Swelling batteries

[Mega Man]

A simple look around will reveal people do have issues and batteries are swelling. Its happening and despite your xxxxx attempt at superiority people are getting them with batteries used and operated well within the stated guidelines for use and storage. Just because it isn't happening to you doesn't mean it isn't happening to others.
Larger is easier to see relatively speaking. Searching works. You can type things into a box and count. I can explain it to you if needed - you can even use your fingers to help with the big numbers.
You're welcome to arrogantly pretend whatever you want and mouth off about it obviously but that doesn't actually mean you're right or your opinion is valid. The attitude of "oh it hasn't happened to me so clearly everyone else is an idiot and doing it wrong" is arrogant and misguided to the extreme.

I never said they are not problems, but simply people having issues doesn't equal djis fault. Further do you really think ANYTHING will come from this? Will dji suddenly buy everyone new batteries? Are you all out of warranty? A warranty is expected lifespan. Anything further. Consider it a bonus. That's why manufacture warranty anything, they are confident it will last XX long. And that's assuming the roughly 0.001% that complain about it on the forums is more like 10%.

As far as "superiority" I am a rookie, I just have no issue telling it like I see it and not how people want to hear....

 

[GadgetGuy]

So far, based upon our limited reporting sample, no M2 battery swelling has been reported on Production dates after 2018.08 and all swelling reports have confirmed a battery Production Date of 2018.08 or earlier. So far my hypothesis is holding true. Waiting for even one report of battery swelling with a Production Date after 2018.08 . If you have one, please speak up!

 

[gnirtS]

So far, based upon our limited reporting sample, no M2 battery swelling has been reported on Production dates after 2018.08 and all swelling reports have confirmed a battery Production Date of 2018.08 or earlier. So far my hypothesis is holding true. Waiting for even one report of battery swelling with a Production Date after 2018.08 . If you have one, please speak up!

4 more replies to PM and 1 forum post reply from the DJI forum.

You can add another 7 batteries to the swollen list. All were made July or Aug 2018.

 

[GadgetGuy]

4 more replies to PM and 1 forum post reply from the DJI forum.

You can add another 7 batteries to the swollen list. All were made July or Aug 2018.

Great! Sounds like we are on to the common denominator! Until we find a case of even a single swollen battery with a Production Date after 2018.08 we can rule out humidity, heat, and battery abuse, as the M2 battery swelling causes. It appears to be solely a Production Date issue, that was resolved on all M2 batteries with Production Dates after 2018.08. That is good news for those with M2 batteries produced after 2018.08.

 

[gnirtS]

Im sure there'll be some swollen batteries as no production batch is 100% perfect and not everyone looks after their batteries so you'd expect some outliers.
Its an issue thats cost me $450...

 

[GadgetGuy]

Im sure there'll be some swollen batteries as no production batch is 100% perfect and not everyone looks after their batteries so you'd expect some outliers.
Its an issue thats cost me $450...

I feel for you, man! However, in 4 years, I have never had a DJI battery swell on me, and I abuse my batteries terribly, according to all the battery guru mantras, who claim that anything below 10% will destroy the battery and going below 25% will seriously shorten battery life, and leaving them fully charged more than 48 hours will result in swelling. I frequently take them down to 0%, and do not land until under 10%. I leave them fully charged and press the button to keep them that way every 5 days. I have logged over 1000 flights. Something weird about those batches of M2 batteries of 2018.08 and earlier, that DJI quickly fixed! My new cardinal rule is never buy any DJI product until 6 months after release. By then the early FW bugs and manufacturing defects have generally been ironed out, and the app is stable, all of which result in a happier DJI experience. Otherwise, we become unpaid DJI beta testers! Been there, done that, not doing it again!

 

[Amarand]

I have three batteries for my Mavic Air, which I purchased early last year. February, I think.

I noticed one of my batteries was puffy when I took it out of the MA today, and decided to just verify: a visibly puffy battery is 100% time to decommission properly. Correct?

If it's over a year old, there's no warranty, and likely no recall?

According to Airdata, I only got 58 total battery charges out of that one, near 12 hours flight time, and aside from the puffy, it seems to be okay.

 

[Amarand]

I'm going to make sure I do a better visual on these going forward. The second battery is absolutely puffing on the bottom.

(Sorry, Battery 2 is the second image listed, serial ending 0064.)

 

[WWK888]

All three of my swollen batteries were produced before August 2018.

 

[Greenflash]

Im sure there'll be some swollen batteries as no production batch is 100% perfect and not everyone looks after their batteries so you'd expect some outliers.
Its an issue thats cost me $450...

Replacing my three swollen MAVIC 2 “Intelligent Flight Batteries” for about the same cost was not budgeted but it is a business expense.

 

[DanMan32]

Adding myself to this list, though I've already done so on two other threads.

2 out of 3 of my M2 have 1-3mm swelling, production date 2018-7.
None of my P3 batteries obtained before 2016 swelled.

Air batteries may also have a bad production run but not yet defined. Rick from Drone Valley has one of his swell, though he blames himself for it being in the car in FL. He only had it in the locked car for 15min or so though. I doubt that would do it.

 

[DanMan32]

Looks like battery 1 has slight swelling. Stayed latched during controlled test flight (below 10ft in soccer field).
Battery 3 also flown in controlled test flight had one side unlatched. Both sides were latched at launch. It doesn't look like velcro will help that one. Does OK for non flight use though.

 

[ff22]

Looks like battery 1 has slight swelling. Stayed latched during controlled test flight (below 10ft in soccer field).
Battery 3 also flown in controlled test flight had one side unlatched. Both sides were latched at launch. It doesn't look like velcro will help that one. Does OK for non flight use though.

I guess that the question is will it create any type of spontaneous issues if you continue to use it, even in non-critical jobs, if you continue to charge it?

 

[daddioJP]

I too have recently started experiencing swelling issues with M2P batteries. Here are the stats, and some images:

• purchased M2P on release date, with 1 battery
• purchased Fly More Combo on release date, with 3 batteries
• ALL 4 of these batteries were manufactured in July or August of 2018
• 1 of these has recently exhibited swelling that caused it to not fit securely in the M2P after landing (see photo)
• 1 more of these 4 has very slight swelling; the other 2 seem okay for now
• these 4 batteries have anywhere from 27 - 32 flights, and 21 - 23 charges
• max temps on these 4 batteries ranged from 132 to 140 degrees F
• batteries all charged using DJI's charging hub, most were flown within 1 - 4 days of charging

 

[daddioJP]

As a followup on my post above, I decided it was not worth the risk to carry these 4 batteries with me on my upcoming airline flight. I'm not sure if the changing pressure in a commercial aircraft would cause issues for these questionable batteries - does anyone know?

Since I need at least 4 batteries for this trip, I just purchased 3 new ones to add to 1 more I had purchased about a month ago (no swelling on that one, manufactured July of this year). The 3 new ones cost about $450. Surprisingly, I found the best price for genuine DJI batteries via the Apple Store - $139USD each.

Based on what I've seen in these forums, I'd agree that the 2018 July/August manufacturing date for these batteries is the common factor. I've gotten twice the usage out of 6 P4P batteries that were manufactured in 2016 and 2017, with only 1 of those showing signs off swelling. Kinda sucks.

 

[WWK888]

I now “test” each battery before I fly by placing it on a flat surface and make sure it does not wobble. All my July/August 2018 batteries have failed...not happy having to pay for replacements.

 

[Thomas B]

I now “test” each battery before I fly by placing it on a flat surface and make sure it does not wobble. All my July/August 2018 batteries have failed...not happy having to pay for replacements.

Realize that a slight bulge can occur and due to recess of the bottom area the battery may not @wobble around” on a flat surface... this has been the case for me.
Also I would recommend checking for bulging after flying when you remove the battery. Even if slight swelling had resolved when the battery cooled off, it will show up post flight. Might save you a drone.

 

[WWK888]

Yup I always check after flights as well.

 

[Mega Man]

So, I went back and counted, so far, assuming all complaints are true ( please note I am taking all at face value, even counting "I heard from a friend", " I posted on another forum" [ meaning I could of already counted them via the 1st phrase previously mentioned ] ) and I am not looking at user names for duplicates.

I am also not looking at manufacture dates even though the OP stated her had 2 made in 2019.... I also had to guess for people who said " all my batteries swelled " as there average seemed to be 3 I assumed 3.

So far 71.

Assuming a minimal batch of 10000 ( if you look at all the new/ refurbished drone sales, single batteries, and fly more kits, and an international company I would be willing to bet the amount purchased/ made at any given time to be far higher....) that means that 0.71% failed, let's be more generous and double it.... 1.42% failure rate does not seem to be a " bad batch".

More over almost all (I counted less then 10 that failed before warranty expired, and they were replaced by dji by their own words) outlived djis guaranteed life expectancy.

I am sorry if that makes people unhappy, but stop trying to organize a witch hunt. Your batteries failed, most after the guaranteed life expectancy, which isn't a set amount of flights, but a length of time. 6 months

Edit. Ment to add I went back and perused, every post. I perused not read every word, and for any I missed, I doubled the statistic...

 

[Brewbud]

Very interesting that the latest AC update I received today (01.00.0510) has added battery mounting detection. Hmmmm...

Also, the ability to set when auto discharging begins.