Batteries? How many???

[hiflyer201]

I have had three batteries for each drone and have never used them all before I would have had a chance to charge them. Deciding whether to charge them or not is the dilemma for me. I've always kept my Sparks batteries fully charged and they all seem as good as new. I completely blew thru three Mavic Air batteries keeping them all charged. I did fly them all regularly and stored them in a cool place, but I'm doing it differently with my Mavic Air 2. I'm only charging before flying and It's kind of a pain to tell the truth. I think that's the reason that I fly my Mavic Air more than the rest. I have one fresh battery for it and its easier to just keep it charged and fly it more or less daily..some times even 2 or three times. It's fairly fast to charge.

 

[WDKZoom]

I have 4 batteries.....I find that when I am in a specific area 4 is more than enough to see what is around me in all directions with 1010feet being my max VLOS. Any more than that at 21 minutes a battery would really test my patience. I have also taken to using my last battery down to 50% so that if something comes up around my house or a neighbor wants to check it out, I have a little something in the tank to use that will also store nicely while the others are at 30% until my next outing perhaps a couple times a week. When I get home, that last battery comes out and I keep them all in a fire retardant mini safe.

WDK

 

[DanMan32]

The fly more combo Mavic Pro had a car charger in it.
It runs of the cigarette socket. But out of safety precautions I let the engine run while charging.

Ruud

Likely won't work without the car running. With the car voltage drop without the alternator and by the time the current reaches the DJI charger, it cuts out. At least the M2 car charger has a high low-voltage cutoff, M1 might be more tolerant.

 

[DanMan32]

If we're talking # of batteries for continuous flight, let's do the math.

Flight average 20 minutes
Charging time 60 to 90 minutes per battery.
3 to 5 batteries not counting cool down. Cool down would add one battery.

 

[offtheback]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! newbie here, i have a M2P and 1 battery. i am guessing it would be nice to have a second- any real reason to have more??? Seems that you can charge one while your flying. Thoughts????

I have 6 plus a Smatree eternal power pack that recharges 3-4 batteries from 20-25 to full.By the time I'm on my 3rd battery the 1st one can be charged and 10 minutes after the 2nd can and so on.I have a phone charger pack charging my controller while flying.Even after 10 flights controoler is 80% plus.Of course that depends on how much time you have to fly.I'm retired and figure if I'm going out might as well spend a few hours.

 

[Meta4]

Lithium Polymer batteries (Li-Po) as they're more sensitive and REQUIRE a different approach then lithium ion (What your cell/laptop uses).

Most (if not all) laptops and mobile phones also use LiPo batteries nowdays.

 

[Barbara]

Three batteries for me (as per the fly more bundles. Seems to be enough for my needs. Though that definitely wasn't the case for the Spark.

I will generally leave a battery in the drone. Though if it's to be longer term storage, I will store all the batteries in a battery bag.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Most (if not all) laptops and mobile phones also use LiPo batteries nowdays.

You sure about that? I'm pretty sure it's the other way around (Li-Ion).

*Looks like I was confused, they're called Lithium-Ion Polymer....As you said most electronics are using LiPo....So that confuses me further now, why the heck are DJI batteries swelling after 180-250 cycles?

 

[FireStorm-X]

I have 3 for my Air2.......But will be getting another 1 soon. The main reason for me is that I work week days and only have the weekend to fly, so on the days that the weather is good and I have travelled somewhere nice then I want to fly and keep flying

 

[dronerdave]

I run with 4 batteries but I have a inverter so I can charge in the field if needed. As far as packing up the batteries in my case, I was also told about heat while they go through the auto discharge. I put a temp data logger in the case and they never got hot enough to cause any concern. But I have lipo fire bags inside vented 50 cal ammo cans for all my airplane batteries.

 

[TyCool]

I leave the batteries in my drones.

I left my batteries in my Mavic pro 2 and Mavic pro.
I come back to them a couple of weeks later to find both of them completely dead. Unchargeable no matter what I did.in the end I took them down to the recycle centre. Cost me a lot of money but I understand now that when plugged into the drones power is drained far faster than not being plugged in ”when not being used” so be warned everyone and learn from my mistake!

 

[Platinum 4 ever]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! newbie here, i have a M2P and 1 battery. i am guessing it would be nice to have a second- any real reason to have more??? Seems that you can charge one while your flying. Thoughts????

I have a spark and platinum pro... and only have one extra battery for each. I find that two batteries are more than enough.for what I use it for... But every individual is different. But this works for me.

 

[dlmvegas]

Well I was thinking of getting more than my 3 batteries that I have. I checked on Amazon & DJI sites. Apparently DJI has gotten even more greedy. As if most of the products and accessories aren't overpriced already. The $115 batteries are now $150.00. This was as of yesterday, 11/27/20. So much for Black Friday deals.

 

[Wingedpeccary]

Three makes sense to me BUT I rarely use more than one on a stills shoot. I do charge in the car between locations. So Two minimum s my suggestion.

Because they self discharge any extras you dont use promptly will lose a full status in a matter of a couple days, so I like the two batteries and a car charger solution.

 

[Dmcvey]

I fly quite a bit of post disaster that have limited ability to recharge during the day. I carry 16 for M2 Zoom and Dual.

 

[Barry4]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! newbie here, i have a M2P and 1 battery. i am guessing it would be nice to have a second- any real reason to have more??? Seems that you can charge one while your flying. Thoughts????

I have a Mavic Mini and 6 batteries. When you are out there having a great day in the air you just want to be able to fly and not have to worry about battery power. Otherwise you are going to lose that last great shot.

 

[FoxFlight Drone Video]

I have 4 for my M2P which makes for a decent day but I have also started throwing one on the car charger while I'm moving between launch points. (The fun irony is that I have a Tesla Model 3 so I have a battery charging my battery.) While the chargers don't work so fast that you can charge one in the same time it takes to drain one, when you are traveling between launch points, it actually works out fairly well. I talked to a famous YouTube droner (who I'm sure you all know) who says that he runs with 5 and pretty much could go forever because he always is charging his most recent in the car while he repositions.

 

[DanMan32]

Most (if not all) laptops and mobile phones also use LiPo batteries nowdays.

I replaced the battery pack on my Asus laptop I bought back in 2015. My dad and I opened the pack and found that although the cells weren't round like we'd think for Li-ions, but were metal cans though flat.
That blew my thoughts that modern laptops used LiPo. Explains why they don't seem to have too bad an issue being in my trunk all the time.

 

[DanMan32]

Because they self discharge any extras you dont use promptly will lose a full status in a matter of a couple days, so I like the two batteries and a car charger solution.

You can change when they start discharging. Default used to be 10 days but DJI changed it to 5 after M2 batteries started showing swelling last year.

 

[shb]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! newbie here, i have a M2P and 1 battery. i am guessing it would be nice to have a second- any real reason to have more??? Seems that you can charge one while your flying. Thoughts????

To me 2 batteries is enough. After 2 I don't feel like flying anymore.