battery care if flying weekly

[stberlin]

If I fly every weekend, is it ok to leave the battery just at 80 percent and not all the way down to 60?
Also, is 3 days too long to keep the battery at 100 percent?

 

[Thomas B]

If I fly every weekend, is it ok to leave the battery just at 80 percent and not all the way down to 60?
Also, is 3 days too long to keep the battery at 100 percent?

In the order of your questions: Yes, yes, and it’s what I do... no problems with batteries that I have noticed.

 

[Former Member]

If I fly every weekend, is it ok to leave the battery just at 80 percent and not all the way down to 60?
Also, is 3 days too long to keep the battery at 100 percent?

If I were you, and I flew every weekend, I would just get in the habit of flying the battery down to 35-40% (or 3.7 volts per cell) and then leaving it there. I usually land with 40%, and then the battery is ready for the next weekend and I dont have to worry about discharging it. All it takes to charge from 40% - 100% is less than an hour. In that time you can be doing a preflight, checking your gear, and loading up your car. I also like the car charger, if Im in a rush to get out of the house. If I know Im going to be driving for an hour, I just take the battery with me, and throw it on the car charger. By the time I get there, the battery has a fresh charge on it.

Although DJI Go 4 lets you store your battery at 100% for up to 10 days, it's just not a good idea. The best protection for your battery is not the internal circuitry of the battery, it's the owners proper care and maintenance.

 

[RayOZ]

I try to fly every weekend myself, but I wouldn't assume I will. Weather plays a big factor; windy, snow, rain. I check weather forecast the night before, before I put the batteries on charge, They usually sit ~30% after each flight, until the next charge.

 

[msinger]

If I fly every weekend, is it ok to leave the battery just at 80 percent and not all the way down to 60?

Why are your batteries at 80 percent? Are you only using them for a few minutes?

is 3 days too long to keep the battery at 100 percent?

No. However, it would be better to charge your batteries the day (or night before) you're going to fly. Your batteries will be the healthiest if you keep them charged between 30%-60% as much as possible when not in use.

 

[stberlin]

Why are your batteries at 80 percent? Are you only using them for a few minutes?

I charge the night before because I fly before 7am to avoid tourists and the sun that's up way too early. The weather is predictable but the wind isn't. If I don't get to fly, I drain the batteries by hovering the drone at the rooftop for a few minutes.

 

[Former Member]

I charge the night before because I fly before 7am to avoid tourists and the sun that's up way too early. The weather is predictable but the wind isn't. If I don't get to fly, I drain the batteries by hovering the drone at the rooftop for a few minutes.

Thats a good policy.

 

[Flugster]

I have a question for the experts here. I fly for SWAT. Knowing I could get called out at anytime, I need them ready to go. I keep Spark, Air, Zoom, and Enterprise Dual in my pack.
It’s a huge pain to deal with, but I’ve been charging them every week. I don’t fly them all every week so they are usually discharging them selves.
Any recommendations to dealing with the battery issue would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[msinger]

I have a question for the experts here. I fly for SWAT. Knowing I could get called out at anytime, I need them ready to go. I keep Spark, Air, Zoom, and Enterprise Dual in my pack.
It’s a huge pain to deal with, but I’ve been charging them every week. I don’t fly them all every week so they are usually discharging them selves.
Any recommendations to dealing with the battery issue would be appreciated.

How many batteries do you need charged and ready in your pack?

 

[Former Member]

I have a question for the experts here. I fly for SWAT. Knowing I could get called out at anytime, I need them ready to go. I keep Spark, Air, Zoom, and Enterprise Dual in my pack.
It’s a huge pain to deal with, but I’ve been charging them every week. I don’t fly them all every week so they are usually discharging them selves.
Any recommendations to dealing with the battery issue would be appreciated.
Thanks!

It sounds like you need all your batteries RTG all the time, and youre not sure which drone you will use next. If I were you, I would charge all of them fully every day, pull them off the charger, then repeat the next day. They will only drain 5% overnight, so recharging them to full might only take 5-10 minutes each, which you could do on a mobile charger quickly if you are called.

This method is essentially topping them off, and also shortening their lifespan, but you should be able to get away with it for maybe 100 times before they get damaged or puffed, maybe longer. Lipos dont like to stay fully charged, but in your case, you dont have a choice. They need to do what you need them to do, when you need it.

If it were me, I would hone down my drone hangar to 2 "go to" drones and just keep enough batteries for those. Do you really need a Spark and an Air? Air is a better choice. Do you really need a Zoom and an ED? If so, those are easier because the batteries are interchangeable.

 

[hewo]

do craft and rc loose charge merely sitting around not turned on?
i noticed after completing rc charge to full (lites are all off), the next day, it still can be charged as indicated by the running four lites. does this mean the circuit slowly intentionally drains or there is a slow leak?
the aircraft batteries once full charge do not accept anymore charging even after several days non use (altho possibly nine days it may?)

 

[Trained Ape]

Hmm, we have smart batteries and smart chargers but they aren't smart enough to do the job as needed.
Seems to me that the human operator should be able flip a switch on the smart charger telling it to Stop Charging at 60%.

I try to fly daily and as I'm on a tight schedule I generally have everything charged and ready to go at a moments notice. As I travel the lower 48 and never know what direction I'm going or where I'll end up, planning for weather is non existent.

I rotate my batteries and now I'm thinking that once the two current batteries are discharged to 30%, I'll fully charge the previously used two batteries.

In the last 3 months they have never self discharged so I'm thankful to have learned something new to prolong their life!

Pat

 

[Flugster]

How many batteries do you need charged and ready in your pack?

Depends, I’ve used 4 Mavic pro before flying surveillance. I’ve used 1 several times to fly the Air indoors for a barricaded subject. I don’t want to let the team down because I’m not prepared so I tend to have 4 ready for each drone. That said, I’m contemplating having 1 for Air or Spark ready to go and 2 for Zoom/Enterprise Dual the. Plan on charging in the car as needed.

 

[msinger]

Depends, I’ve used 4 Mavic pro before flying surveillance. I’ve used 1 several times to fly the Air indoors for a barricaded subject. I don’t want to let the team down because I’m not prepared so I tend to have 4 ready for each drone. That said, I’m contemplating having 1 for Air or Spark ready to go and 2 for Zoom/Enterprise Dual the.

Here are a few things you could do:

Option 1:

• Fully charge 4 batteries (assuming that's the max you'd use) for each drone.
  
  
• Since the batteries will slowly lose their charge over the week when not in use, you should recharge them every 7 days to top them off. That will also prevent the batteries from auto discharging down to the storage level after the 10th day of no use has been reached.
  
  
• Fully recharge the batteries after using them so they are ready for the next SWAT event.
  

Option 2:

• Buy 2 (or 3) complete sets of batteries. If you need to have 4 batteries ready for each drone, then you should buy 8 batteries for each drone (or 12 if you want 3 sets).
  
  
• Every 7 days, discharge the 1st set of batteries down to 60% and charge the 2nd set of batteries.
  
  
• Continue this rotation to allow each set of batteries to rest at the storage level.

While keeping all of your batteries fully charged at all times (Option 1) is not ideal for the batteries, it might be the best option for you cost-wise and time-wise. I've never seen anyone compare a battery that was cared for per DJI's recommendations (storing it between 60%-30% charged) to a battery that was kept fully charged over a long period of time. So, you likely won't know if Option 1 is the best way to go until you try it for a long period of time. If you try it and find the batteries become damaged too quickly or aren't performing well and need to replaced, then switch to Option 2.

Plan on charging in the car as needed.

Charging in the car is probably not going to be a great experience unless it commonly takes hours to travel to SWAT events. If you have a place to plug in battery chargers on site, then you could use parallel chargers to recharge batteries on site as needed. Parallel battery chargers can typically charge a single battery in ~20 minutes or 3-4 batteries in ~60 minutes.

Spark Yx Parallel Battery Charger (charges 4 batteries in 1 hour)




Mavic Air Yx Parallel Battery Charger (charges 4 batteries in 1 hour)




Mavic 2 Parallel Battery Charger (charges 3 batteries in 1 hour)

 

[Former Member]

Depends, I’ve used 4 Mavic pro before flying surveillance. I’ve used 1 several times to fly the Air indoors for a barricaded subject. I don’t want to let the team down because I’m not prepared so I tend to have 4 ready for each drone. That said, I’m contemplating having 1 for Air or Spark ready to go and 2 for Zoom/Enterprise Dual the. Plan on charging in the car as needed.

Thats what I would do. If you find that after 1 or 2 months, your other drones are getting used regularly, and 1 or more of them arent, then you might consider consolidating, staying with the 2 you use most, and buying more batteries for them.

Most people and branches that use drones dont keep many different carieties of drones, They usually go with 1 or 2 different ones. If you are in a situation that the drone is going to certainly get destroyed, then send in your Sparkie. If you are doing FLIR, use your ED.

Also remember that unless you use them and practice with them regularly, they all fly differently, and batteries duration times are different. If you dont fly them all regularly, then when you need to use them, it might take you a little while to get used to the handling again. Mavic 2's climb better than Airs or Sparks. Sparks are more nimble then M2's, etc.

 

[Flugster]

Here are a few things you could do:

Option 1:

• Fully charge 4 batteries (assuming that's the max you'd use) for each drone.
  
  
• Since the batteries will slowly lose their charge over the week when not in use, you should recharge them every 7 days to top them off. That will also prevent the batteries from auto discharging down to the storage level after the 10th day of no use has been reached.
  
  
• Fully recharge the batteries after using them so they are ready for the next SWAT event.

Option 2:

• Buy 2 (or 3) complete sets of batteries. If you need to have 4 batteries ready for each drone, then you should buy 8 batteries for each drone (or 12 if you want 3 sets).
  
  
• Every 7 days, discharge the 1st set of batteries down to 60% and charge the 2nd set of batteries.
  
  
• Continue this rotation to allow each set of batteries to rest at the storage level.

While keeping all of your batteries fully charged at all times (Option 1) is not ideal for the batteries, it might be the best option for you cost-wise and time-wise. I've never seen anyone compare a battery that was cared for per DJI's recommendations (storing it between 60%-30% charged) to a battery that was kept fully charged over a long period of time. So, you likely won't know if Option 1 is the best way to go until you try it for a long period of time. If you try it and find the batteries become damaged too quickly or aren't performing well and need to replaced, then switch to Option 2.



Charging in the car is probably not going to be a great experience unless it commonly takes hours to travel to SWAT events. If you have a place to plug in battery chargers on site, then you could use parallel chargers to recharge batteries on site as needed. Parallel battery chargers can typically charge a single battery in ~20 minutes or 3-4 batteries in ~60 minutes.

Spark Yx Parallel Battery Charger (charges 4 batteries in 1 hour)

View attachment 71181


Mavic Air Yx Parallel Battery Charger (charges 4 batteries in 1 hour)

View attachment 71182


Mavic 2 Parallel Battery Charger (charges 3 batteries in 1 hour)

View attachment 71183

Thanks for the excellent response! Great advice!

 

[hewo]

msinger brought us a good point: has there been users grouped into battery care consciencious versus not, to evidence either reward or punishment, battery service life

 

[hewo]

my s8 is always topped and has been used and recharged everyday since 4th march2018.
thats a lot of charge in motion cumulative.
so, how come none signs of injury degradation?
Same principled lithium ion polymer cobalt matrix stuff right?

 

[matth1000]

Samsung use a bigger capacity battery in their phones than stated, so when the phone says 0% it is actually on 15 or 20% and when it says 100% it’s actually about 80 or 90. As it gets older and less capacity is available it unlocks the bottom and top 10 or 15% so that after a year or a bit more u still have the advertised capacity to use.
Tesla does the same thing with their vehicles.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Samsung use a bigger capacity battery in their phones than stated, so when the phone says 0% it is actually on 15 or 20% and when it says 100% it’s actually about 80 or 90. As it gets older and less capacity is available it unlocks the bottom and top 10 or 15% so that after a year or a bit more u still have the advertised capacity to use.
Tesla does the same thing with their vehicles.

I think DJI does the same thing with its batteries. But I don't have the guts to run down my battery to 0 percent and find out.