DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

auto discharge or hover to storage voltage?

vfrailing

Active Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
33
Reactions
46
Age
69
Location
Virginia, USA
I have only flown my m3 a few times, until I had wrist surgery Dec 15. I thought I would fly be able to fly with son this last weekend, but weather was bad, so I am stuck with 3 fully charged batteries. Would you let auto discharge kick in to a storage voltage, or hover for a while with each bat? I can do that with my hand, but don't trust anything else for at least a week more.
 
I discharge my Air 2S batteries to below 60% manually. Sometimes I hover, sometimes I just turn on the drone and let it sit (slower drain than a hover, but faster than auto). Folks who seem knowledgeable about batteries have said that getting to 60% within 2 days is significantly better than getting to 60% within a week or two, and to me it seems a low risk and only mildly inconvenient way to make sure my batteries last as long as possible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SmilingOgre
The method I use depends on my needs etc. If I don't have a NEED to have the drone on (testing, updating etc) I see no reason to put more time on the unit just to run the battery down when Auto-Discharge does an EXCELLENT job of it.

Now If I want some flight time or need to test/update something then yes get the FULL benefit of a charged battery.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SmilingOgre
I have only flown my m3 a few times, until I had wrist surgery Dec 15. I thought I would fly be able to fly with son this last weekend, but weather was bad, so I am stuck with 3 fully charged batteries. Would you let auto discharge kick in to a storage voltage, or hover for a while with each bat? I can do that with my hand, but don't trust anything else for at least a week more.
Unless you really enjoy hovering, why spend time and put wear on your M3 when DJI gives you an automatic feature?
 
Unless you really enjoy hovering, why spend time and put wear on your M3 when DJI gives you an automatic feature?
Well, I guess it depends on whether you believe DJI or you believe the folks here who claim to have professional expertise related to batteries. DJI may have an implicit bias towards wanting to sell you more batteries. Folks on this forum have no motivation to misrepresent their professional expertise as far as I know. So I'm inclined to believe that while the DJI auto discharge is a good backstop, battery life is better preserved by getting the battery between 20-60% charged as quickly as possible if you aren't going to be able to use the drone productively. Same reason I appreciate RTH but don't routinely use it.

Sure, I'd rather fly than hover. But if I charge up and then get unexpectedly grounded due to weather, other commitments, etc. and I'm sure I won't be able to fly in the next 2-3 days then I do whatever I can to preserve the battery life. Oh, and I forgot to mention that sometimes I use the Air 2S battery as a phone charger, so at least I get something out of it. That said, I suspect we are picking at nits. It probably doesn't make a big difference either way.

Aside from the battery cycle, is wear on the drone itself really an issue? I hadn't thought about that. I guess this is a bit like the old debate about whether to downshift to brake on a hill to save wear on brake pads, or to use the brakes to save wear on the clutch/transmission.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SmilingOgre
I have used auto discharge from my days with the P3 4K in 2016. P3 batteries are all still fine, as well as the batteries from later model DJIs. My battery problems have all been with new batteries that would not charge properly out of the box. 2 at least replaced by DJI under warranty.
 
I would prefer the batteries never self discharge. I want to top them off and put them in the case ready for when I am. I dont care they might have a shorter life, I will get new ones. Its worth the cost to me not having to make sure I check every battery in advance of heading out. Not the question here though.

To the question, I would let the batteries do it. I know mine discharge after some time just fine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAl07
I would prefer the batteries never self discharge. I want to top them off and put them in the case ready for when I am. I dont care they might have a shorter life, I will get new ones. Its worth the cost to me not having to make sure I check every battery in advance of heading out. Not the question here though.

To the question, I would let the batteries do it. I know mine discharge after some time just fine.

Depending on which model Mavic you have, (maybe all of them I honestly don't know) you can adjust the Auto-Discharge days in the app. I have mine set to 5-days (longest mine will allow) but some people have it set much lower. YMMV
 
Depending on which model Mavic you have, (maybe all of them I honestly don't know) you can adjust the Auto-Discharge days in the app. I have mine set to 5-days (longest mine will allow) but some people have it set much lower. YMMV
I will look at mine and set them to the longest time as well. Thanks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAl07
Depending on which model Mavic you have, (maybe all of them I honestly don't know) you can adjust the Auto-Discharge days in the app. I have mine set to 5-days (longest mine will allow) but some people have it set much lower. YMMV
Wow! I missed that one for sure. Definitely going to look that one up. Always topping off batteries before going out to fly. A PITA.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAl07
The auto-discharge not only discharges well but also balances the cells. Doing this manually still at the end will balance but take more time and voltage. DJI do a great job with the batteries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAl07
Depending on which model Mavic you have, (maybe all of them I honestly don't know) you can adjust the Auto-Discharge days in the app. I have mine set to 5-days (longest mine will allow) but some people have it set much lower. YMMV

I don't think you can adjust the Auto-Discharge period for Mavic 3 batteries in DJI Fly app. The feature is gone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ianwood
For those who likes to keep the batteries charged at 60% for long term storage, you might want to purchase this 3rd party charger. After your last flight, just charge the empty battery in storage charging mode, and never have to worry about auto/manual discharge.


hub1.png

hub2.png
 
Last edited:
I don't think you can adjust the Auto-Discharge period for Mavic 3 batteries in DJI Fly app. The feature is gone.

I did notice this setting is missing and it is annoying. I would rather my batteries discharge after 3 days idle time to preserve them as best as possible and then top up as needed before heading out.
 
I did notice this setting is missing and it is annoying. I would rather my batteries discharge after 3 days idle time to preserve them as best as possible and then top up as needed before heading out.

Some 3rd party charger allows you to charge Mavic 3 battery to 60% after each flight, so you don't have to worry about discharge at all. You can top up as needed, before the next flight.
 
Auto, it will discharge as optimally as possible.

When discharging lipos, slower is better. ALWAYS. Dropping from full to 50‐60% over several days will extend the cycle life and capacity a hair better than than a faster, warmer drain over a few hours.

That said, simple real world variation buries this difference in error bars. The worst possible thing you can do with a battery in terms of cycle life and capacity is to USE it to fly. 😄

Bottom line: ONLY spend on a discharge capability in a charger for DJI batteries if there is some reason you need to get them to storage charge quickly. Otherwise, rely on the self-discharge... it does the best job, and you can just forget about it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: @Rip

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,601
Messages
1,554,309
Members
159,608
Latest member
carlos22