Discharging the battery

[WithTheBirds]

You are going to get a lot of opinions on this topic. I have been using LiPos for about 2.5 years now in electric RC cars and trucks and now drones for 6 months.

I have been doing almost exactly what you are proposing- I properly discharge them for storage and about every 45 days I check them and bring them back up to a storage charge. I have had no issues so far.

The DJI batteries have a smart discharge technology built right in so I have been charging them up every 45 days or so and then discharging them about 10% and letting the DJI smart discharge circuitry bring them down to a safe storage charge.

My other LiPos I just bring up to a safe storage charge using an intelligent charger.

This website has more than you will ever want to know about LiPos-

A Guide to Understanding LiPo Batteries — Roger's Hobby Center

You don’t need to worry about opinions- not when the facts on LiION performance are well established and freely available information.

No new to fully charge. Just bring them back up to storage if needed. That just a good part of a charge cycle you are throwing away unnecessarily.

 

[Lastrexking]

The only time I purposefully discharge mine is before I take my drones on a flight. I haven't used my Air since September and they've sat nicely at about 35%.

 

[WithTheBirds]

The only time I purposefully discharge mine is before I take my drones on a flight. I haven't used my Air since September and they've sat nicely at about 35%.

There is no need to discharge if taking on a flight as hand luggage.

 

[Lastrexking]

There is no need to discharge if taking on a flight as hand luggage.

Depends on the airline. My last flight in September was with TUI Airlines. They said the charge must be below 50%. When I checked in for the flight they checked the batteries.

Also, it’s common sense. Less chance of something going wrong.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Depends on the airline. My last flight in September was with TUI Airlines. They said the charge must be below 50%. When I checked in for the flight they checked the batteries.

Also, it’s common sense. Less chance of something going wrong.

If you go and look at TUI's policy with respect to LiION batteries you will find that they are permitted in checked baggage if installed in the device they are intended to power. Loose packs must be taken in hand luggage (carry on). They will say nothing about charge level. I have been through airport security more than 50 times with DJI packs and the SOC has never been checked.

 

[Latawiec]

Decided to cancel my flight for today and will be busy most of this week so I need some help on how to “discharge the battery to 30-50% to ensure longer battery life” Many thanks

I am using the same setup from this clip:

Quick, cheap and convinient way to keep the batteries healthy.

 

[theDRONEranger]

Charge your phone. Run you drone without the props. Charge your iPad. You can connect almost anything that permits the USB connection and run it to drain the battery.

 

[Gorm]

I have used the Phantom Angel on both my Inspire 1 Pro and my MA it is available for most DJI models. A great product.

Phantom Angel

 

[Bwoody321]

This is all very helpful information. I recently joined this forum and it is tremendous how much I already learned from everybody.

I just have one question: Is it really important to take such meticulous care of these batteries and practice this regularly if not in use?

As a full-time dental student in University, I find myself limited in time to even touch my drone during the semester. It is truly unfortunate, since I used my Mavic Air extensively over the summer, or during breaks when I have time to take it outside. During school I still try my best to check on it, turn it on for about 10-20 min and let it sit there to drain some of the charges stored in the battery.

I don't do this regularly however, and my practice is rather sporadic and contingent on whether I find the free time to do so. I know that these batteries aren't cheap and would personally love to maximize their life-spans as much as I could, but my current situation doesn't allow me to do so regularly.

Is it okay to just let them auto-discharge, charge them back up once in awhile, store it and repeat this cycle for 4-5 months? I don't want to obsess over battery life as I do have other priorities, but it is something to consider and definitely an attribute I'd like to optimize for my future uses. I don't conduct any of these "practices" for my phone, tablet, nor my laptops simply due to the fact that I use them on a daily basis. I can't really draw a parallel with my mavic batteries since they currently spend 99% of their time sitting in my case waiting to be used...

There needs to be an app or something for battery management

 

[Brandaloo]

Do you have one of these?

View attachment 58970

If so, you could do this:

View attachment 58977

And charge your phone and tablet etc.

Do you know where I can buy one of these? Or what the name of it is?

 

[msinger]

Do you know where I can buy one of these? Or what the name of it is?

It's called a Power Bank Adapter. You can buy one here on Amazon or from the DJI Store here.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Do you know where I can buy one of these? Or what the name of it is?

Try here

 

[DanMan32]

You can buy it from DJI, probably Amazon as well. It also comes with the M2 flymore kit.

 

[370Z2017]

It's not if you do it often. One time though? No worries.

HI msinger!
I have been rereading all the posts about battery maintenance. Lots of good information. I still have some questions. I fired up all my batteries and noticed all are blinking on the 3rd light. Since I won't be flying for awhile I changed the times to discharge to 5 days. Once this gets below safe discharge level do I need to charge back to 100%?

 

[msinger]

Once this gets below safe discharge level do I need to charge back to 100%?

No. Just charge them up until the 3rd battery starts blinking -- as described in detail here:

HOW TO: Maintain and store your DJI Mavic batteries

 

[DanMan32]

If you've not used them for more than 30 days, check their levels. If only one LED blinking, charge it.

 

[stberlin]

just got a B6 to MA plug. my imax charger can discharge the battery down to 9v.

 

[370Z2017]

Thanks everyone for all your replies!

 

[Latawiec]

just got a B6 to MA plug. my imax charger can discharge the battery down to 9v.

View attachment 60059

View attachment 60058

I wouldn't go that low. 9V is only 3V per cell which is well below recommended storage voltage of 3.8V per cell. Set your discharger to 11.5V instead to get the recommended voltage per cell without damaging batteries and to maintain them in good condition.

 

[stberlin]

I wouldn't go that low. 9V is only 3V per cell which is well below recommended storage voltage of 3.8V per cell. Set your discharger to 11.5V instead to get the recommended voltage per cell without damaging batteries and to maintain them in good condition.

Yep, this is my oldest battery with 22 cycles. I wanted to deep cycle it and lowered it down to 10.85v which is about 8%.