Did flying in >100 degree weather do this to my batteries?

[eroomomni]

I have puffed Mavic batteries all of a sudden and it might be from the heat. I realize this topic has no doubt been discussed many times. However, I'd like a little advice in a hurry. These batteries pictured below have a lot of hours on them and have served me well. I am working out in the desert this week and have a hunch the heat caused them to swell. After a 15 minute flight yesterday after work I noticed while pulling the battery out for the next flight, it literally popped out due to excessive swelling. The ambient temperature during the flight was well over 100 degrees. Not unusual for many of my flights but I got to wondering if this week the batteries reached their tolerance limit in the parking lot. Although the batteries have survived a lot of travel, I will no longer keep my case in the car out her in the Mojave. What do you think? Your experience, comments and/or advice will be appreciated.

 

[Superdaddy]

Extreme heat kills lipos - period. Retire them. Damaged lipos are dangerous.

 

[Mossiback]

According to DJI at: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/Mavic+Pro+Intelligent+Flight+Battery+Safety+Guidelines-EN.pdf




They have "served you well", let them go.

 

[eroomomni]

To clarify, the batteries are now retired and put to pasture. I had no intent to fly with them again. I am mostly interested in if the heat of the desert, possibly the heat of them being in the car, was likely the cause.

 

[Mossiback]

I was going to suspect that storing them in the car did it since a parked car in the desert can get well above 122 F, but, you mentioned "it literally popped out due to excessive swelling". That leads me to believe it was not swollen when you inserted them so it had to happen during flight. Of course, storing them in the hot car could have "pre-heated" them for the flight. DJI does not recommend using them in temps over 104 F but that means almost no desert flying a little after sunup.

I wonder if storing batteries in a cooler before flying (not freezing, just cool) could mitigate the problem.

Hopefully there are some desert flyers that can jump in here, since I am just guessing.

 

[gnirtS]

Similar here. I live in the tropics where ambient air temp is in the mid 30s celclus and obviously hotter in the sun.

2 out of my 3 batteries have now swollen like that to the extent i dont trust the one to latch in properly. Mine have never been stored in a car or in the sun. One swelled after 1 particularly hot flight testing endurance of a battery. They've done roughly 60 charge cycles each. Oddly, the original battery that came with the mavic is still perfectly fine, the 2 fly-more ones have swollen.

 

[BIGDAVE]

I was going to suspect that storing them in the car did it since a parked car in the desert can get well above 122 F, but, you mentioned "it literally popped out due to excessive swelling". That leads me to believe it was not swollen when you inserted them so it had to happen during flight. Of course, storing them in the hot car could have "pre-heated" them for the flight. DJI does not recommend using them in temps over 104 F but that means almost no desert flying a little after sunup.

I wonder if storing batteries in a cooler before flying (not freezing, just cool) could mitigate the problem.

Hopefully there are some desert flyers that can jump in here, since I am just guessing.

be careful of the rapid change of temp poss causing it to sweat, king of like the back of the toilet flushed on a hot day, might not be anything but im honestly trying to help. good luck

 

[Mossiback]

be careful of the rapid change of temp poss causing it to sweat, king of like the back of the toilet flushed on a hot day, might not be anything but im honestly trying to help. good luck

I wasn't sure if my idea was valid or not, but that's why I put in the "(not freezing, just cool)" bit. I was thinking more in line with the opposite approach of keeping the batteries warm before flying in cold weather. Both methods are an attempt to have the batteries at their recommended operating temperature while flying. Perhaps desert flyers should have a cooler available to put their battery in after flying as well so it will not overheat immediately after use. It would also help to cool them down quicker if they wanted to recharge on site.

But, honestly, all my talk is merely speculation since I am not flying in high temperatures (Pacific NW). Perhaps some desert flyers will chime in with their ideas.

 

[eroomomni]

I appreciate all the input. I might add that I often have to be at locations in extreme heat where I am unable to bring my phone into the job site. I roll my phone up in a blanket to insulate and find it very effective in keeping the phone from overheating and unable to power back up until temp is stabilized. Perhaps if I need to have the Mavic in the car in high heat and unable to bring it in, I may try roll it up in a couple blankets and I'm certain that would help.