Batteries LOL - bloated carp

passedpawn · May 17, 2023

I'll probably just buy some more batteries, but cmon, this is comical (until your camera falls out of the sky).

passedpawn · May 17, 2023

A few minutes later, prick, prick, prick, prick. packs deflated instantly, I snapped the pkg back together.

Gonna fly around in a few minutes (controller is chgarging).

I'll bet this is the millionth post on the subject. Sorry about that.

passedpawn · May 17, 2023

Definitely not charging any DJI batteries indoors any longer. Chinese crap for sure. Love the drone, but they clearly don't have acceptable lithium batteries. Not close. My world is full of products that contain lithium batteries. No experiences like this. You have to really go out of your way to have this poor quality (as an electrical engineer, I have no idea what chemistry failure causes this type of battery performance).

Marty Markoe · May 18, 2023

passedpawn said:
I'll probably just buy some more batteries, but cmon, this is comical (until your camera falls out of the sky).

View attachment 164259

passedpawn said:
I'll probably just buy some more batteries, but cmon, this is comical (until your camera falls out of the sky).

View attachment 164259

View attachment 164258

Contact DJI support. They've replaced 3 batteries quickly and painlessly.

Starz · May 18, 2023

Any information on charge cycles and build date on this deformed power source?

passedpawn · May 18, 2023

Starz said:
Any information on charge cycles and build date on this deformed power source?

Not yet. I'll see if I can get that info and post it.

FYI, after getting the plastic closed up tight, did a test flight with that battery, no problem. I need to glue it back together before I trust it fully.

passedpawn · May 18, 2023

I wonder why lithium polymer batteries, like the four inside this pack, aren't vented? Would have saved about 1 million drones that fell out of the sky since the mavic 2 was released.

Starz · May 18, 2023

passedpawn said:
before I trust it fully

Not worth the risk. Disposal would be the better idea.

Not A Speck Of Cereal · May 18, 2023

Personally, I wouldn't fly with such a battery any more, especially after piercing the cells. The next time the polymers expand (for the same reasons they expanded before), it will squirt out of the bag and into the plastic. It's not the lack of venting that causes them to do this, but the reason for the expansion in the first place (DJI is not using top-shelf cells).

And you're trusting your drone up in the sky using these. A couple of new batteries would be a much lower expense than a new aircraft.

I admit that I don't know the science here. If you do and can assure us that this is a safe thing to do, it would probably be a good thing to say so. If not, you might say so and add the caveat that folks follow your example only at great risk.

piercing lithium polymer battery cells - Google Search

www.google.com

Chris

MS Coast · May 18, 2023

passedpawn said:
about 1 million drones that fell out of the sky since the mavic 2 was released.

Just a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think. Can anyone document even dozens of drones falling from the sky?

passedpawn · May 18, 2023

MS Coast said:
Just a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think. Can anyone document even dozens of drones falling from the sky?

haha, you got me. But I do think the swollen battery problem is VERY common, and I'd guess the number of catastrophes are much higher than dozens. No way really to know.

Kuiper Denizen · May 18, 2023

Rather alarming indictment of D.J.I. made batteries. I have three D.J.I. batteries with swelling that won‘t let them lie flat and require a little extra push to install. They all have less than 50 recharges and will fly without problems, although I think they might run down faster. I’m also wary about using them at all and stick to close to home use. I monitor their recharges, too.

There are non D.J.I. batteries available, but I assume they are either cheaper knockoffs that might be of lesser quality or all manufactured by the same off brand company anyway.

Has anyone had some documented cases of the quality of these batteries, or are we just stuck with batteries that bear the D.J.I. logo as the best available?

passedpawn · May 18, 2023

Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
Personally, I wouldn't fly with such a battery any more, especially after piercing the cells. The next time the polymers expand (for the same reasons they expanded before), it will squirt out of the bag and into the plastic. It's not the lack of venting that causes them to do this, but the reason for the expansion in the first place (DJI is not using top-shelf cells).

And you're trusting your drone up in the sky using these. A couple of new batteries would be a much lower expense than a new aircraft.

I admit that I don't know the science here. If you do and can assure us that this is a safe thing to do, it would probably be a good thing to say so. If not, you might say so and add the caveat that folks follow your example only at great risk.

piercing lithium polymer battery cells - Google Search

www.google.com

Chris

The actual polymer cell is not expanding - it is off-gassing. The cell pkg then bloats like a balloon. So, there isn't a risk of lithium polymer oozing out the hole. However, I'm not sure what the effect of introducing air into that pack is.

However, I would not recommend anyone prick the package unless you're really confident in your ability to do so without stabbing the cell inside. When I pricked these, I could tell that there was nothing but gas under the area I was pricking. I also would not do this indoors.

I am in no way some sort of battery expert, and this might be a horrible idea. I might regret this later. I'm not bringing this battery into my house, that's for sure. I'm going to do a full 20 minute flight test with it (just a few feet in the air) and assess afterwards.

Kuiper Denizen · May 18, 2023

I’ve just viewed the link about piercing LiPo batteries posted by “Not a Speck of Cereal“ above. That should answer the risk of trying to repair them. It’s safer and more reasonable to spend $125 on a new one.

mobilehomer · May 18, 2023

DO NOT USE THESE!!! These appear to be Air 2/2S batteries. You can get them from Amazon for less than $50! I have three of these renewed batteries. 2 had zero charges, 1 had three charges. All three work perfectly. Cheap enough insurance.

Starz · May 18, 2023

mobilehomer said:
appear to be Air 2/2S batteries

Nope. M2 pro/zoom

hiflyer201 · May 18, 2023

I had a Mavic air1 pop apart on the charger. It closed easily but I disposed of it. Two of my original three Mavic air batteries finally swelled. I continued to fly the last one at low altitudes in tracking mode for quite a while. Both the drone and the battery would get pretty hot, but it was summer and I convinced my self that it was normal. When I finally sprang for a new battery I realized that it wasn't.

I see that after 100 plus charges the same thing is happening to my Air 2 batteries. All three look perfectly normal on Air Data. There is only 17 hours apiece on all three and I think I treat them properly but I guess I could do better. Other's on the forum get better results. I've seen the "prick prick prick" method used before on the forum but who knows the results of future flights.

passedpawn said:
I'm going to do a full 20 minute flight test with it (just a few feet in the air) and assess afterwards.

I did that with a Mavic 1 battery that didn't swell but had a sudden low power warning and landing soon after takeoff. After climbing a fence and crossing a busy street I found my drone on the edge of a active soccer field where I had been able to direct it. It was still blinking away happily after probably ten minutes. I took it home, and it charged normally. I flew it in the back yard and all went perfectly. The next time I flew it it gave the same low power warning and landed and it continued to do the same every time after. It never swelled or seemed very warm but it had a bad cell and that was that.
Batteries are a most interesting subject and the reason I have great doubts about commercial drone delivery.

passedpawn · May 18, 2023

mobilehomer said:
DO NOT USE THESE!!! These appear to be Air 2/2S batteries. You can get them from Amazon for less than $50! I have three of these renewed batteries. 2 had zero charges, 1 had three charges. All three work perfectly. Cheap enough insurance.

No idea what you're talking about.

passedpawn · May 18, 2023

I don't suggest anyone else reproduce my experiment here (somewhat of a legal disclaimer I guess). Nonetheless, I'm going to go forward with it. If it falls out of the sky, I can deal with it. I don't ever fly over people, not really concerned. If I have any other findings that I think the community would like to hear, I'll post back.

Felix le Chat · May 20, 2023

passedpawn said:
I don't suggest anyone else reproduce my experiment here (somewhat of a legal disclaimer I guess). Nonetheless, I'm going to go forward with it. If it falls out of the sky, I can deal with it. I don't ever fly over people, not really concerned. If I have any other findings that I think the community would like to hear, I'll post back.

If you are interested in going down the DIY rabbit hole: AliExpress search for HSABAT (manufacturer) will throw up a 4-cell pre-assembled replacement. I have used their lipo's and am confident that they are a reputable company. The replacement lipo's I've installed are functioning reliably.