Cold temperatures?

[Ross]

Just tried a couple of flights having left my P3P in teh back of my car overnight in sub zero temperatures. Everything connected up fine, but the motors wouldn't start. Tried rebooting a changing evrything I could, still nothing. Took it indoors and 10 minutes later it started up fine and completed successful flight. Same thing happened 1 hour later.

Am I doing something wrong?

Had it over a year and flown regularly without any problems.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Yeah - you're not supposed to fly in sub-zero temps. You can probably get away with it, however, provided your Phantom is warm and especially your battery is nice and warm.

 

[SimonH78]

The latest firmware won't allow you to start the motors if it's less than 15 degrees C - so you need to Warm the battery up gently - that's why you can by a battery warmer on the DJI store

 

[kenjancef]

The latest firmware won't allow you to start the motors if it's less than 15 degrees C - so you need to Warm the battery up gently - that's why you can by a battery warmer on the DJI store

Are you sure it's 15 degrees Celcius? That makes it 59 degrees Fahrenheit... sounds a little too high for a minimum temperature...

 

[kirk2579]

Just tried a couple of flights having left my P3P in teh back of my car overnight in sub zero temperatures. Everything connected up fine, but the motors wouldn't start. Tried rebooting a changing evrything I could, still nothing. Took it indoors and 10 minutes later it started up fine and completed successful flight. Same thing happened 1 hour later.

Am I doing something wrong?

Had it over a year and flown regularly without any problems.

flying in sub zero temps is not an issue in itself

the problem was the battery temps were to low from being out.
the phantom monitors battery temps and will not operate if too low.
also when temps are low the phantom can and will reduce power to the motors to conserve power

just make sure the batteries are around 25c at start or close

good luck and have fun flying!

 

[Mark The Droner]

Are you sure it's 15 degrees Celcius? That makes it 59 degrees Fahrenheit... sounds a little too high for a minimum temperature...

He's sure. 15 C is cold for a Phantom. If your battery is colder, you're tempting fate

 

[kenjancef]

He's sure. 15 C is cold for a Phantom. If your battery is colder, you're tempting fate

I think I was thinking of the AC itself, not the battery... but thanks for that info. It's getting colder here in the Northeast US and I still hope to fly during the winter. I do know enough to keep the batteries in a warm pocket or something. Maybe get a pocket warmer...

 

[Mark The Droner]

I know electrical current doesn't like cold temps, so I like to keep my AC warm too if I can.

Once I bought a cheap TV for tailgating. It worked fine at home, but when I tried it in the lot it kept cutting out. Brought it home and it worked fine again. Turned out it didn't like cold temps...

I have a TV remote that also doesn't like to work well when it is cold. But when it warms up, it works great!

I don't like NO surprises...

Battery Cold use?

 

[Richard R]

And a cold IMU is going to suck some battery just to warm up to operating temp.

 

[SimonH78]

Its the "battery" temp - they need to be warm - so keep them in your jacket - the drone can be as cold as you want! I use a pocket hand warmer in my drone case near the batteries

 

[Whiskey_Throttle]

Indeed, 59f is considered a "standard day"


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[Ross]

Thanks guys. Understanding more about these things each day.