Flying with not fully charged batteries

[Bob001]

What I'm hearing from some is that if you fly your drone from 100% down to 60% and land it, and let it set there for 20 minutes, you need to charge it back up to 100% to fly again???? Your drone will definitely fly on a 60% charge whether it's been recent or a few days from the last flight, but you just have to be aware that you're starting at 60% and not a full charge. That puts limitations on the flight which a 100% charge wouldn't otherwise, and as long as you're willing to acknowledge those limitations (flight length, height, etc.) you should be ok. If you plan to fly and have the opportunity to do a 100% charge, it might be prudent as others have mentioned, but that battery doesn't know if the 60% is recent or from two days back (note that there will be a little less than 60% due to any self-discharge that occurs while the battery sets).

 

[old man mavic]

the main issue with taking off with a less than full battery is that your flight time will be severely compromised,the main issue with lipos is as the voltage drops, they then struggle to provide enough current, if you suddenly need to climb or use sport mode to fight a sudden wind gust to get back home ,and the lower they get then the worse things become ,no one is saying that you cant fly if the battery is not fully charged ,but you need to be aware what the consequences are ,best practice is to start with a fully charged battery whenever possible

 

[hiflyer201]

I have rarely taken off outdoors with less than a full battery, and I change batteries after every shut down regardless of the duration of the flight just as a matter of practice....but from what I'm reading on the forum, if you're planning a short "hop around the pattern" or some other such short re-currency flight, the batteries will suffer less if you just take off with 60% rather than going thru the full charge cycle and then using less than 30%.

 

[dlmvegas]

I have 3 batteries and if I don't get out to fly for 3-4 weeks I fully charge the batteries, drain them by flying around to between 40-45% each and put the drone and batteries back in my case after they cooled off till next time. I will always charge my batteries to 100% before I fly.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

It really depends on how long they’ve been sitting if they’ve auto discharge to 95% there will be no problem the cells will still be balanced, well As balanced as they ever were.

 

[bobec231]

Let's answer the Question.
As far as the battery is concerned its chemistry will perform without any issues.
Side note: A battery charged to 95% will give you about 35% more charge cycles than one that is always charged to 100%.
assuming battery is allowed to cool down to room temp prior to charging.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Let's answer the Question.
As far as the battery is concerned its chemistry will perform without any issues.
Side note: A battery charged to 95% will give you about 35% more charge cycles than one that is always charged to 100%.
assuming battery is allowed to cool down to room temp prior to charging.

Side note: Those hypothetical 35% additional charge cycles will occur long after the drone is obsolete. Batteries are consumables. Flying drones is about the flight time, not the longevity of the batteries. It's like making sure you live to 100 in a nursing home by giving up everything you enjoy in life now! Quality of life, not quantity!

 

[kidroc]

Just try not to make it a habit it can bite in the butt not worth the risk if you can just charge them back up..

 

[GadgetGuy]

Just try not to make it a habit it can bite in the butt not worth the risk if you can just charge them back up..

You can't just charge them back up. Once they are at 96% after 24 hours, you have to manually bleed them down to 95% or lower, to be able to top them off to 100%, unless you wait a full 5 days after charging, when they auto-discharge to 60%. From 24 hours to 5 days after fully charging, they stay at 96% and cannot be "just charged back up" by putting them on the charger.