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

Silly question, but discharging batteries prior to travel?

UAFuzz

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2017
Messages
21
Reactions
13
Location
NorCal
Taking a trip with my MP tomorrow and need to discharge batteries. Flew two down yesterday. With errands that need to be taken care of today, I'm afraid I might not get any flying time. Any problem just leaving Mavic on all day to discharge the remaining batteries?

Worst case, I suppose I could just let it hover in the house.
 
Taking a trip with my MP tomorrow and need to discharge batteries. Flew two down yesterday. With errands that need to be taken care of today, I'm afraid I might not get any flying time. Any problem just leaving Mavic on all day to discharge the remaining batteries?

Worst case, I suppose I could just let it hover in the house.
It would probably get pretty hot just hovering, just a thought; plus we all know how unstable it can be indoors.
 
You can discharge them entirely by just flying normally, then RTH at about 20% (assuming you've not flown too far!) and hover until the aircraft lands. Then you can just leave it on until the aircraft powers down entirely. This is recommended every 20 or 30 flights anyways.

If you're flying, you'll want to put them in a LiPo proof bag like this one or this one. And be sure to put TAPE on the contacts so that the person checking them at the desk can see you've made every effort to mitigate any short circuit and possible explosion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Explorer
No problem just running them down having it powered on and just sitting there. Just as in the case when u do a FW update.

I just got back from a trip to Europe. Miami to Frankfurt. I didn't have tape on the battery ends but I did have them below 20% and in lipo safe bags. TSA didn't bat an eye at me and didn't even say anything when they went thru security/X-ray.
 
You can discharge them entirely by just flying normally, then RTH at about 20% (assuming you've not flown too far!) and hover until the aircraft lands. Then you can just leave it on until the aircraft powers down entirely. This is recommended every 20 or 30 flights anyways.

Where is this recommended?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Atredz
Discharged. Have a LiPo bag with me and terminals are capped. But I'm leaving the batteries in the case, not in LiPo bag unless TSA says something.
 
I would like to see where its stated that lipo batteries need to be discharged for carry on..... I am not able to find this on either the faa/tsa or iata/iaco sites or guide lines.

if so it would mean that a fully charged macbook is also not allowed.....

as for as my knowledge goes of lipo batteries goes only an over charged or undercharged lipo is (unsafe).

besides that how will the airport security know they are discharged? "sure sir I see 2 lights but in my opinion that means battery number 2"
 
By DJI resellers (and very experienced pilots) I know.
There are many misinformed DJI resellers offering all kinds of bad/incorrect advice. DJI does not recommend cycling DJI batteries and some who have tried it (with Phantoms) reported back that it does not seem to extend the life of the battery.
 
You can discharge them entirely by just flying normally, then RTH at about 20% (assuming you've not flown too far!) and hover until the aircraft lands. Then you can just leave it on until the aircraft powers down entirely. This is recommended every 20 or 30 flights anyways.

If you're flying, you'll want to put them in a LiPo proof bag like this one or this one. And be sure to put TAPE on the contacts so that the person checking them at the desk can see you've made every effort to mitigate any short circuit and possible explosion.

Do these work instead of putting tape on them? Also, when flying should a battery be in the mavic or no?
 
Last edited:
Taking a trip with my MP tomorrow and need to discharge batteries. Flew two down yesterday. With errands that need to be taken care of today, I'm afraid I might not get any flying time. Any problem just leaving Mavic on all day to discharge the remaining batteries?

Worst case, I suppose I could just let it hover in the house.

If I need to discharge quickly I use the battery to charge other electrical equipment, like my smart phone.
 
By DJI resellers (and very experienced pilots) I know.


So nothing else then heresay....

Why treat lipo's for a drone any other then the lipo in a macbook.

Not trying to attack you on it but if we start making rules for ourself we just make this hobby more difficult for our self.
An where will we stop? The rules state ; https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...fo/media/Airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

So why would make any additions of ourselfs to these rules.

If someone doese know where it writen down please share with me an thise forum.
 
  • Like
Reactions: crisp007
ooo good idea! If I have a dead phone (for reference) and a completely full battery, how much will it charge my phone?
A few times over. There's a lot of charge in a full DJI battery. In fact, you can connect multiple phones using the adapter, simultaneously.
 
@Atredz I'm not taking anything personally, don't worry about that. I'm just passing on advice I was given.

I'm in Europe anyway, and I think that the FAA and Eurocontrol would likely have similar rules. The differences start to appear between different airlines.

My advice is purely to help reduce and or eliminate any possibility of a check in clerk saying no to a LiPo battery being taken on an aircraft. I know someone who could take T27 Inspire batteries on board, but not T28s for example, because they are larger mAh batteries, over the limit the airline would allow. So there's that.
 
I would like to see where its stated that lipo batteries need to be discharged for carry on..... I am not able to find this on either the faa/tsa or iata/iaco sites or guide lines.

You won't find it because it doesn't exist...

The misinformation comes from the fact that there are published requirements for charge-state when shipping lithium batteries as freight, but some people mistakenly apply that to passengers carrying them on aircraft.

Is it a good idea? - yes.

Is it a requirement? - No.

As ever check your airlines requirements and you will usually find a carry-on limit of 2 spare packs between 100-160Wh and no limit on spare packs below 100Wh.

Mavic packs are below 100Wh.

Always protect the terminals to prevent the risk of a short.

Never check spare packs in your checked bags.

That is about all there is to worry about unless you are traveling to the US or UK from certain designated countries mainly in the Middle-East.
 
You won't find it because it doesn't exist...

The misinformation comes from the fact that there are published requirements for charge-state when shipping lithium batteries as freight, but some people mistakenly apply that to passengers carrying them on aircraft.

Is it a good idea? - yes.

Is it a requirement? - No.

As ever check your airlines requirements and you will usually find a carry-on limit of 2 spare packs between 100-160Wh and no limit on spare packs below 100Wh.

Mavic packs are below 100Wh.

Always protect the terminals to prevent the risk of a short.

Never check spare packs in your checked bags.

That is about all there is to worry about unless you are traveling to the US or UK from certain designated countries mainly in the Middle-East.

I agree with mark_t... as an electrical engineer I know the amount of energy in the battery is significantly decreased (an hence the available fault energy) when the battery is at 10-20% should something go awry with the pack.

When traveling by air I always discharge to 10-20%, use battery terminal covers and LiPo-safe bags in my carry-on. Never a question or problem from the TSA and I can recharge them all in about 90 minutes once I’m at my destination.

Fly safe!
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
130,597
Messages
1,554,235
Members
159,603
Latest member
refrigasketscanada