Mavic Air 2 - Melted Battery

rlewisfr · Jun 24, 2020

Good day all,

I mentioned on another post that one of my MA2 batteries had melted, and I wanted to share some photos and seek some advice.

A quick summary:

6 days ago a quick flight, followed by successful landing
MA2 would not power down and fan ran the whole time
Could not reconnect after restarting flight app
Could not physically remove the battery
Smelled an electrical heat smell
Battery would not physically come out until yesterday after trying each day

So, here is the battery:

And here is the MA2:

Since this incident, I have opened up a case with DJI support, but they are not very responsive (said their engineers were looking into the video I sent them). I have not informed them of this latest development, but will today. I have been able to connect a new battery, connect to the drone and reached the "takeoff permitted" stage without actually taking off.

My questions to the group are:

Given the battery issue and the visible melt to the housing, would you send the aircraft into support for repair given that it could be a month or longer to send in and get back (I'm in Canada and the Canadian repair facilities are not accepting Mavic Air 2 units right now due to parts shortages)?
Would you fly the drone with one of the new batteries, and is there any way to obtain any information on those batteries? I do not have the charging hub, just the single wall unit.

Thank you so much for any help/advice you can provide. You folks are awesome!

Robert

HoosierFlyer · Jun 24, 2020

Honestly, DJI should be sending you a drone and battery first, then give you a prepaid label to send back the old faulty parts. That's what I would request.
Maybe perform some test flights with your other batteries, just hover and fly very close to line of sight, drain the battery down to 20-30%. If all is well, I'd continue to fly it.

dawgpilot · Jun 24, 2020

How many times had you flown with that battery before it malfunctioned on you? Had it suffered any trauma like being kept in a hot car or being dropped?

lannes · Jun 24, 2020

Obviously the battery is toast, but the battery compartment looks ok, what you've got to make sure is the deformation does not affect the battery being held securely.

rlewisfr · Jun 24, 2020

According to the flight logs:

	Flight	Air Time	Bat Life	Max Temp	Takeoff Charge	Landing Charge	Log Charge Counter	HD Charge Counter
1	Jun 19th, 2020 5:58PM	07m 07s	100%	61.9°c	97%	71%	0	6
2	Jun 13th, 2020 8:02PM	07m 07s	100%	45.7°c	86%	61%	0	5
3	Jun 9th, 2020 6:03AM	16m 11s	100%	36.1°c	100%	48%	0	4
4	Jun 7th, 2020 11:42AM	14m 50s	100%	34.6°c	100%	53%	0	3
5	Jun 7th, 2020 8:25AM	13m 49s	100%	33.2°c	76%	29%	0	2
6	Jun 6th, 2020 4:41PM	07m 28s	100%	35.3°c	100%	77%	0	2
7	Jun 4th, 2020 7:34PM	11m 08s	100%	37.3°c	95%	58%	0	1

Flight 1 is the flight in question. However, that was the second battery for the day. Just a few hours previously with a different battery:

	Flight	Air Time	Bat Life	Max Temp	Takeoff Charge	Landing Charge	Log Charge Counter	HD Charge Counter
1	Jun 19th, 2020 5:35PM	08m 15s	98%	45.4°c	63%	35%	0	19
2	Jun 19th, 2020 5:23PM	04m 36s	98%	38.9°c	80%	65%	0	19
3	Jun 19th, 2020 5:16PM	02m 47s	98%	33.3°c	90%	81%	0	19
4	Jun 19th, 2020 3:20PM	03m 32s	98%	30.3°c	100%	90%	0	19

No previous trauma to any of the batteries.

Juggler · Jun 24, 2020

LOdge a case thru online support and they will send you a prepaid shipping docket...I would be sending the battery and the drone back for replacements. you dont know it the electronics have suffered any damage that may show up later...
I just got mine back and I have to say they were very good....the only complaint was the lack of packaging on the replacemnet. The gimbal cover had become dislodged in transit due to lak of bubble wrap...I will lodging an event to cover me in the future

JodyR · Jun 25, 2020

rlewisfr said:
According to the flight logs:

Flight
Air Time
Bat
Life
Max
Temp
Takeoff
Charge
Landing
Charge
Log
Charge
Counter
HD Charge
Counter
1 Jun 19th, 2020 5:58PM
07m 07s
100%
61.9°c
97%
71%
0
6
2 Jun 13th, 2020 8:02PM
07m 07s
100%
45.7°c
86%
61%
0
5
3 Jun 9th, 2020 6:03AM
16m 11s
100%
36.1°c
100%
48%
0
4
4 Jun 7th, 2020 11:42AM
14m 50s
100%
34.6°c
100%
53%
0
3
5 Jun 7th, 2020 8:25AM
13m 49s
100%
33.2°c
76%
29%
0
2
6 Jun 6th, 2020 4:41PM
07m 28s
100%
35.3°c
100%
77%
0
2
7 Jun 4th, 2020 7:34PM
11m 08s
100%
37.3°c
95%
58%
0
1

Flight 1 is the flight in question. However, that was the second battery for the day. Just a few hours previously with a different battery:

Flight
Air Time
Bat
Life
Max
Temp
Takeoff
Charge
Landing
Charge
Log
Charge
Counter
HD Charge
Counter
1 Jun 19th, 2020 5:35PM
08m 15s
98%
45.4°c
63%
35%
0
19
2 Jun 19th, 2020 5:23PM
04m 36s
98%
38.9°c
80%
65%
0
19
3 Jun 19th, 2020 5:16PM
02m 47s
98%
33.3°c
90%
81%
0
19
4 Jun 19th, 2020 3:20PM
03m 32s
98%
30.3°c
100%
90%
0
19

No previous trauma to any of the batteries.

How did you get this data on each battery?

hiflyer201 · Jun 25, 2020

Once you get them on the phone..I find online useless..tell them that the only option for them is to send you the mailer. That it's not open to discussion. period! You'll get the mailer in no time and the drone will be on it's way. Don't fly the drone.
I have no idea what the idiot who told you that engineers were looking at the video was talking about.

dawgpilot · Jun 25, 2020

JodyR said:
How did you get this data on each battery?

Airdata website: you can sync your DJI account. It's a paid service though if you go beyond the basic features.

Slade · Jun 25, 2020

I’ve read that DJI is very responsive to any criticisms listed on their Twitter site. Raise heck until they respond. DJI needs to be reminded that we matter.

Dawn Patrol · Jun 25, 2020

I'm really glad you have the data from Airdata. It shows that you have not been discharging those batteries to levels that are too low.
I will be eagerly watching to see what your outcome will be with DJI - especially what they say has caused this problem.
Best of luck & thanks for sharing this with all of us.

Windy Heap · Jun 26, 2020

good luck on the phone line............I've been on hold several times for over 1/2 hour and hung up in frustration.........called at different times of days too, early, middle, late............disappointed in non-result.

rlewisfr · Jun 26, 2020

Worst still, I'm in Canada. The only number I have been given is a California area code (818) so I am not going to go on hold for hours. Anyone have a toll free number?
Thanks,

lannes · Jun 26, 2020

rlewisfr said:
Worst still, I'm in Canada. The only number I have been given is a California area code (818) so I am not going to go on hold for hours. Anyone have a toll free number?
Thanks,

Try the official DJI forum, as soon as you post the pictures the moderators will be all over it.
They never like battery failure as it gets all the forum members going and it's a bad look for the company if they don't respond.
They will reach out to help you, when you have submitted a support ticket if they don't you can complain like hell and eventually they will.
The moderators often expedite support tickets.

There is a specific Mavic sub-forum

Mavic Series - DJI Products forum

Seize the Moment. DJI Products discussion and support.

forum.dji.com

hiflyer201 · Jun 27, 2020

Windy Heap said:
good luck on the phone line............I've been on hold several times for over 1/2 hour and hung up in frustration.........called at different times of days too, early, middle, late............disappointed in non-result.

It took me all day to finally get a result from them..twice I was disconnected after waiting 45 minutes or so. When I finally did get results it was late in the afternoon and later someone actually called me from China who knew that I had been on a call and had been disconnected. That person was very clear and the connection was perfect. That had not been the case earlier. Very frustrating but patience or whatever you want to call it..sheer doggedness..will pay off.

steellz · Jul 3, 2020

Did you ever find out the cause?? I currently have a firmware update pending could that of made the battery malfunction ??

lannes · Jul 3, 2020

steellz said:
Did you ever find out the cause?? I currently have a firmware update pending could that of made the battery malfunction ??

Probably just a faulty cell.

If it was caused by a firmware update we would have seen a lot more cases of batteries melting, we haven't seen a heap more so it's safe to upgrade.
It's probably good to upgrade the firmware and the app at this early stage in the life-cycle of the MA2 as DJI is still publishing new features and fixes that improve the MA2 and DJI Fly.