Reminder: Service your batteries!

[Droning on and on...]

As the new year approaches, just a friendly reminder to fully charge all your batteries that may not be getting regular use. You really should be doing this 3-4 times a year for any battery that rarely gets used.

With availability of DJI equipment becoming difficult in the US, it's that much more important to keep your batteries healthy, especially if you have a squadron of drones that don't get flown much. For me that's the Mini 3 Pro, Air 3, DJI FPV, Avata 1.

I made this mistake with my P4, leaving the batteries for years, and now it's a boat anchor. They won't charge.

To make it easy, I don't bother with what's getting used and what isn't... I just charge everything every 4 months.

 

[Cybernaut]

Good plan. I made the mistake of letting my Mavic Pro sit for over a year without using it or recharging the batteries. Both batteries are toast and one is swelling. I pulled the drone out before the deadline and planned to update the firmware. It couldn't be done without a good battery.

DJI is no longer selling batteries for the Mavic Pro in the USA, so everyone will have to find 3rd party replacements.

 

[Rchawks]

I’ve been trying to log everything from when it was charged at 100% and then back down again to at least 60% for storage. I have so many batteries it’s crazy. I did take all my old Radio Controlled power batteries in for recycling at Lowes because of that fear they may cause a problem. All appeared to be in excellent condition with zero swelling, but all were at least 20 yrs old. They were past their prime certainly and I wouldn’t feel comfortable with attempting any charge.

 

[qadsan]

I made this mistake with my P4, leaving the batteries for years, and now it's a boat anchor. They won't charge.

Check these links out incase they help. I’ve recovered various lithium batteries from power tools and other things that sat for years, so maybe there’s a chance for your P4?

How to reset drone battery? - ViBMS Battery

Learn how to reset and troubleshoot drone batteries, and get expert tips on maintaining Li-ion, LiFePO4, LiPo, and semi-solid-state batteries.

vibms.com

How to Revive a Lithium-Ion Battery: Step-by-Step Guide - HBOWA New Energy

Contents hide 1 Introduction 2 Why Lithium-Ion Batteries Die 3 Safety Measures Before Attempting Battery Revival 4 Methods And Techniques to Revive a Lithium-Ion Battery 4.1 Slow Charging Method 4.2 Parallel Charging 4.3 The Freezer Method 4.4 Voltage Activation or Jump-starting 4.5 Using a...

www.pretapower.com

 

[jaja6009]

OP great maintenance tip!

At work we have a full maintenance program and in January go through all of the motions on mandatory maintenance and inspections. We did use DJI for this until they canceled their Maintenance Program (With 3 tiers of maintenance) this year.

We are now performing most of these tasks in house and are looking for a qualified entity to perform the other maintenance tasks that DJI did that are for now above what we feel we are capable of conducting.