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Storage issues

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Just curious what the consensus seems to be in regards to the many issues members have with drone storage issues. That is to say, people store their drones or don't use them for months, sometimes years, at a time and when they pull them out of storage there seems to be many issues with them....camera issues, motor issues, connectivity issues etc...What's the leading cause? Winter is coming here up in new England and my drones will most likley be sitting for a while (I'm hoping not and will try to get them flying anyway).

Is there anything we can do before putting them in storage? Not talking about batteries, talking about the drone and camera. Anyone recommend not storing drone with cameras attached or does it even matter?

Curious

Edit. Posted in wrong area, can a mod move to general area? Sorry
 
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Many of those issues are related to poor environmental conditions, which is causing corrosion. Espacially the potetiontiometers of the sticks are highly affected.

Several other aspects like connectivity problems and maybe also motor (or ESC) issues are caused by storage devices losing their information. This is quiet common since the way they store their information is based on capacitors. Just like batteries they will lose their charge over time. No charge means no information. In case of SSDs (the ones you might use inside you computer) it is recommanded to connect them to a power source at least every two years. Otherwise you risk a loss of data. The same issue also affects receivers, ESCs, cameras and so on.

Many flyaways after a period of not beeing in use are caused by impatient users. It is completly normal for any GPS device to take a little longer to find sattelites if it has been sitting for more than six months. This is due to the fact that the stored information are outdated and it has to acquire every single sattelite again. This can take up to half an hour but usually does only need about 15 minutes. Give it the time it needs and everything will be fine.

In summary it is important to maintain dry and warm conditions. A cold and wet basement is not the best idea. Also you should not leave it sitting for too long without at powering it on at least every year to be safe.
 
Many of those issues are related to poor environmental conditions, which is causing corrosion. Espacially the potetiontiometers of the sticks are highly affected.

Several other aspects like connectivity problems and maybe also motor (or ESC) issues are caused by storage devices losing their information. This is quiet common since the way they store their information is based on capacitors. Just like batteries they will lose their charge over time. No charge means no information. In case of SSDs (the ones you might use inside you computer) it is recommanded to connect them to a power source at least every two years. Otherwise you risk a loss of data. The same issue also affects receivers, ESCs, cameras and so on.

Many flyaways after a period of not beeing in use are caused by impatient users. It is completly normal for any GPS device to take a little longer to find sattelites if it has been sitting for more than six months. This is due to the fact that the stored information are outdated and it has to acquire every single sattelite again. This can take up to half an hour but usually does only need about 15 minutes. Give it the time it needs and everything will be fine.

In summary it is important to maintain dry and warm conditions. A cold and wet basement is not the best idea. Also you should not leave it sitting for too long without at powering it on at least every year to be safe.

Excellent information
 
What I tried to do
Just curious what the consensus seems to be in regards to the many issues members have with drone storage issues. That is to say, people store their drones or don't use them for months, sometimes years, at a time and when they pull them out of storage there seems to be many issues with them....camera issues, motor issues, connectivity issues etc...What's the leading cause? Winter is coming here up in new England and my drones will most likley be sitting for a while (I'm hoping not and will try to get them flying anyway).

Is there anything we can do before putting them in storage? Not talking about batteries, talking about the drone and camera. Anyone recommend not storing drone with cameras attached or does it even matter?

Curious

Edit. Posted in wrong area, can a mod move to general area? Sorry
What I try to do is every 2 to 3 months I set the drones up connect batteries make sure everything is working, if possible I do it in the garden so they can get some GPS satellites, I let the motors tick over without props for about 3to5-minutes then shut the motors down and leave everything connected for another 15 minutes, these are just approximate times it's entirely up to the user, with the Typhoon H I set that upside down on a towel so it doesn't get scratched and operate the lifting and lowering of the legs, till now I have had no trouble and everything seems to be fine after getting over the winter, as I said these are just approximate times its entirely up to the user if they want to tick over for longer but make sure the motors don't overheat because you will not have the props on, "mind you I can't see any problem by putting the props on as long as thay are only ticking over and you are with the craft at all times",
SAFETY FIRST
Ron
 
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Just curious what the consensus seems to be in regards to the many issues members have with drone storage issues. That is to say, people store their drones or don't use them for months, sometimes years, at a time and when they pull them out of storage there seems to be many issues with them....camera issues, motor issues, connectivity issues etc...What's the leading cause? Winter is coming here up in new England and my drones will most likley be sitting for a while (I'm hoping not and will try to get them flying anyway).

Is there anything we can do before putting them in storage? Not talking about batteries, talking about the drone and camera. Anyone recommend not storing drone with cameras attached or does it even matter?

Curious

Edit. Posted in wrong area, can a mod move to general area? Sorry
The biggest issue in my opinion is batteries allowed to drain too low. Batteries need to be checked periodically (every few months) to make sure they are at their storage level of 50%. Also, the rechargeable soldered battery on the GPS can fail if it isn't used and allowed to discharge too low. Periodic use will prevent this, even if it's just powered on and left to sit idle for a time. Another issue with soldered rechargeable batteries is they can leak in storage, causing corrosion and circuit board damage.

Pots and switches in the controller can oxidize, so verifying function in the hardware monitor before use is also highly recommended.

Another often (unknown by most) is a phenomenon called tin whiskers. See the link below for images.
Tin Whiskers Images
Tin Whiskers occur in electrical devices when metals form long whisker-like projections over time. Basically metal crystalline filaments that grow over time that create shorts in electronics.
Wiki Tin Whiskers
I would never just power on old electronics that have been sitting without first spraying them down with electronic component cleaner and a can of air, (still no guarantee).

Have you ever taken something out of storage only to power it on and hear a pop with smoke?

Rubber components can also decay as well as bad wiring insulation causing shorts or mechanical failures.
Grease and oils can also deteriorate over time getting sticky.

The MEMs pressure sensor used to determine altitude could also be affected because I believe the diaphragm is made from silicon that can also deteriorate with time.

As a lot of us on this forum can attest, entropy can only be slowed, not stopped.

To quote Star Trek - Dr. Soran : "They say time is the fire in which we burn. Right now, Captain, my time is running out. We leave so many things unfinished in our lives."
 
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I agree with Roy Sinclare, I especially now that winter is on it way, I take my drones out in my spare room (eg. raining day) insert batteries and connect the controllers (without props)and let the motors run for awhile, if it is good weather take them to a small field near me and put them in the air just for a bit, I never store them away in other words keep them active.
 
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I place my batteries in store mode. My H stays in the back pack and I keep it in my air conditioned office in my house. My H sit's for 6+ months at a time and I never had any issues..
 
Not trying to disagree because I really have no idea but I believe that wtfd told me that you should not turn on the motors without the props. Confused.
 
Lol. At this stage I would be the only one on here dumb enough to think it will fly without the props[emoji85][emoji13]
 
Not trying to disagree because I really have no idea but I believe that wtfd told me that you should not turn on the motors without the props. Confused.

Running the motors without props isn’t much of an issue, but rather a point of understanding.

With the H’s, revving the motors without props will result in a 5 motor error, due to unexpected imbalance and/or lighter than expect loads. This has been addressed and responded to many times over the years within these pages. To run the motors at higher rpm than idle requires the GUI, at least for the H480. One motor at a time is the testing function of the GUI.

Running the motors at idle should not be a problem. Just pay attention to overheating possibilities, though at idle they should not be stressing enough to overheat.

Jeff
 
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