Mavic Air battery bulge...

[Evertondennis]

Purchased a new MA in February of this year and noticing that there is a small bulge at the bottom of the battery. Still get good service from the battery but wondering if it is still still safe to fly with it. I purchased an extra one from DJI during the same time but that one looks normal. Any idea or suggestions?

 

[Thomas B]

Purchased a new MA in February of this year and noticing that there is a small bulge at the bottom of the battery. Still get good service from the battery but wondering if it is still still safe to fly with it. I purchased an extra one from DJI during the same time but that one looks normal. Any idea or suggestions?

No. It’s a sign of impending failure. It will fly the drone, but could result in a fall from the sky.

I have one bulged M2Pbattery. I used it only for bench work like updating battery software, etc.

 

[BingErr]

No. It’s a sign of impending failure. It will fly the drone, but could result in a fall from the sky.

I have one bulged M2Pbattery. I used it only for bench work like updating battery software, etc.

That's a great idea to use it for software updates. Thanks

 

[Thomas B]

That's a great idea to use it for software updates. Thanks

Just don’t use props... or be careful.

 

[hiflyer201]

They seem to be designed to bulge on the bottom if they start to swell. There are small tabs that the battery sits on and it rocks if it has begun to swell as has one of mine and I have another that I'm not so sure of. Bummer. I'm thinking that could be the reason for Spark to have lost so many batteries. I haven't heard of the air having that problem and I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who have bulged batteries. I'd like to know. I wouldn't have noticed mine except that I had a NO TAKE OFF situation That said battery improperly installed or something like that. I reset the battery and was good to go and flew with out a problem but I looked at the battery closer after the flight and could see the bulge. With the price of batteries I'm not exactly thrilled.

 

[Paulgrace]

First of all I’d like and warn anyone that has battery bulge use for benchwork only. I risked using a bulging battery 1 too many times and resulted in a warning in flight over the ocean critical low battery voltage. The drone immediately began to descend into the ocean from 60 ft about 50 ft. from shore. Instinctively ran into the ocean shoes, shirt on, keys in the pocket, controller in hand , iphone10Plus attached only to come up a foot short diving for it as it hit the water. Nonetheless it sank to 3 feet down controller and phone got wet as well. Interestingly enough after the drone was plucked out of the ocean with a fresh water dousing and a dashboard defrost hi heat I fired up the drone and all the lights came on .Pulled the sd card out and these are the last 2 images.The controller is done not sure if my new controller and drone will connect . iPhone was fine. Im sure it looked pretty hilarious from the beach.Moral of the story don’t fly with a bulging battery . Suck it up and spend $80 for a battery or it’ll cost you your drone at some point in time . I’ve flown and equivalent of 287 miles so it has served its purpose and a new chapter begins with a new drone.

 

[DanMan32]

That's all you have? No underwater shots?

 

[Paulgrace]

The drone was in video mode but the file was corrupted but it would of been so worth it to see the footage of me going after the drone above and below water. For above and below water shots check me out on Instagram: paulgrace

That's all you have? No underwater shots?

 

[DanMan32]

If the quad will power up, it should be able to finalize the video. If not, it may likely be possible to recover it.

 

[OldGoatMTB]

That's a great idea to use it for software updates. Thanks

If it's bulging it's possible a fire hazard. I'd dispose of it.