Bottom (label area) of battery packs bulging slightly?

[Kueller]

Just noticed the bottom of my MA2 battery packs are not quite flat, the label area is ever so slightly bulging out. Had them laying on a glass desk and they weren't sitting quite flush. Curious if this is just the baseline standard or if it's something I should be checking with calipers after every flight.

 

[itsneedtokno]

Already?!

I dunno, but it's usually a sign that they have been "overworked" nearing the end of their lifespan. They got "too hot".

I can't compare, because I had to return mine.

I can chime back in, in a few days

 

[randompersonx]

Mine have been slightly bulging from day 1, taking it out of the box.

I think it's normal.

The MA2 has a safety feature to deal with bulging batteries -- the metal clips that retain the battery touch a sensor in the drone. If the battery is bulging too much, it will break the contact with that sensor point, and the DJI Fly app will warn you about it.

 

[Waldo Pepper]

I hope it’s not serious, don’t want to go through this again like the Mavic 2 Pro.

Paul

 

[GadgetGuy]

Just noticed the bottom of my MA2 battery packs are not quite flat, the label area is ever so slightly bulging out. Had them laying on a glass desk and they weren't sitting quite flush. Curious if this is just the baseline standard or if it's something I should be checking with calipers after every flight.

All 3 of mine arrived that way new in the FlyMore combo kit! It is certainly a cause for concern, and raised red flags for me. No M2 battery has ever started out that way when new. The M2 batteries that are swollen only swell more during use, as the heat generated during discharge in flight only causes further expansion and swelling! It is of no use when the Fly app notifies you of a disconnect of the metal tab connector, as by that time, the battery has also disconnected from its power connections, and the aircraft is already falling like a rock!

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Thanks for sharing this Gadgetman,

This is definitely a concern, my MA2 flymore combo kit hasn’t shipped yet. I’ve gone through this before with my M2P flymore kit. Had to replace all batteries at my expensive, I think the warranty on M2P batteries were something like 3 or 6 months. The swelling on the M2P batteries came later, luckily it was caught early enough before my M2P dropped from it’s flight.

Now, I’m tempted to cancel my MA2 Flymore kit since it hasn’t shipped yet. I don’t want to go through this swelling battery issue again, if any other MA2 owners are having swelling battery issues please share.

Paul

All 3 of mine arrived that way new in the FlyMore combo kit! It is certainly a cause for concern, and raised red flags for me. No M2 battery has ever started out that way when new. The M2 batteries that are swollen only swell more during use, as the heat generated during discharge in flight only causes further expansion and swelling! It is of no use when the Fly app notifies you of a disconnect of the metal tab connector, as by that time, the battery has also disconnected from its power connections, and the aircraft is already falling like a rock!

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Just noticed the bottom of my MA2 battery packs are not quite flat, the label area is ever so slightly bulging out. Had them laying on a glass desk and they weren't sitting quite flush. Curious if this is just the baseline standard or if it's something I should be checking with calipers after every flight.

Thanks Kueller for sharing, this is not good. If the swelling is already showing, it’ll probably get worse. I hope others share if they’ve noticed their batteries are already swelling.

Thanks again,
Paul

 

[Detritalgeo]

It is good to pay attention to this to see if it develops.

How much deviation is there in the bulge? I know all the other DJI packs have a medium density foam wrap insulation around the cells so maybe this causes a slight bulge from New?

If it gets worse this is a sign that 1 or more cells have degraded and the liquid organic compounds that act as electrolyte in the Li-ion cell have broken down into a gaseous form. This can be caused by excessive heat (left out in the hot sun for example) or after high cycle count or overcharging..

 

[Waldo Pepper]

I never was reimbursed from DJI with my original M2P batteries from the Flymore combo, unfortunately they swelled after the 3 month warranty was over.

If this swelling turns out to be an issue with Mavic Air 2 batteries, at least or I would assume DJI will replace these first batch of MA2 batteries without us jumping through loops to get them replaced.

Hopefully, All turns out well.

Paul

 

[Kueller]

It is good to pay attention to this to see if it develops.

How much deviation is there in the bulge? I know all the other DJI packs have a medium density foam wrap insulation around the cells so maybe this causes a slight bulge from New?

Broke out the calipers since you asked, turns out the multi-curved top of the battery makes taking consistent measurements somewhat tricky. On my 3 batteries it's between .2mm and .4mm of bulge, I wouldn't take these numbers as gospel, but I got .22mm, .24mm and .38mm at the center of the label relative to the gray plastic edge of the battery casing. Measuring the total height of the battery from label bulge to just behind the power button I got 2 right around 41mm (+-.05mm) and the one with the bigger bulge 41.2mm, but I really wouldn't trust those numbers as I did not set up a jig to measure all 3 at the same point. Maybe later.

My main goal in asking about the bulge was to establish if this was typical or atypical. Seems it may be typical. The rest of the battery casing appears to be a fairly stiff plastic with the label area having just a little give, presumably due to being thinner plastic thanks to the recess for the label sticker.

 

[hiflyer201]

The batteries on the brand new air 2 haven't got the four small ticks on the bottom so it's hard to tell if they are slightly swollen. They do run very cool compared to the batteries on my Air 1.
I just sent my AIR 1 and controller to DJI as I felt the controller was bad and it was. They replaced modules in the left and right stick and the gimbal wheel..but they didn't say a thing about the swollen battery that I sent along with the drone. I was curious what they would say..maybe they didn't use it or notice it but I would think that they would have