M2P battery procedure

[Hank Fink]

Hello all, just curious to know if there are any guidelines I should follow regarding battery storage and charging. The way I fly is mostly just popping the drone up when I see something cool, like this morning with some low hanging fog and the sunrise. I would really love to have the batteries sit on the charger 24/7 ready to go so they arent 2/3 discharged by the time I end up using them again. Is that a bad idea? Should I avoid leaving them on the charger constantly? curious to hear your thoughts

Thanks,
Hank

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I believe storing fully charged is a bad idea, as is storing them empty, the latter if taken to extremes can trigger the PERMANENT, chip controlled, disconnection of the charging / output terminals of the battery 'shell' from the actual cells.
So, we are stuck in between, with planned flights and charging resulting in grabbing of spur-of-the-moment shots with what battery charge is available.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Having been in this situation myself I get the feeling that you have to be careful if a spur-of-the-moment battery was last charged a while ago, the impression I get is that the 'quality' of its remaining charge seems reduced as well as its quantity.
I know the latter is a strange impression and may well be rubbish but it is how it seems to me.

 

[slup]

...I would really love to have the batteries sit on the charger 24/7 ready to go

Doing that with a LiPo battery will quickly kill it ...

Below is how you do it ... & if you quickly want to be airborne with all your gear charged you instead buy a charger that can charge all your batteries in parallel (like this one --> Amazon.com: Hanatora Battery Home Charger & Car Charger for DJI Mavic 2 Zoom/Pro and Remote Controller,5 in 1 Rapid Charging Hub with Charging, Discharging and Storage: Electronics ) in approx 1 hour you have 4 batteries + RC fully charged (from storage voltage) & ready to go.

...Never keep the battery cell voltage outside 3,7-3,8v for a longer period than 48h (that is a battery charged to approx 50%). If too high after a flight, discharge them, too low charge them up to storage level again.

...Store them in room temperature ... (too warm is more damaging than too cold)

...Never let them overheat ... (left in the sun or thrown in a hot car)

...Don't charge them hot, let them cool down to room temperature

...Don't use cold batteries, try to have them at room temperature before using them

...Respect the operational ambient temperature specified in the user manual

...Don't push the battery for amp draw (both sticks on max inputs at the same time in Sport mode) when cold or hot ambient temps

...Don't fly them below 15% other in exceptional cases

...Always start a day of flying with the batteries freshly fully charged

 

[umanbean]

I would really love to have the batteries sit on the charger 24/7 ready to go so they arent 2/3 discharged by the time I end up using them again.

That is the conundrum we all face.... c'est la vie!

Is that a bad idea? Should I avoid leaving them on the charger constantly? curious to hear your thoughts

Yes, and yes. Please read and re-read post #3 by slup, you can take what he says as "the gospel" - the man really knows that of which he speaks! Follow his advice and your batteries will have a long and happy life.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Slup's post leads to a question, would it be feasible to build or adjust a parallel charger to maintain Lithium batteries at storage voltage rather than allowing the charger to charge to 'full' voltage?

I have a parallel charger for a mini and at a quick look it looks as if a potentiometer controls the final voltage. ( I didn't like how warm it got during charging so I dismantled the case so that I could drill extra ventilation holes in the case (plastic) and I saw the circuit board.)
It seems a possibility to me but I do not know if the act of maintaining the voltage at "such & such a level" would be detrimental to the battery cells.