I fly maybe once a week, how to store batteries between flights?

[dmpv]

I only fly my M2P once a week, if I'm not too busy. Most cases, it's once or twice over the weekend every two weeks or so. It's gonna be worse now with winter and the shorter hours of daylight. I'm busy throughout the week with my profession otherwise.

I am fortunate enough to afford multiple batteries so on Friday night, I charge them all up to 100%. On Saturday or Sunday, I will burn through all of them; usually altogether one after the other as I fly to my heart's content. Because I've read that it's best to store your batteries between 40-60% capacity, I will only fly until my battery passes the 50% mark then I return home and swap in a new 100%-charged battery. This way, I can just put away the battery I just used at 40-50% capacity. I do this for all my batteries to ensure they're at optimal storage capacity. Once I fly through all my batteries, I put everything away until the next time I get around to flying again which is like within 1-2 weeks or more.

So my question is, if I change this habit and fly my batteries down to 20% or so, is it safe to leave it at 20% for up to 2 weeks or potentially more and not hurt the batteries? I suppose I could recharge them to 100% and just leave them, right?... and let them discharge on their own to whatever and not worry about it?

What is best practice in my situation? Perhaps I'm just too paranoid about battery life and care. Thanks in advance!

 

[Drone Shot]

Just charge them up to storage level. Read this guide, it's really helpful: HOW TO: Maintain and store your DJI Mavic batteries

 

[dmpv]

Just charge them up to storage level. Read this guide, it's really helpful: HOW TO: Maintain and store your DJI Mavic batteries

Thank you, I will do just this.

 

[SpitFire]

Welcome to the forum from Chicago the Windy City.

 

[CanadaDrone]

If you prefer not to rely on guesswork (the battery lights) for ideal storage charge levels, you can buy an inexpensive charger such as this one:

Amazon.com

Not only will it charge up to 4 batteries simultaneously (instead of sequentially like the DJI charger) which you may find useful on your flight days, but it has a feature that does a proper, cell balanced, storage charge to the ideal storage voltage. It can also discharge your batteries to that level, should they be higher than the ideal storage value prior to storage. It takes all the guesswork and effort out of it, and you can be sure your batteries are getting the best possible care.

 

[dmpv]

I'm always wary of third party chargers albeit I'm not against them. I only use DJI chargers and have stocked up a few of them for charging multiple batteries at a time.

 

[CanadaDrone]

I'm always wary of third party chargers albeit I'm not against them. I only use DJI chargers and have stocked up a few of them for charging multiple batteries at a time.

Fair enough. If you saw what's inside those DJI chargers though you may prefer a third party one haha. As long as it's charging at the appropriate rates and able to properly detect the voltage of a LiPo, it shouldn't make a difference. Stick with what you're comfortable with though.