Mavic Air batteries bulging

[arcticfrost]

Hey all,
Has anyone noticed their Mavic Air batteries bulging? I have two that both do it. They get hot after a flight no matter how long and bulge out on the front and back.
On has under 60 charges the other just over 90 charges.

 

[aerolux]

Bulging is usually a sign they need to be replaced, isn’t it?

 

[Thomas B]

I STRONGLY recommend not using them anymore... even if you can force them into the drone. Only bad things can happen. The batteries are ruined and potentially dangerous to you and those around them. If the become dislodge in flight the minimum problem could easily be loss of your drone. If they are still in warranty contact DJI and try for a replacement.

 

[InvisibleName]

I STRONGLY recommend not using them anymore... even if you can force them into the drone. Only bad things can happen. The batteries are ruined and potentially dangerous to you and those around them. If the become dislodge in flight the minimum problem could easily be loss of your drone. If they are still in warranty contact DJI and try for a replacement.

Spot on!

 

[Teleman]

That's a big 10-4

 

[CanadaDrone]

This usually happens if you leave them charged at 100% too long, especially in hot climates, or even just in general if the ambient temperatures are really high.

Thankfully the MA batteries are quite cheap, I would absolutely just pick up a new one. 60-90 flights is not bad either - that's around $1 or less per flight which is incredibly reasonable IMO.

 

[Deleted member 93449]

This usually happens if you leave them charged at 100% too long, especially in hot climates, or even just in general if the ambient temperatures are really high.

Thankfully the MA batteries are quite cheap, I would absolutely just pick up a new one. 60-90 flights is not bad either - that's around $1 or less per flight which is incredibly reasonable IMO.

I might be missing something but I thought these were "intelligent" batteries that if left charged would automatically self-discharge to a level ideal for storage after 10 days maximum unless reset to self-discharger sooner.

 

[CanadaDrone]

I might be missing something but I thought these were "intelligent" batteries that if left charged would automatically self-discharge to a level ideal for storage after 10 days maximum unless reset to self-discharger sooner.

They are, but the automatic discharge after 10 days is a fail-safe rather best practice, as that is quite a long time. Your batteries should never be at 100% unless you are going to use them, if you want them to last. Even worse is leaving them at or near 0% for a long time. If you aren't going to fly that same day, it's best to discharge the batteries to around 40-60%. It's also better to fly on a battery that has just been charged up to 100% recently, rather than one that was charged to 100% 9 days ago.

My personal view is that it's so easy to maintain the batteries perfectly, there is no reason not to, especially when a possible consequence is your $1000 drone dropping out of the sky.

Also I'm pretty sure you can't change the number of days before a discharge on the Mavic Air. You could on the original Pro and you can't on the Pro 2.

 

[Deleted member 93449]

They are, but the automatic discharge after 10 days is a fail-safe rather best practice, as that is quite a long time. Your batteries should never be at 100% unless you are going to use them, if you want them to last. Even worse is leaving them at or near 0% for a long time. If you aren't going to fly that same day, it's best to discharge the batteries to around 40-60%. It's also better to fly on a battery that has just been charged up to 100% recently, rather than one that was charged to 100% 9 days ago.

My personal view is that it's so easy to maintain the batteries perfectly, there is no reason not to, especially when a possible consequence is your $1000 drone dropping out of the sky.

Also I'm pretty sure you can't change the number of days before a discharge on the Mavic Air. You could on the original Pro and you can't on the Pro 2.

Thanks for the info. I wonder why they removed the feature to set battery discharge time (less than 10 days). It sounds like it would be a helpful feature.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Thanks for the info. I wonder why they removed the feature to set battery discharge time (less than 10 days). It sounds like it would be a helpful feature.

Possibly to reduce reliance on it, since it is not intended as a best practice - but that is only a guess. They generate heat as well when self-discharging, but only a little bit. I think it's just safer overall to not have batteries automatically have to discharge themselves.

 

[arcticfrost]

It’s interesting that they would only last a year getting used one or more times a week compared to my GoPro battery (dated 2017) which I leave fully charged and use about the same.

The obvious solution is to fly more. [emoji6]

 

[arcticfrost]

Just found this on the product support for the Mavic Air battery:

Support for Mavic Air - DJI

As the market leader in easy-to-fly drones and aerial photography systems, DJI quadcopters like the Phantom are the standard in consumer drone technology.

www.dji.com

“The intelligent chip of the battery is regulating its volume at all times. It does not need to be fully charged or discharged manually on a regular basis.”

“To store the battery for a long period, discharge and charge the battery every three months.”

 

[virtute71]

Just found this on the product support for the Mavic Air battery:

Support for Mavic Air - DJI

As the market leader in easy-to-fly drones and aerial photography systems, DJI quadcopters like the Phantom are the standard in consumer drone technology.

www.dji.com

“The intelligent chip of the battery is regulating its volume at all times. It does not need to be fully charged or discharged manually on a regular basis.”

“To store the battery for a long period, discharge and charge the battery every three months.”

Good grief!

 

[n1cK!]

bulging on a battery can either be from high operating temperatures or outgassing from the cell plates. I agree with replacement under warranty if available and with discontinuing use.

 

[Sir Maxwell Greene]

some additional info. might be useful.

...Guess its time for a new battery(drifting issues)

I have no solid proof, but hear me out...I'm convinced the bulging/swelling battery issue is linked to the drifting drone issue. My MA is about a year old. I have 3 batteries, all the same age and give or take a few charges have the same amount of cycles on them. 2 of the 3 look like as in the...

mavicpilots.com

 

[CanadaDrone]

It’s interesting that they would only last a year getting used one or more times a week compared to my GoPro battery (dated 2017) which I leave fully charged and use about the same.

The obvious solution is to fly more. [emoji6]

It's hard to compare it to a GoPro because there is no real consequence if you have an under-performing battery in a GoPro. You also probably won't notice if abusing the battery has reduced t's run-time by, say, 15%. With a drone, a battery that has been abused might cause your drone to drop out of the sky, rather than just turn off the device (GoPro) so there are different levels of caution required. Mavic Air batteries should last you more than a year if you're only flying once a week. Mine certainly have.

 

[n1cK!]

It's hard to compare it to a GoPro because there is no real consequence if you have an under-performing battery in a GoPro. You also probably won't notice if abusing the battery has reduced t's run-time by, say, 15%. With a drone, a battery that has been abused might cause your drone to drop out of the sky, rather than just turn off the device (GoPro) so there are different levels of caution required. Mavic Air batteries should last you more than a year if you're only flying once a week. Mine certainly have.

i agree. the discharge rate of a mavic air vs a gopro would be quite different, especially since there are variable discharge rates for the drone, while the gopro will stay somewhat constant throughout its use (nominally).

 

[Jae]

So what is an average number of cycles on these batteries? I am at or over 60 on most of mine and I am starting to get the bulge on some batteries. I follow most of the best practices on these batteries but it looks like the life is around 60-80 cycles. I feel they should last longer then that.

 

[arcticfrost]

I had one at 90 charges. They shouldn’t bulge unless they get hot sitting in the sun or in a hot car or get flown on a hot day or fly too long on a hot day or something similar. Basically heat is bad for them. Lol

 

[Jae]

How are people suppose to use a black drone flying several hundred feet in the air in California, Nevada, Texas or any other hot location without the drone’s battery getting hot? Makes no sense. They must build these batteries to withstand this kind of heat?? 90 cycles is still not acceptable. Cell phones can go 1,000 cycles before they even begin to degrade.