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Bad Batteries

Patrickgood

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Hello everybody,

I would like to share my experiences about the batteries applied at Mavic 2.
About 1 year ago I bought the Mavic 2 new, with 3 batteries.
I have flown very little but now already all the batteries are swollen.
I was curious about the construction of the battery and was under the assumption the y use the 18650 model.
Also for that reason, using of the 18650, I already found it strange, they are swollen.
After disassembly I found out they use a simple kind of Li-on battery which can swell earlier.
This may have been done to reduce weight, but it does not benefit the quality.
I find this very disappointing, after all they are very expensive, about $125/each, so that in short time $375 has been lost.
 

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Is there any information about storage or flight conditions that might be a clue as to why yours have swelled? I know swelling is a common occurance with these batteries, but I'd like to have an idea of what I might avoid with these batteries to help prevent swelling. I recently saw a video where the M2 ejected a battery in mid air causing the drone to crash. I'd sure like to avoid that if possible.
 
It is possible the heath and humidity, exist in the country where I live (Thailand).
But I also have my reservations about automatic discharge.
I'm not so sure this will work for the better.
Regularly when I take the batterys out of the bag they are warm, which means they are discharging.
 
Some time back there was a thread here about a bad batch of Mavic 2 batteries that were susceptible to swelling. Can't remember the dates, but it was before I bought mine in Nov./Dec. 2019. IIRC DJI was replacing them.

Otherwise it's good to charge the batteries as close to the time of use as practicable. Don't store batteries with more than a 60% charge - - better yet 50%.=, and no less than 40%. Over the past 5 or 6 months, DJI keeps reducing the number of default days until a charged battery will start to auto self discharge. When I bought my M2 it was 10 days then it dropped to 5 days etc.
 
Additional information:
Total fly time 7hrs 52 min., 64 flights.
Batterie #2: 10x charging, prod. date 2018.11
Batterie #3: 11x charging 2018.12
 
Some time back there was a thread here about a bad batch of Mavic 2 batteries that were susceptible to swelling. Can't remember the dates, but it was before I bought mine in Nov./Dec. 2019. IIRC DJI was replacing them.

Otherwise it's good to charge the batteries as close to the time of use as practicable. Don't store batteries with more than a 60% charge - - better yet 50%.=, and no less than 40%. Over the past 5 or 6 months, DJI keeps reducing the number of default days until a charged battery will start to auto self discharge. When I bought my M2 it was 10 days then it dropped to 5 days etc.
That's good to know. So far habitually I've been charging my batteries as soon as I get home after flight. Perhaps that's not a good practice, though I have been out flying almost every day. Do you think the same practice of storing batteries for the Mini in a mostly discharged condition?
 
If you've been storing your batteries fully charged, and just allowing to self-discharge, perhaps they have deteriorated. I've got 2 batteries that are over a year old, and one that was replaced by DJI cos they don't turned off correctly. All 3 looks good. I do check for any bloating, and so far so good.
I only charge right before I plan to fly. Land by around 30%. Store until I plan to fly again. And I try to fly at least every fortnight.
 
I have over 100 charges on my M2Z batteries. I never store them with a full charge, only charge them the day I am going to use them. I have auto-discharge set at two days, and used that once. I usually land with about 25% remaining battery, but sometimes less. I do not put them back inside of my hard case until they have cooled completely. I try to fly at least once a week.
 
Some people have a lot of "bad luck" with their batteries, whereas others - like me - have no problems.

I treat my batteries the way the want to be treated and have no problems for more than a year.
I charge them the day I fly, after flight I charge them rouhgly to 75% and let the auto discharge do the rest after 1 day.
 
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Some people have a lot of "bad luck" with their batteries, whereas others - like me - have no problems.

I treat my batteries the way the want to be treated and have no problems for more than a year.
I charge them the day I fly, after flight I charge them rouhgly to 75% and let the auto discharge do the rest after 1 day.
It's true, again maybe it is the country where I live.
And maybe the kind of batterie is not so good for this country.
For that reason I refer to the different one (18650)
Always more then 90% Humidity, and average 33 degree Celsius.
 
For that reason I refer to the different one (18650)

You should consider that M2P batteries are equipped with 3.85V LiHV cells which allows to charge them to 4.40V per cell pushing inside some extra charge in comparison with standard LiPo 4.2V cells.

If you are planning to modify your battery with Li Ion 3.7V 18650 cells then you could no more use standard Dji M2P charger (17.6V output) as they are normally designed for 4.20V of full charge. There are some 4.35V Li Ion HV cells on the market but they low current rated at about 0.5-1C so could not be used in the drones.

M2Pro cells are design to withstand high current demands during flight and normally are 10C rated.
Just for reference,
M2Pro current consumption
hovering - about 10Amps
sport - up to 20Amps

Basic applications low rated 18650 could just fry the bird at such current values.
Keep this in mind.
 
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You should consider that M2P batteries are equipped with 3.85V LiHV cells which allows to charge them to 4.40V per cell pushing inside some extra charge in comparison with standard LiPo 4.2V cells.

If you are planning to modify your battery with Li Ion 3.7V 18650 cells then you could no more use standard Dji M2P charger (17.6V output) as they are normally designed for 4.20V of full charge. There are some 4.35V Li Ion HV cells on the market but they low current rated at about 0.5-1C so could not be used in the drones.

M2Pro cells are design to withstand high current demands during flight and normally are 10C rated.
Just for reference,
M2Pro current consumption
hovering - about 10Amps
sport - up to 20Amps

Basic applications low rated 18650 could just fry the bird at such current values.
Keep this in mind.
That's valuable information.
Thanks for that.
 
I have 5 batteries. 1 came with the drone 2 came with fly more kit. Purchased December 2018. I started having swelling of one of them 2 months ago. I took it out of service. Recently I notice 2 more were starting to swell, all were the 2018 batteries. I take care of my batteries and have flown RC for years and have some that are 6. Years old and still good.

I contacted DJI Support hoping for help. After back and forth for several weeks, sending Videos,pictures they have finally decided to replace my 3 batteries. They should arrive Monday. Be very patient and give the process time and it may work out for you. I think they had a bad run of batteries in mid to late 2018. Good luck and being nice may have helped I felt with about 6 different people.
 
I can't help with the cause of the battery issues, but may be of some help when you go to replace them...

I recently had a M2P battery crap out for no known reason. When I bought a new one on Amazon, I saw they offered a THREE YEAR replacement warranty for just $29. It starts when the DJI warranty runs out after six months. We all know that it is not a matter of if the M2P batteries will fail within three years, it is just a matter of WHEN it will happen in those threee years. So basically if you pay an extra $29 up front, when it craps out on you, you will get another $130 battery for free! Seemed like a no-brainer to me.
 
Did you read the fine print? It might not cover what you expect it to. It might not actually cover it at all as those extended warranties are probably offered blindly based on item price.
 
Hello everybody,

I would like to share my experiences about the batteries applied at Mavic 2.
About 1 year ago I bought the Mavic 2 new, with 3 batteries.
I have flown very little but now already all the batteries are swollen.
I was curious about the construction of the battery and was under the assumption the y use the 18650 model.
Also for that reason, using of the 18650, I already found it strange, they are swollen.
After disassembly I found out they use a simple kind of Li-on battery which can swell earlier.
This may have been done to reduce weight, but it does not benefit the quality.
I find this very disappointing, after all they are very expensive, about $125/each, so that in short time $375 has been lost.
These may have been part of a known “bad batch” that swelled and/or just failed.., search that for more info... BTW, many were replaced by DJI.
 
It is possible the heath and humidity, exist in the country where I live (Thailand).
But I also have my reservations about automatic discharge.
I'm not so sure this will work for the better.
Regularly when I take the batterys out of the bag they are warm, which means they are discharging.
It hates temperature and humidity. I normally live in Thailand and all 7 of my M2 batteries have swollen to unusable levels within 20-30 usage cycles.
They've swollen to the extent theres cracking around the power button and when hot, the button cant be physically depressed to turn them off.

I know of 1 other M2 user in the same job and area as me with identical issues with his.

Initially i thought it was a bad batch as i had some of the first ones produced but batteries i've bought 1 and 2 years later have also started to fail, albeit with a few more cycles.

Previously i operated M1 in these conditions with no such issues.

DJI have so far replaced one of my batteries. They're claiming they'll do the others "but we have no stock at the moment" which appears untrue given batteries are available on their website and Amazon shop from the same region with immediate dispatch. (This is europe service centre as im currently covid-stuck here). 2 months on and they're still claiming no stock.

I dont think auto discharge produces anywhere near as much heat as a flight in the tropics.

Edit to add:- Its not storage of the batteries, they're in an AC room and often in a fridge after flight to cool them. They're also charged in a cool room. The damage is clearly from actual flight in ambient 33c and 90% humidity type conditions. Its within DJIs published limits but it seems those arent exactly accurate.
 
Last edited:
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Even that can be a bit of a shock.
It only takes maybe 5 minutes for my batteries to cool down sufficiently. Usually only need to wait for one battery as the others already flown cool down before the flight is over. I leave them out.

I get outside in high temps it might not cool down, but you mentioned you had AC, so cool down sufficiently to charge in an AC environment should only take 15 minutes tops.
 
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