the phantom not mind the suit in the sun,,at least it wont get sunburnt lol,again this was about me not storing drone when winter or bad weather arrives,,I'm still out there

 

[solentlife]

Just to try put this in perspective ...

I have been flying my P3S and later my P3P and caught out in rain. Both I immediately RTH and both returned home wet ... both dried out fine and both never had problems flying after such 'ordeal'. I have been caught out more than once ... most cases its light shower, but one case was a moderate downpour.

I do not advise flying in the rain - not even a shower whatever modifications / additions you make to a Phantom ... but if you get caught like I have been - it normally is not the end of the game. The worst in fact is YOU yourself getting wet !!

It is to be noted that 'rain' unless in a particularly bad location with serious air quality issues - rain is FRESH WATER with possibly extremely mild carbonic acid value - but so small as to be of no consequence to us. It is not same as dirty river / lake water or seawater - which can and will damage electronics etc. Fresh water in fact is used to 'flush' electronics if cleaner is not immediately at hand.

 

[Andy9]

I agree. I was thinking more about shortcuts that might happens in wet electronics.
I suppose that the air flow produced by propellers instantly dries the drone or at least protect motors to some extent.

 

[dnacho7]

Store the battery at 30%-40% and dont store it inside a back. But it somewhere where there is some airflow. Also if you are not going to use it for a very long time, check on it every month, if it only shows only light charge it

 

[solentlife]

Store the battery at 30%-40% and dont store it inside a back. But it somewhere where there is some airflow. Also if you are not going to use it for a very long time, check on it every month, if it only shows only light charge it

Why would you manually discharge to 30 - 40% before storing ? The system has a perfectly good auto-discharge system that does the job for you.

30 - 40% is the better storage charge level - agreed - but reducing to that before storing is unnecessary.

Better is to charge all batterys to FULL and then put aside to auto-discharge to the 50 - 55% mark. They will then 'self-discharge' at extremely low rate giving you plenty of storage time before having to top-up again to avoid too low a level.

My advice is to not muck about with 30 ... 50% or whatever ... just use the built in system to work for you. Simplay charge up to full periodically and let auto-discharge take care of them ...