Batteries not discharging?

[John235]

I have 2 DJI batteries for my Magic Pro that do not seem to be auto discharging. They are set for a 4-day auto discharge. I last charged Dec 14. It is now Dec 22, but both are still showing 4 lights. I have noticed in the past that I never seem to see a change over an extended grounding. Is the auto discharge so slow that I would not yet be seeing any change? The weather looks to be keeping me grounded for a few more days, then come the holidays, then no doubt more weather, so I guess I will see. What is the experience of others?

By the way, I normally only charge just before flying, an when I know I will be grounded for a while, leave them at 65%. This current situation usually only happens when a sudden weather change causes a change in plans.

 

[msinger]

I last charged Dec 14. It is now Dec 22, but both are still showing 4 lights

How often were you pressing the battery button to check the charge level?

 

[old man mavic]

if you press the level button all you do is reset the countdown to another 4 days, they take three day to discharge after the process has started ,if you leave them alone for an extra day after they have supposedly started to discharge, and just feel them you will notice that they are slightly warm but dont press the level button

 

[Unknown Pilot]

if you press the level button all you do is reset the countdown to another 4 days, they take three day to discharge after the process has started ,if you leave them alone for an extra day after they have supposedly started to discharge, and just feel them you will notice that they are slightly warm but dont press the level button

I wish that was true for the Mavic Air batteries. I'd give anything for them not to start discharging on schedule.

 

[John235]

if you press the level button all you do is reset the countdown to another 4 days, they take three day to discharge after the process has started ,if you leave them alone for an extra day after they have supposedly started to discharge, and just feel them you will notice that they are slightly warm but dont press the level button

There you go! I was checking every day! I had thought my first test was beyond the 4 days, but I can't be sure. After that, I know I checked every day. I will take the winter downtime and do a more controlled test.n thanks.

 

[Detritalgeo]

They should be slightly warm when they are actively discharging through the internal resistive load and will take some time to discharge safely. On the 5th day they should be slightly warm to the touch. Then you know it's working.

 

[John235]

They should be slightly warm when they are actively discharging through the internal resistive load and will take some time to discharge safely. On the 5th day they should be slightly warm to the touch. Then you know it's working.

Thanks. I just got a brand new battery. I set its auto discharge time to four days and charged to 100%. In five days I will check its warmth. How long should I then wait before checking it's charge level to be able to see a difference without resetting discharge time? For now, I will assume 6-7 days. Is that enough?

 

[msinger]

For now, I will assume 6-7 days. Is that enough?

Since your setting it set to 4 days, you should check them after 7+ days.

 

[Detritalgeo]

Also, when it is working, there will be a message stating 'self-discharge mode' in the battery detail page. It will be just below the cycle count.

 

[tcope]

Also, when it is working, there will be a message stating 'self-discharge mode' in the battery detail page. It will be just below the cycle count.

Once the battery is installed and turned on.... which resets the discharge cycle again. That is, they will stop discharging and the wait would start over.

 

[Detritalgeo]

The OP wanted to know if the self-discharge was working.. This is just a way to visually confirm if they so choose. I always try to discharge manually to 60% anyway.

 

[John235]

Just in case I did not get the discharge time reset properly, I waited until 11 days to check. At 5 days, it seemed as if the battery was slightly warm, but it was so slight I could not be sure. I found it this morning (11 days) at 2 solid lights and the third blinking, which I believe is about 65%, the recommended storage level. Next time I test, I will check at 5 days.

How can I see the "discharge mode" message if turning the battery on causes a reset?

 

[tcope]

How can I see the "discharge mode" message if turning the battery on causes a reset?

ITurning th battery on will reset the discharge time but the battery will note that it was last in a discharge state and report this to the app. This is a warning as then the percentage of battery left as shown in the app can be off.

 

[Detritalgeo]

Just in case I did not get the discharge time reset properly, I waited until 11 days to check. At 5 days, it seemed as if the battery was slightly warm, but it was so slight I could not be sure. I found it this morning (11 days) at 2 solid lights and the third blinking, which I believe is about 65%, the recommended storage level. Next time I test, I will check at 5 days.

How can I see the "discharge mode" message if turning the battery on causes a reset?

Only charging it again should reset the condition. Turn the drone on and look at the battery detail info.. It will say there if it is in storage mode.

 

[tcope]

Only charging it again should reset the condition. Turn the drone on and look at the battery detail info.. It will say there if it is in storage mode.

Turning the battery on resets the discharge mode, that is, the time delay starts all over again. Pressing the power button for any reason does this. When the app reports that the battery _was_ in discharge mode it is just a notice. The discharge cycle was reset when the battery power button was pressed.

 

[John235]

Thank you. I knew that putting it in the drone and turning on would give me the level, but my question was how to do that without resetting the discharge count. My original issue was that after charging to 100% I began checking by pressing the button every day beginning on day 4, having set the auto discharge time to 4 days. I kept checking for another week, not realizing I was resetting the count every time I checked. After a week I erroneously concluded auto discharge was not working.

I did not insert it into the drone this time only because I could tell from the lights that the level had dropped. I remember reading that this light configuration indicates about 65%.

Thanks to all in helping me understand this.

 

[Detritalgeo]

It is odd that the self discharge safety feature can be blocked by simply checking the level every so often.. Is that reset of time-delay notes in the operation manual?