Cold weather and Anafi batteries

[CraigCam]

Greetings all. This morning it’s below 20f here in Tucson. We’ve got mountain snow so I wanted a hyperlapse of the sunrise illumination of the new mountain snow. I was 100’ up and ran till 20% power for 18mins of video then started a slow descent. At about ten feet above the ground with 15% battery left, she just shut down and dropped to the ground. This is the second time it’s happened under similar conditions but this time the left front motor took a hit and is damaged. It’s my fault for pushing the envelope. I would say in cold weather that I should have not pushed past 20% at all.

So I’ve already got a new one ordered for pick up and I’ll see about fixing this one as having a second Anafi is ok with me. I see if parrot offers any affordable service as I doubt they will see this as a warranty repair. I’ll tear it down first though as if it’s just the motor, hopefully it’s easily replaced and the ESC is ok. Worse case is I’ve got parts.

 

[dashSolo]

Sorry to hear. Did you get the shot?

Lithium's have always performed poorly in low temps.

Not sure if BestBuy still has the ANAFI for $499 in store, it did 2 weeks ago.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Greetings all. This morning it’s below 20f here in Tucson. We’ve got mountain snow so I wanted a hyperlapse of the sunrise illumination of the new mountain snow. I was 100’ up and ran till 20% power for 18mins of video then started a slow descent. At about ten feet above the ground with 15% battery left, she just shut down and dropped to the ground. This is the second time it’s happened under similar conditions but this time the left front motor took a hit and is damaged. It’s my fault for pushing the envelope. I would say in cold weather that I should have not pushed past 20% at all.

So I’ve already got a new one ordered for pick up and I’ll see about fixing this one as having a second Anafi is ok with me. I see if parrot offers any affordable service as I doubt they will see this as a warranty repair. I’ll tear it down first though as if it’s just the motor, hopefully it’s easily replaced and the ESC is ok. Worse case is I’ve got parts.

Do you have a picture of the damage? Some have repaired damage around the motor with those leg protectors

Landing Leg Protectors for Parrot Anafi

 

[AlexZh]

I had the same problem with Parrot Bebop 2. At 10 degrees below zero С, the battery instantly stopped working at about 25% charge. The frame and one engine were broken. Thinking this is a common problem for this type of battery.

 

[Hawkeye Alaska]

I have flown my BB2 and landed between 6-10% a couple of times. Didn't mean to go that low but the only thing that happened was it quit videoing when it started descent.

 

[ROBANAFI]

Sorry to hear about your battery failure. But this is good information for the forum! I know i've been a bit keen on getting the drone up in low temperatures but i'll definitely be thinking twice when its below 0c!

 

[AlexZh]

I flew at a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius below zero. Everything is good, but the flight ended at a battery level of more than 20%

In the video, minus 10 degrees, the drone was long time outside, about 40 minutes

 

[Steve Carr]

Not sure if BestBuy still has the ANAFI for $499 in store, it did 2 weeks ago.

They are now listed at $550. Amazon has them listed at $525.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Hello Steve, nice to see ya over here. Welcome

 

[Steve Carr]

It's sitting here still in the shipping box. Not going to open it until I get enough info here to be comfortable with it. I also have a Bebop 2 and a Disco that I haven't flown yet. Ha....I have to get this FF6 thingy planted in my mind.
I'm glad to see you here as well.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Well its a pretty easy UAV to fly but like anything else just take it slow but I am sure you already know that. Actually FF6 is a lot better then most Apps I have seen. Just takes a while to get to know the layout is all.
Good luck with yours.

 

[Seitenwerk]

Sorry to hear about your battery failure. But this is good information for the forum! I know i've been a bit keen on getting the drone up in low temperatures but i'll definitely be thinking twice when its below 0c!

That’s pretty normal for batteries and one of the reason manuals usually give some tipps on what you can do if you are flying in cold conditions. Like for example try to warm up your batteries and keep them stored in a warm place. Of course, the best thing would be if you kept them in your house and just go out flying with them. On the other hand, if you would go out hiking in the cold and the batteries are stored in your backpack and are getting cold, the chance is high that their power output will be highly reduced. So always save some percent and don’t let it get down to 10% as you cant trust the usual battery performance.


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[Ross]

I was during the Christmas and New Year periode in France for skiing. I flew a couple of times with the Anafi, and got two times a warning (red bar below my screen) batteries to cold, RTH, so I did (temp was minus 4 degrees). But I didn't got any problem to fly home when I receive the warning. I flew with the Anafi, wifi off from my iPhone, but sometimes when there's a wifi antenna around the place, I got warning of bad connection. When I flew in the open nature, never got problems with GPS or Wifi connections problems. I'm really glad with the Anafi, he's doing the job I like to do, so....
Flying with latest firmware on iPhone X.

 

[CraigCam]

We have a weird condition in the desert where the temperature drops right at sunrise. I did get the shot. The left motor shaft is bent. I got it as straight as I could but it’s not spinning freely enough to start properly. Best Buy still had the deal here and I now have spare parts or a second ground based camera that’s still visible for hyperlapse and photos.

 

[San2C]

I got a "cannot fly, batteries too cold" message on a recent mission where the temp was about 35° F. Once I warmed them up (under my armpit) flight times & battery discharge rates were pretty normal for me in windless conditions.

 

[CraigCam]

Interesting. I never saw a warning since it was a power shut off. My batteries get used often and I cycle through 6. I pushed past where I knew it was safe. I was smart enough to be lower to the ground and near me. Next time I’ll put a catch net below it if I try that again lol.


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[San2C]

Difference is, I started out with cold batteries and yours just got colder after launch.

 

[CraigCam]

Yes. It was a big drop during the flight. It’s amazing how you miss the reality while focusing on your flight and the capture of that same reality.


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[AugerIn]

I was wondering if a little foam for insulation would help much to keep battery temps from dropping too much.

Like a little foam shell around the top, sides and back of the battery, hold it on with an elastic band around the whole drone.

Seems easy enough to test, maybe I’ll carve one out for myself and try a flight with and without, measuring temp drop after a 5 minute flight.

 

[Seitenwerk]

Not sure if that would be a good idea. It’s much more important to keep the core temp in good condition by just storing it at a warm temp. Be aware that isolation could mean a major increase of heat while in flight which would damage the battery