Mavic Pro Controller Taking an Eternity to Charge Up.

[Conservative Nihilist]

Greetings and hallucinations, fellow Brethren of the Mavic Pro. Just yesterday, I took delivery of a Mavic Pro that spent the previous five months aboard a container ship that wound up taking the scenic route, much to my dismay. My first urgent step the instant the drone arrived was to charge up all three batteries shipped with it while using a regular non-DJI micro USB cable to start charging the controller since neither the original cable nor the charging adapter was provided by the drone's eBay seller.

I was relieved to see that the batteries all charged up in a normal time frame despite being left fully discharged for such a long stretch of time, but the controller was another story altogether. It took a good hour before the controller screen indicated a 1% charge attained, and it took all night for a piddling 22% charge to be indicated on the controller's screen. With the charge now at 24%, I project that a full 100% charge level in this controller's battery is likely to take a further 12 to 24 hours.

With my old Phantom 3 Standard, a full 100% charge on the controller battery typically required 3 hours at most, so I got to wondering whether the extraordinarily long time taken to reach just 24% on this new-to-me Mavic Pro controller, could be an indication that the internal battery might have been irreparably damaged during the 5 months this drone spent riding the waves aboard a container ship. I am also curious to find out whether leaving the controller charging up continuously for two days might be detrimental to the controller's battery. If there is a risk of damage to the controller's battery due to subjecting it to an abnormally long charge duration, my Plan B would be to interrupt the charging process every few hours and allow the controller to cool down, before connecting up the charge line again.

Having logged in excess of 1,200 airborne miles with my venerable Phantom 3 Standard, I have accrued a modicum of practical knowledge with that ancient platform. With the Mavis Pro, however, I am a rank novice who would be very grateful for any pointers that can be offered regarding how to safely go about charging this Mavic Pro controller to its full 100% capacity, hopefully without any eruptions of magic smoke along the way. Standing by with notepad at the ready, for any advice that can be offered. Over and out.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Seeing how many times bad cables have been the cause of many, I would start with that .
With that said you purchased on Ebay if that is not the case then I would ebay them back and let them know of the problem as most likely there was a reason they were selling it.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Waves.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

Seeing how many times bad cables have been the cause of many, I would start with that .
With that said you purchased on Ebay if that is not the case then I would ebay them back and let them know of the problem as most likely there was a reason they were selling it.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Waves.

This reply is appreciated, PhantomRain. Ebay purchases are a gamble in the best of times, and I knew there might be a couple of gremlins lurking in the works of this drone when I clicked the buy button. I haven't fired up the drone yet because of the controller having such a low charge thus far, so there may well be a couple more nasty little surprises awaiting me. Hopefully, I'll be able to work around any problems that do arise, without too much wailing and gnashing of teeth along the way.

Tellingly, the seller hasn't responded to my question about the DJI charging cable that didn't accompany the drone, but that said, I learned from a couple of Youtube videos that generic micro USB cables can be used to charge the Mavic controller, provided that close attention is paid when plugging the cable in, to avoid inserting that plug upside down, which could damage the tiny plastic tag in the plug receptacle, thereby writing off the entire controller.

 

[Seldenm]

I had the same problem. Replaced the cable and the problem went away.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

I'll need to replace the cable for sure, and probably find a DJI power converter as well. My controller is at 47% charge right now, after being plugged in all of yesterday and all night. I'll be grey-haired by the time this controller charges to the full 100%..

 

[CareyL]

Plan B

 

[BossBob]

I use THESE No danger of damaging the socket and charges at a good rate.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

That is a neat setup CareyL. It looks to be an after-market charger. When you can find a spare moment I sure would appreciate a buy link for that charger.

BossBob I thank you kindly for the link to those cables. Watched a Youtube video where the importance of having the right cables was stressed, so as not to wind up breaking that fragile plastic tab in the socket, and then having to replace the entire controller at a cost of $300 plus.

Replacing a damaged micro USB socket in the Mavic Pro controller is evidently forbidden by FCC rules for some reason, in addition to being extremely complicated and thus beyond the abilities of your average hobbyist.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

Well this marathon charging session for my Mavic Pro controller, is drawing to a merciful close, after a record-breaking 36-hour continuous charge without interruption. The charge currently shows 92%, and I must say that the battery and controller have remained intact and only slightly warm to the touch, throughout this dangerous and desperate experiment.

Hats off to DJI engineers for selecting a battery that withstood a charge cycle that when complete, will be twenty times longer than the nominal 2-hour charge time stated in the instruction manual. Hopefully, all subsequent charges will wrap up within the expected 2-hour time frame, once I commence deploying this drone on a regular basis.

Since I have yet to fire up the drone for the first time, some nail-biting suspense is still ahead of me, but I am optimistic that this particular Ebay purchase won't be regretted, despite its epic 5-month sea voyage, which was more than sufficient to render all the batteries that came with it, dead as doornails, and with no hope of recovery.