Any Airplane Techies here

Thomas B · May 21, 2019

Cybirr said:
TL;DR, long term storage with the intent to re-fly is a process of significant initial effort spent with subsequent and routine follow-ups over time. It's not a big deal given the resources.

Now somebody explain to me how to store these Mavic batteries!

They will discharge themselves if left alone for 10 days. However, for long term know storage best practice is to discharge to 60% first. Check them every 5-6 weeks and keep them in the 30-60% charge range.

thatswedishguy · May 25, 2019

MavicFT1P said:
Thanks. Very Informative Did you edit this?
Surely i didn't gloss over a post in order to get my own thoughts into the Forum

As Ringopizza said, if these measures are to be taken, Boeing has some work on their hands.
I cant see them going Broke any time soon though. They are practically a government institution.
And Airbus can't fill the gap even if they want to.

I was watching a doco on about the Old Molten Salt, Thorium Reactor up at Oak Ridge and Boeing's name came up
a few times, along with General Electric (of course).
I wonder if Thorium advocates know just How much Radiation that Bad boy released into the Area, and to it's workers.
But..it was the 50's I guess.

Airplane Mechanics, No WD-40 & Duct Tape?
Do they use Super Glue, and Zip Ties instead?

I did not edit it. Airplane mechanics actually have sort of a duct tape, but it's a very special and very expensive tape that is only approved for use in a very limited number of instances. It's used mainly for aerodynamic purposes if a non essential part is damaged which may increase drag. Very short term solution.

Cybirr said:
This wikipedia entry is a good start for reading about aircraft storage en masse. The AMARC stores many, many aircraft. Some can be returned to flying status in very short order. I've taken a few C-130E and H1s there for their long sleep. Those will probably never fly again.

TL;DR, long term storage with the intent to re-fly is a process of significant initial effort spent with subsequent and routine follow-ups over time. It's not a big deal given the resources.

Now somebody explain to me how to store these Mavic batteries!

The batteries should be stored at about 50% charge. They should not be kept fully charged for more than a day at the most. They should not be kept discharged for much longer either.
How I wish DJI would have put a storage charge function on the Mavic charging hubs like they do for the Phantom 4.

I was caught by unexpected rain yesterday and ended up having to charge my iPad from one battery and keep my Mavic 2 powered on indoors (without motors running) for the other one to get them down to 50%.

Leaving these types of batteries at 100% or close to 0% for more than a day risks swelling. Even if not immediately the risk of it happening in the future increases. No lithium batteries like to be at 100% for any amount of time. These are a bit more critical than your average phone or laptop battery. They are made for high current draw and high energy density.

MavicFT1P · May 25, 2019

With DJI mavic Batteries. How far do they discharge to after 10 days?
I dont think ive ever seen one of my m1P batteries change by more than one light over extended time.

Do they just discharge to %50-60 and show 3 lights instead of 4?

thatswedishguy · May 25, 2019

MavicFT1P said:
With DJI mavic Batteries. How far do they discharge to after 10 days?
I dont think ive ever seen one of my m1P batteries change by more than one light over extended time.

Do they just discharge to %50-60 and show 3 lights instead of 4?

From the Mavic Pro manual:
"Auto-Discharging Function: To prevent swelling, the battery automatically discharges to below 65% of
total power when it is idle for more than ten days. It takes around two days to discharge the battery to 65%. It is normal to feel moderate heat being emitted from the battery during the discharge process. Discharge thresholds can be set in the DJI GO 4 app."

From the Mavic 2 manual:
"Auto-Discharging Function: To prevent swelling, the battery automatically discharges to less than
70% of the maximum battery level when it is idle for more than 10 days. It takes approximately three to four days to discharge the battery to 60%. It is normal to feel moderate heat being emitted from the battery during the discharging process."