Swelling batteries

[gnirtS]

Has anyone else experienced swelling of their batteries with fairly little use?
I bought the drone in September, standard fly more pack. Each battery has had between 18 and 22 charges according to the Go4 App, never run down below about 20%, usually 50% max. Charged with the standard DJI charger. Sport mode is never used - its a photo bird so 75% of its time is spend in the hover and very little else.

Ive reached the point now all 3 of my batteries are so swollen underneath the slightest bang on the drone unlocks one side of the clip leaving the whole thing help on by just the clip on one side which is obviously a recipe for losing the drone if the other side detaches.

One of the batteries after a flight is so tight the power button is recessed to the point i cant push it down to power off any more.

Do these things just not like operating in warm temperatures? I live in the tropics with ambient air temps in the mid 30s celcius.

My old Mavic 1 batteries also swelled up but that was after a year of fairly heavy use.

Is there any chance of a warranty claim here or am i just screwed as its "wear and tear"? Ive just bought a new, 4th battery for flights over water as i dont trust any of the current 3 not to detach in flight and if they do, i want the drone back for a refresh claim!.

 

[Porky]

I got my M2P with the flymore kit back last September, the same as you. At the mo all three batteries are fine, no swelling, I also fly over water 99% of the time so that’s an important factor especially if the batteries are very tight.

What is the warranty period on batteries, I’m not 100% sure but I think it’s 3 months, could be wrong though.... I’m sure someone with a bit more warranty knowledge will answer that question for you.

Don’t use them, just stick with the new one for now especially flying over water?

 

[THE CYBORG]

Got to be worth a shot contacting DJI, if all 3 came in the same kit it could be a bad batch.
Example (not DJI) - a friend has a Samsung phone & it’s battery started swelling, it was well out of warranty but they sent a courier to pick it up replaced the battery sent it back all at no cost.

I wouldn't use them they could cause a lot of damage if they go boom when charging, if you do charge them keep an eye on them and feel if they are getting hot.
Could your charger be faulty, overcharging,

 

[Former Member]

In the thousands of batteries I have seen come through here, I have never seen 3 batteries all puffed due to factory defects. It has always been due to owner negligence. Owner negligence includes a battery that has puffed due to being in a crash, or a battery that has been subjected to extreme temperatures, such as above 120°f/49c or below 0. Also, no Lipo likes to be left stored at 100% for more than a few hours time. So, Im not sure if you left them fully charged at high ambient temps for long periods of time. That is a death sentence for DJI batteries.

Beyond a doubt, the most durable, high quality component that DJI makes is its batteries. The battery quality is on par with batteries such as Maxamps and Thunderpower. DJI batteries almost never fail on their own, and will protect themselves from owners negligence by self discharging.

 

[Maviac]

In the thousands of batteries I have seen come through here, I have never seen 3 batteries all puffed due to factory defects. It has always been due to owner negligence. Owner negligence includes a battery that has puffed due to being in a crash, or a battery that has been subjected to extreme temperatures, such as above 120°f/49c or below 0. Also, no Lipo likes to be left stored at 100% for more than a few hours time. So, Im not sure if you left them fully charged at high ambient temps for long periods of time. That is a death sentence for DJI batteries.

Beyond a doubt, the most durable, high quality component that DJI makes is its batteries. The battery quality is on par with batteries such as Maxamps and Thunderpower. DJI batteries almost never fail on their own, and will protect themselves from owners negligence by self discharging.

Are you seeing any higher failure rate in Air batteries than for MP and its successors? You pointed out a while back that Air batteries tend to get hotter because they don’t have the benefit of downwash from the props like on the MP, so I’ve been taking care to remove my batteries immediately after flight and keeping them out of the case to maximize cooling. As the weather gets warmer, though, the temperatures continue to be a concern (mine typically end up around 50C at the end of a 15 minute flight, higher if I use sport mode, which I rarely do).

 

[zeeeegerman]

That is odd that all 3 batteries are doing that. Is it possible that they were stored far below the recommended 60% storage level? I recently made a video about Best Practices for Mavic 2 Batteries. Feel free to check it out. Only things I could think of that would cause this is, too low charge level storage, A bug where the batteries don't auto-discharge in 10 days if charged higher than 60%. Or somehow the cells got moisture in them or maybe just the electronics of the battery.

Would be interested to find out how that happened, when you come to the bottom of this.

 

[ff22]

Got to be worth a shot contacting DJI, if all 3 came in the same kit it could be a bad batch.
Example (not DJI) - a friend has a Samsung phone & it’s battery started swelling, it was well out of warranty but they sent a courier to pick it up replaced the battery sent it back all at no cost.

I wouldn't use them they could cause a lot of damage if they go boom when charging, if you do charge them keep an eye on them and feel if they are getting hot.
Could your charger be faulty, overcharging,

I agree that DJI might be interested in this issue. THREE batteries ballooning should not be considered normal and they might want to examine the batteries (and maybe the charger) as well as see if the OP can describe his situation.

As I wrote when the OP mentioned this in another thread, I would expect that the batteries should work in the Tropics or there needs to be a warning against use in such climates.

 

[Former Member]

I agree that DJI might be interested in this issue. THREE batteries ballooning should not be considered normal and they might want to examine the batteries (and maybe the charger) as well as see if the OP can describe his situation.

As I wrote when the OP mentioned this in another thread, I would expect that the batteries should work in the Tropics or there needs to be a warning against use in such climates.

Can you explain what you interpret working in the tropics to mean? It's impossible to say that a battery can or should work in the tropics without being more specific as to temperature and humidity level.

 

[Former Member]

Are you seeing any higher failure rate in Air batteries than for MP and its successors? You pointed out a while back that Air batteries tend to get hotter because they don’t have the benefit of downwash from the props like on the MP, so I’ve been taking care to remove my batteries immediately after flight and keeping them out of the case to maximize cooling. As the weather gets warmer, though, the temperatures continue to be a concern (mine typically end up around 50C at the end of a 15 minute flight, higher if I use sport mode, which I rarely do).

Nope I have not been seeing a higher failure rate in air batteries. In fact I can unequivocally say that there are no battery issues with any DJI products.

The only issues I see, again, are due to owner negligence by not being stored properly or being subjected to external influences that would cause the battery to puff.

 

[ff22]

Can you explain what you interpret working in the tropics to mean? It's impossible to say that a battery can or should work in the tropics without being more specific as to temperature and humidity level.

I am not a tropical person, preferring the gray and rain (well, sometimes it gets tedious) of the pacific northWET. I guess that as long as it is run under the specs for the device it should work. I'd be surprised if under most normal, hot climate conditions it did not work. I can't see DJI stating - you can't use this in Panama or Ecuador or the middle east. But maybe it can't be used in such places.

I don't know where the OP lives and whether (weather!!!) the suspicion is the heat or humidity or just bad batteries or charger or poor owner habits.

I still think DJI would be interested in his experience and might be able to suggest how to avoid swelling batteries in the future.

But I do apologize for my unscientific approach (my BS in Biology was a long time ago).

 

[Former Member]

I am not a tropical person, preferring the gray and rain (well, sometimes it gets tedious) of the pacific northWET. I guess that as long as it is run under the specs for the device it should work. I'd be surprised if under most normal, hot climate conditions it did not work. I can't see DJI stating - you can't use this in Panama or Ecuador or the middle east. But maybe it can't be used in such places.

I don't know where the OP lives and whether (weather!!!) the suspicion is the heat or humidity or just bad batteries or charger or poor owner habits.

I still think DJI would be interested in his experience and might be able to suggest how to avoid swelling batteries in the future.

But I do apologize for my unscientific approach (my BS in Biology was a long time ago).

I think DJI simply states the temperature parameters that the battery can safely be operated in. Of course, the older the battery, the lower it's tolerance to the heat and cold (same as humans).

32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C)

 

[Thomas B]

Has anyone else experienced swelling of their batteries with fairly little use?
I bought the drone in September, standard fly more pack. Each battery has had between 18 and 22 charges according to the Go4 App, never run down below about 20%, usually 50% max. Charged with the standard DJI charger. Sport mode is never used - its a photo bird so 75% of its time is spend in the hover and very little else.

Ive reached the point now all 3 of my batteries are so swollen underneath the slightest bang on the drone unlocks one side of the clip leaving the whole thing help on by just the clip on one side which is obviously a recipe for losing the drone if the other side detaches.

One of the batteries after a flight is so tight the power button is recessed to the point i cant push it down to power off any more.

Do these things just not like operating in warm temperatures? I live in the tropics with ambient air temps in the mid 30s celcius.

My old Mavic 1 batteries also swelled up but that was after a year of fairly heavy use.

Is there any chance of a warranty claim here or am i just screwed as its "wear and tear"? Ive just bought a new, 4th battery for flights over water as i dont trust any of the current 3 not to detach in flight and if they do, i want the drone back for a refresh claim!. View attachment 68249

I believe Battery warranty is 6 mos, but sure it’s not longer. Still I’d contact DJI due to 3 batteries all bulging. Possibly a “bad run”? Maybe a charger defect?
As stated above, don’t continue to use them. It’s courting disaster.

 

[CanadaDrone]

With the build dates and serial numbers you should be able to tell if they were produced at the same time or not - they very likely were not, especially if you bought the fly more combo. If they were, perhaps more investigation can be done by DJI into a bad run of batteries but that would still be incredibly rare and is mostly likely not the culprit. The fact that all 3 exhibit the issue very much points to user error of some kind. I know people sometimes scoff at the extreme care some of us take with our batteries, and this is a good example of why we do that. Best practices with regards to usage and storage are there for a reason. Obviously we don't know exactly what happened here, but the chances of 3 factory defective batteries is pretty much zero IMHO.

If the OP lives in the tropics I am guessing improper temperature practices has something to do with it, especially if the issue is swelling and all 3 are affected the same.

Personally I spend lots of time in Hawaii and it can get as hot as 38C/100F where I live and have never had battery swelling issues with my usage practices.

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

My only experience with swollen batteries is from my 4x4 and was from overcharging by the car (apparently)
The battery/s were replaced under warranty by the manufacturer.
might be worth a shot making a claim with DJI and plead your case really well.

 

[deleted member 877]

The Battery Safety Guidelines PDF for the Mavic Pro states that "the ideal storage temperature is 22C to 28C" and that "charging the battery outside of the temperature range of -5C to 40C may lead to leakage, overheating, or battery damage" but in the corresponding Mavic 2 document it says "never store the batteries in environments below -10C or above 45C"

One of these documents is incorrect - I would err on the side of caution and avoid storing the batteries above 30C. In the hot summer here in Australia I am very careful in this regard. I am also considering getting a small wine fridge and setting it to 20C - store the batteries - and the wine in there.

 

[msinger]

Is there any chance of a warranty claim here or am i just screwed as its "wear and tear"

You could certainly talk to DJI Support and see what they have to say. I don't think they are going to help when they find out your batteries are out of warranty.

 

[HVYMTL]

What charger are you using on your batteries?

 

[MichiganMavic]

I hope this isn’t going to be an issue with MP2 batteries... they cost too much[emoji15].
I’ve been here in Maui temps for over a month, but I’ve also been in Michigan temps flying in 15-20* weather with no issues so far ?.

 

[Lon Denard]

I agree that you have nothing to lose by contacting DJI or even the retailer you purchased the drone from. Although, I also agree that this story has a "I left the batteries in the car or in the sun vibe to it.

 

[Patrickgood]

It is what THE CYBORG said, you'll have to check the charger first, because it happens with all the batteries, try to check the voltage while it is loading.