Operating P4 in Rain

[RPP]

I'll be shortly heading out to a part of the world that is rainy at this time of the year. I don't plan to fly the P4 in rain or in conditions where it looks like rain is imminent. However, should there be a sudden shower, I want to have a sense of P4's tolerance to drizzle. Any experiences here? (If it should get caught up in rain I, of course, will immediately abort the flight and bring it home.)

 

[N42742]

I can't answer your exact question, but do remember that humidity increases density altitude. Your quad's performance and endurance will be less in high density altitude conditions. If it's hot and muggy, better count on shortened run times.

 

[flpholt]

rain and electronics don't work good together

 

[sjp0eqt]

Remember all these drones run on smoke. If you let the smoke out, they stop working.

 

[thomaslaken]

I fly a P3P, and I've had it drizzle lightly while it was in the air. I brought it down as soon as possible and my bird was just fine.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[MPPilot]

I have your solution:

Phantom4-U

• MPPilot
• Aug 8, 2016

For your tropical weather excursions.

 

[RPP]

I can't answer your exact question, but do remember that humidity increases density altitude. Your quad's performance and endurance will be less in high density altitude conditions. If it's hot and muggy, better count on shortened run times.

Thanks for the tip. I will be in a high humidity environment although in moderate temps (~25-30° C). Any guesstimate how much the humidity impacts battery performance from the nominally rated 28 mins?

 

[RPP]

I fly a P3P, and I've had it drizzle lightly while it was in the air. I brought it down as soon as possible and my bird was just fine.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Thanks. Reassuring to hear.

 

[N42742]

Humidity shouldn't affect battery performance. It impacts the propeller performance. They have to work harder to produce the necessary lift. Therefore, they use up the juice faster.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Thanks for the tip. I will be in a high humidity environment although in moderate temps (~25-30° C). Any guesstimate how much the humidity impacts battery performance from the nominally rated 28 mins?

Bring a backup bird, in case you push the rain "tolerance" too far! It's not recommended to fly in wet weather. Technically voids the warranty, too.

 

[Drone Master]

I would like to mention that if your out a bit in range, you will not know if the bird is getting drenched or not. If you see water hitting your lens via FPV during the flight under that little gray cloud that you forgot about, then get the bird out of there for all it's worth! (Just one of my experiences) LOL!
My Inspire got caught in a down pour once. I was out about 8000 ft, but it chugged thru it and made it back. I pulled the battery out and wiped it down, dried it out with a hair dryer believe it or not and flew it the next day. That was a year ago and it's still flying. I guess I got lucky on that one.
I will never take a chance like that again. I would suggest that you don't take the risk either.

 

[RPP]

I would say also that if your out a bit in range, you will not know if the bird is getting drenched or not. If you see water hitting your lens via FPV during the flight under that little gray cloud that you forgot about, then get the bird out of there for all it's worth! (Just one of my experiences) LOL!
My Inspire got caught in a down pour once. I was out about 8000 ft, but it chugged thru it and made it back. I pulled the battery out and wiped it down, dried it out with a hair dryer believe it or not and flew it the next day. That was a year ago and it's still flying. I guess I got lucky on that one.
I will never take a chance like that again. I would suggest that you don't take the risk either.

Thanks for that account.

I will not fly it if conditions presage rain. My original post was to acquire firsthand experiences about encountering rain in mid-flight. I also do not envisage flying outside the line of sight.

 

[GadgetGuy]

If you monitor the direction and size of the rain clouds, you can fly as soon as they have passed and the moisture drops stop at your lauch site. I used a plastic table as a launch pad, and waited until no more moisture was falling. Any rain drops on the UV filter will pretty much muddy up your video and photography, no matter how small or infrequent. Bigger risk is to you and the iPad and the transmitter getting soaked.

 

[AlaskaPhantom]

I have had my P4 up in the rain on a few occasions and just dried it off good and took the battery out as soon as I landed and it's always seemed to be ok!!! I am not saying it's a good idea but I live in a Rain forest in Alaska so to not fly when there is a chance of rain would pretty much ground my P4 most of the time and that's out of the question!!! I also live on a small Island so I am 90% over the ocean so I am fully prepared to buy a new P4 if this one should go by by! Well over 400 miles and still going strong!


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[RPP]

If you monitor the direction and size of the rain clouds, you can fly as soon as they have passed and the moisture drops stop. Any rain drops on the UV filter will pretty much muddy up your video and photography, no matter how small or infrequent. Bigger risk is to you and the iPad and the transmitter getting soaked.

Thank you for these tips.

I have photographed extensively in rain and rainy conditions but it has all been land-based DSLR photography. I am new to the drone world so this'll be a first. As for anticipating weather, I am well versed with the patterns in the region I am heading out to.

 

[Drone Master]

My friend and I flew a marina here in south florida and he was hit with some drops only momentary, dried up and made for a cool video.

 

[John Locke]

The mechanical design of the P4 is better for rain than P3 craft. On the P4 there are no holes in the top of shell that would allow the blades to push moisture inside the shell, if it starts to rain. All venting is on the bottom, The P3 isn't as good, they have venting holes on the top sides of every motor arm, allowing the props to push air through the body for cooling, along with rain if present. The P4 pulls air from the bottom of the craft body with a fan to cool off the inside, and the vents on the bottom of each motor arm is where the air exhausts, which is almost impossible to get rain up into those vents, since they are oriented on the bottom. Although the P4 has a better design for rain, it's definitely not waterproof, so once you see rain on the camera lens, head home immediately.

 

[GadgetGuy]

The mechanical design of the P4 is better for rain than P3 craft. On the P4 there are no holes in the top of shell that would allow the blades to push moisture inside the shell, if it starts to rain. All venting is on the bottom, The P3 isn't as good, they have venting holes on the top sides of every motor arm, allowing the props to push air through the body for cooling, along with rain if present. The P4 pulls air from the bottom of the craft body with a fan to cool off the inside, and the vents on the bottom of each motor arm is where the air exhausts, which is almost impossible to get rain up into those vents, since they are oriented on the bottom. Although the P4 has a better design for rain, it's definitely not waterproof, so once you see rain on the camera lens, head home immediately.

Vents on the bottom, where water accumulating on the aircraft would flow and drip to, could easily suck in water, from the fan pulling air inside to cool the aircraft. That being said, I agree with everything else.

 

[Bckmstr]

I was just screwing around in my yard with the POI feature and I seen the clouds coming but looked liked I had time , all of sudden one big *** rain drop hit me and I was like gotta get er down. I got out of the POI and was only about 50 ft up and it let loose basically got the outside a little wet and landed inside the open garage Didn't hurt a thing , just a little free wash. Went out for a run yesterday morning and hit 16,000 and some change with no signal loss or any other issue from being wet. Certainly wouldnt try it again and if clouds look like coming land it and call it a day.

 

[jwt873]

I fly a P3P, and I've had it drizzle lightly while it was in the air. I brought it down as soon as possible and my bird was just fine.

I got caught in a light rain as well. I was about 1500 feet out and it started drizzling on the Phantom. This was spotty rain and at the time, it was dry where I was. I only noticed the rain because water spots were appearing on the lens and I could see it in the video.

I high-tailed it home and landed. The drone was wet to the touch, but it didn't suffer any damage. Despite that, I would never knowingly take off and fly in the rain.