Battery bricked by using charging hub.

[itsneedtokno]

Pressing the power button on arrival says nothing. All DJI intelligent batteries when shipped will show no response until a charge is put on them. Many laptops are also shipped this way.

Which should immediately let you know something is different, maybe you should look up information regarding why the lights won't come on. (Fairly logical response IMHO)

There's no need to ridicule a user who tries to charge their batteries from the hub. That would be a natural thing to do, and a very strange and unusual thing for doing so to cause the battery to become useless.

Why would you do what the company (DJI) you bought the product from has specifically stated NOT to? (Read above post) Not to mention the videos online detailing other people's issues. Again, once the battery does not respond, a quick Google search could have alleviated all these problems.

Now if there is a problem, CSRs should be made aware of it with a process to rectify with a replacement battery.

There is a fix... You, the customer, have to send DJI the batteries to have them re-flash them. Yes, DJI will pay for the shipping (for yours and the exchange), because they can sell your battery to the next guy for $100+ and if he does the same thing, the cycle continues... Eventually I'm sure they'll fix it, but if you're going to beta test, Google the **** out of any problem before it becomes serious. We all know DJI always, ALWAYS has bugs with their first batch of a new drone.

 

[DanMan32]

EVERY DJI battery for every model (or just about) will show no response when you first get it. You have to apply a bit of charge to wake it up. That's what I meant that no response right out of the box means nothing. Many laptops are also that way.

Did the warning about not charging from the hub on first use come in the box?
If no, then you can't blame the user.
Sure, the word is out there now, but it isn't going to reach everyone and it shouldn't be expected that it would, especially something as simple as putting a battery on charge.

Now I have seen notices to charge the battery before using and that it will appear dead before you do. As I mentioned in first paragraph, that's a typical shipping state for managed batteries and all that is needed to get out of shipping state is apply charge current.

 

[itsneedtokno]

EVERY DJI battery for every model (or just about) will show no response when you first get it. You have to apply a bit of charge to wake it up. That's what I meant that no response right out of the box means nothing. Many laptops are also that way.

Did the warning about not charging from the hub on first use come in the box?
If no, then you can't blame the user.
Sure, the word is out there now, but it isn't going to reach everyone and it shouldn't be expected that it would, especially something as simple as putting a battery on charge.

Now I have seen notices to charge the battery before using and that it will appear dead before you do. As I mentioned in first paragraph, that's a typical shipping state for managed batteries and all that is needed to get out of shipping state is apply charge current.

I don't disagree that DJI definitely should have noticed it before shipping, but the problem is how many of the batteries they are using to test things like, charging and flight times have been put in a sleep mode then awoken again... Probably not many.

If they realized the problem after they boxed and wrapped 10,000 of them, there would be no way to logistically put a pamphlet in every box, let alone the boxes they already shipped to vendors. Even stickers on the outside would be tough. Even more so right now with Covid-19.

This is why you have to research available information on the internet






I have an HP Spectre X360 on the way... I have been doing nothing but watching videos, reading manuals and doing everything I can to be as prepared as humanly possible when my product arrives. I figured this was the norm.

 

[DanMan32]

You're not following me.
I am saying that the battery not responding out of the box alone is not an indication of a problem. This is normal behavior of DJI batteries, as well as many laptops.

It shouldn't matter how power is applied to the battery to get it out of shipping mode. I would be curious as to why it may matter if you used the hub or not.

 

[itsneedtokno]

It could be the resistance drop (although minute) from the extra length of wire for the batteries farther from the first port.

My wild guess.

But I agree, it shouldn't be a problem... But... It is.

 

[InterstateP]

Pressing the power button on arrival says nothing. All DJI intelligent batteries when shipped will show no response until a charge is put on them. Many laptops are also shipped this way.

There's no need to ridicule a user who tries to charge their batteries from the hub. That would be a natural thing to do, and a very strange and unusual thing for doing so to cause the battery to become useless.

Now if there is a problem, CSRs should be made aware of it with a process to rectify with a replacement battery.

I have read about this battery issue on this forum and I am also completely new to flying. I purposely looked for a place with fellow enthusiasts who were much more knowledgeable about the hobby than I was, so I could learn from their experiences and gain some valuable insight and advice. If I had not found this forum at all, I would've been in the dark on it as well. I didn't see this issue clearly spelled out anywhere on DJI's site and easily accessible to the casual shopper. I would totally have put all the batteries to charge in the battery hub because that seems like a completely logical thing to do. I feel bad that everyone seems to be piling on the guy for using the things that DJI provided to do what they were designed for.

 

[Parrotoid]

@Bftx

Actually DJI DID document it... and it was posted on this forum.

Here is the actual post within the thread (read the whole thread after reading the DJI notice, which includes the German video)

Mavic Air 2 Battery Activation

I just saw a video regarding a glitch with the initial battery activation. Supposedly DJI has confirmed this. For the first charge use the charging cable (not the hub) to individually charge each battery if you bought the fly more kit. If using the hub loaded up with the three batteries the...

mavicpilots.com

I’m sure there are many people who don’t belong to this forum who have bought the MA2. What about someone who buys it as a gift? If this is known by DJI, a quick warning note added to each package before would have been a decent thing to do.

Ive read a lot of conflicting accounts about the batteries. A few have said you charge on the single charger for 2 minutes, it activates the battery and then you can switch to the battery bank.

Like most, I will err on the side of caution, but I’m not going to blame someone for not knowing about the issue.

 

[nencmeister]

That's what engineers do best. They don't think of the technician that has to service something. (I deal with it every day) They don't care. They designed a battery that, if charged correctly, can fly for 30+ minutes, charge in just over an hour, and still fit in your hand, and I'm sure they were paid handsomely for that. Who cares if the end user can't be bothered to heed PSA's describing the problem in detail. (Just YouTube it) There is even multiple languages covering it. Once DJI gets the battery back, they can very easily fix it, and flip it out to the next guy.
Costing THEM nothing...

Costing YOU time and headache.



EDIT: If you read above, my FMC was charged individually... Just like I'm sure most everybody else's was.

Hey man, you're right that could have been done. I'm sure you've heard the blah blah COVID delay; Fedex delay, a delay on delays.. People screw up man, they were trying to make people happy and ship out a product on time, deals were made, promises trying to be kept, it's a very minimal screw up which they are fixing, really as simple as that.

To your point on costing them nothing, I don't think that's accurate. Shipping back and forth from the distro hub or China, times God knows how many batteries.. it cost them. I'm confident someone got chewed out for that, I deal with guys just like the DJI engineers for a living, there is no room for error in companies like this. Look up Hon Hai.. (sorry beforehand)

Also you want to talk about a ( Mod Removed)up, how bout that ventilator 80% mortality rate? Now, that's a ( Mod Removed) up you should be angry about

 

[mavicn00b]

The article attached in first post suggests the battery simply wont charge when in hibernation mode on the 3way dock and solution is to charge on the single charger first, not that it will brick the battery entirely rendering it useless.

Why it wont even charge on the dock in hibernation mode is beyond me, but then again DJI's chargers have always sucked and many simply buy third party aftermarket parallel chargers.Whoever in DJI made this mistake is going to make a very expensive mistake in all the support costs shipping batteries back and forth. They should offer advanced replacement service (with hold on CC) where you're sent a new battery first and a prepaid return bag for the faulty battery. If its returned, release the hold on CC, else charge the CC for the battery sent. At least that way they can keep the customer happy. I'd be VERY PISSED if this happen to me.

 

[Dmascot]

I noticed when I do charge using the dock the red light on the dock goes dim to bright around every three seconds. Does this happen to anyone else?

 

[Exotic Blacklist]

I just picked up my MA2 from the dealer and I discussed this battery issue and he said “continuously click the power button 10 times and hold in the 11th” he even showed me messages from his clients who said it worked.

i did mention the same on this forum in a different and someone responded that it did not work for him. Worth trying in my opinion.

i charged mine individually just to avoid any hassles and it took me exactly and hour to charge each battery.

 

[Ataribravo]

That's what engineers do best. They don't think of the technician that has to service something. (I deal with it every day) They don't care. They designed a battery that, if charged correctly, can fly for 30+ minutes, charge in just over an hour, and still fit in your hand, and I'm sure they were paid handsomely for that. Who cares if the end user can't be bothered to heed PSA's describing the problem in detail. (Just YouTube it) There is even multiple languages covering it. Once DJI gets the battery back, they can very easily fix it, and flip it out to the next guy.
Costing THEM nothing...

Costing YOU time and headache.



EDIT: If you read above, my FMC was charged individually... Just like I'm sure most everybody else's was.

I keep reading that this is operator error and we should know through osmosis that this issue exists. I had a Phantom 3 Pro years ago and just decided to get back into the hobby. I bought the MA2 with Fly More kit. It comes with a 3 battery charger and 3 batteries. In what world would I simply assume that using the hub supplied would not work? I got lucky. I had initially placed all 3 on the hub at once and, by chance, saw a post that said charge one at a time. Even then I still used the hub with just one battery at a time. No bricks, luckily. It's easy to say we should just know these things, but reality is rarely so...

 

[focus112]

Anyone notice their batteries depleting while they sit. I've noticed a fully charged battery is about 70% after a couple days.

 

[everBit]

Anyone notice their batteries depleting while they sit.

Everyone who has enough experience with DJI products and their LiPo's batteries.
It's Self-discharge feature aka DTS (Discharge To Storage), when after storing the fully charged batteries begins preprogrammed discharge through dedicated load resistor to 60% charge i.e. to storage level to prevent cells deterioration. Discharge stops as soon as 60% charge is reached or power button is pressed.

 

[InvisibleName]

Anyone notice their batteries depleting while they sit. I've noticed a fully charged battery is about 70% after a couple days.

Clearly described in the manual!

 

[focus112]

I'm totally new to this, so thank you!

 

[InvisibleName]

I'm totally new to this, so thank you!

You need to go on the DJI site & download the full manual- it’s got loads of good info. Welcome to the world of drone flying, Read & fly safe.

 

[DanMan32]

Everyone who has enough experience with DJI products and their LiPo's batteries.
It's Self-discharge feature aka DTS (Discharge To Storage), when after storing the fully charged batteries begins preprogrammed discharge through dedicated load resistor to 60% charge i.e. to storage level to prevent cells deterioration. Discharge stops as soon as 60% charge is reached or power button is pressed.

Not all models stop auto-discharge when the power button is pressed just to check SoC but not power on. It doesn't stop the clock on an M2 for example.

 

[DanMan32]

Not everyone knows about the online full manual. I would admit, DJI should document that availability more clearly in the package.

As for the battery initial charge issue, DJI wouldn't have been able to put that in/on the package if it wasn't discovered before they were sent out for shipping.

However if they had info in print as a general process to visit the DJI site for the full manual and last minute important info, then it could be plastered on the site and more would see it.

I can see the hub not being able to charge initially, as it probably can't communicate with the battery for its status, so the hub might not provide power to the battery. The charger isn't quite that smart so it provides power regardless and that should be sufficient to wake the battery from shipping mode. I say should, not will.

 

[DanMan32]

And as for it being cheap to restore a bricked battery, that depends on what's needed to restore function. If the BMS has gone into fatal error state, then the battery would need to be taken apart. If the MA2 battery is like the M2 battery, the shells would be glued together.