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Mavic Air 2 Battery oddness - new batteries

eEridani

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So I've flown my Air 2 a few times, generally discharging a couple of my batteries. A week ago I was planning a flight and topped off the batteries: all 3 were at 75% (#3 led flashing). After charging, I stowed them away in my case, but I got busy and didn't get the drone in the air.

Today, I had time, got my clearance (150' inside the edge of a Class C with surrounding Class E), and opened up the case to get flying. Again, all three batteries were at less than full charge. But even worse, while all were blinking the third LED, the drone reported 60% charge: one was at 57%, one 59%. The third was in the air at 55% when I noticed how low it was.

This does not sound like normal behavior. How simple is it to charge a battery? Can I be doing something wrong? Or, am I looking at a painful communication with DJI?

The DJI batteries have each flown all of once, maybe twice: new drone, what can I say. And they've never been fully depleted: 20% typical. Should I give them a few full charge discharge cycles then be concerned? Or is my freaking out now appropriate?
 
I've read the full kit manual set (many manuals in the Air 2 - Smart Controller Kit), even have them printed out. Honestly don't recall any automatic self-discharge feature. That said, going back to the full Air 2 manual, on page 25: 96% after one day, 60% after five days. Not sure how I missed it. But at least now I know the batteries aren't defective.

Thanks for the pointers.
 
Not sure how I missed it. But at least now I know the batteries aren't defective.


Also, the batteries will feel warm when they auto discharge which is normal.

If you don't plan on flying for a long time, make a note on the calendar or phone and set a monthly reminder to check the charge status of the batteries and charge them up to 75% to maintain the battery.

If you let the smart battery sit for too long in storage, it will self discharge itself to a point where it may not take a charge at all.

.
 
I appreciate the feature to save the batteries but it can get in the way of spontaneous flight. I keep mine changed but dont need 3 every time I’m out. Still I maintain 3 so I am ready to go. Other times I just use the 60-20 range on 3 and capture in shorter clips. I get it but its not always convenient. On planned outings, no issue. I charge the morning of or day before.

How nice would it be to have charge like a mobile phone. I can go from 0 to full in no time with fast charges now.
 
I appreciate the feature to save the batteries but it can get in the way of spontaneous flight. I keep mine changed but dont need 3 every time I’m out. Still I maintain 3 so I am ready to go. Other times I just use the 60-20 range on 3 and capture in shorter clips. I get it but its not always convenient. On planned outings, no issue. I charge the morning of or day before.

How nice would it be to have charge like a mobile phone. I can go from 0 to full in no time with fast charges now.
I completely agree. I find the feature annoying, especially the 96% after 24 hours, which, if you are off the grid, means your batteries will never have a full charge, and if on the grid, means you have to manually discharge each of them below 96% to get them to top off within the 5 days before they discharge to 70%! They will not top off to 100% from 96%, unlike earlier P3P batteries that could be topped off even from 99%. Battery longevity has been forced upon us at the expense of spontaneous flight, as we no longer have any app control over the feature!
 
On my first real flight, charged the night before: I saw one or two of of my batteries in the drone show above 95% in the DJI Fly app UI.

The next time I inserted a supposedly charged battery, I saw under 60%. The self-discharge built into the battery sort of explained that weirdness. I wasn't happy, but at least there was a probably reason for it.

This last flight, apparently I wasn't even able to get mine to top off from 60% ... all three reported under 60% after charging, so three flights were limited to about ten minutes. Not even sure I'd trust a full charge to come anywhere close to 30 minutes at this point. Maybe I was supposed to do some magic button push code : push once then push again to enable full charge as if I was turning the battery on? Or, if the batteries haven't been in the drone since last charge, they won't take a charge?

I took what I was given and went flying - flying and discharging each of the three batteries to below 20%. At home, each battery had one LED on, and in the charger the batteries were looking like they were recharging to "full". When I placed the first full bat into the drone and powered things up, the DJI Fly app reported about 95%. Thought that was odd for a fresh charge. I then disconnected the charger - why charge all the batts only to have them auto-discharge in a couple days. Then I put on the guards and played with the drone dusting the house until that charged "full" battery was at 3 dots.

While I understand the theory DJI is using to prolong battery life, in my opinion DJI has gone over the top and made the system difficult to use. Maybe they could have made the charger smarter and let users decide if they are charging for a flight, or for storage. Button 1: charge for flight; Button 2: charge for storage; even a Button 3: Hibernate.

ps: Before you all start ripping into me, know that I designed my first battery powered electronic system back in the 70's, complete with equalizing charger for said batteries, and many such systems along the way; so I understand batteries and the various technologies a bit better than the next guy.
 
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As an off-topic post script: my experience so far with DJI reminded me of an early experience in Japan.

Many US users of early TV remotes found them very frustrating to use. It wasn't until I was in Japan working with Sony engineers that I learned the Japanese men at the time enjoyed the complexity of a remote: they used time during commutes to read the manuals and learn the many programming tricks needed to get the things to work right. A remote was a form of entertainment all by itself. The flip side was that the engineers designing the remotes couldn't understand why American users had problems with the remotes working properly. For younger guys and gals, next time you're bored and watching an 80's TV show or movie, watch for clips with a VHS or DVD player - the clock will usually be blinking 00:00 ... lol ... they were that complex to set.

Maybe the Chinese drone engineers think the same way - though - the engineers I have talked with in China at places like Huawei did not appear to think that way: they were usually efficiency driven.

Bottom line - I am probably not using the DJI stuff correctly yet. There must be some lore I have yet to learn.
 
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So after many flights lasting 16 minutes, I asked DJI how long SHOULD my battery last for a flight.

They quoted the 31 minute spec, sort of, except the Mavic Air 2 has a 33 minute hover and 34 minute flight time.

I took the time to clean the garage for testing. Had three batteries at 100% charge (near as I could get them).

Controller on ...
Drone on
Wait for connection
Wait for satellites
Wait for Home Point to be autoset (clear to launch)
Launch
Fly to 4'
Hover
..... watch clocks ...
20% warning RTH -
-- CANCEL
10% Emergency Land -
-- ABORT
15 seconds Remaining until battery DEPLETED
Land

Battery 1: 29.5 minutes (a bit of fiddling with camera settings)
Battery 2: 30.0 minutes (did zero to increase battery drain)
Battery 3: 29.0 minutes. (100% 4k video and lots of gimbal moves)

Near as I can tell - the 33 minute spec is a lie, and DJI is essentially stealing 10% of my flight time.

Something to remember the next time DJI specs a flight time as say 43 minutes: take off 10% you'll never realize.

ps: I so wanted to see what happens at BATTERY DEPLETED - but just couldn't bring myself to see a drone spinning out of control around the garage, with me in it. I may don my kevlar and riding gear and let it happen - but also would hate to break my drone.
 
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I've hit the battery depleted mark several times during return trips. It reaches zero but keeps on flying (trying to do a force-land) for up to a minute longer, then it shuts down and crashes.
 
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