Hi Everyone,

Been flying my Spark for a few months and having a great experience, loving the lil'guy.

Today I came across a thread that made me worry just a tiny bit, someone turned on their spark and you could clearly hear the internal fan spinning. My question is, should it be audiable?

I've never heard it on my Spark though I usually fly it, the only time it's on and not flying is when I'm updating (it gets pretty hot but no errors) and after flying to download a few photos/videos to my smartphone (again gets toasty).

Previously I've read that the Spark does get hot normally but now I'm a bit worried. Should I be able to hear the fan turn on?

Many thanks,

I hear mine all the time, but when out flying with a friend he couldn't hear it at all.  How's you hearing?  If you're a male over 40 chances are you've lost some high frequency hearing.

The fan is always on from the moment you power up the drone. This is normal and expected behavior.

I can always hear the fan in mine as well. It's on from the moment I turn it on to the moment I turn it off, regardless of whether the Spark flies or not. I can feel hot air coming out of the vents at the same time, and the Spark always feels hot when it's on, again regardless of whether it flies or not.

yup like the guys sparks before me: fan is always on you can clearly hear it.

The fan’s always on, and spinning quite fast as well, but I don’t think you have to worry: you wrote that you’ve been flying since November and you didn’t mention anything weird or any problems, so probably your Spark’s fan is exceptionally silent, or you just don’t hear it. And even if it really doesn’t spin, as long as your Spark doesn’t show signs of overheating, it’s probably not supposed to.

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I raced home after work to double check. Turned on the Spark . . . and she runs silent.

What worries me is that while there hasn't been any issues so far, summers coming and the weathers getting warmer.

Has anyone else had this problem? Anyway to fix it?

You might try hanging a small thread in front of the vents on the side, fire it up and see if the thread moves around indicating airflow. If you do indeed get flow probably nothing is wrong with your Spark. I'm getting kinda old and having worked most of my adult life around jet engines, I have a little trouble hearing the Spark fan. The thread was a way for me to see that the fan is working.

Jezmo Posted at 2018-4-17 09:25
You might try hanging a small thread in front of the vents on the side, fire it up and see if the thread moves around indicating airflow. If you do indeed get flow probably nothing is wrong with your Spark. I'm getting kinda old and having worked most of my adult life around jet engines, I have a little trouble hearing the Spark fan. The thread was a way for me to see that the fan is working.

Great idea! Tried both a thread and a facial tissue, niether moved when placed close to the vents so the fan isn't doing what its supposed to.

Spruce, the fans inside the drone will spin when starting up, the spinning speed will vary from the temperature of the drone, the faster it spins, the louder sound you might hear.
If there is no error message in the app and the performance of the drone is normal, no worries.

I can hear a faint sound coming from my Spark as well as feel alittle wind from the vents when I place my hand near the top (when the props aren't spinning obviously, lol).  When I land it, the fan sound is alittle louder and you can feel quite a bit of heat blowing from those vents.  

DJI Thor Posted at 2018-4-17 22:37
Spruce, the fans inside the drone will spin when starting up, the spinning speed will vary from the temperature of the drone, the faster it spins, the louder sound you might hear.
If there is no error message in the app and the performance of the drone is normal, no worries.

Thanks Thor.

Took the Spark out today, ran through three batteries in sport mode while recording from time to time. Besidea going into atti mode from the sharp turns had no other issues.

I still can't hear the fan nor feel any airflow when the sparks on and stationary. I take it its not crucial for the normal operation of the Spark? Or should I open a ticket to get it fixed?

Spruce Posted at 2018-4-18 11:47
Thanks Thor.

Took the Spark out today, ran through three batteries in sport mode while recording from time to time. Besidea going into atti mode from the sharp turns had no other issues.

Just to confirm, is there another Spark for comparison? If there is indeed no sound from the fans, you can send the drone in for diagnose. Please contact our support on the following page to start a case: http://www.dji.com/support