Leave batteries on charger

[Neto]

I know this is more suitable to a battery forum but what you guys think?
Is it too harmful to leave batteries and controller charging all the time?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[halley]

It's not a good idea to leave lithium batteries at 100% charge all the time, and multi-cell batteries like the DJI Mavic Pro batteries especially should not be continually topped off by leaving them on a charger. Overnight or next day, fine. All week, probably not best for the overall battery health. Take them off the charger at 100%.

Chemistry.

• Lithium batteries don't have a "memory" that gets conditioned by being full or low, unlike the old NiMH or NiCD battery chemistries. They will be just as chargeable or dischargeable throughout the lifespan of the batteries.
• That said, if you let a lithium battery drop too low, it will lose its ability to be recharged; the Mavic batteries have internal controllers that thankfully avoid that scenario for the most part.
• Also, Lithium tends to degrade over a 3~5 year timespan, so the batteries' max capacity will slowly drop no matter how you use or spare your batteries.
• Lastly, the enemy to lithium batteries is extreme temperatures because the voltage actually fluctuates with the temperature. If the battery is cold, the voltage drops and appears to be more drained. If the battery is hot, the voltage rises. If the voltage of an individual cell exceeds 4.2VDC, the cell will start to puff and eventually burst into flames.

This last point is the exact reason that airlines are so scared of lithium batteries right now. See the 7E7 Dreamliner fires and the UPS Flight 6 crash for more. If you don't plan to fly within a few days, I would recommend you don't let lithium batteries sit on the shelf any higher than 95%, personally.

 

[Neto]

thanks!

Sent from my Nexus 6 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[FPVJunkie]

If you don't plan to fly within a few days, I would recommend you don't let lithium batteries sit on the shelf any higher than 95%, personally.

Luckily the Mavic's Intelligent batteries will start an auto-discharge after 3 days of sitting idle (can be adjusted in the apps), so there is no need to run them down unless you want to. Also, I believe the storage is 65%, but I'd have to read the battery manual to get the exact number.

 

[halley]

I believe the storage is 65%

Yeah, most people would say if you plan to store lithium batteries long-term, 50-70% is good. It avoids draining below the danger point, and it is nowhere near the thermal danger limit. Most manufacturers ship their products with a 75-90% charge so the customer can play right away but it is still far short of the thermal danger limit.

 

[scalci]

H

Luckily the Mavic's Intelligent batteries will start an auto-discharge after 3 days of sitting idle (can be adjusted in the apps), so there is no need to run them down unless you want to. Also, I believe the storage is 65%, but I'd have to read the battery manual to get the exact number.

How do you set this in the "App"?

 

[FPVJunkie]

H


How do you set this in the "App"?

Uhh, not 100% sure how to since I don't have my Mavic yet... it's been covered a couple times on the forum though. Also, I was wrong, according to the V1.2 manual, it's actually 10 days and not 3 for the default settings.

 

[BD0G]

Never fear BD0G is here lol.

Within the DJI Go App for IOS (Android may be slightly different) there is a symbol that looks like an arrow pointing upwards over a battery symbol. Touch that symbol to enter the battery menu. Then there are 3 Settings
1. Show Voltage on Main Screen
2. Time to Discharge
3. Details

Touch the blue box to the right of the second choice Time to Discharge and it will allow one to set this from 1 day to 10 days if one scrolls down through the list.

Oh, for the setting to "take" or be implemented one must be connected to the Mavic Pro.

 

[FPVJunkie]

Hmm, you probably have to set it for each battery if you have multiple.

 

[scalci]

I think once the Mavic is connected to the app, there is a page to view the batteries. Might be in there...