Rain flight

Dave Levine · Oct 20, 2017

3DR Solo shows on amazon as out for delivery!
Naturally I want to charge it up, go through setup and fly her on her maiden voyage.
But here in Portland the sky is heavy and rain has been off an on all day though the wind is calm.
It is not raining at current and I suspect will stay off and on.
So, how much of a threat is rain? If it does start to rain I can return the drone to home but it may be exposed to weather for a period. Is this an issue?

DaveB · Oct 20, 2017

Dave, the motors blow air down through them for cooling of them and the escapes in the pods. The motor magnets will rust and the electronics in the escapes hate water. If one pod fails the solo is "Doomed" Better to look for the sunny day then crash your bird.

Dave Levine · Oct 20, 2017

DaveB said:
Dave, the motors blow air down through them for cooling of them and the escapes in the pods. The motor magnets will rust and the electronics in the escapes hate water. If one pod fails the solo is "Doomed" Better to look for the sunny day then crash your bird.

I live in
pacific northwest, it rains, the question is I think less should I fly when it may rain as compared to, how serious will it be when I do?
Reading on this after I posted seems mixed thinking. Seen videos of a 3dr in a storm doing just fine, others suggest wd-40 as a barrier guard (I kinda like this idea, wanna research more)
In general we get a LOT of drizzle days compared to sky opening up and trying to flood you days. Most of these days It may rain for 20 minutes, be dry for a couple hours then drizzle again.

Drizzle of course adds a risk, but my question is, in general, if not flying over people or buildings, how much real world worry would you have flying on a day it may start to rain while making sure the drone is not so far it cannot return to home fairly quickly

DaveB · Oct 20, 2017

Dave, I live on the east coast of Fl. so our "DRIZZLE" is anything less then 2" : ) but it is hard to say how much rain is to much. You could always move to Phoenix

Dave Levine · Oct 20, 2017

Indeed Phoenix would be a fun choice.

Solo_Maverick · Oct 20, 2017

How about placing some Mylar disks, just a bit larger than the motors, sandwiched between them and the propellers? That will keep light rain out of the motors since the centrifuge force will spray the droplets outwards.

Dave Levine · Oct 20, 2017

Interesting thought

just_bruce · Oct 20, 2017

Discs would have to be large enough to shield the ESC opening completely I'd think or you're just flinging water at high velocity into electronics, and that will mean said disc intrudes into the thrust-producing area of the rotor, decreasing your available lift....