Need some battery advice

[AlienJohn]

Hi guys,
I fly the Mavic Pro, 30+ hours under my belt. It's been a great drone for me. No mishaps.
I did however put it away during winter (for the last 4+ months) and the weather is getting better
so I looked it over today and discovered all three of my batteries seem to be still fully charged.
I would have guessed that they would have done their own discharge by now. Perhaps I need
to revisit my settings for each battery in the DJI Go app. (?)

Question: Should I fly the drone now, or go through the discharge/recharge process first?
Also, is there a regular schedule I should be following to keep the batteries in optimal shape?

Finally, did I miss any critical updates in the last 4 months that I should do prior to first flight this year?
Thanks guys.
John in Ohio

 

[james_mav]

You're going to get all sorts of advise on the battery but the best advise is to just go out & fly it. The app will give you an error warning if there is a problem.

 

[Lake_Flyer]

Hook them to the charger and switch them on with a double press. They will top off again.
If you didn't have issues before then you shouldn't have to upgrade. You can ignore the nagging in the app to update. But do a hover test close and check the basic flight controls before trusting it to the wide open. If you want to upgrade first, that's ok too, I am on the latest FW and have no issues at all. EDIT: Actually, I'm very satisfied with the behaviour of my Mavic right now. As far as I'm concerned DJI could stop updating and freeze the FW right now.

Take care and have a happy fly day.

 

[tictag]

Question: Should I fly the drone now, or go through the discharge/recharge process first?

Maybe top up then go fly

Also, is there a regular schedule I should be following to keep the batteries in optimal shape?

The only maintenance DJI recommends is doing a deep discharge cycle (drain until auto-land, then re-charge):

1. If any cells have an abnormal disparity between them e.g. two at 4.0V, one at 3.3V
2. And at least every three months

It is also a good general practice to keep your batteries at around 40% charge whilst being stored (3.8V per cell).

Finally, did I miss any critical updates in the last 4 months that I should do prior to first flight this year?

I always update at home prior to going out flying, usually when I'm charging the batteries. The GO4 app will tell you if you need to update. Note: there was a battery firmware update a while back - might be best to make sure all your batteries have been updated (just run the app for each battery).

Can I ask a question?

There's been a lot of advice (on here and in other places) that you should never re-charge your batteries then store them because "even one day at full charge can damage them". You have a situation here where they've been stored at full charge for many months. I would welcome your advice on whether they have actually sufferred any performance degradation. Just whether their average flight time has changed.

 

[projockey]

Maybe top up then go fly



The only maintenance DJI recommends is doing a deep discharge cycle (drain until auto-land, then re-charge):

1. If any cells have an abnormal disparity between them e.g. two at 4.0V, one at 3.3V
2. And at least every three months

It is also a good general practice to keep your batteries at around 40% charge whilst being stored (3.8V per cell).



I always update at home prior to going out flying, usually when I'm charging the batteries. The GO4 app will tell you if you need to update. Note: there was a battery firmware update a while back - might be best to make sure all your batteries have been updated (just run the app for each battery).

Can I ask a question?

There's been a lot of advice (on here and in other places) that you should never re-charge your batteries then store them because "even one day at full charge can damage them". You have a situation here where they've been stored at full charge for many months. I would welcome your advice on whether they have actually sufferred any performance degradation. Just whether their average flight time has changed.

Four lights means full or as low as 85% I think.
If you just can't get yourself to trust that, you can top off or drain them flying low and slow and close by, then recharge each battery.
That's probably the best "self assessment" you can perform instead of hearing 20 different ways of how to treat your batteries and having to roll dice as to which method to use.
Just saying.