How do you hibernate DJI Intelligent batteries.

[cheddar-man]

When I received both my DJI Mini SE (FOR SALE) and my Mini 2, the batteries were in "hibernation" mode according to the instructions.

If I don't sell the SE shortly, I am going on holiday for a couple of months and I guess I should put the batteries back into hibernation mode so they don't discharge too much.

I found this statement in a DJI article about their batteries:

"The battery automatically discharges to below 65% when it is idle for more than 10 days to prevent it from swelling. It takes approximately 3 days to discharge the battery to 65%. It is normal that you may feel moderate heat emitting from the battery during the discharge process. Set the discharging thresholds in the DJI GO app."

I can't find anything about discharging/hibernating the Mini batteries in the Fly app???

 

[slup]

You can't without risking to damage them ... if left for long term storage you place them on 50% & full charge cycle them each 3 month ... then back on 50%.

 

[cheddar-man]

So just put it in the drone, fire it up, hover it and watch the battery charge in the App until it indicates 50%?
Repeat for each battery and they should be OK for a couple of months.

 

[slup]

So just put it in the drone, fire it up, hover it and watch the battery charge in the App until it indicates 50%?
Repeat for each battery and they should be OK for a couple of months.

Yep ...

 

[cheddar-man]

OK, thanks.

 

[DoomMeister]

Out of my own curiosity don’t the DJI smart batteries discharge to storage voltage on their own? Is there really a need to discharge them in the aircraft, or is that just a method to get them close to storage level faster than self discharge?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Out of my own curiosity don’t the DJI smart batteries discharge to storage voltage on their own? Is there really a need to discharge them in the aircraft, or is that just a method to get them close to storage level faster than self discharge?

For me I do not trust DJI's logic of a 9 day discharge. I still believe in only leaving your batteries fully or close to fully charged for max of 3 days so the sooner I can get my batteries to a storage level the better in my opinion. My Anafi batteries will go into a deep sleep after 10-12 days of storage and need to be woken up by a charger before being used again. Not sure if DJI batteries do this or not.

 

[Faster]

Lipo's storage voltage is 3.85V per cell which is around 65% of its charge. Why would you discharge them to 50% and not 65%?

 

[slup]

...don’t the DJI smart batteries discharge to storage voltage on their own? Is there really a need to discharge them in the aircraft...

Lipo's storage voltage is 3.85V per cell which is around 65% of its charge. Why would you discharge them to 50% and not 65%?

The built in self discharge for a Mini SE battery is down to 96% after one day ... then down to 72% after 9 days. This mainly to protect the battery from swelling (my thought ... during the warranty period, saving DJI from cost).

72% isn't a good level for a general Lithium battery which should be long term stored at 3,7-3,85V/cell, which is approx. 50%, counting in LiIon, LiPo & HV types of batteries ... LED wise we usually say that it's OK between 1 solid+1 blinking - 2 solid + 1 blinking during regular use, but 72% is too high & it stays higher for a to long time if it should self discharge.

Furthermore the electrolyte decomposition accelerates by time & how far your battery is to either full or empty. If you want a longer service life out of them (many doesn't care though I've heard) you try to not have them outside storage voltage longer than 2 days as a simple thumb rule. Lower capacity batteries with fewer cells & high voltage is also much more sensitive to all this.

...My Anafi batteries will go into a deep sleep after 10-12 days of storage and need to be woken up by a charger before being used again. Not sure if DJI batteries do this or not.

What I have seen, some DJI batteries claim that they go into hibernation mode (the BMS shuts off) once really deeply discharged ... so that doesn't seems to be similar to Anafi.

 

[DoomMeister]

For me I do not trust DJI's logic of a 9 day discharge. I still believe in only leaving your batteries fully or close to fully charged for max of 3 days so the sooner I can get my batteries to a storage level the better in my opinion. My Anafi batteries will go into a deep sleep after 10-12 days of storage and need to be woken up by a charger before being used again. Not sure if DJI batteries do this or not.

I agree with 9 days being excessively long. As you know the batteries I use are not smart and I have to be the brains (and I find them far superior).

I leave my batteries at storage level until I plan on flying. The earliest I’ll charge them is the night before and if they are not used during a flying session I’ll return them to storage level within 24 hours.

Just trying to learn a bit about battery management with DJI before I finally break down and buy one.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Just trying to learn a bit about battery management with DJI before I finally break down and buy one.

LOL its a painless procedure buying a DJI. You know I was never a fanboy of DJI but I am glad I made the switch. My other drones are just dust collectors now.
Loving my Air 2S

 

[slup]

... the batteries I use are not smart and I have to be the brains (and I find them far superior).
Just trying to learn a bit about battery management with DJI before I finally break down and buy one.

The DJI batteries are both a blessing & a curse ... if you're used to have full control over cell balancing, charge rating & internal resistance coming from a generic RC LiPo pack use ... you will find it limiting.

If instead totally new to LiPo battery use ... DJI will prevent you from doing thing's that will burn down your house

Myself I very much prefer to be in charge over it all not leaving it to a BMS ... but nothing is stopping you from keeping the same battery treatment exercise you have had with the generic LiPo packs.

 

[Faster]

The DJI batteries are both a blessing & a curse ... if you're used to have full control over cell balancing, charge rating & internal resistance coming from a generic RC LiPo pack use ... you will find it limiting.

If instead totally new to LiPo battery use ... DJI will prevent you from doing thing's that will burn down your house

Myself I very much prefer to be in charge over it all not leaving it to a BMS ... but nothing is stopping you from keeping the same battery treatment exercise you have had with the generic LiPo packs.

That's exactly the problem I have with the DJI batteries. I can't keep them at the Voltage I want.
I've been using RC Lipo packs for at least 18 years without any problems. When I want to store them I simply discharge them to 3.85V per cell and keep them at room temperature. Every other month I charge/discharge them again to 3.85V. With this process they always last longer. The DJI batteries are a PITA to keep that way.

 

[StantonZ]

To be fair, the storage voltage doesn't have to be that precise (e.g. 3.85v per cell). Anything around 3.7v is great for long-term Lithium (all types) storage.
Simple advice to the OP would be: discharge until you have 2 solid LEDs showing on the battery...then you don't have to know anything about voltage (or how to find it in something like AirData).

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Smart batteries best xplained from my friend PatR from the Yuneec forum.

"As for “smart” batteries, when they do more than just provide a user an excuse to be lazy or to allow idiots a means to function in an environment requiring intelligence they will serve better purpose. They don’t need to triple or more the cost of a standard battery to accomplish that. The components used to construct a smart battery amount to no more than a few dollars in parts and labor, leaving current pricing without any justification.

IMO, the purpose of a smart battery is not at all to better serve the customer, but a means to increase profitability and expand available profit centers with a long term revenue stream. Anything that can be sold using a statement it will make things easier for the consumer will employ similar language in the advertising. The smart outfits will also say it makes it safer, and apparently people will give up anything to expand their perception of safety.

Similar applies to health benefits. Using kale as an example, they couldn’t give the stuff away because it tastes like chit until somebody said it provided wonderful health benefits. It still tastes like chit and nobody is extending their life span because they eat it, but by golly farmers are now making money from something they couldn’t before."

 

[cheddar-man]

Just found this from DJI referring to the Mini 2 battery (but the SE battery the same.

If you are storing your drone for a long period (maybe you are going out of town for a month), all you have to do is put your battery inside the drone or the two-way charging hub after charging them to 100%. The auto-discharge feature will kick in and discharge the battery to below 70% and keep it there.

If the storage time is very long, the battery enters into hibernation mode to prevent discharge to 0%. This makes sure the battery is not damaged if stored for a very long time. To get the battery out of hibernation, you have to charge it directly via the drone for a few hours to reactivate the battery.

Says it all so that is what I'll do (unless I sell the SE before I go away)

 

[slup]

Just found this from DJI referring to the Mini 2 battery (but the SE battery the same.

If you are storing your drone for a long period (maybe you are going out of town for a month), all you have to do is put your battery inside the drone or the two-way charging hub after charging them to 100%. The auto-discharge feature will kick in and discharge the battery to below 70% and keep it there.

If the storage time is very long, the battery enters into hibernation mode to prevent discharge to 0%. This makes sure the battery is not damaged if stored for a very long time. To get the battery out of hibernation, you have to charge it directly via the drone for a few hours to reactivate the battery.

Says it all so that is what I'll do (unless I sell the SE before I go away)

Is this from the same DJI support that claims that all you have to do when your new Mavic 3 takes ages to get enough satellites locked to get a HP recorded ... is to point the RC antennas directly towards the craft & if that doesn't help refresh the firmware

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

For a 2 month holiday, I'd just leave them at 2 led solid, 3rd led flashing.
You'll probably find that auto discharge will bring them down to about that level anyway.

I've found on my 2 different model DJI drones, this is about 60% - 65% or so, and they will slowly lose a little more power sitting there unused, but it would take a lot more than 2 months to fall to a bad level, in my experience they may fall to perhaps 50% over 2 or 3 months not used (?) . . . just a guess based on my experiences that they slowly discharge further with time unused after an auto discharge.

I'm kind of surprised at @slup post above saying "The built in self discharge for a Mini SE battery is down to 96% after one day ... then down to 72% after 9 days."

Yes, 9 days is a pain, would be great to be able to adjust like you used to (and I still can in Go4) to 2 days or or up to 10 days . . .

The 72% is what DJI have only allowed the auto discharge to go down to ?
Seems too high if so.

 

[slup]

...I'm kind of surprised at @slup post above saying "The built in self discharge for a Mini SE battery is down to 96% after one day ... then down to 72% after 9 days."

It's a direct quote out from the user manual ... & furthermore, nothing about "going in to hibernation" is mentioned anywhere there... as written in post #16.

 

[cheddar-man]

Is this from the same DJI support that claims that all you have to do when your new Mavic 3 takes ages to get enough satellites locked to get a HP recorded ... is to point the RC antennas directly towards the craft & if that doesn't help refresh the firmware

Don't know, it's from here.
I have asked the DJI Support team, see what they say and I'll follow that. If the battery gets screwed up, I can go back to them.
Everybody seems to have their own ideas on this.