What will happen if the battery temperature goes below 15c while in flight?

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I tried to find this information in the manual and couldn't find an answer. I had the drone outside sitting for a few hours tonight and its only about 10c outside. Before I put it away I thought I'd take it up for a quick spin around the yard. As soon as I started the engines it cut out giving me the alarm that the battery was below 15c and I had to heat it up. I was just wondering this is fine because I was on the ground but what would happen if I were in the air? Would it alarm only or cut the engines off as well? I hope its not the latter because I'd rather risk damaging a battery then lose the drone.
 
I tried to find this information in the manual and couldn't find an answer. I had the drone outside sitting for a few hours tonight and its only about 10c outside. Before I put it away I thought I'd take it up for a quick spin around the yard. As soon as I started the engines it cut out giving me the alarm that the battery was below 15c and I had to heat it up. I was just wondering this is fine because I was on the ground but what would happen if I were in the air? Would it alarm only or cut the engines off as well? I hope its not the latter because I'd rather risk damaging a battery then lose the drone.

Interesting... The specs on DJI's website says the P4 operating temp is 0c. So the battery has a different range? Also, DJI shows a video of a sled dog guy using it in winter. Didn't look like it was above 0c but I guess that's marketing!
 
There is a risk with the older generation birds that the battery could shut down due to a combination of voltage lag and cold temps. The newer crafts won't let you launch, or will force a landing if you're nearing that situation. Rule of thumb is you want at least 20 C battery temp. You'll get warnings 15-20C. 15 C is auto land. The running of the battery will generally keep it warm allowing you to fly in air temps well below 20C.
 
The software temp limit is a feature to prevent battery failure in flight. LiPO performance decreases with lowering temperature (increased internal resistance, reduced deliverable current and available capacity). No issues flying in lower temps, you just need to pre warm the packs. Leave them on the seat of your car while traveling, carry close to your body etc. if you left the AC powered the battery would have reached the required temp while powering the electronics at idle.
 
I was just wondering this is fine because I was on the ground but what would happen if I were in the air? Would it alarm only or cut the engines off as well?
You won't be able to get your Phantom into the air before the battery has been warmed up. So, this would never occur mid-flight.
 
Ok msinger if the battery was warm enough to take off will it generate enough heat to keep it warm even in frigid temps? I am wondering with the drone just hovering in the cold if it will produce enough heat to maintain the temperature. I was wanting to use the drone to film some of our jeep snow runs this winter/spring. I would hope that the app/drone is smart enough to know its in mid air and not cut the engines off because the batteries are too cold.
 
Ok msinger if the battery was warm enough to take off will it generate enough heat to keep it warm even in frigid temps? I am wondering with the drone just hovering in the cold if it will produce enough heat to maintain the temperature. I was wanting to use the drone to film some of our jeep snow runs this winter/spring. I would hope that the app/drone is smart enough to know its in mid air and not cut the engines off because the batteries are too cold.

As long as you are in the air, the battery is going to keep itself warm enough and will not shut off. If the drone detects that something is going wrong with the battery, it will flash some warnings and make sure you know something is wrong or land itself. The drone will never just shut itself off in the air.
I have flown well below 0 Celsius in the winter. The flight time is a bit shorter but no issues with anything else.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
Ok msinger if the battery was warm enough to take off will it generate enough heat to keep it warm even in frigid temps? I am wondering with the drone just hovering in the cold if it will produce enough heat to maintain the temperature. I was wanting to use the drone to film some of our jeep snow runs this winter/spring. I would hope that the app/drone is smart enough to know its in mid air and not cut the engines off because the batteries are too cold.
If you observe what your typical battery temp increase is, even during a gentle flight, you will find it is always 20+ deg C. Even at -5 you won't go below the magic 15 number. What you may see is the occasional propulsion limited output error as current delivery is reduced at lower temps.
 
FWIW, on Page 26 of the manual it states:

"In cold environments, insert the battery into the battery compartment and allow the aircraft for
approximately 1-2 minutes to warm up before taking off".

I plan to fly in temps down to -10C (14F). I'll be taking the drone out of a warm house or car and flying right away. The craft and battery will be at room temperature at take-off.
 
Last spring there was some post about cold temp flights. Airontario was taking his p3 out at minus 20c with succes
 
I tried to find this information in the manual and couldn't find an answer. I had the drone outside sitting for a few hours tonight and its only about 10c outside. Before I put it away I thought I'd take it up for a quick spin around the yard. As soon as I started the engines it cut out giving me the alarm that the battery was below 15c and I had to heat it up. I was just wondering this is fine because I was on the ground but what would happen if I were in the air? Would it alarm only or cut the engines off as well? I hope its not the latter because I'd rather risk damaging a battery then lose the drone.

Hi. I have just that happen to me.
I was flying in 9c tempratures as i took off i had a warning message saying battery was 15c and needed warming. As i was in the process of taking off i had eyes on the drone and surroundings to make sure everything was safe. So missed the warning which only appeared once and only for 2 seconds.
I continued to fly but suddenly lost all connection. I tried everything rebooting app. Initiating rth but nothing. It had just fallen out of the sky.
Im sad to say its ended my drone days as i cant afford to replace it. You'd think the warnings would at least give you chance to read them .
 
Just noticed that my last post in this thread was in 2016.. I just got my P4 back then and hadn't seen any cold weather.

I've flown it for over 2 years now and have been through two winters. I make sure the batteries are at room temperature when I plug them in, but sometimes I've had them get a little cold and as a result, I have seen the odd 'cold battery' warning. The warnings always occur as soon as the craft is armed and the props spin up.

What I do when I get these warnings is to climb a few feet and hover until the battery warms up to above 15C. The battery generates its own heat while in operation and it's completely enclosed by the drone. So, once you get above the minimum temperature it will continue warming. As a result you won't see this warning while in flight.

I've flown my P4 in temperatures as low as -35C (-31F) with no problems and no reduction in flight times.
 
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I tried to find this information in the manual and couldn't find an answer. I had the drone outside sitting for a few hours tonight and its only about 10c outside. Before I put it away I thought I'd take it up for a quick spin around the yard. As soon as I started the engines it cut out giving me the alarm that the battery was below 15c and I had to heat it up. I was just wondering this is fine because I was on the ground but what would happen if I were in the air? Would it alarm only or cut the engines off as well? I hope its not the latter because I'd rather risk damaging a battery then lose the drone.

Keep in mind that the battery does warm the drone when its flying, This is why many of us that fly in the extreme cold just keep are batteries warm in the car or house until the flight is ready. We are waiting for some artic days to come that are below zero F to show how the iphone will fail from the cold before the drone will. This is where the Pro Plus controller really pays off.
 

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