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.

 

[Aerialskape]

I’ve created spreadsheet that records all flight times for each drone inc battery temps, cells deviations etc. Shows at a glance which batteries have had more/less use and if there’s problems developing.

 

[sadatoni]

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.

I lost some Mavic 2 and Spark batteries by not touching them for several years. I now keep a spreadsheet of when they were last charged and try to service them every three months.

 

[Cybernaut]

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

I tried the method in the first article. It didn't work for my Mavic Pro battery that wasn't swollen, but it was simple and worthwhile to try.

The aftermarket batteries I ordered should arrive today.

Is there anyone who rebuilds Mavic Pro batteries? Someone in another thread advised to keep the old batteries because there are companies that rebuild them, but I have not yet found one.

 

[msinger]

maybe there’s a chance for your P4

One downside of trying to revive P4 batteries is that there’s no way to open the battery case without destroying it. Some people instead try drilling small holes in the bottom of the battery to reach the necessary parts of the board, but that also causes permanent damage to the case.

 

[Dale D]

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.

Actually, I am charging both my Mavic 3 and Mini 5 pro fully, every month. Is that ok or too much? I also try to fly both drones the same week end in my driveway.

 

[Skydriver]

Thanks for the reminder. I am charging an AIR 3 and a Mini Pro 5 as we speak!

 

[GadgetGuy]

One downside of trying to revive P4 batteries is that there’s no way to open the battery case without destroying it. Some people instead try drilling small holes in the bottom of the battery to reach the necessary parts of the board, but that also causes permanent damage to the case.

I've got 10 P4P batteries out of 14 that now won't charge, despite having reported 2-3 green lights whenever the power button was pressed. Any links to tutorials on how to recover them by drilling holes would be welcome, as otherwise they are just useless paper weights.

 

[PINEBARON]

I'm still undecided if I should order additional batteries at least for my Mavic 4 Pro, with our property/address in Canada, I can order directly from DJI ; have 5 each for the Mavic 4 Pro and A3S. I think this question has been asked before but how long can I keep brand new batteries on the shelf. I don't want to have a stack of unused brand new batteries, only to find out a Mavic 5 Pro is in the works.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I'm still undecided if I should order additional batteries at least for my Mavic 4 Pro, with our property/address in Canada, I can order directly from DJI ; have 5 each for the Mavic 4 Pro and A3S. I think this question has been asked before but how long can I keep brand new batteries on the shelf. I don't want to have a stack of unused brand new batteries, only to find out a Mavic 5 Pro is in the works.

No reason to order more now, as you can still order more from Canada if you should ever need them before a prohibited Mavic 5 Pro that cannot be FAA approved. The Mavic 4 Pro batteries will still continue to be available internationally for many years.

 

[BossBob]

Currently using some original Mavic Pro batteries as powerbanks powering some USB connected Christmas lights. A nice slow discharge and a gentle recharge does wonders. I’ve only lost one battery due to it swelling up since buying that drone in March 2017

 

[Rchawks]

I’ve only lost one since 2020 and it was covered under the warranty and got a free replacement.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I've got 10 P4P batteries out of 14 that now won't charge, despite having reported 2-3 green lights whenever the power button was pressed. Any links to tutorials on how to recover them by drilling holes would be welcome, as otherwise they are just useless paper weights.

That's what mine do.

 

[Robert Prior]

Actually, I am charging both my Mavic 3 and Mini 5 pro fully, every month. Is that ok or too much? I also try to fly both drones the same week end in my driveway.

It's likely overkill. Every battery has a cycle limit, so you'll be hitting that a bit faster. OTOH, you probably aren't flying often enough to worry about that.

 

[GadgetGuy]

That's what mine do.

Then we both have an incentive to acquire links to tutorials on how to recover them, by drilling holes, which @msinger referred to above, so we can convert our dead P4P paperweights into functional batteries. Not opposed to drilling holes, if it works!

 

[msinger]

@GadgetGuy I was referring to this video.