1 of 4 batteries not fully charging

[veryzebra]

Anyone else encounter this problem? I have 4 batteries with them all having a decent volume of flights - assume 30-50 each. One of them no longer fully charges and is only a few months old. When it's in the charger hub the hubblinks green which I usually only see if the battery is attempted to charge too soon after flight. And the battery takes forever to charge and only gets up to 3 out of 4 lights. Anyone else have that situation or hear of it?

 

[Bob in Savannah]

Anyone else encounter this problem? I have 4 batteries with them all having a decent volume of flights - assume 30-50 each. One of them no longer fully charges and is only a few months old. When it's in the charger hub the hubblinks green which I usually only see if the battery is attempted to charge too soon after flight. And the battery takes forever to charge and only gets up to 3 out of 4 lights. Anyone else have that situation or hear of it?

You might get in touch with DJI and see if that battery is covered somehow since its pretty new... Asking you to mail it in is no skin off your back...its not like you would have to send the drone in.. AND at $200 a battery, I would think they would have an answer for you.

Also, can you fire the drone up with that battery in it and check the health of those cells via the Fly App?

 

[Saladshooter]

Anyone else encounter this problem? I have 4 batteries with them all having a decent volume of flights - assume 30-50 each. One of them no longer fully charges and is only a few months old. When it's in the charger hub the hubblinks green which I usually only see if the battery is attempted to charge too soon after flight. And the battery takes forever to charge and only gets up to 3 out of 4 lights. Anyone else have that situation or hear of it?

OJ's advice is excellent. Absolutely take a look at the battery screen and see if there is a weak cell. Its not worth risking the Mavic even if you have to discontinue using the battery for good. Drone batteries sometimes go bad without age or warning. If the battery will not charge fully, do not use it.

Not a sure fix but run the battery down to the failsafe level then recharge directly with the USB instead of the charging hub. This amounts to a deep cycle and can rebalance the battery. The challenge is discharging the Mavic 3 battery safely without putting the drone in danger. I have used a very low hover over soft ground to deplete batteries over the years without fail

 

[simonr23]

Are you saying hover/fly until the drone literally can’t any more (by holding up on the throttle stick).
Or hover until gets to 0% and then land?

 

[JoelP]

You might get in touch with DJI and see if that battery is covered somehow since its pretty new... Asking you to mail it in is no skin off your back...its not like you would have to send the drone in.. AND at $200 a battery, I would think they would have an answer for you.

Also, can you fire the drone up with that battery in it and check the health of those cells via the Fly App?

Good suggestion, but check the health while hovering, not while sitting on the ground since it requires a load on the battery to see if the cells are in balance.

 

[umanbean]

Are you saying hover/fly until the drone literally can’t any more (by holding up on the throttle stick).
Or hover until gets to 0% and then land?

I would never force one of these type batteries to 0%... nor hover until it falls, no matter how low it was hovering. Just run it down to the Fail-Safe ( critical battery warning, 10%), turn it off, let it cool down, and put it on the charger.

 

[Saladshooter]

Just run it down to the Fail-Safe ( critical battery warning, 10%), turn it off, let it cool down, and put it on the charger.

Yes this.... zero percent is too low and can hurt the battery further.

 

[mavicn00b]

Yes this.... zero percent is too low and can hurt the battery further.

DJIs batteries tend to have a bit of a margin in them and 0% typically isn't actual zero percent you'd tend to find with other LiPo batteries.

 

[simonr23]

0% is very safe for these batteries (any lithium-based rechargeable battery). It’s above 3.5v (under load) still.

What isn’t clever is running down to zero and then not charging for several days.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

All this "run it down" talk is nonsense. Its OBVIOUS that battery has a problem. I highly recommend you NOT running any battery below 25 or 30%. AND certainly NOT this particular battery. Time to send it in to DJI.

 

[Saladshooter]

All this "run it down" talk is nonsense. Its OBVIOUS that battery has a problem. I highly recommend you NOT running any battery below 25 or 30%. AND certainly NOT this particular battery. Time to send it in to DJ

I endorsed your advice this morning and it may be that the battery needs to to be sent to DJI if it is warranty-able or put out of service otherwise. However running the battery down to 10% and charging back up is not nonsense. Sometimes the cells are just a bit unbalanced and this method has worked several times for me over the last couple of years.

DJI extended their battery warranty to 12 months in the second half of 2021 so there is a good chance the OP can get it replaced as you suggested.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

I endorsed your advice this morning and it may be that the battery needs to to be sent to DJI if it is warranty-able or put out of service otherwise. However running the battery down to 10% and charging back up is not nonsense. Sometimes the cells are just a bit unbalanced and this method has worked several times for me over the last couple of years.

DJI extended their battery warranty to 12 months in the second half of 2021 so there is a good chance the OP can get it replaced as you suggested.

I HAVE heard this but I was under the impression that there was a BMS involved here.

You very well may be correct but I was thinking A Battery Management System (BMS) would naturally balance these cells and keep them at safe storage levels. Your battery philosophy might be from several years ago of research of cell phone battery maintenance information.. AND you're correct. But that has changed the last several years.

Im thinking its possible that this information is now outdated. The newer batteries do NOT need to be completely drained to readjust to a correct level. They actually should NEVER be completely drained. Thats damage. And in a perfect world shouldn't be charged over 80 to 85% either..

But thats all nonsense since there IS a BMS and will discharge the battery when needed. Knowing this FACT leads me to believe that the OP's battery is DEFECTIVE. He needs to send it in. This isn't a $50 mini battery. Its a $200 battery. It DEFINATLEY has BMS logic.

The battery is defective/faulty.

 

[KS-6]

I think it is the battery info I give the most attention so I appreciate this. I do have a question though, on Monday I fly out to Iceland for a few weeks. I will have my Mavic 3 Cine and 6 batteries.

Right now I am planning on flying them down to 60% on remaining jobs and travel with them in that state. Any tips beyond this plan?