Swelling batteries

[aup]

Hi everybody

So I had 4 Mavic 2-batteries swell up on me and I got very worried, first of all for safety reasons, but also because they were 12 months old when the problem occured so I feared that no warranty would cover them. However I complained to DJI Support and they promptly replaced all four batteries for free.

This was the four batteries I had replaced:

Battery 1: Purchased October 8th, 2018 (included with the Mavic 2 Pro I purchased). It was manufactured 2018-8 and had 45 charge cycles on it at the time of the complaint
Battery 2: Purchased October 16, 2018 (purchased separately from different supplier). It was manufactures 2018-8 and had 49 charge cycles on it at the time of the complaint
Battery 3: Purchased September 25th, 2018 (purchased as part of a Fly More Kit from a third supplier). It was manufactured 2018-9 and had 47 charge cycles on it at the time of the complaint
Battery 4: Purchased September 25th, 2018 (included with the above mentioned Fly More Kit). It was manufactured 2018-9 and had 49 charge cycles on it at the time of the complaint.

Battery 3 and 4 seem to hit by the swelling problem slightly harder, as they are at the point of popping along the joint of the battery casing due to the pressure.

I contacted DJI Support October 7th, 2019. DJI Support requested a video including all four batteries with their serial numbers clearly visible which I provided, and on October 9th I got the confirmation that they had decided to replace the batteries free of charge. I received the four replacement batteries on October 16th, 2019 with UPS. All in all DJI was very helpful. The new batteries all have the manufacturing date 2019-8. I will be disposing of the swollen batteries today at the local hazardous waste plant.

It should be noted that I am a resident of Denmark, and I realize that laws concerning these matters differ between the EU and the states, however I do encourage anyone with similar issues to contact DJI as they might be as lucky as I was.

 

[MedicFL1]

We didnt see significant numbers of users reporting mavic 1 batteries swelling between 6 and 11 months after release. The battery behaviour is different.
Mavic 2 batteries are being operated within limits and more are swelling and becoming unusable far far earlier than mavic 1 batteries.

My Mavic 2 Pro Fly More Kit Batteries are all swelling and all are at or under 30 charges.
The bloating is so bad on one, that it will no longer clip into the aircraft.
DJI knows of these JULY 2018 Batteries but does not care.
They said (after sending in a video)::
"
Dear James,

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.

We appreciate your time and effort in bringing this inquiry. We will be happy to help you.

Regarding your concern, upon checking on the information of your three batteries on our system, we found out that they are all out of the warranty period. Base on our After-Sales Policy, we only have a 6 months warranty for battery.

We strongly suggest purchasing and new batteries on our online store or at any local seller near you. "

The sales machine keeps running. We know DJI does not make the batteries but come on !! Support your Equipment.

 

[DanMan32]

Has anyone scanned DJI's forum on this issue?

 

[paulatkin73]

Has anyone scanned DJI's forum on this issue?

so, i had total of 12 4.35V HV 1s lipos for the small tinyhawk model i fly in-house, from different brands. first a set of 550mah swelled, and i was left with 2 450mah and 4 650mah. then all 450mah swelled, and then 2 650mah swelled - so in the 1 year, out of 12 i have parted with 10.

all i can say - 4.35v HV is a garbage tech, nothing can be done with it. i have plenty of normal lipos, and they do not behave like that. 4 mavic batteries i have did not swell yet, but i think 1 of them is showing signs of getting puffier then other 3.
of course i do not drain mavic batteries as those 1S small ones, that always get depleted to the bottom, but, it is very telling, that statistic

 

[DanMan32]

so, i had total of 12 4.35V HV 1s lipos for the small tinyhawk model i fly in-house, from different brands. first a set of 550mah swelled, and i was left with 2 450mah and 4 650mah. then all 450mah swelled, and then 2 650mah swelled - so in the 1 year, out of 12 i have parted with 10.

all i can say - 4.35v HV is a garbage tech, nothing can be done with it. i have plenty of normal lipos, and they do not behave like that. 4 mavic batteries i have did not swell yet, but i think 1 of them is showing signs of getting puffier then other 3.
of course i do not drain mavic batteries as those 1S small ones, that always get depleted to the bottom, but, it is very telling, that statistic

You're drifting off topic. The focus on this thread is with M2 batteries, where the swelling occurred with ones produced July/August of last year. DJI's recent response was changing discharge date which implies they know about the problem, rather than providing an extended warranty for these batteries.

I was wondering what the chatter might be on DJI's own forum.

 

[Amarand]

You're drifting off topic. The focus on this thread is with M2 batteries, where the swelling occurred with ones produced July/August of last year. DJI's recent response was changing discharge date which implies they know about the problem, rather than providing an extended warranty for these batteries.

I was wondering what the chatter might be on DJI's own forum.

All of my Mavic Air batteries are swelling to a certain degree. Manufacturing dates:

Jan 16th, 2018
Jan 17th, 2018
Jan 16th, 2018

I just decommissioned one of the batteries because the swelling after cooling was enough that you have to press fairly hard to get the battery clips to engage. That sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Should I keep the decommissioned battery just in case there ends up being a class-action or something? Or should I simply decommission it? Someone had mentioned fully discharging, then putting it in salt water or something?

I wish I had flown the Mavic Air more back in 2018...might have had a warranty battery return at that point. But I waited a year, and my stats for these batteries seem abysmal.

91 flights
86 flights
92 flights (the one I decommissioned)

The other two batteries still swell, but the swelling is much lower, and almost not noticeable after cooling.

Thoughts?

 

[DanMan32]

There definitely was a correlation for the M2 batteries, but I don't think it's been determined if any MA battery characteristics are more prone to it. Last speculation was battery manufacturer. DAT seemed OK, though all of the problem M2 batteries are from DAT.

 

[Amarand]

There definitely was a correlation for the M2 batteries, but I don't think it's been determined if any MA battery characteristics are more prone to it. Last speculation was battery manufacturer. DAT seemed OK, though all of the problem M2 batteries are from DAT.

Just checked, mine are DAT. If there's any additional information off the battery that would help, just let me know.

I'm not sure if folks are just keeping them, discharged, "just in case" or if they're fully recycling them and getting them out of their houses.

 

[DanMan32]

Now that I have 3 new ones, I'm keeping my originals for non flight or minimal flight use.

 

[Amarand]

Now that I have 3 new ones, I'm keeping my originals for non flight or minimal flight use.

Even with the "tough to push it in past the clips" situation?

 

[DanMan32]

Only one seems to unlatch and only on one side. If I fly with those it would be in a soccer field, no higher than around 10ft and no crazy moves that would jostle it lose.

 

[offtheback]

The 2018.08 Production Date and prior appears to be the condition precedent to the battery swelling. It would seem that all current batteries manufactured after that date are not having any issues, and all the speculation about other factors of climate and humidity and battery abuse appear to be red herrings. All my seven M2 battery Production Dates are 2018.10 or later and are problem free.

I "abuse" all my M2 batteries, by taking them down to below 10% on every flight, on some flights down to even 0%. None of my seven M2 batteries has swollen over the last 9 months. Most have 50+ flights on them, and the only degradation I now notice is the 100% upon bootup quickly changes to 99% and then 98% just before launch, compared to a brand new battery that will stay at 100% until launch, during the warm up and Home Point setting.

If anyone has a documented M2 battery swelling and a Production Date after 2018.08, please speak up!

I have 3 swollen-6/2018,7/2018,8-2018 and 1 slightly swollen 9-2018.Messaged DJI---sorry-out of warranty.

 

[DanMan32]

An M2 battery produced June 2018? Interesting.

 

[DanMan32]

Only one seems to unlatch and only on one side. If I fly with those it would be in a soccer field, no higher than around 10ft and no crazy moves that would jostle it lose.

Well I took apart the battery that would unlatch on one side during flight. I won't be likely to fly that one.

 

[offtheback]

An M2 battery produced June 2018? Interesting.

They would need batteries on the day of release.Therefore the battery production date prior to the
M2 release.

 

[DanMan32]

Which would be the July production. Yours is the first saying you had a June production.

 

[Laurent0613]

Hello all,

My contribution to this long long thread...

I bought my M2P back in november 2018 with the Fly more combo.

Fly more = 2018.07 + 2018.07 with 17 charges on them both
M2P battery = 2018.09 with 18 charges

For now they are all good and running strong, charging normal with no sign of any swelling, just very flat. Fingers crossed.

Reading this thread makes me very nervous now as 2 of my batteries are part of the bad "batch".
I'm was not really paying attention to this particular issue in fact and when I went for a month in NZ I was just shooting and charging in the car on the go. Now I know the batt won't charge if too hot and it happened quite some times. Then I went in a road trip in EU, doing the same but in much more harsh condition : extreme hot weather, 45°c outside.

I don't know what to think now. I have the DJI refresh care but it will expire mid-December.
I'm mostly flying over water and at quite high altitude when allowed / possible.

ok I read that batteries won't be covered by any DJI warranty which is really upsetting.
My charge cycles are quite low compared to some having the problem here. Still I read that some got it only after a few month of use.

Do you think I should "invest" in newer batteries? I'm leaving for a month trip in Australia in December...

 

[DanMan32]

I believe that batteries fully charged and subject to high heat is what triggers the swelling, with those two production months being most prone. Even laptops lately don't go 100% to reduce chances of battery swelling.

I now keep my batteries in a cooler with two ice packs when in the car. Here in Florida, almost any day is a hot day, especially in a closed car.

So keep them cool and don't get them hot long fully charged.

What would help is if we could charge to a level that would on only take 10 minutes to top off in the field. That would lessen the chance of swelling even in hot environments, yet not have to wait forever for full charges.

 

[MedicFL1]

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

Upon making a Customer Support Claim to DJI, their original response was to tell me to Buy new batteries as mine were past the Six month Warranty Period.
I told them that this was an unacceptable response due to the Evident dangerous position all owners are now in. DJI responded by telling me to wait a few days as their engineers were looking at the situation.
DJI then put out the new Firmware allowing owners to change their date of discharge; they re-contacted me telling me to make a video showing the condition of the batteries, how they sit in the uav, the SN - (Date of production - Times charged) from the Go4 App and send it in to them for further review.
DJI has decided to Replace my JULY 2018 (date of production) Batteries received with the Fly More Package. Note: My three batteries were at or under 30 charges and while swollen and would not correctly seat in the uav, neither the Go4 App or the Airdata information system indicated anything wrong with the batteries or their cells.
I highly suggest owners with this problem make a support claim with the company to cover themselves, should anything happen, and to help the manufacturer of the batteries pin point the bad run and perhaps find out what went wrong.

 

[Thomas B]

Upon making a Customer Support Claim to DJI, their original response was to tell me to Buy new batteries as mine were past the Six month Warranty Period.
I told them that this was an unacceptable response due to the Evident dangerous position all owners are now in. DJI responded by telling me to wait a few days as their engineers were looking at the situation.
DJI then put out the new Firmware allowing owners to change their date of discharge; they re-contacted me telling me to make a video showing the condition of the batteries, how they sit in the uav, the SN - (Date of production - Times charged) from the Go4 App and send it in to them for further review.
DJI has decided to Replace my JULY 2018 (date of production) Batteries received with the Fly More Package. Note: My three batteries were at or under 30 charges and while swollen and would not correctly seat in the uav, neither the Go4 App or the Airdata information system indicated anything wrong with the batteries or their cells.
I highly suggest owners with this problem make a support claim with the company to cover themselves, should anything happen, and to help the manufacturer of the batteries pin point the bad run and perhaps find out what went wrong.

Well done. Glad your persistence paid off!
Kudos for the help your info will offer to others with similar battery problems.