P4P and Rain

[crazydaze]

How long can the P4P v2 handle being in moderate amount of rain before it becomes nonoperational? My main concern is: if there is a chance of rain < 40% then out of nowhere it pours down, I wouldn't want my drone to become damaged.

 

[dirkclod]

Phantom Rain RESUCE JACKETS - Submersion PART 1
Rain RESUCE JACKETS - Submersion PART
How to storm chase with your Phantom 4 series drone.
And so on .

 

[Avaitor_Chris]

For what it's worth - I was shooting on a golf course recently and decided to "test" the P4P+ while flying through the course sprinkler systems. I had to turn off the proximity sensors as it would come to a stop 2 or 3 feet away from the water jets/spray. Anyway, despite almost being knocked down by the jets of water, it kept on flying with no problems! There was a little water in the battery compartment but after drying this out everything seemed to be fine. Given this severe water test, I would have thought light rain would not be a problem. Perhaps the rain jacket would be a sensible precaution though.

 

[Loz]

I’d stay out of the wet at all costs, it’s not worth it - any technician will tell you just because it hasn’t stopped whilst getting wet doesn’t mean the water / vapour getting any where near electronics is not a good thing, rust, shorts & corrosion are big risks, damp over time is worse. Avoid at all costs - period.

 

[crazydaze]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I was just concerned that I may not have enough time to bring the drone back in for landing after it started to rain. After seeing the posts, I'm glad to hear that it can survive being in the rain for potentially enough time to land the drone and get it secured.

 

[African wildlife]

The best thing is to watch/read the weather - initially by checking forecasts, then by looking at clouds and changing weather patterns. You can be sometimes caught out, especially in the mountains, but weather is most often predictable. The more you look at the sky, studying it, the better you become. Farmers are a classic example.

 

[dirkclod]

Farmers and drone pilots . I can tell whats going to happen now more the ever .
Not to mention I have my own Doppler Unit . Top of my head as slick as a onion
looks almost just like one .

 

[WetDog]

Allay thy fears and quail not. The things don't melt. You can fly them in downpours (not especially recommended, but you can do it).

The biggest issues are:

- The lens: Water on a lens makes for an interesting image but not typically one that your were planning on. It just takes ONE drop of water to mess up an image. The water tends to evaporate / fall off, but ofttimes his little buddies come looking for him.
- The camera / gimbal: Can be damaged by longer term water exposure. I had a P3P lost in the woods in SE Alaska over a winter. The gimbal sort of worked (after some WD40) but eventually had to be replaced). But it sat out in 1 inch per day rain for several months. But brief rain probably won't harm it. If you are anywhere near an ocean, the dissolved salt in rainwater CAN cause problems later on so it is an excellent idea to wipe down your electronics after use. And never store anything wet.
- Batteries: Really shouldn't be submerged or soaked (duh).

But flying briefly through rain won't hurt anything as long as you dry it off carefully.

Some other things to consider - water is an excellent absorber of 2.4 GHz microwave energy (and 5 GHz as well). Expect problems with the radio link in precipitating environments. That includes the GPS reception (as any boater will tell you). That can be a problem. I think my aforementioned loss of the P3P was due to flying it in a snowstorm, losing GPS and having it wander 'home' a few miles away from where it was supposed to be. If I ever pull that sort of stunt (it was a pretty scene), I think I will set it up so that loss of signal just causes the AC to hover / land instead of trying to muscle it's way through a blizzard.

I tend to avoid flying in storms because there isn't much utility in it, but I will go through squalls, rain showers and fly near precipitation.

I don't think DJI has a moisture sensor in any of it's products, but that is something that has frustrated some cell phone users ("No, I didn't drop it in the toilet, why would you think that?").

 

[dirkclod]

.("No, I didn't drop it in the toilet, why would you think that?").

I have .

 

[Matchlock]

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.

Bud

I’d stay out of the wet at all costs, it’s not worth it - any technician will tell you just because it hasn’t stopped whilst getting wet doesn’t mean the water / vapour getting any where near electronics is not a good thing, rust, shorts & corrosion are big risks, damp over time is worse. Avoid at all costs - period.

 

[N017RW]

I don't think DJI has a moisture sensor in any of it's products, but that is something that has frustrated some cell phone users ("No, I didn't drop it in the toilet, why would you think that?").

There have been some folks who have reported these devices present in the past....

Just noticed a liquid indicator...

 

[WetDog]

There have been some folks who have reported these devices present in the past....

Just noticed a liquid indicator...

Interesting. Apparently just in the battery.

Thanks for sharing. Perhaps DJI has had some battery failures related to significant immersion (not at all surprising). Perhaps the battery manufacturer just does this because ... aliens. Or whatever. I think that if there were indicators in the P3P bodies I would have detected it by now.....