How Long Can You Leave A Battery Charged At 100%

[Flyhigh1]

I'm new to this forum so if there is already a thread on this i'm sorry. I have 4 battery's and i'm going on a 10 day vacation and don't want to bring the whole charging setup so I guess my question is if I charge all 4 batteries and bring them is that fine in terms of longevity? I've always heard to charge before you fly not to store fully charged.

 

[tcope]

I would highly recommend that you read the online manual on the Mavic. It contains this information as well as a lot of other information that you should know.

The software in each battery will automatically discharge the battery down to a storage charge (around 50%). You can set when this happens, up to 10 days. At that time, the battery will _start_ to discharger and this usually takes about 3 days.

You can keep batteries fully charged for 10 days, that is not that big of an issue. You should not fly with a battery where the auto discharge has already started. The DJI Go app will inform you of this.

 

[msinger]

so I guess my question is if I charge all 4 batteries and bring them is that fine in terms of longevity?

Yes, that'll be fine since this vacation is a one-time occurrence. When possible, you don't want to keep batteries fully charged for long periods of time when you're not using them (if longevity is your goal).

 

[Stealthbomber]

Where are you going that you cant pack the compact charger? You’ll eat through those 4 batteries pretty quickly. On a recent overseas vacation I carried along an additional 12v car charger, which I used quite often in the rental car.

 

[Texas Mavic]

Ten days. It will automatically bring itself down to a storage level voltage.

 

[Flyhigh1]

Where are you going that you cant pack the compact charger? You’ll eat through those 4 batteries pretty quickly. On a recent overseas vacation I carried along an additional 12v car charger, which I used quite often in the rental car.

I'm just trying to pack light. With the case that came with it between the batteries and ND filters I have to additional room in the case. Figured 4 batteries would be enough. I just use it for accent shots to throw in my family video GoPro footage.

 

[Mulberry]

Why not pack 3 batteries plus the charger?
Takes up the same space, weighs the same and covers all eventualities.
( Or even just 2 batteries plus the charger).

 

[GerdS]

I would not let a fully charged battery lay around for more than one day now.

My most recent experience form yesterday:
At Saturday I was out with my SplashDrone (avatar) with two batteries. Because of a technical problem I was not able to fly a second time, so I returned home with one fully charged battery. Yesterday, means just two days later, I intended to use that battery for a test flight and found out it was swollen on one side. When checking the single cells via balancer connector, three cells were at about 4.1V while the fourth (and swollen) cell was at about 1.5V only. So this battery has to be disposed now.

For the Mavic this risk applies, too. Never store a battery fully charged for more than one day if your batteries shall have a long life. Even the self-discharge setting of 3 days within GO4 is too long.
If you will run into a situation where you cannot fly a battery empty, then discharge it at home. I have the Fly More bundle which included an USB adapter for using a battery as power bank. Use this for discharging by charging your phone or tablet from that battery.
For storing a battery, even over weeks, I charge the empty battery after flight just only until 2 LEDs will show solid light and the third one is blinking.
This was so successful that my old Mavic Pro batteries from November 2016 and with more than 130 cycles each are still operational.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I would not let a fully charged battery lay around for more than one day now.

My most recent experience form yesterday:
At Saturday I was out with my SplashDrone (avatar) with two batteries. Because of a technical problem I was not able to fly a second time, so I returned home with one fully charged battery. Yesterday, means just two days later, I intended to use that battery for a test flight and found out it was swollen on one side. When checking the single cells via balancer connector, three cells were at about 4.1V while the fourth (and swollen) cell was at about 1.5V only. So this battery has to be disposed now.

For the Mavic this risk applies, too. Never store a battery fully charged for more than one day if your batteries shall have a long life. Even the self-discharge setting of 3 days within GO4 is too long.
If you will run into a situation where you cannot fly a battery empty, then discharge it at home. I have the Fly More bundle which included an USB adapter for using a battery as power bank. Use this for discharging by charging your phone or tablet from that battery.
For storing a battery, even over weeks, I charge the empty battery after flight just only until 2 LEDs will show solid light and the third one is blinking.
This was so successful that my old Mavic Pro batteries from November 2016 and with more than 130 cycles each are still operational.

Not sure why we are comparing your SplashDrone batteries to DJI batteries. Apples and oranges.

 

[GerdS]

Not sure why we are comparing your SplashDrone batteries to DJI batteries. Apples and oranges.

Sorry if you don't understand this, but both sorts of batteries are LiPo batteries, have a similar chemistry and therefore the same restrictions, limits and problems...

 

[msinger]

For the Mavic this risk applies, too. Never store a battery fully charged for more than one day if your batteries shall have a long life. Even the self-discharge setting of 3 days within GO4 is too long.

We'd have no way of knowing (of course), but I highly doubt the average Mavic owner (or DJI drone owner in general) is manually discharging batteries before the auto discharge feature kicks in. If that's true, then it seems letting the batteries sit around for more than one day is working out just fine for most people. Otherwise, we'd see posts with stories similar to yours above here every day.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Sorry if you don't understand this, but both sorts of batteries are LiPo batteries, have a similar chemistry and therefore the same restrictions, limits and problems...

Not really. DJI batteries were designed to be left fully charged for up to 10 days at a time without any swelling. Never had any DJI battery swell on me ever, and most were kept fully charged all the time, ready for use. Your statement about not leaving any battery charged for more than a day is totally absurd for DJI batteries.

 

[Congoblue]

Not really. DJI batteries were designed to be left fully charged for up to 10 days at a time without any swelling. Never had any DJI battery swell on me ever, and most were kept fully charged all the time, ready for use. Your statement about not leaving any battery charged for more than a day is totally absurd for DJI batteries.

No, he is quite right if you want to be totally sure your batteries won't swell up. Leaving a LiPo battery fully charged increases the risk of it swelling, regardless of whether it is for a DJI product. This is why DJI built in the auto discharge cycle and (originally) gave options for 3 days or 10 days. They know there is a risk of swelling if you leave them fully charged.

Most batteries will not swell up, it depends on manufacturing variations, you have been lucky with yours and as MSinger says most people do not have problems with them swelling. And you may consider the convenience of being able to keep a fully charged battery for 10 days outweighs the small risk of them swelling up and failing.

But if you want to absolutely minimise the risk, keep them at 50% and only charge immediately before use.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Not really. DJI batteries were designed to be left fully charged for up to 10 days at a time without any swelling. Never had any DJI battery swell on me ever, and most were kept fully charged all the time, ready for use. Your statement about not leaving any battery charged for more than a day is totally absurd for DJI batteries.

It is correct to say DJI batteries allow up to a 10 day duration before the self discharge is initiated (if they are left untouched). DJI doesn’t manufacture LiPO cells. The cells are subject to the same inherent performance limitations as any other based on LiION chemistry. Keeping a LiION cell at or close to the max rated voltage (100% SOC) will accelerate the loss of usable capacity over time (predominantly due to increased internal resistance). This is an inescapable fact regardless of who makes the battery.

 

[LongRifle]

If keeping your DJI batteries fully charged for up to 10 days works for you, then to each his own. All my batteries for my 1st drone (Parrot AR) were toast after only 6 months because I kept them fully charged. I didn't know any better. I wasn't about to take that same chance when I got my Mavic 3 years ago. I either charge the batteries I need the night before or right before flying. I use the USB adapter to discharge any unused battery within 48 hours. Too ****? Perhaps. But my original 3 year old Mavic batteries are still in great shape. Was it because I was **** about it or superior DJI engineering? Don't care really. To me they're too expensive not to take the extra care.

 

[Tankertel]

I would not let a fully charged battery lay around for more than one day now.

My most recent experience form yesterday:
At Saturday I was out with my SplashDrone (avatar) with two batteries. Because of a technical problem I was not able to fly a second time, so I returned home with one fully charged battery. Yesterday, means just two days later, I intended to use that battery for a test flight and found out it was swollen on one side. When checking the single cells via balancer connector, three cells were at about 4.1V while the fourth (and swollen) cell was at about 1.5V only. So this battery has to be disposed now.

For the Mavic this risk applies, too. Never store a battery fully charged for more than one day if your batteries shall have a long life. Even the self-discharge setting of 3 days within GO4 is too long.
If you will run into a situation where you cannot fly a battery empty, then discharge it at home. I have the Fly More bundle which included an USB adapter for using a battery as power bank. Use this for discharging by charging your phone or tablet from that battery.
For storing a battery, even over weeks, I charge the empty battery after flight just only until 2 LEDs will show solid light and the third one is blinking.
This was so successful that my old Mavic Pro batteries from November 2016 and with more than 130 cycles each are still operational.

Your comment "I have the Fly More bundle which included an USB adapter for using a battery as power bank. Use this for discharging by charging your phone or tablet from that battery." is a great post, I would never have thought of doing that. Nice one.

 

[GadgetGuy]

No, he is quite right if you want to be totally sure your batteries won't swell up. Leaving a LiPo battery fully charged increases the risk of it swelling, regardless of whether it is for a DJI product. This is why DJI built in the auto discharge cycle and (originally) gave options for 3 days or 10 days. They know there is a risk of swelling if you leave them fully charged.

Most batteries will not swell up, it depends on manufacturing variations, you have been lucky with yours and as MSinger says most people do not have problems with them swelling. And you may consider the convenience of being able to keep a fully charged battery for 10 days outweighs the small risk of them swelling up and failing.

But if you want to absolutely minimise the risk, keep them at 50% and only charge immediately before use.

All due respect, I stand by my original post concerning DJI batteries. I have owned every DJI consumer aircraft since the P2V+, and have never had any DJI battery swell. Never! I keep them 100% charged after use until I use them. If 10 days ever goes by without use, the DJI auto-discharge feature drops them to 50% charge. Never a problem. YMMV.

 

[WithTheBirds]

All due respect, I stand by my original post concerning DJI batteries. I have owned every DJI consumer aircraft since the P2V+, and have never had any DJI battery swell. Never! I keep them 100% charged after use until I use them. If 10 days ever goes by without use, the DJI auto-discharge feature drops them to 50% charge. Never a problem. YMMV.

What we need to respect here is the known performance characteristics of LiION chemistry. Yes you might, as you have demonstrated, favour convenience over long term usable capacity and still get reasonable performanceS There he no question though that keeping LiION chemistry at full SOC will accelerate the natural ageing process, this is particularly pronounced at higher temperatures.

Keep a pack at 100% charge for 12 months at 25 deg C and you have lost up to 16% of the usable capacity (compared to 40% charge level in storage).

 

[GadgetGuy]

What we need to respect here is the known performance characteristics of LiION chemistry. Yes you might, as you have demonstrated, favour convenience over long term usable capacity and still get reasonable performanceS There he no question though that keeping LiION chemistry at full SOC will accelerate the natural ageing process, this is particularly pronounced at higher temperatures.

Keep a pack at 100% charge for 12 months at 25 deg C and you have lost up to 16% of the usable capacity (compared to 40% charge level in storage).

View attachment 83633

Good to know, but not relevant to the issue of swelling, nor usability, because I don't store my batteries at 100% for more than 10 days, and I fly almost daily. I keep them stored at 100% until I use them, or until the smart battery algorithm set to 10 days discharges them. The drone will also be obsolete and replaced long before the battery capacity ever becomes an issue. Battery care is highly overrated!

 

[WithTheBirds]

Good to know, but not relevant to the issue of swelling, nor usability, because I don't store my batteries at 100% for more than 10 days, and I fly almost daily. I keep them stored at 100% until I use them, or until the smart battery algorithm set to 10 days discharges them. The drone will also be obsolete and replaced long before the battery capacity ever becomes an issue. Battery care is highly overrated!

You have a significantly increased chance of a pack puffing while it is at 100% SOC- that is a fact. High state of charge and elevated temp is the best known way to get a cell to puff closely follows by allowing self discharge below around 2.7 V and exceeding the C rating. Leave a fully charged pack in a vehicle cabin on a hot day and you can almost guarantee it will be permanently damaged.

If your flying almost daily your not keeping your batteries at 100%. Obviously it’s not an issue.