How do YOU physically store your drone batteries for long periods?

[GGehret]

OKay, I KNOW I won't get too much, if any chance to fly this winter, so that means my mavic and spark batteries will need to be "stored." I am now wondering what kind of containers, etc. you all put your batteries in for protection-- just in case, they would--God forbid--catch fire--especially when we aren't home--certainly don't want them to start burning, start a fire, or even spread toxic fumes for my dog and cat if we aren't home. I don't have a basement, so they cant be kept there, and my garage is not heated--gets below -40 and below with the windchill sometimes, so can't keep them outside, so..it's in the house....what do you all do?????THANKS!

 

[Thomas B]

I just keep them in my GoPro case. It lives in my guest room. Batteries that act unusual or show any bulge are disposed of... only had one battery failure in almost 2 years.
If I don’t fly one of my drones for a 4-8 weeks I check battery charges to keep them 40-60%. Mostly I just charge fully the night before a flight. Heat is my enemy rather that cold and snow.

 

[BigAl07]

For Long-term storage we have options not available to you but I'll let you know how we've done it for years and maybe you can come up with your own processes.

All my LiPo (smart or not) that are being stored long-term are in my basement and at Storage Level (40%-60%) charge. We take them and give the charge a smal "boost" 1x every 2 months.

I have a small "bank" of CMU (cinder blocks) sitting on my basement (concrete) floor and each battery goes down into a "Cell" in a block. This way if one ignites it can't ignite anything else or any other batteries. Also for nonSmart batteries (we just haven't done this with the SMART ones yet and may not do it) each cell has a large zip lock plastic bag filled with common swimming pool sand laid over it. The THEORY (never tried to prove or disprove it) is it it gets hot enough to melt the bag the sand will fall and hopefully help to contain the situation to some degree. I admit our methods are Old School, Over Kill, and maybe even a waste of time in some instances but it gives us peace of mind and that means a lot to us.

I don't have an air evacuation/venting system in the event of a gas release during a fire but I did install a smoke detector (wirelessly connected to the rest of the ones in the house) directly over this work area. This work area is only a few feet away from a Double Door so if I were home during this event (or shortly there after) I could easily open the doors and turn on a floor fan to ventilate the fumes to the outdoors.

Unfortunately none of these techniques are available to you because you don't have a masonry area that is somewhat conditioned to store yours in. Hopefully this gives you some ideas and I'm sure others will chime in with some additional and possibly even better suggestions.

 

[Thomas B]

For Long-term storage we have options not available to you but I'll let you know how we've done it for years and maybe you can come up with your own processes.

All my LiPo (smart or not) that are being stored long-term are in my basement and at Storage Level (40%-60%) charge. We take them and give the charge a smal "boost" 1x every 2 months.

I have a small "bank" of CMU (cinder blocks) sitting on my basement (concrete) floor and each battery goes down into a "Cell" in a block. This way if one ignites it can't ignite anything else or any other batteries. Also for nonSmart batteries (we just haven't done this with the SMART ones yet and may not do it) each cell has a large zip lock plastic bag filled with common swimming pool sand laid over it. The THEORY (never tried to prove or disprove it) is it it gets hot enough to melt the bag the sand will fall and hopefully help to contain the situation to some degree. I admit our methods are Old School, Over Kill, and maybe even a waste of time in some instances but it gives us peace of mind and that means a lot to us.

I don't have an air evacuation/venting system in the event of a gas release during a fire but I did install a smoke detector (wirelessly connected to the rest of the ones in the house) directly over this work area. This work area is only a few feet away from a Double Door so if I were home during this event (or shortly there after) I could easily open the doors and turn on a floor fan to ventilate the fumes to the outdoors.

Unfortunately none of these techniques are available to you because you don't have a masonry area that is somewhat conditioned to store yours in. Hopefully this gives you some ideas and I'm sure others will chime in with some additional and possibly even better suggestions.

Love the cinderblock idea.

 

[BigAl07]

Love the cinderblock idea.

It's an idea left over from the days flying large RC Heli and having huge 6S packs laying around. I had one do a full discharge in a matter of seconds. I accidently allowed the battery leads, BANANA connectors, to touch and they welded together which caused a mess and literally melted asphault in front of my office. That's when I realized I needed to give these things the respect, space, and PROTECTION they deserved.

 

[GGehret]

I just keep them in my GoPro case. It lives in my guest room. Batteries that act unusual or show any bulge are disposed of... only had one battery failure in almost 2 years.
If I don’t fly one of my drones for a 4-8 weeks I check battery charges to keep them 40-60%. Mostly I just charge fully the night before a flight. Heat is my enemy rather that cold and snow.

Thanks for the info. DJI support told me to check them every 5 days...that's REALLY inconvenient, I think.

 

[GGehret]

For Long-term storage we have options not available to you but I'll let you know how we've done it for years and maybe you can come up with your own processes.

All my LiPo (smart or not) that are being stored long-term are in my basement and at Storage Level (40%-60%) charge. We take them and give the charge a smal "boost" 1x every 2 months.

I have a small "bank" of CMU (cinder blocks) sitting on my basement (concrete) floor and each battery goes down into a "Cell" in a block. This way if one ignites it can't ignite anything else or any other batteries. Also for nonSmart batteries (we just haven't done this with the SMART ones yet and may not do it) each cell has a large zip lock plastic bag filled with common swimming pool sand laid over it. The THEORY (never tried to prove or disprove it) is it it gets hot enough to melt the bag the sand will fall and hopefully help to contain the situation to some degree. I admit our methods are Old School, Over Kill, and maybe even a waste of time in some instances but it gives us peace of mind and that means a lot to us.

I don't have an air evacuation/venting system in the event of a gas release during a fire but I did install a smoke detector (wirelessly connected to the rest of the ones in the house) directly over this work area. This work area is only a few feet away from a Double Door so if I were home during this event (or shortly there after) I could easily open the doors and turn on a floor fan to ventilate the fumes to the outdoors.

Unfortunately none of these techniques are available to you because you don't have a masonry area that is somewhat conditioned to store yours in. Hopefully this gives you some ideas and I'm sure others will chime in with some additional and possibly even better suggestions.

Thanks for this info. I may just have to put a cinderblock in my bathroom this winter near the exhaust fan. I don't think any of these ideas are overkill. I want to have peace of mind.

 

[Maviac]

This is all good advice from a “worst case scenario” and best practices standpoint, but has there ever been a single case of a fire from a DJI battery? Meaning a spontaneous fire absent prior damage to a cell? I don’t want my house to burn down, and I manage my batteries carefully, but I’ve never worried about leaving them in storage (at 40-60%) when I go out of town for a few weeks. Maybe I’m wrong but storing them in cinderblocks (which I have around my property) seems like overkill.

 

[Thomas B]

Thanks for the info. DJI support told me to check them every 5 days...that's REALLY inconvenient, I think.

Weird. Autodischarge is not even started yet (it starts at 10 days) and every time you check the whole process starts over... ie 10 more days until auto discharge restarts.

 

[Cabo Wabo]

This is all good advice from a “worst case scenario” and best practices standpoint, but has there ever been a single case of a fire from a DJI battery? Meaning a spontaneous fire absent prior damage to a cell? I don’t want my house to burn down, and I manage my batteries carefully, but I’ve never worried about leaving them in storage (at 40-60%) when I go out of town for a few weeks. Maybe I’m wrong but storing them in cinderblocks (which I have around my property) seems like overkill.

If your gone for a couple weeks won't they discharge after ten days? What do you set your discharge days at?

 

[Thomas B]

If your gone for a couple weeks won't they discharge after ten days? What do you set your discharge days at?

The discharge time for batteries is not currently modifiable as it once was.... no settings for discharge days... it starts at 10 days.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

What do you set your discharge days at?

Funny but the Air, M2, and maybe others, have no option to set # of days for discharge.
My MP has this, not sure about the Spark.
I have had mine set for 5 days from early on, but next time each is rotated into turn (4 batteries) I am going into the battery menu and changing it to 2 days.

The number of times I've charged 4 batteries and gone out to somewhere and not flown, because there are too many people around, or it's too windy, etc, is frustrating.
I think each time how much am I'm damaging my batteries ?

The discharge time for batteries is not currently modifiable as it once was.... no settings for discharge days... it starts at 10 days.

Is this a firmware change and applies to the MP too Thomas ?
I haven't checked that battery menu for so long now.

 

[Brockrock]

OKay, I KNOW I won't get too much, if any chance to fly this winter, so that means my mavic and spark batteries will need to be "stored."

Let’s get back to this vague assertion. Will you be otherwise busy this winter, whereby you will be unable to fly, or are you worried about the winter temps? Winter flying is awesome, but there are a few requirements to make it problem free..

 

[Kilrah]

They're in my Mavic bag and that's it. No special considerations required.

 

[Cabo Wabo]

The discharge time for batteries is not currently modifiable as it once was.... no settings for discharge days... it starts at 10 days.

When I check my batteries in the app I have the option of 2 to 10 days to set the discharge, I have mine at 3 days.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

When I check my batteries in the app I have the option of 2 to 10 days to set the discharge, I have mine at 3 days.

That's the MP or MPP yes ?

 

[BigAl07]

@Maviac You bring up a couple of interesting points. Let's take them one at a time and go from there:

This is all good advice from a “worst case scenario” and best practices standpoint,....

This is how I operate my sUAS processes. One reason why aviation has such a good safety record is because we are (or should be) always operating with the mindset of "If THIS/THAT happened right now what is my course of action?"
You're definitely not the first person (And won't be the last) to say my processes are overkill. I agree that my methods seem extreme but it gives me and my family Peace of Mind and at the end of the day that means a lot.

but has there ever been a single case of a fire from a DJI battery?

Any fire at all YES!

Meaning a spontaneous fire absent prior damage to a cell?

I can not answer that 100% one way or the other. A cell could be damaged from the factory, from a mishap (dropping from your hands while carrying it), from mishandling, and of course from a crash.

Below is a video of a DJI Phantom battery (from 2014) that was merely sitting on a work bench when it self ignited. Granted it was in a repair shop and it had been sent in, with the aircraft, post incident for repairs. It had made it through shipping etc to the shop with no issues and suddenly with seemingly no warning it started to ignite (not connected to a charger or anything just on the workbench).

This is why we are often asked to NOT SHIP LiPo batteries with the aircraft when we send them in for repairs. This is also the exact same technology of batteries that caused the massive Hover Board recall and the reason why so many batteries are banned from being in Cargo Compartments on airlines.

I don’t want my house to burn down, and I manage my batteries carefully, but I’ve never worried about leaving them in storage (at 40-60%) when I go out of town for a few weeks. Maybe I’m wrong but storing them in cinderblocks (which I have around my property) seems like overkill.

I have a vast inventory of LiPo batteries ranging from micro single cell units to massive 6S 6000mAh packs for our large aircraft and they are all treated with care and respect as if they are dangerous. I don't care if the odds are 1 in 20M I don't want that 1 to be in my house with my family.

Maybe I’m wrong but storing them in cinderblocks (which I have around my property) seems like overkill.

I work in the Building Supply Industry and these small cinder blocks were left over from a previous special order for a client. I got them for next to nothing or I may not have gone this exact same route. Use what you have at your disposal and for cheap.

I wouldn't say "You're Wrong" and I also wouldn't say that "Allen's way is the only right way"..... Allen's way is how Allen chooses to handle them and nothing more. Read my posts and you're learn I operate with an extreme abundance of caution day in and day out simply because that's what works for me. I still have fun (and a LOT of it) but I tend to error well on the side of caution and preparedness. I've been "Doing this" a long time and while I have had my share of "Oh Crap" moments I go out of my way to at least minimize them to the best of my ability.

 

[BigAl07]

Here's one that I have not seen until this morning. Unfortunately the "Victim" didn't give us any details about:

Was it charging?
Had it been damaged in any way (even a slight crash/drop)?
If charging what type of charging system?

None-the-less it's a good example of what could, in a worse case scenario, happen with even a DJI SMART battery:

 

[Cabo Wabo]

That's the MP or MPP yes ?

MP

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

MP

Good, was hoping that option was still there, always had mine on 5 days.
Going to change to 2 days.

I think though, with the heat in discharge mode I might also start leaving my batteries somewhere safe out of the backpack too, just in case.

The reports of iPhone batteriess reacting (violent fire) like the vids above is related, and they are much smaller than the drone batteries !!