Question about RTH and Battery Life

TexasStar15 · Jun 18, 2024

My DJI Air 3 seems to want to return to home when the battery is around 20%. Seems like that's a lot. Is there any way to lower that to like 10% or is that something that is normal on DJI Air 3 drone and can't be changed. Thanks guys!

Meta4 · Jun 18, 2024

TexasStar15 said:
My DJI Air 3 seems to want to return to home when the battery is around 20%.

When the drone advises that it's time to come home will depend on the distance it is from home and the battery level.
It's not a simple 20% thing.

TexasStar15 said:
Seems like that's a lot. Is there any way to lower that to like 10% or is that something that is normal on DJI Air 3 drone and can't be changed.

You can cancel the recommended RTH when it is suggested (if you want to).
But it's good practice to came back a little early to allow a safety margin for when things don't go as expected.

Starz · Jun 18, 2024

Similar to running your car down to empty and hoping there’s a gas station ahead.
The big difference is the car just rolls to a stop verses the aircraft falling out of the sky which may require a much bigger credit card transaction.
Safety margin is the best choice.

mavic3usa · Jun 19, 2024

Starz said:
Similar to running your car down to empty and hoping there’s a gas station ahead.
The big difference is the car just rolls to a stop verses the aircraft falling out of the sky which may require a much bigger credit card transaction.
Safety margin is the best choice.

Luckily the drone will initiate a forced landing when the battery gets critical enough and instead of simply falling out of the sky, it will force a controlled landing even though you are far away from home, above a tree, over water, etc. so yes, there is likely to be an issue if you continue to force the battery issue.

I understand there are some long range situations where you gotta push that battery or you are up against time but if you are flying around for fun and you just want more time, buy another battery....it's cheaper. I have so many batteries I always land around 20% (unless testing) because that extra battery there is no gain; it's all risk below 20%. I agree with DJI not allowing routine battery warning limit adjustments.

GadgetGuy · Jun 19, 2024

TexasStar15 said:
My DJI Air 3 seems to want to return to home when the battery is around 20%. Seems like that's a lot. Is there any way to lower that to like 10% or is that something that is normal on DJI Air 3 drone and can't be changed. Thanks guys!

As @Meta4 noted, you can just cancel RTH, if you know what you are doing and have enough experience to squeeze a little more out of each flight. DJI's RTH algorithm is very conservative and tends to want you to land with about 20-25% remaining battery, which leaves a lot of unused flight time in the tank. Follow the RTH algorithm a few times to see how much remaining battery it lands with, and you can then make tweaks to land with 10% remaining, or even 5%-10% when already close by.