Battery discharge in Charging hub

[adam3112]

Hi guys,

Does anyone know if the Mini 3 batteries will still discharge when left in the charging hub that comes with the fly more kit?

I’ve left my fully charged batteries in there for over a week now and the light indicators are still showing them with 4 solid green lights which is a worry.

Any info on this?

Thanks,

A

 

[globetrotterdrone]

It is 10 days for now and not able to change that like back in the days with DJI Go 4.
So, you basically, you don't have to worry, they will be discharged but not much to everyone's liking to have shorter times (reduce mine to 2 days with the M2P).

 

[old man mavic]

there is an initial discharge to 96% after 24 hours, then after 10 days as mentioned by @globetrotterdrone ,down to around 65% over a few days

 

[Torque]

If I understand the OP's question correctly, he is asking if the batteries will discharge faster if stored in the charging hub or the drone as opposed to being stored without being attached to anything. This was an issue with the Mini 2 that was later fixed with firmware updates. I haven't heard this to be an issue with the M3Pro.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Oh, I see ... I was not aware of this issue with the Mini 2.
But judging on the Mini 3 Pro, I've seen no evidence that this is the case for the batteries and the hub.

 

[adam3112]

Ok thanks all. Looks like I’m gonna have to wait another 10+ days for it to discharge down to 65% then as I’ve pressed the indicator button to check the battery charge status which is a pain. Hope that isn’t going to damage the batteries. Wish you could set the discharge time manually in the app like you could on the Go4 app.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

I am not sure pressing the button to check the battery levels resets the countdown but I would say from my experience no (but not tested). On my M2P the checking did not reset, only switching them actively on.

 

[Dynamic Learning Machine]

Just plug the hub to a usb device like a computer phone or whatever.

My fix until a discharger is available.

 

[Captain744]

No it will not. I was able to test this as I had received the fly More kit a couple of weeks before the drone.

 

[DroneSketcher]

Just plug the hub to a usb device like a computer phone or whatever.

My fix until a discharger is available.

Why would you discharge your batteries intentionally?

 

[old man mavic]

@DroneSketcher ,sometimes when the batteries are all charged up, life or the weather gets in the way, and its not possible to be flying for several days ,so the best way to protect the batteries ,is to bring the charge down to between 50-65% ,until you are ready to charge them up again ,rather than waiting the full 10 days for then to discharge themselves
one point i would make,with regards to @Learning machine picture in post~8 ,is doing it with the three batteries in the hub, will discharge then down to a very low level ,as they discharge one at a time ,i find its better to do it with one battery in the hub at a time, and swap them over when they reach the desired remaining charge ,and i would recommend also that the,discharge load is removed before swapping them over for safeties sake

 

[Claymans]

when you have enough lipos, or just film something close, it is also a good idea to only fly until 40% or so , then land. this should be about storage voltage, 3,7 to 3,8v, I do this when I don't plan on flying for too long. it is also not good if you fly down your lipos to below 10% and let them sit for like 2 weeks. not as bad as fully charged I guess. (should be about 3.5v). not optimum.
when I come home from a flying session, I usually charge every battery until it has 2 lights on, then let it sit in the charging hub till the next flying session/charging. the station should have a button for faster discharge. In my opinion this it what it lacks. I often charged the packs up, then did not fly for a few days. well most of the time I plugged in my controller to charge it up or phone.

 

[CanadaDrone]

The nice thing about the hub is with a push of a button it becomes a power bank. Just use it to charge other devices until the batteries are around 40-60%. This isn't the most convenient, but it's much better for your batteries than strictly relying on the safety net DJI has in place with auto-discharge.

Third party chargers are always vastly superior to DJI's chargers because they do two things DJI's do not - first, they have a discharge mode, and second, they have a balanced storage charge to the ideal voltage. If you aren't flying within a few hours, you should be using a storage charge. As soon as those chargers become available, like the one Hanatora makes for most of DJI's other drones, that will be the way to go. They are usually bulkier, so just stick with the DJI stuff when traveling or whatever, but the rest of the time it lets you treat your batteries a lot nicer.

 

[Droning on and on...]

It seems to me that charging and discharging would do more to impact capacity and cell life than 10 days at full charge.

 

[CanadaDrone]

It seems to me that charging and discharging would do more to impact capacity and cell life than 10 days at full charge.

10 days at full charge would be really bad for the battery, and that's why DJI's auto-discharge failsafe kicks in way before that (it starts at 24 hours). The batteries are designed to cycle hundreds of times, and lithium batteries are actually the happiest if your charging is done in the mid-range of it's capacity. For example it's way better for a battery to be charged continuously between 20% and 80% than it is for it to be run down to 0% or charged to 100%. A balanced storage charge is right in the range of where a LiPo is happiest, as you would be charging it from about 20-40% (when you should be landing your drone) to 50-60% in most cases (for storage longer than a day or so).

A typical/ideal scenario would be to charge your batteries (currently sitting at a storage charge) up to 100% within a few hours of your planned flight time, within reason of course. They will charge nice and fast because they will already be sitting around 50-60% charge. When you're done flying, you will have, say, 3 batteries with 30% charge left. When you get home, throw them on the charger for a balanced storage charge and they will be in the best possible state until you're ready to use them again. That charge from 30% to 60% or whatever they stop at for storage is an ideal scenario for a LiPo.

You also wouldn't be discharging very often unless you charged up a battery and ended up not using it. Most of the time you are simply bringing the charge up from 20-40% (the level after flying) to 50-60% to be left at an ideal voltage for storage, so there isn't a lot going on there anyway. That's very easy on the battery, and what it's happiest doing.

Cycling the batteries from 0% to 100% or leaving them at or near 100% is far worse for longevity. Leaving them at too low of a charge for any length of time is also really bad for them.

Another thing you can do if you're worried about battery longevity is not charge them at their maximum rate if you aren't in a hurry, and they will last longer. With M3P batteries being so cheap though, one could certainly argue it's not worth it getting overly concerned about it.

 

[wbearr]

10 days at full charge would be really bad for the battery, and that's why DJI's auto-discharge failsafe kicks in way before that (it starts at 24 hours). The batteries are designed to cycle hundreds of times, and lithium batteries are actually the happiest if your charging is done in the mid-range of it's capacity. For example it's way better for a battery to be charged continuously between 20% and 80% than it is for it to be run down to 0% or charged to 100%. A balanced storage charge is right in the range of where a LiPo is happiest, as you would be charging it from about 20-40% (when you should be landing your drone) to 50-60% in most cases (for storage longer than a day or so).

A typical/ideal scenario would be to charge your batteries (currently sitting at a storage charge) up to 100% within a few hours of your planned flight time, within reason of course. They will charge nice and fast because they will already be sitting around 50-60% charge. When you're done flying, you will have, say, 3 batteries with 30% charge left. When you get home, throw them on the charger for a balanced storage charge and they will be in the best possible state until you're ready to use them again. That charge from 30% to 60% or whatever they stop at for storage is an ideal scenario for a LiPo.

You also wouldn't be discharging very often unless you charged up a battery and ended up not using it. Most of the time you are simply bringing the charge up from 20-40% (the level after flying) to 50-60% to be left at an ideal voltage for storage, so there isn't a lot going on there anyway. That's very easy on the battery, and what it's happiest doing.

Cycling the batteries from 0% to 100% or leaving them at or near 100% is far worse for longevity. Leaving them at too low of a charge for any length of time is also really bad for them.

Another thing you can do if you're worried about battery longevity is not charge them at their maximum rate if you aren't in a hurry, and they will last longer. With M3P batteries being so cheap though, one could certainly argue it's not worth it getting overly concerned about it.

MP3 Batteries Cheap?? I don't think so unless your name is Elon.
$95 plus tax and shipping for one MP3 + battery!

 

[Robert Prior]

MP3 Batteries Cheap?? I don't think so unless your name is Elon.
$95 plus tax and shipping for one MP3 + battery!

That's a lot cheaper than Mavic 2 batteries!

Locally I'm paying $85 for a standard battery, $125 for a plus battery. (Canadian dollars.) No shipping because I can pick them up at the shop.

 

[CanadaDrone]

MP3 Batteries Cheap?? I don't think so unless your name is Elon.
$95 plus tax and shipping for one MP3 + battery!

Relative to the larger drones, they are very cheap. That's all I was getting at

$85 for a Mini 3 battery, $260 for a Mavic 3 battery, and some batteries for the Matrice are over $1,000 (CAD).

I take very good care of all my batteries because I find it takes almost no effort to do so, however I would much rather be replacing Mini 3 batteries than those of pretty much any other drone DJI makes.

 

[flyhighflyfast78]

I've always used the Phantom Angel discharger for my DJI batteries (Mini 2 and P4). Not sure if they make one for the Mini 3.

 

[Droning on and on...]

10 days at full charge would be really bad for the battery

Define what you mean by "really bad".

This statement actually made me laugh!