Working the H520 in a desert country

[Ali Azzee]

Hi, I am thinking of starting a drones service business in Saudi Arabia, with no official supplier and with no prior-experience flying drones, I am worried about our dusty, humid and scorching hot weather would do to drones.

I am eyeing the H520 right now, and the maintenance manual is saying to avoid taking off and landing on dusty areas so as not to get dust in the motor and in the landing gear. Keeping in mind that if one motor stops, it's a huge risk and the drone falls down and breaks something like a $3,000 camera. How problematic is it to actually fly in these weather conditions? And what do I do for maintenance, as it's saying change motors every 800 flights

 

[jannislh]

The problem with the dust is, that it sticks to all oily surfaces. Espacially the bearings are very likely to be contaminated. If that happens there is nothing you can actually do. The good news on the other hand are that it only increases the wear of the bearings and will not result in an unexpected crash. You will be able to here a noticable difference long before it causes any real trouble. Replacing the motors is also not that hard and with the right tools you could even install new bearings instat of throwing away otherwise good motors.

It is also important to keep the gap between the coils and the magnets inside the motor clean. If any hard particles rub against the coils it might cause a short circuit. These particles are not flying around because they are too heavy. Usuallly the only come into contact with the motors if you crash or tip over. If that happens gently move the motor side to side and blow all dirt out of the gap. It works best using a compressor.

The temperature is also something you have to have an eye on. If the batteries get too hot it can get dangerous. The H520 itself does not have big problems with overheating. If it gets to warm, place it somewhere in shadow area and wait a little until it cooled down.

All in all it is not impossible to fly in desert areas but you have to take care about some things and accept a little bit more wear to your device.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I fly year round in Florida where our heat index reaches over 100 degrees throughout the summer months and while we do not have the type of sand as you do in SA, many places here have very sandy and dusty soil; as well as the beaches.

Heat has not been an issues but I have certain procedures that minimize the effects; such as keeping the aircraft in the shade when not flying and removing a spent battery immediately upon landing and leaving the battery bay open to the breeze afterwards for a small period of time. Also batteries are kept out of the sun and in the hotter months in as cool a place as possible because they're never going to get to the point that that low temps begin to reduce battery efficiency.

I did some tests with a infrared thermometer and found the heat build up, post flight if left sitting in open air no shade, in our conditions can be 30 degrees hotter (measuring the top of the body and motors) than the drone hovering for ten minutes in a fixed position. I could not measure temps at flight speed but it is likely even cooler. So bottom line with heat is; when flying there is not likely to be a problem one just needs to be conscientious of duration of sitting in the sun pre and post flight.

For dusty conditions, (not to mention uneven ground, rocks and so forth and even over water on a boat); hand landing and taking off are two valuable tools to have, to minimize the effects of contaminants. Now granted in your area the sand may be much finer and can even be airborne easier but these are just some things to consider.

 

[PatR]

The “talcum powder” consistency of middle east dust is simply horrible around computer components. Even inside closed rooms the stuff consistently infests fans, filters, and cases. Don’t even think about taking off and landing without using a 6’x6’ clean mat.