Discharge batteries

[Andrejs]

How did you discharge your batteries?
Let's say you need to take a fly and it is safer to fly with discharged batteries.
Fly with all three batteries and discharge them? But if you didn't have such possibility?
And to discharge all 3 batteries can take 1h approximately of hovering.
I know that mavic batteries can discharge themselves after 10 days. Maybe it is possible to come that way better?

Sent from my SM-N910C using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[msinger]

If it's impossible to fly, another option would be to use the Battery to Power Bank Adapter to drain the battery by charging a mobile device.

 

[Andrejs]

Hmm yes I have that adapter. Good idea

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[rockydog]

Also, you can change the auto discharge from 10 days down to whatever you want using the GO app. (Once they've started discharging, don't push the battery button to see how they're getting on, as it re-sets the timer!).

 

[Pedro]

I have mine set to self discharge in 10 days and yet 7 days later they are all still at 4 bars..?

 

[rockydog]

I have mine set to self discharge in 10 days and yet 7 days later they are all still at 4 bars..?

Obviously you are pushing the button to see how much they've discharged ....DON"T.....every time you push the button, you are re-setting the timer in the battery, so it will now be another 10 days.

 

[Pedro]

So how do I check what the state of charge is in the batteries before going flying?

What you are saying is that the when pressing the button and it shows 4 leds, the battery is not actually at full charge but at a lower state of charge which doesn't make sense.. In fact, I'll check that now..

 

[Pedro]

So after a week they are all still at over 95%.. Is the process such that at 10 days they start to self discharge not gradually discharge over a period of 10 days?

 

[rockydog]

What I'm saying is that if you want the batteries to discharge - maybe for storage - don't push the button, as it resets the timer.....just leave it to do its thing. If you're going to use the battery, then obviously you're going to push the button to check capacity. After 7 days it will only have discharged by a small amount, but it's still probably advisable to top it up.

 

[maikm]

If you can't fly but need to discharge, you can also just switch on the drone indoors, and maybe even start the motors if you can tolerate the noise, without actually taking off. That will also get the battery level down in less than one hour.


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[msinger]

So how do I check what the state of charge is in the batteries before going flying?

Before you head out to fly, press the button on the battery to ensure all 4 LEDs light up. If they don't, you should charge your battery.

Is the process such that at 10 days they start to self discharge not gradually discharge over a period of 10 days?

When that setting is set to 10 days, the auto discharge process will start after 10 days. It'll take up to 2-3 days for the battery to discharge down to 65% after it starts discharging on the 10th day. If you press the battery button at anytime during this process, the battery will stop discharging (if currently discharging) and wait another 10 days before starting to auto discharge again.

In short, don't press the battery button unless you're going to use your battery or you need to check it to see if it needs to be charged.

 

[Andrejs]

Also I found that it is not possible to use battery since it started to discharges by itself.
I have set to discharge battery after 1 day of inactivity. Battery was discharged till 85% and when plug in to Mavic get error: Battery status error.
After charge it back to 100% everything OK.

 

[Pedro]

Cool, thanks everybody, I totally understand now!

 

[F6Rider]

Also I found that it is not possible to use battery since it started to discharges by itself.
I have set to discharge battery after 1 day of inactivity. Battery was discharged till 85% and when plug in to Mavic get error: Battery status error.
After charge it back to 100% everything OK.

If you set your discharge period to 1 day you are going to be cycling the batteries a lot, 10 days is fine, and will not damage the batteries. Setting to 1 day means you would have to either fly or check the batteries every day to prevent discharge.

 

[Motley]

I hope that someone comes up with a quality dis-charger that can be used. I am used to using a charger (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ND7J38C) that also has a discharge function that will bring batteries to a "storage" charge as recommended. If someone made an adapter for that unit to connect to DJI batteries I would buy for sure. Maybe since these are "smart" batteries this charger would not work well although I think it just uses the negative terminal as well as a connection to each cell in the battery to charge evenly.

 

[SkyRider]

What I have been doing is to not recharge the batteries after I finish flying for the day. This leaves them at about 25% charge. Then, the night before I plan to fly again, I then charge them up so I am ready to go the next day. This way I don't have to worry about it if I can't fly for a while. This might not work for those of you that must be ready at a moments notice, but it works for me.

 

[Gallacherboy25]

Obviously you are pushing the button to see how much they've discharged ....DON"T.....every time you push the button, you are re-setting the timer in the battery, so it will now be another 10 days.

So what you are saying is that, discharging takes 10 days? So 10 days with no flying with that battery???

 

[msinger]

If the setting is set to 10 days, the battery will start auto discharging 10 days after the battery button was last pressed. It could take up to 2-3 additional days to discharge the battery down to 65%.

 

[Gallacherboy25]

If the setting is set to 10 days, the battery will start auto discharging 10 days after the battery button was last pressed. It could take up to 2-3 additional days to discharge the battery down to 65%.

Just so I have this clear. I charge my battery a night before flight, fly down to 35%. I only flew once as my Mavic is brand new and I ordered batteries, so after flying, must I charge up, I read its better to leave it down to 35% to 45%. Then before 24 hours use the battery

 

[msinger]

If you're not going to fly again for at least a couple of days after flying, then charge your batteries until the 3rd battery light starts flashing.