Plastic piece chipped off battery DJI Mini 3 pro

[javivi]

This looks harmless, just the plastic that goes above it covering a part of it came off, battery makes perfect contact for charging and flying, the pins look perfect nothing blended or anything, contacted DJI but they want me to send the WHOLE set up back for “Analysis” that will probably take weeks to get the drone and everything to them and then “repair” and back.

Do you guys think theres any harm on this? Only thing i can think of is those pins in the middle being more exposed but my batteries are always either in aircraft or hub charger, so no room for it to be loose in a bag or something like that. Thoughts?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Those dividers are to give strength and protection so the pins do not get bent.

You can continue to use it but more than likely the pins are likely to bend on you when you least expect it and cause you problems.

So I would use in Emergency Flight Only and Mark it so you dont get it mixed up with the other Batteries as that will be very Frustrating.

Phantiomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water and Protect you Batteries.

 

[4wd]

I would have some concern it has already damaged the contacts inside the compartment or soon will do.
If there is the slightest problem with battery power it is going down, and it might be Ok on taking off but lose power during a more aggressive manoeuvre.
Batteries becoming disconnected after take off or even falling out has been a drone issue from the earliest models

 

[scro]

I had exactly this happen to a Tello battery (connector looks nearly identical) and have continued to use it with no issues.

That plastic's primary function is to make it harder to accidentally short terminals of the battery. It also offers a little bit of mechanical protection to stop the pins getting bashed. The gold-coloured bits you can see are 2 separate terminals so touching this on a conductive object could easily bridge across those terminals.

It's worth having a look inside the drone at the male connector to check those pins are OK. What caused the damage?

 

[Flashheart]

I’d send that back. Better safe than sorry. It’s a potential fire hazard and a point of failure.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Wouldn't risk, either the drone or other problems. Li Ion/Polymer are definitely not to joke with ...

 

[Xenomorph UK]

This looks harmless, just the plastic that goes above it covering a part of it came off, battery makes perfect contact for charging and flying, the pins look perfect nothing blended or anything, contacted DJI but they want me to send the WHOLE set up back for “Analysis” that will probably take weeks to get the drone and everything to them and then “repair” and back.

Do you guys think theres any harm on this? Only thing i can think of is those pins in the middle being more exposed but my batteries are always either in aircraft or hub charger, so no room for it to be loose in a bag or something like that. Thoughts?

View attachment 150556

As already raised, its a point of failure.

Consider If you would be happy to risk the drone losing power and falling out of the sky potentially destroying it and then trying to claim on refresh if you have it. You may find DJI state they told you to return it and you haven't resulting in no repair and you left with something that will be expensive to fix.


My eyes, not worth the risk, totally agree its a bummer that you have to send the whole package back as it don't make sense but at least you will have a working drone at the end of it.

 

[javivi]

I had exactly this happen to a Tello battery (connector looks nearly identical) and have continued to use it with no issues.

That plastic's primary function is to make it harder to accidentally short terminals of the battery. It also offers a little bit of mechanical protection to stop the pins getting bashed. The gold-coloured bits you can see are 2 separate terminals so touching this on a conductive object could easily bridge across those terminals.

It's worth having a look inside the drone at the male connector to check those pins are OK. What caused the damage?

I agree with you, like i mentioned I think if i carried my battery loose in a bag or bag pack something shorting those terminals, but they are always either in the drone or in the charging hub, so i dont think shorting or damaging those terminals is a concern, they are incredibly sturdy.
i did look inside the drone and each compartment of the battery hub, those pins are in great shape and rock solid, nothing strange there and the other 2 batteries of the fly more combo go in and out the hub and drone, and have not damage or marks of anything, not sure how it happened to be honest if it arrived like that, or dropped. If it happens to another battery i would definitely send everything back since that would be too much coincidence.

i wonder if i send it for repair with a repair case if they would charge me a whole new battery price for the repair. Though of getting another battery, but then are out or. Don’t have available almost any accessories for the mini 3, so that doesn’t help.

 

[MS Coast]

There's a product called JB weld ...

 

[scro]

There's a product called JB weld ...

@javivi do you have the small bit of plastic that broke off? glue it back on, if you do.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Depending on the pinout of the battery I too would have concerns about the risk of the contacts shorting, I couldn't find a Mini 3 battery pinout.

Also, depending on the design of the battery it may be that the drone needs both 'leaves' of any given female-contact-pair in the battery to make good contact with the relevant male contact in the drone. In some devices this is a requirement as each 'leaf' feeds a different circuit. If the missing divider is intended to support the outer end of each 'leaf' and that support has been entirely removed then the unsupported 'leaves' may not maintain good contact.

If you can find the missing piece and do attempt to glue it back in position I would suggest that you use only the minimum amount of glue necessary to secure the plastic, probably applying it with the tip of a needle etc. I suspect it would be a bad idea to allow glue to stick the contacts to the plastic.

 

[MS Coast]

@javivi do you have the small bit of plastic that broke off? glue it back on, if you do.

Or, use the JB Weld to create that divider.

 

[Daybreak98]

DJI probably wants everything back to look into a process problem. Is it the battery? the drone? the battery hub? Alignment? The plastic process for that area of the battery.
With the inherent problem with batteries, it is a real risk to just move along.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Or, use the JB Weld to create that divider.

I think it would be rather difficult to mould a faithful reproduction of the divider in what I assume would be an epoxy putty. I also think there is a fair chance of the putty sticking to a/the contact/s and also a fair chance of damaging/bending a contact whilst attempting to mould a divider.

 

[KLRSKIR]

Was this battery dropped or was this due to normal use? It is a good reminder to always treat these batteries with delicate hands.

*** Runs off to check all Mini 3P batteries.

 

[javivi]

@javivi do you have the small bit of plastic that broke off? glue it back on, if you do.

I do not i thought of that

 

[javivi]

Depending on the pinout of the battery I too would have concerns about the risk of the contacts shorting, I couldn't find a Mini 3 battery pinout.

Also, depending on the design of the battery it may be that the drone needs both 'leaves' of any given female-contact-pair in the battery to make good contact with the relevant male contact in the drone. In some devices this is a requirement as each 'leaf' feeds a different circuit. If the missing divider is intended to support the outer end of each 'leaf' and that support has been entirely removed then the unsupported 'leaves' may not maintain good contact.

If you can find the missing piece and do attempt to glue it back in position I would suggest that you use only the minimum amount of glue necessary to secure the plastic, probably applying it with the tip of a needle etc. I suspect it would be a bad idea to allow glue to stick the contacts to the plastic.

I used a tiny plastic tool that i have for phone repair , those pins are sturdy, it seems like the plastic piece just goes above the pins to prevent shorting it with keys or objects in your backpack or something, the way the battery goes in and out of the drone and battery case is incredibly sturdy and straight, theres no way of really entering the battery wrong, or inclined, it is aligned perfectly to go straight to the pins, and the pins seem perfectly positioned, just that plastic “roof” is gone in that piece.

 

[javivi]

Was this battery dropped or was this due to normal use? It is a good reminder to always treat these batteries with delicate hands.

*** Runs off to check all Mini 3P batteries.

Might have dropped, can’t remember a meaningful drop really, other than that just from the case to the drone, and the other way around, other two batteries are fine, i wonder if it came like that from factory cause i was able to confirm by serial number that is the battery that came with the Drone and RC, the two that are good are the ones from the fly more combo.

 

[KLRSKIR]

Yikes! Might have dropped? Can't remember? The only reason I asked is because it's kind of important to know if this happened just with normal use.

I'm probably "that guy", but I handle LiPo batteries like a newborn baby.

I've been flying quite a while and have dropped one battery (MA2). These batteries are nothing to take lightly. I'd highly suggest that you NOT use this battery, not only for your safety, but for those around you. When something goes wrong with these, it goes bad VERY quickly!

 

[MS Coast]

I think it would be rather difficult to mould a faithful reproduction of the divider in what I assume would be an epoxy putty. I also think there is a fair chance of the putty sticking to a/the contact/s and also a fair chance of damaging/bending a contact whilst attempting to mould a divider.

It's a two-part epoxy with the consistency of toothpaste when freshly mixed. It will adhere to metal, but not to wax paper or acetate film. I'd be tempted to make an open "mold" using pieces of stiff acetate (like a report cover) to form the side walls pf the divider adjacent to the two contacts and another piece of acetate to form the end near the tips of the contact. Modeling clay could be used to help secure the acetate. Then build up the divider by apply small amounts of JB Weld with the tip of a toothpick, in multiple layers if needed. After it cured, I'd remove the "mold" and gently sand down the free surface of the divider to match the others. There's no force applied to the contacts, so little chance of damaging them.

A friend and I have a running list of things we've repaired with JB Weld. It includes the lower edge of an outboard motor skeg, a mounting bracket for a marine GPS, lawn mower gas tank, throttle stop on a leaf blower, and a single-level kitchen sink control, and a switch housing for an led camping light.

This is something I'd almost certainly try myself. I'm not advocating it as a solution for the OP or anyone else. And I caution everyone to be very careful with anything electrically conductive near the contacts on a drone battery.