MA2 batteries not holding charge

[JimB56]

My Mavic Air 2 batteries can’t hold a charge more than 2 days. I charged all three 2 days ago and just went to fly and they were all down to 70-75% charged. Anyone else having this problem?

 

[Meta4]

My Mavic Air 2 batteries can’t hold a charge more than 2 days. I charged all three 2 days ago and just went to fly and they were all down to 70-75% charged. Anyone else having this problem?

See page 25 of your manual:

Battery Features​

1. Battery Level Display: The LED indicators display the current battery level.​

2. Auto-Discharging Function: To prevent swelling, the battery automatically discharges to 96% of the battery level when it is idle for one day, and automatically discharges to 60% of the battery level when it is idle for five days. ​

It is normal to feel moderate heat being emitted from the battery during the discharging process.​

 

[lee82gx]

This is a built in feature, it self discharge after 24hrs of idle time.

 

[JimB56]

This is a built in feature, it self discharge after 24hrs of idle time.

So you’re saying that no matter what, we always have to charge the batteries just before flying. What a pain in the butt!

 

[Meta4]

So you’re saying that no matter what, we always have to charge the batteries just before flying. What a pain in the butt!

Within 24 hours should be fine and not too much trouble.

 

[Tufargon]

So you’re saying that no matter what, we always have to charge the batteries just before flying. What a pain in the butt!

What's really a pain in the butt is having to buy new batteries because you didn't take care of them properly.

 

[lee82gx]

Yeah, its apparently a feature to save our batteries from bloating. Time will tell.

 

[boredom.is.me]

Lithium batteries aren't supposed to be fully charged or discharged for long periods of time. It literally breaks down their chemistry. But if you want to by an $80 battery every time you fly, be my guest.

 

[GadgetGuy]

So you’re saying that no matter what, we always have to charge the batteries just before flying. What a pain in the butt!

Except you can't, if they are 1-5 days from the last full charge! Can't top off the 96% charge to 100% without first manually bleeding each down to 95%. Apparently, that is the best use of the included USB charge adapter for the batteries in the Combo kit! Plug your tablet into the USB charger attached to each battery for 5 minutes to bleed them down to 95% before putting the batteries on their charger to get them up to 100%.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Lithium batteries aren't supposed to be fully charged or discharged for long periods of time. It literally breaks down their chemistry. But if you want to by an $80 battery every time you fly, be my guest.

That's a gross exaggeration. Batteries are an item of consumption. Maximizing flight time should be the primary goal, not making batteries last forever at the expense of flight time. At least give us a choice of choosing our priorities, like on other DJI aircraft, where the user can set their own auto-discharge time period, based upon their needs.

 

[Mike4884]

That's a gross exaggeration. Batteries are an item of consumption. Maximizing flight time should be the primary goal, not making batteries last forever at the expense of flight time. At least give us a choice of choosing our priorities, like on other DJI aircraft, where the user can set their own auto-discharge time period, based upon their needs.

Hes absolutely right....Especially with something flying we just have to be careful I don't see it nearly as much as I used to with my helis a cell going out or a pack that just underperformed and I had to do an auto rotation back to terra firma so i could save my 3000$ heli or because a 12s stick pack just said "im done" but it could absolutely happen with drones and sometimes we see this where someone will fly the drone out a little ways if they're just putting it up in the air and then all the sudden after looking at logs you see that it just says nothing pertinent just that it cut off midair.... Then I'll ask about battery voltage during flight and a lot of the times this is the culprit people simply just do not know how to take care of batteries and it's not their fault it's just the past couple years have been this crazy drone Rush and people wanting to learn how to do photography/ videography etc....also I bet you DJ I got tired of taking back batteries that were swelled knowing that they could have been good to go if these people just had a little bit of knowledge .....shame, i always try to spread it everywhere I go it's a lot to take in too no denying that... especially for the new guy but it helps.... but imo DJI did it right with the mavic air 2.... because listen even if a lipo isn't totally charged at 4.20 volts per cell or for the hvs what is it 4.35 volts per cell ?? even if it's not totally charged all the way and it's just sitting at 4.15 volts per cell (4.30v per cell for hv lipos like dji) .....this is a big deal when it comes to how these batteries react just sitting around so for them to just already start having the battery go down to 96% after a day I think that's a smart move and you won't see as many swollen batterys going backto dji .... Or problem with people's batteries not fitting.... everything that we saw last year with the mavic 2 pretty much... And while I do agree I do like changing the days myself honestly what do you think the new guy would have put if you gave him 1 to 10 days? Most of the time they are putting 10 days and I don't know why but this is just what I see what they should have it set to is 3 days max so maybe it's a good thing that DJI doesn't have it in the fly app

 

[JimB56]

I know plenty about Lipo batteries. I have 4 large RC Car batteries for my traxxas Xmaxx. They will hold their full charge for several days. My point is that those batteries can be put in storage mode to make them last and not swell. However it’s not required unless you don’t plan on using them for a week or more. The DJI batteries start losing their charge immediately. DJI should put a firmware update to charge the batteries in “storage” mode.

 

[dawgpilot]

I know plenty about Lipo batteries. I have 4 large RC Car batteries for my traxxas Xmaxx. They will hold their full charge for several days. My point is that those batteries can be put in storage mode to make them last and not swell. However it’s not required unless you don’t plan on using them for a week or more. The DJI batteries start losing their charge immediately. DJI should put a firmware update to charge the batteries in “storage” mode.

They don't lose their charge immediately: the self discharge to 96% doesn't initiate until 24 hours from when they are charged. (and the further self-discharge to 60% doesn't kick in for 5 days)

 

[mschaffer66]

The battery charging logic on these things is a bit of a pain, but it's not terrible. Most of the time when I grab a battery off the charger its like 70% or something and I've just gotten to the point where I've accepted that as my typical fly time.

I used to be pretty big into RC's at the advent of cheap lipo batteries from places like Hobby King. Batteries were so cheap that you didn't really care much about beating them up and if one swelled you threw it in the trash(figuratively) and moved on. These things are a bit different.

 

[z28lt1]

If you are ok with flying at 96%, you've can charge up to 5 days before. Everyone has different habits and use cases, but I have no issues with how this works. If I think I might need to use it in the near future, I'll top up at least one battery "just in case" and let it cycle back down if I don't use it.

 

[JimB56]

They don't lose their charge immediately: the self discharge to 96% doesn't initiate until 24 hours from when they are charged. (and the further self-discharge to 60% doesn't kick in for 5 days)

That’s my point. In only 2 days they were down to 70%. Not sure about 5 days. I fly it before then.

 

[JimB56]

That’s my point. In only 2 days they were down to 70%. Not sure about 5 days. I fly it before then. I just don’t think that we should have to charge the batteries every time if it’s been more than a day since flown. That’s excessive charging that will shorten the battery life. They only charge so many times before they need replaced.

 

[dawgpilot]

That’s my point. In only 2 days they were down to 70%. Not sure about 5 days. I fly it before then.

Are you measuring the time from when you took them off the charger, or from when you first charged them to 100%? The timer starts when they hit 100%, regardless of if you leave the batteries sitting on the charger or not.

 

[JimB56]

Are you measuring the time from when you took them off the charger, or from when you first charged them to 100%? The timer starts when they hit 100%, regardless of if you leave the batteries sitting on the charger or not.

No I don’t ever leave lipo batteries on a charger longer than necessary. They are too unpredictable.

 

[Mike4884]

I know plenty about Lipo batteries. I have 4 large RC Car batteries for my traxxas Xmaxx. They will hold their full charge for several days. My point is that those batteries can be put in storage mode to make them last and not swell. However it’s not required unless you don’t plan on using them for a week or more. The DJI batteries start losing their charge immediately. DJI should put a firmware update to charge the batteries in “storage” mode.

You having four batteries for your large RC car doesn't mean that you know plenty about LiPO batteries I'm just saying dude you're ready stated something I would never do with lipos and that is keep them full for several days..... I mean sh#t if you got the money I guess it doesn't matter