Quick Question For New User

[dronepro]

Have a couple questions about my Autel Evo

1. Do the drone batteries automatically lose energy over time? I charged them all (3 batteries) about 2 weeks ago and now it's 3 dots instead of 4 dots, after not using them.
2. Can the drone be flown in light or heavy rain? Seems like the place I am going has 40% chance of rain.

Thanks!

 

[bjtap]

1) Yes, the batteries will lose 'energy' over time, that is normal.
2) I kind of remember some users flying in light rain (should be confirmed) but I doubt you should fly in heavy rain. Others... please chime in. I personally would not fly my Evo or XSP in rain.

 

[macoman]

I will never fly the drone in heavy rain... I believe if you see drizzling rain, it's safe because is very light rain. Not going to damage any component.

 

[airapple]

I would respectfully suggest you read the manual start to end. In Section 2.1.3 Aircraft Battery, it says, in part:

Storage Self-Discharge Protection: In order to prevent damage, after the battery has been idle for 6 days and the voltage is higher than 12V, the battery will discharge automatically to approximately 70% of total power. This is the default setting, and the discharge process takes 2-3 days. While there’s no formal indication that the battery is performing a self-discharge cycle, you may notice a slight warming of the battery, which is normal. The discharge threshold can be customized using the Autel Explorer app.

It's good practice to leave the battery below 70% after flying if you know you're not going to use it for awhile.

 

[Normex]

There is a setting in the explorer App and one can choose 10 days, I am currently using this setting and I can say after 10 days the battery is still with 4 lights.
I have never timed my batteries as every time I used them, everything or the with a flight I have all accomplished what I set out to do.

 

[mjbok]

I bring down my drones at the first sign of rain. Whether it be a few drops or not. That is just me being overly safe. Of course I've seen videos of people flying in torrential rain. I remember one where an H lost one of its rotors, but they still were able to land safely.

My bigger question (and thought of breaking my no wet weather policy) would be flying in snow. I just think the visuals would be incredible.

And your batteries are designed to discharge after a period on not being used. That is normal.

 

[macoman]

I bring down my drones at the first sign of rain. Whether it be a few drops or not. That is just me being overly safe. Of course I've seen videos of people flying in torrential rain. I remember one where an H lost one of its rotors, but they still were able to land safely.

My bigger question (and thought of breaking my no wet weather policy) would be flying in snow. I just think the visuals would be incredible.

And your batteries are designed to discharge after a period on not being used. That is normal.

You can fly when the snow is very thick and not wet.

 

[Normex]

No problem with the snow but the cold affects the battery much. Again depending on how cold it is. Last winter was a very cold and long winter so no flying.

 

[mixchief]

Well, water and electricity don't really get along, and being that our electric motors are vented on top, if it's raining hard there is little chance of water not infiltrating into the motors, probably not the best situation, add to that the gimbal not really waterproof, as you travel you will pick up more water causing damage to the gimbals. Surprisingly reports of drones drowning and being recovered dried and flown again are not uncommon, but damage was caused to the gimbals in all occasions, also one thing is falling in the water then drying and having it still work, another is drowning in mid air, having a failure and dropping like a brick. In all reality, why fly in the rain, you will not get great footage or even stills with a soaked lens, believe me I'm an automotive photographer and have worked with light rain, the drops coming down are cute for a couple of shots, but not so much after that.