Is ever so slightly swollen battery no good?

[offtheback]

Or is it like pregnant or dead.Like yes or no.I disposed of 2 swollen batteries a bit back but on a flat surface they rocked quite noticeably.This battery wobbles ever so slightly.Is that a sign of surprises to come or somewhat normal.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Hmmm, I never did a wobble test (to a battery or a pregnant person). I have checked my batteries for fit in the AC body. Do you recommend the flat-surface wobble test?

But off the cuff, I would say that how positively it snaps into the AC is more important / telling.

Eh?

 

[DanMan32]

Is that slight swelling before or after a flight? If before, it will increase in flight and could unlatch and disconnect.

 

[offtheback]

Is that slight swelling before or after a flight? If before, it will increase in flight and could unlatch and disconnect.

That's a vote against it-thanks.

 

[offtheback]

Is that slight swelling before or after a flight? If before, it will increase in flight and could unlatch and disconnect.

I don't know if it's worse after a flight.Noticed after I charged it to about 60%

 

[DanMan32]

I noticed swelling either before or after my third flight. That third battery already had a slightly weak latch. Found my 2nd battery had swelling too, but not appearing quite as bad. My first battery barely noticeable. I only had the three at the time. I did low altitude/low distance tests with the #2, #3 without issues, but a month or so after found deals on new replacements, so now #1&2 are used for ground work (firmware updates, checking app settings, etc) and #3 was taken apart. If I were to fly with #2 for flying, I would velcro it down. Probably would do same for #1.

 

[msinger]

could unlatch and disconnect

Between that and a possible fire when charging a damaged battery, I'd toss it.

 

[Jet skier]

Toss it unless you’re going to fly over total wilderness or water. But I wouldn’t wanna risk lost to the craft either

 

[Bill combs]

Is that slight swelling before or after a flight? If before, it will increase in flight and could unlatch and disconnect.

agreed that battery will swell up even more when in use

 

[TR Ganey]

Everyone has their own standards they use, some more lax and some more stringent.

For me and mine I would only charge the batteries in question when I could be present 100% of the time and I would only use them for ground work. The possibility of them swelling with heat in flight and causing a disconnect is to great. jes my .o2

 

[lilewis]

Personally If I noticed any swelling at all, I wouldn't charge or use them. The risk/reward ratio just is too great for my comfort.

 

[25Vettes]

With all of the posts regarding battery swelling and disconnection in flight due to unlatching, I use a simple velcro strap to help hold the M2P battery in place if that were to ever happen. Probably not 100% effective, but gives me a little piece of mind. Does not interfere with sensors or battery operation. Battery can be turned on while the strap is in place, too....

 

[PhantomFandom]

Or is it like pregnant or dead.Like yes or no.I disposed of 2 swollen batteries a bit back but on a flat surface they rocked quite noticeably.This battery wobbles ever so slightly.Is that a sign of surprises to come or somewhat normal.

For me, there is no acceptable amount of battery swelling. If you can see the least bit of swelling, there is something wrong inside that battery. Discharge it completely and dispose of it properly. It's not worth the risk.

 

[Thomas B]

If a battery shows any swelling recommend don’t fly with it. Potential for loss of your drone is high as explained in many posts above. Use it for ground activities like updates, etc only. If less than 6 months old document the swelling and warranty through DJI.

 

[ross davies]

i have had my Mavic pro fly more kit for almost two years and have just noticed all three batteries are showing signs of swelling (one worse than the others i'm replacing all to avoid a disaster. What prompted me was the poor clipping into place. SHAME ABOUT THE PRICE.

 

[DanMan32]

I'm sure if we could see the physical batteries in all our devices (phones, tablets, laptops, etc), we'd find they all have some swelling after being used for months. It's just par for the course.

 

[WithTheBirds]

I'm sure if we could see the physical batteries in all our devices (phones, tablets, laptops, etc), we'd find they all have some swelling after being used for months. It's just par for the course.

This is the reality- it is considered normal for some expansion of the pouch in service which becomes more pronounced with increasing age and cycle count, elevated temp, time at full SOC extreme depletion etc. manufacturer data sheets for LiPO suggest .5 to 5% as being within tolerance. Many device manufacturers will aim for 10% within a device to accomodate expansion.

Anecdotally from the posts just on this forum we see that batteries that are physically distorted still charge normally and perform as might be expected.

We might be dealing with a scenario where DJI went a little to far in trying to get the max mah capacity possible in the smallest package. They failed. Not enough room in the enclosure.

 

[DanMan32]

One thing that has seemed to be emphasized: if the swelling occurred after charging after severe depletion of battery charge, then the battery could be dangerous on subsequent charges. I don't think DJI BMS will allow that.

If I look carefully at my P3 batteries which are at least 3 years old, they seem to have very slight swelling. One is snug in the battery compartment, especially after flight. But I still get at least 18min of flight out of them.

 

[Oconnb910]

Okay I have been dealing with this whole battery swelling situation particularly with my mavic 2 pro. I have come to the conclusion that it is actually the casing that is the problem and not so much the battery. I take very good care of my batteries but yet three of them have become what is now considered swollen and possibly defective. So I decided to take a closer look. And what I found was pretty interesting. It turns out that my three batteries that has swelling on the bottom side which created a situation of possible this lodging in flight that there was space within the encasement of the battery and it seems that it is the external case rather than the battery that is the issue.
I decided to do an experiment and I took a slit out of the bottom of the battery and amazingly it totally took away the swelling and the battery still had space. So at the moment I am trying experimenting with that batteries make sure no adverse effects were present.
so at the moment I have done this to two batteries that I would have had to just throw away but the surprising thing is both batteries are working totally normally.
I have mentioned this in previous comments in the forms and I was shot down saying if there's any swelling you should always throw away the battery to that I say anybody that does that is crazy I just loves to waste money.
My actual point to this whole thing is that this is more of a DJI defect in the process and apparently heating and cooling makes the outside case distort and it is not a matter of the battery being defective.
I have most of the DJI line and this is the only one that I see this happening. so if you want to avoid paying that $138 wherever these batteries go for these days try my experiment just put a slit in the bottom plastic and I guarantee you will get a lot more life out of that but he warned you need to be very careful to not cut into the actual battery behind it but again there is a gap so just be careful.

 

[Oconnb910]

Between that and a possible fire when charging a damaged battery, I'd toss it.

I can assure you that these are not deffective batteries rather it's deffective battery case. I have been experimenting with them and I found that the bottom side has an actual gap between battery and the housing.
However I found that this swelling of the case is occurring and it is not the battery pushing on that bottom side. so I have experimented and I have taken a notch out along the center of the bottom side it is fine it is working for two of my three batteries that were swelling. I am going to do number 3 next. When I look at the the app it shows no problems with the battery. DJI definite defect on their battery casing.