DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

OK to Leave Batteries Discharged?

Piper J3

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2020
Messages
93
Reactions
70
Location
Ohio
Today I flew one battery until it RTH'd because of low power. I did this on purpose to make sure the MA2 would behave as advertised. It worked great.

So my question... is it OK to leave battery in repeated state? or should I partially charge until maybe two LED's are lit? I'm not used to making such big decisions...
 
  • Haha
Reactions: TreeHugger
The 50-60% storage state of charge recommendation most commonly offered for LiION chemistry is principally to allow for batteries that are left to their own devices for extended periods. Self discharge of healthy cells is low, as are the ongoing demands of the smart battery monitoring circuits. Notwithstanding a pack at 10% may self discharge enough to go below the minimum permissible terminal voltage before you come back to it, irreversible damage is very likely in these circumstances. Put it away at 50% you have a much greater chance of all being well, think of it as a safety margin.

I usually fly down to around 15% or above and will leave the battery at that level until I need to charge it for flight. I keep an eye on my batteries though, if I know I won’t be flying for a month or longer I will put some charge in them.
 
Today I flew one battery until it RTH'd because of low power. I did this on purpose to make sure the MA2 would behave as advertised. It worked great.

So my question... is it OK to leave battery in repeated state? or should I partially charge until maybe two LED's are lit? I'm not used to making such big decisions...
Just charge it up and let it do its thing.
It's smarter than you or I!
Let it make all the big decisions for you!
 
It's in the manual
1597283571700.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: molson
charge it to about 60% before storage.

I don't prefer charging it to full and let auto-discharging take care of the rest because heat will be generated and heat is known to be one of the causes of battery swelling.
 
charge it to about 60% before storage.

I don't prefer charging it to full and let auto-discharging take care of the rest because heat will be generated and heat is known to be one of the causes of battery swelling.
The mild warmth associated with auto-discharging is definitely not one of the causes of battery swelling!
 
Hello, refer to the picture straight from the MA2 manual. Can someone explain to me what does this means? Is it before charging, for storage? Little confuse. Thanks.


disch.JPG
 
Thank you Repaid1, so I take it that means when traveling or shipping item but when not in used you can leave it at 60% or so.
Yeah it's a stability thing for battery chemistry. Some airlines / shippers required it some don't..I always leave 2 lights solid, one flashing in "home" mode :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jay241
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,592
Messages
1,554,154
Members
159,593
Latest member
mini2+