Charging Mavic Pro Platinum batteries
- Thread starter buickcoupe
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? 1 ... a LiPo battery will start to lose capacity as soon as you start to use it.
DJI batteries are normally rated for something between 200-300 cycles (that's what usually is stated in the battery warranty as max # cycles) but that doesn't mean that they haven't deteriorated capacity wise... or are unusable.
Furthermore charge cycles usually aren't what's generating the most wear on your batteries ... it's how you have used them & stored them.
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And let them sit on the approx 50% automatic discharge when not using them.
Keeping them stored too high or too low a %, and high temps / heat are the 2 big lipo killers.
I like to fly them down to no more than 20% usually, with an occasional deep discharge to maybe 5% every 10 flights or so.
Put them on charge at least an hour after a flight so they are well cooled down.
I just take them off when the 3rd battery light starts flashing, if not flying again soon.
Keeping them stored too high or too low a %, and high temps / heat are the 2 big lipo killers.
I like to fly them down to no more than 20% usually, with an occasional deep discharge to maybe 5% every 10 flights or so.
Put them on charge at least an hour after a flight so they are well cooled down.
I just take them off when the 3rd battery light starts flashing, if not flying again soon.
Percentage is just an approximation. The best way to watch your battery is "cell voltage". You can turn on that option in battery settings. It shows the voltage of lowest cell in real time. I use 3.6 volts as my lower limit regardless of what is displayed % wise. When I his 3.6 volts I bring it down and swap to another battery. I also deep discharge every so often (5% or less) then after completely cool, recharge to 100%. That will help keep cells balanced.
Yeah ... you're totally correct, it's the cell voltages that matters.
But as this thread started out in regards to a Mavic Pro which uses the DJI GO4, the functionality you speak of that shows the lowest cell voltage directly in the upper right corner in the live view only works on the iOS version not on Android.
This is a common misunderstanding ... the cells will always be balanced voltage wise as a part of the charge procedure in the end of every full charge, you don't have to deep discharge them in order to get the individual cells to be balanced ... if it was as you say it would be a battery failure nearly every flight as the cells then wouldn't be balanced... besides when you do this "deep discharge/full charge cycle.
Instead this procedure originate from the time when the Battery Management Systems wasn't as reliable as they are today. In the past the BMS "drifted" with every charge cycle, eventually ended up not showing the percentage in a reliable way. To remedy this a BMS calibration was necessary & was performed as you describe. After the calibration the BMS again showed 100% when the battery actually was full.
Nowadays the BMS units are much more reliable & rarely drift noticeable ... so a calibration is usually not needed. If doing it anyway on a repetitive basis ... the only thing you will achieve is that you waste charge cycles from the battery.
I am not sure about Android, but even with iOS you have to turn on this feature in you battery settings. It is not there until you turn it on. Maybe Android is different, but don't see any reason you could not use this feature. I have Crystalsky so do not use a phone for my monitor.
Yeah... Android is different, only the iOS version of the recent GO4 have it unfortunately, nothing to turn on plain & simple.
Thanks, I guess. Sorry to hear Android does not have this option. I rely on it showing actual battery voltage and know when to land and swap battery so I do not damage them.
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I'll keep an eye on that as using Go4 I do have the cell V showing.
Will be interesting to see where the 3.6v sits on the % scale.
Good job, mate! These batteries are finicky if they are taken out of their comfort zone.
With a fully charged battery with well balanced cells from the beginning & a reasonably smooth flight (not a lot of voltage sags & recovery phases) 50% is a tad over 3,7V, 30% a tad over 3,6V & 10% very close, but above 3,5V. And the further down you go percentage wise the voltage will fall very little ... at 5% the voltage is 3,5V or just below. I imagine that the huge drop in the end regarding cell voltage (characteristic for a LiPo) occurs when the BMS is reporting 0%.
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Android is all I use and yes sir, it does have that functionality. My display looks exactly like the red-circled part of your screenshot. I keep it turned on at all times
Do you use the latest version of GO4? ... If yes, then it's even more differences regarding the GO4 appearance, then it's also model dependent.
Below the battery settings from a Mavic Air for example ...
With Android no setting under the battery section to turn the live screen lowest cell voltage on ... (but it is if running iOS)
And nothing under the "Details" section either ...
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Then I apologize for not knowing that... had no idea the screens would be different on different models. The only mavic experience I have is the MPP.
Yes my Android version of Go4 is the latest, 4.3.37... and on my 'aircraft battery' screen the 'show voltage on main screen' is lower on that page than what you show in your screenshot.... below 'flight time'.
Wonder why in the world DJI would do that? If that option is possible on iOS then it's possible on Android. IMO that is a very important option, and to leave it off the Android version is negligent. Even Android Go3 has that option.
Yeah ... it's always been differences between the different OS but it never have been any logic behind it. Agree with you, in this case it's a safety functionality.
It's even more differences if looking into the logs & how/what they decided to include in the mobile device .TXT.
As per me max recharge are 120-150...DJI always over throttle The battery to reduce weight
I found that voltage cell setting straight away and was happy to have it. It's much more useful than the total battery voltage as that won't show the lowest cell, which is what it's all about with lipo's
I've also turned the battery discharge time from 10 days to 5 days, which is still too long for a battery to sit full, but I'll partially charge them till 3rd light flashing after I get home from a days flying.
I must have about 10kg's of various lipos in the garage from fixed wing flying, some of them well over 5 years old. It's all about balance charging and correct storage, and usually a deep discharge or incorrect charge is the beginning of the end for that battery. They don't often come back.
I've also turned the battery discharge time from 10 days to 5 days, which is still too long for a battery to sit full, but I'll partially charge them till 3rd light flashing after I get home from a days flying.
I must have about 10kg's of various lipos in the garage from fixed wing flying, some of them well over 5 years old. It's all about balance charging and correct storage, and usually a deep discharge or incorrect charge is the beginning of the end for that battery. They don't often come back.
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