Hello from Walla Walla WA!

[TheRanch]

Well you certainly have a generous gift-giver! Be sure to do this after reading your DJI info. Have fun! https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_flyers/knowledge_test_updates

No kidding! I was thoroughly surprised!!! I’m slowly getting up to speed however. I’ll check out the link. Thanks!

 

[TheRanch]

Welcome to the forum. I have fond memories of driving through Walla Walla when my daughter went to U of Idaho.

It seems that nobody answered your question about the batteries other than telling you to read the manual. Of course, reading the manual for such a complex drone as yours is very important.

That said, let me say that your drone has intelligent batteries. This not only prevents them from being overcharged or running them too low, but has a self discharge feature. These store best at a level of about 60%. If you have flown the drone and the batteries are at 75% when you quit it will count out 10 days and then self discharge to the ideal storage level. If you touch the button in the battery at any point in that 10-day cycle it will reset and start counting to 10 days all over again. Unlike other DJI drones that 10-day cycle cannot be altered -yet. I am hoping to see this feature in a future firmware upgrade, but one never knows.

If I have flown to 40%, for example, I charge that battery to 60% or higher and let it self discharge to the ideal storage level. Storing at the right level is key to maintaining longevity of these expensive batteries.

Never charge a battery that is hot. Look for any swelling before flying. Check the cell levels before flying any battery. In your drone there are 4 cells. They should always be in balance. If they are not at the same level that is the best indicator that your battery has failed and should not be flown.

Have fun flying!

Wow. Thanks for the detailed advice! Question on your last paragraph about the cells always being in balance: if the four lights on the battery indicate the level of charge, how can they be balanced? When charging doesn’t one cell get charged (and the light goes solid) then the next gets charged, etc, until all four are completed. It seems that if you stop at any time other than all four being fully charged they will be imbalanced.

 

[TheRanch]

Welcome from Houston. Walla Walla is a beautiful place. I miss Wa. A lot.
It’s a great community that you joined and the search engine here works really good
(Hint Hint)

We’ve been here

Welcome to the forum.
Please and do be sure you have read our guidelines.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

Thank you! Since posting I’ve found a lot more info on batteries which really helps. Don’t know why I didn’t see it before.

 

[old man mavic]

@TheRanch ,no it does not work like that all the cells get charged the actual balancing gets done near the end of the charge cycle, the lights represent a charge level in all of the cells in a particular battery,this process is controlled by the BMS

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

Watch YouTube videos on the Mavic 3. There are many good ones covering features, setup, best settings, etc.
Also watch videos on Drone Crashes. You will learn the many mistakes others have made causing them to lose or crash their drone. Better to learn from their mistakes before making them yourself. When watching drone crashes, don't worry if they are not the M3, the mistakes are still the same.
Important: Do not take off over concrete, near concrete structures (they have rebar in them), or near large metal/magnetic structures. It will affect your compass calibration and will have undesirable results.
PS: Welcome to an amazing Group.

 

[TheRanch]

Watch YouTube videos on the Mavic 3. There are many good ones covering features, setup, best settings, etc.
Also watch videos on Drone Crashes. You will learn the many mistakes others have made causing them to lose or crash their drone. Better to learn from their mistakes before making them yourself. When watching drone crashes, don't worry if they are not the M3, the mistakes are still the same.

Never thought about watching crashes. Thanks for the advice!

 

[TheRanch]

@TheRanch ,no it does not work like that all the cells get charged the actual balancing gets done near the end of the charge cycle, the lights represent a charge level in all of the cells in a particular battery,this process is controlled by the BMS

OK. Thanks for the info.

 

[SpitFire]

Welcome to the forum from Chicago the Windy City.
FLY SAFE & FLY SMART

 

[twickers14]

Great to have you with us. I find the Forum brilliant on most things but not every question gets an answer. I posted a quick one the other day and was hoping for some enlightenment-still am! It was probably a dumb question but generally you”ll get answers on anything you need to know. Don’t forget to post your work when you are flying with confidence. Plenty of practice is the solution.

 

[TheRanch]

Thanks for the reply. I agree with you that there a lot of highly knowledgeable people on the forum. I’m definitely looking forward to posting so work once I get to that level. Take care.

 

[JoelP]

Wow. Thanks for the detailed advice! Question on your last paragraph about the cells always being in balance: if the four lights on the battery indicate the level of charge, how can they be balanced? When charging doesn’t one cell get charged (and the light goes solid) then the next gets charged, etc, until all four are completed. It seems that if you stop at any time other than all four being fully charged they will be imbalanced.

Sorry for not being clearer. In the DJI Fly app if you

Wow. Thanks for the detailed advice! Question on your last paragraph about the cells always being in balance: if the four lights on the battery indicate the level of charge, how can they be balanced? When charging doesn’t one cell get charged (and the light goes solid) then the next gets charged, etc, until all four are completed. It seems that if you stop at any time other than all four being fully charged they will be imbalanced.

Sorry for not explaining this more clearly. In the DJI Fly app if you tap the 3dots at the top right you will see a tab for system settings. Under that you will see an option for battery. If you open that you will see the status of the 4 cells in the M3 battery that you have inserted. That is where you check the relative levels of the battery cells. If one looks much different you have a failing battery.

 

[TheRanch]

Sorry for not being clearer. In the DJI Fly app if you

Sorry for not explaining this more clearly. In the DJI Fly app if you tap the 3dots at the top right you will see a tab for system settings. Under that you will see an option for battery. If you open that you will see the status of the 4 cells in the M3 battery that you have inserted. That is where you check the relative levels of the battery cells. If one looks much different you have a failing battery.

Thanks for coming back to this and straightening me out! I appreciate it immensely!