Battery issues

[highvoltage68]

Hello everyone....I am brand new to this forum and web page. I sought it out in hopes for some answers to a battery issue. I have had my Mavic Pro for about 2 years now. When I got the Mavic I invested in 2 extra batteries that I purchased directly from DJI. I don't fly daily by any means but I do try to keep my batteries charged or if they are going to be stored for a while....I try to keep them at about 50%. About a month ago my family and I took a trip to Hawaii. A week prior I pulled out all my batteries and charged them. They all charged and showed full with the LED lights but 1 would not power up the drone. I immediately purchased another (through DJI) and we were on our way. I was looking forward to getting some amazing shots and I did but soon after we arrived I had another battery quit working. It showed full charge but when placed in the drone and turned on....NOTHING. So now that's 2 batteries in a weeks time that have gone bad but at least it happened prior to flight. Our last day in Hawaii and I wanted to get some nice shots of our resort. I wanted to go out over the ocean (risky I realize) and video the shore line. I put a freshly charged battery in the Mavic and began my flight. I flew it around for a couple of minutes and began to get a little nervous so headed for land. As I was bringing it in I still showed 75% battery life. As I was bringing it in for a landing and just after I got over land (thank goodness), the drone just went dead and did a nose dive into the beach. So now that's 3 batteries in a week Now I am afraid to fly it anywhere beyond my backyard. Up to this point I guess I always figured it would give me some warning or maybe lose power gradually but that's not what happened at all. If that battery would have died 20 seconds sooner it would have been in the ocean never to be seen again. Has anyone had a similar experience or could give me some possible reasons for this? Like I said....I have this fantastic drone that I am now afraid to fly. Thank you in advance for any help or guidance.

 

[Texas Mavic]

Hello everyone....I am brand new to this forum and web page. I sought it out in hopes for some answers to a battery issue. I have had my Mavic Pro for about 2 years now. When I got the Mavic I invested in 2 extra batteries that I purchased directly from DJI. I don't fly daily by any means but I do try to keep my batteries charged or if they are going to be stored for a while....I try to keep them at about 50%. About a month ago my family and I took a trip to Hawaii. A week prior I pulled out all my batteries and charged them. They all charged and showed full with the LED lights but 1 would not power up the drone. I immediately purchased another (through DJI) and we were on our way. I was looking forward to getting some amazing shots and I did but soon after we arrived I had another battery quit working. It showed full charge but when placed in the drone and turned on....NOTHING. So now that's 2 batteries in a weeks time that have gone bad but at least it happened prior to flight. Our last day in Hawaii and I wanted to get some nice shots of our resort. I wanted to go out over the ocean (risky I realize) and video the shore line. I put a freshly charged battery in the Mavic and began my flight. I flew it around for a couple of minutes and began to get a little nervous so headed for land. As I was bringing it in I still showed 75% battery life. As I was bringing it in for a landing and just after I got over land (thank goodness), the drone just went dead and did a nose dive into the beach. So now that's 3 batteries in a week Now I am afraid to fly it anywhere beyond my backyard. Up to this point I guess I always figured it would give me some warning or maybe lose power gradually but that's not what happened at all. If that battery would have died 20 seconds sooner it would have been in the ocean never to be seen again. Has anyone had a similar experience or could give me some possible reasons for this? Like I said....I have this fantastic drone that I am now afraid to fly. Thank you in advance for any help or guidance.

This sounds like a repair. Can you upload flight log data? There are some very bright folks here who can look at the data and determine what the issue is.

 

[Texas Mavic]

@sar104 can you take a peak at this young mans issue if you have the time?

 

[sar104]

@sar104 can you take a peak at this young mans issue if you have the time?

It sounds like the three original batteries were dead or dying. The storage plan mentioned by the OP sounds good, but exactly how it is done in practice can make a big difference.

 

[Texas Mavic]

It sounds like the three original batteries were dead or dying. The storage plan mentioned by the OP sounds good, but exactly how it is done in practice can make a big difference.

Well the brand new batteries and the odd behavior isn’t normal, what could tie those things together? This ones beyond my ability to even pretend like I would know the answer too. Unless it’s a heat/humidity issue

 

[highvoltage68]

@sar104 can you take a peak at this young mans issue if you have the time?

Thank you for your reply Texas Mavic. I sent my drone in to DJI for repairs and some answers but due to it being out of warranty ...they were not willing to provide any answers. Let me work on figuring out how to upload my data. I would greatly appreciate any help in the matter

 

[highvoltage68]

Well the brand new batteries and the odd behavior isn’t normal, what could tie those things together? This ones beyond my ability to even pretend like I would know the answer too. Unless it’s a heat/humidity issue

The brand new battery is the only soldier still standing.

 

[Texas Mavic]

So the Mavic performs as expected with a new battery? Just your three old ones made it behave oddly?

 

[highvoltage68]

If when you say “behave oddly” you mean “just stop” then yes. The 2 batteries that quit prior wouldn’t even power up the aircraft. They showed 100% and had no displayed trouble codes. The 3rd one (last one) powered up the Mavic as expected and during the short flight...the Mavic displayed no odd behavior or warning signs. It was running just fine one second and the next it was a lawn dart. It didn’t lose power or altitude gradually ...it just stopped all together. No lights, no cooling fan motor, no sign of life at all. I picked it up, brushed it off and put the new battery in it. It fired up and flew normally but the gimbal was damaged in the crash so I packed it in

 

[Texas Mavic]

So other than a jacked up gimbal.. problem solved. You were unfortunate enough to have had 3 bad batteries. That were old. Got it.

 

[highvoltage68]

I guess my question would be is it common for a battery to just go bad mid flight with no warning? Is there a timeframe when you guys just change out batteries wether they are working or not? I understand that the batteries were 2 years old but I store them as recommended and I would hope there is another way to tell the battery is going bad prior to it causing the drone to fall out of the sky

 

[Texas Mavic]

I guess my question would be is it common for a battery to just go bad mid flight with no warning? Is there a timeframe when you guys just change out batteries wether they are working or not? I understand that the batteries were 2 years old but I store them as recommended and I would hope there is another way to tell the battery is going bad prior to it causing the drone to fall out of the sky

That’s why I was thinking that your flight data would tell the story.

 

[highvoltage68]

Ok fair enough and I’ll get that info. Would it just be the flight data of that last flight?

 

[Texas Mavic]

I would try to use Airdata to pinpoint which flights this happened on, then download the I believe Dat files... however I’m not the expert on exactly which file to download. Search the phantomhelp, it should be easy to find on the forum here. But I am not 100% sure that the dat file is the one they use to look at what happened.

 

[highvoltage68]

Ok thanks

 

[RayOZ]

Sounds like the original batteries were at the end of life. 2 years is a good run. They don't last forever. I am not sure if there's any programming that can detect if batteries are dying. All you have is the number of charge cycles. That's why DJI battery warranty is only 6 months or 200 cycles, whichever is lower.
My really old laptop battery, after I fully charged it, as soon as I unplug my laptop from mains power, the battery goes flat almost immediately. Same with my old iPhone battery, 100% charge in the morning, and just see it drain quickly by afternoon, and below 30% it just turns off. Old battery just don't hold their charge as soon as you try to use it.

 

[Hayabusa]

Any chance the batteries swelled and popped out/disconnected?

 

[Slade]

Hello everyone....I am brand new to this forum and web page. I sought it out in hopes for some answers to a battery issue. I have had my Mavic Pro for about 2 years now. When I got the Mavic I invested in 2 extra batteries that I purchased directly from DJI. I don't fly daily by any means but I do try to keep my batteries charged or if they are going to be stored for a while....I try to keep them at about 50%. About a month ago my family and I took a trip to Hawaii. A week prior I pulled out all my batteries and charged them. They all charged and showed full with the LED lights but 1 would not power up the drone. I immediately purchased another (through DJI) and we were on our way. I was looking forward to getting some amazing shots and I did but soon after we arrived I had another battery quit working. It showed full charge but when placed in the drone and turned on....NOTHING. So now that's 2 batteries in a weeks time that have gone bad but at least it happened prior to flight. Our last day in Hawaii and I wanted to get some nice shots of our resort. I wanted to go out over the ocean (risky I realize) and video the shore line. I put a freshly charged battery in the Mavic and began my flight. I flew it around for a couple of minutes and began to get a little nervous so headed for land. As I was bringing it in I still showed 75% battery life. As I was bringing it in for a landing and just after I got over land (thank goodness), the drone just went dead and did a nose dive into the beach. So now that's 3 batteries in a week Now I am afraid to fly it anywhere beyond my backyard. Up to this point I guess I always figured it would give me some warning or maybe lose power gradually but that's not what happened at all. If that battery would have died 20 seconds sooner it would have been in the ocean never to be seen again. Has anyone had a similar experience or could give me some possible reasons for this? Like I said....I have this fantastic drone that I am now afraid to fly. Thank you in advance for any help or guidance.

Could it be possible DJI sent you three batteries that were not up to snuff? Of course. Even DJI let’s duds get through. Someone on this forum can read your data and hopefully tell you what happened. Good luck. ??

 

[Hayabusa]

I think his batteries worked fine for almost 2 years and then died off.

 

[BigWillie]

Sounds like the original batteries were at the end of life. 2 years is a good run. They don't last forever. I am not sure if there's any programming that can detect if batteries are dying. All you have is the number of charge cycles. That's why DJI battery warranty is only 6 months or 200 cycles, whichever is lower.
My really old laptop battery, after I fully charged it, as soon as I unplug my laptop from mains power, the battery goes flat almost immediately. Same with my old iPhone battery, 100% charge in the morning, and just see it drain quickly by afternoon, and below 30% it just turns off. Old battery just don't hold their charge as soon as you try to use it.

RayOZ, you mention the dpi warranty was 6 months or 200 cycles, which ever is lower. Excuse for being stupid but exactly what did you mean by that? I have 11 month old batteries (swollen) that has about 40 cycles on them. Obviously, I don't use them since I needed to purchase three new ones. Just curious. Thanks