Let us gauge. Let us sweat. Let Us Drone.
Your boss let you off early because he's a nice guy and you realize that there is nothing else you would rather do than fly your Mavic. The only problem is that you live in an awfully hot place like Phoenix, AZ and it’s in the triple digits. Should you take that prized quadcopter up or knock out a few tasks on your to-do list instead?
According to DJI's website, each of their drones can be flown in temperatures up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Checking the temperature of your battery while in-flight is a good way to see how your drone is hanging in there. This will be discussed in further detail below.
Operating temperature ranges for DJI drones
Mavic Pro: 32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C)
Mavic Pro Platinum: 32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C)
Mavic Air: 32° to 104° F (0°C – 40°C)
Spark: 32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C)
Tello: 32° to 104°F (0° to 40°C)
Phantom 4 Pro: 32° to 104°F (0° to 40°C)
Phantom 4 Advanced: 32° to 104°F (0° to 40°C)
Phantom 4: 32° to 104°F (0° to 40°C)
Phantom 3SE: 32° to 104°F (0° to 40°C)
Inspire 1: 14° to 104° F (-10° to 40° C)
Inspire 2: -4° to 104° F (-20° to 40° C)
Matrice 200 series: -4° to 104° F (-20° to 45° C)
Matrice 600: 14° to 104° F (-10° to 40° C)
Matrice 600 Pro: 14°F to 104° F (-10° to 40° C)
Matrice 100: 14°F to 104° F (-10°C to 40°C)
Agras MG-1: 14°F to 104° F (-10 ℃ to 40 ℃)
Agras MG-1S: 14°F to 104° F (-10 ℃ to 40 ℃
Tips for flying when it is hot out
If it looks like it's going to be a scorcher and you still choose to take your bird up, there are a few things you can do to keep the effects of the heat on your drone to a minimum. This may be a bit obvious, but fly in the earlier or later parts of the day when it’s cooler. Besides, it’s more cinematic to get pics/vids at dusk and dawn.
As you learned in science class and from your car's interior, darker-colored objects are going to be more of an issue when it comes to heat. If you own a Mavic or another one of DJI's darker drones you can buy a white wrap (skin) which will help deflect the sun. Often times it takes quite a while to set up all of your equipment, so be mindful of where your drone is resting during this process as prolonged direct sunlight will certainly do some drone baking.
While in flight it would benefit you to keep moving to let the air flow cool the drone down as opposed to hovering in place. If the heat looks like it's going to be a real concern, it would be smart to fly at a place where you can land quickly and maybe stay a bit closer than usual. I will discuss this in the coming paragraphs but your screen will display a warning if the battery temperature gets too high and I would hate for it to be a few hundred yards away when this happened. It would also benefit you to let your drone cool down for a few minutes between flights, and try to put your spare batteries somewhere cool while they are on deck.
Keep in mind that the motors will need to work harder when it's hot out so expect shorter flight times. I'd be interested in seeing a case study on the flight times of various drones in hot and cold weather.
It’s often not the drone, but your phone/tablet that overheats
If you have ever been driving somewhere with Google Maps, Pandora, and about 50 other apps open in the background on a hot day then you have probably noticed that your phone dimmed the screen in order to protect itself from overheating. The overheating of my iPhone while flying, along with the devices of many forum contributors out there has been the problem, not the drones we fly.
If it is a hot day then it is likely sunny, and we all know how hard it is to see our phone screen when it's bright out. Your phone or tablet will run slower when it gets overheated, and you're likely to see a lot more of those annoying green lines that take some of the joy out of flying. If you don't make an effort to cool the device down, a lot of the phones are designed to temporarily shut down in order to protect themselves; leaving you with a black screen to fly your drone. If that happens, I hope you followed the rules and stayed within line of sight; which would also be a good time to use that RTH button on your controller. Here are a few tips to help you keep your phone or tablet as cool as possible while flying.
- Close all background apps
- Take your phone or tablet out of its case
- Use a sunshade ( this will keep your device cooler and make it a lot easier to see your screen as it blocks out the glare)
- On a forum, somebody said that they would hold a damp sponge behind their phone which helped keep it cool, but I would be a bit leery about this as water and electronics don't get along too well.
- Put an anti-glare film on your phone. You don’t have to turn the brightness up as much if you don’t have a glare. Dimmer screen = cooler phone.
- Turn off Wi-Fi
- Turn off Bluetooth
Battery warnings and charging temperatures
In the DJI Go apps, you can check the temperature of your battery by tapping on the battery icon. I haven't tried this myself, but some have suggested setting either the C1 or C2 buttons to quickly pull up the battery information if you live in a place of temperature extremes. As mentioned previously, a warning will appear on your screen if the battery temperature exceeds 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius). DJI claims that flying one of their drones when the battery temperature exceeds 158 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius) “may lead to combustion or explosion”. If you get a high battery temperature warning I would suggest you land as soon as possible and let the fan run for a few minutes to cool the drone down.
The intelligent flight battery will only charge when it is below 104 degrees Fahrenheit and it is highly recommended to not rush the cooling down process by putting the battery in a refrigerator or some other expedited method as this may cause irreversible damage. So let's work on our patience and let the battery cool down in room air. LED #4 will blink three times per second if the charging temperature is too high.
Be mindful when storing or transporting your equipment
There is a reason why it is illegal in certain states to leave your pet unattended in a confined vehicle. On a sunny 70 degree day, temperatures inside your confined vehicle can rise to about 104 degrees after just 30 minutes. So essentially there's no difference between flying your drone in Phoenix and leaving it in your car in San Diego for 30 minutes while you eat that carne asada burrito. Consider where you place the drone in your vehicle when you set out for your drive because even though you have air conditioner cranking, the trunk is still no igloo. There are bags made specifically to keep LiPo batteries cool during transport. Investing in one of those may be wise if you live in a place that doesn't know how to be cold.
The same goes for storing your drone and equipment when not in use. Ask yourself “would I be comfortable hanging out in this spot for a few days or weeks?” Along with hot weather often comes humidity. Keep this in mind when storing your drone in a location that may be susceptible to moisture exposure. Water corroding all of those little electronic parts is about the worst thing I could imagine for your drone.
Trevor’s Take
While doing research for this post I saw that a guy used four batteries with his Mavic when it was 112 degrees out, and he saw no adverse effects. With that being said, I did come across a few DJI Spark owners that said their RC would occasionally disconnect in hot weather. Keep in mind that you’re likely looking at a shorter lifespan for your drone the more you fly in suboptimal weather conditions; even if your drone doesn’t show any signs that it’s struggling when you’re out flying. If your drone were to malfunction while flying in the heat I'm sure that DJI would do their darnedest to track down the weather records for your time and location when the damage was incurred.
Like them or not, DJI makes some incredible drones and I haven't heard of anybody having any serious problems when flying in hot weather (other than a couple of Spark owners). You should be fine if you're smart about it and use some of the tips mentioned above. I'd love to hear if you have any suggestions on how we can help out our drone friends who live in high-temperature areas!
