So, after only a couple minutes of being on (not flying), the Sparks top is already spewing out a LOT of heat.  Has anyone thought about taking the top off, pulling off the heatsink and fan, cleaning it, and putting on some high quality thermal paste, like we use for computer CPUs?  I've been doing it to comptuers for years with great success.  Even if it's a 10% drop in temps, that's a good thing.  And heat is another killer of battery performance/lifespan.  Although the battery area and the motherboard/cpu/fan are not in the same physical air space, maybe having less heat next to the battery (other side of the plastic frame) would help extend battery life a little.

So do it.  Sounds like you are an expert at doing this sort of thing.  

I might.  But I need to buy more.  I used the last of my supply about a year ago.  I'll do some testing, and make a YouTube video about it.  Need to get a hold of a nice IR thermometer for accurate readings.

I wouldn't do this, it will void your warranty. And for what? I don’t think you will get an advantage of it.

I measured the temperature during charging. It wasn’t too hot. I can also measure it when the Spark is just powered on if you like.

it depends on other factors too, i dont think the thermal compound used is bad, it maybe lower quality then the stuff i or others may use for PC repair, but i think given other limitations, its perfectly fine.

i think the weakest factor is the lack of airflow and the heatsink quality..  so as i see it, all better thermal compound would be doing is wasting money.  sure, it may increase how much heat the CPU can dump into the heatsink, but the heatsink and the lack of airflow isn't going to be able to dump that extra heat into the air any better than before, so where will that heat go?   back into passively cooled parts and into the motherboard..

i been building and repairing computers for a while.. i know good thermal compound helps a lot, however just as importantly is the quality of the thermal solution...  example.. you can use diamond based thermal compound on intel stock cooler, but that's not going to suddenly make the intel stock cooler capable of handling more thermal load..no matter how good that thermal compund is, it wont help you if the thermal solution is the limiting factor and not the thermal transfer material..

Take a look at this

Certainly looks like a design improvement ....

Would be good to see a before and after mod thermal image ...

fans4f3a96a2 Posted at 2018-1-6 00:20
Take a look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPh-d5TEVbo

Certainly looks like a design improvement ....

Props to him for his work, but he put a strip of Aluminium into it - right in the mix with all sorts of sensors.

And he has surely drastically affected airflow and balance. Sucking in air like that along the top as it zooms along has to have an aerodynamic consequence.

And finally, he has a great big hole in the top of his drone! What if he catches a quick shower, or a mist, or a dense fog, or just water vapour in the air or it lands in wet grass, or someone bloomin sneezes on it?
These things have shown that they can hold up pretty well to some water exposure - but I'm sure a hole that size in the top just reduced your exposure big time.

And if he has any kind of "flyaway" - and why would he with a strip of aluminium in the top - for sure DJI will just have a laugh, even if it is a software issue.

Again, I just think this is another example of unintended consequences. You fix one problem but at the cost of causing what other problems. I'm sure it does run cooler, and probably will extend battery life - which just means he will have further to chase than the rest of us when it flys away :-)

fans4f3a96a2 Posted at 2018-1-6 00:20
Take a look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPh-d5TEVbo

Certainly looks like a design improvement ....

That doesn't improve anything: there's enough airflow as there's a gap behind the gimbal, in fact the original design cools the gimbal as well as the whole motherboard evenly.

At speed the  airflow over the top can/will create a negative pressure at his fan inlet causing unwanted even reverse airflow.
This design needs to be tested before implementing.

I would not do any bessermachen at this point. The battery is only heated for at short time - if it is.
The heat sink gets hot, which indicates that the thermal paste  works.

I’m more worried about the quality of the fan, as I can make it almost stop and make weird noises by wiggling the spark.
And what about dirt being sucked in from the air inlet at the front.