Weird battery charging issues

[dannyboy75]

I picked up a new Mini 4 Pro a few days ago - the Fly More pack which includes the two spare batteries and the 3 battery charger.

I tried using the 3 battery charger yesterday for the first time. At that point I hadn’t used either of the spare batteries so wasn’t sure what state of charge they were in. So I put all 3 batteries in the charger. The ‘original’ battery that came installed in the drone started charging fine. But the other two both blinked LED 3 twice every second. I removed both of them, tried inserting one of them and it seemed to start charging for a while, but then went back to doing the same thing. The third battery just always seems to do the blinking LED 3 thing. Am I doing something wrong? I just assumed that I could insert all 3 batteries and it would charge each of them in turn, until they’re all charged. Then they should all show 4 green LEDs?

It seems unlikely I’d have two faulty batteries out of three. So at this stage I’m leaning towards it being user error. Appreciate any advice though.

Here’s a video which shows what I mean:

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Thanks,
Danny

 

[GadgetGuy]

Have you tried charging either of the other two batteries inside the drone, instead of the hub?

 

[Felix le Chat]

The speed of the flashing LED's on the battery that is accepting charge suggests you're using a charging brick that is less than 30watt output.

It may be that the charger can't draw enough power to even check the charge state of the other two batteries clipped into the hub.

Try a charging brick that kicks out a minimum of 30watts. Also choose a USB-C to USB-C charging lead that can handle fast charge. Both will never be a wasted investment.

 

[dannyboy75]

Have you tried charging either of the other two batteries inside the drone, instead of the hub?

Thanks, yes I did try that with one of them though.

 

[dannyboy75]

The speed of the flashing LED's on the battery that is accepting charge suggests you're using a charging brick that is less than 30watt output.

It may be that the charger can't draw enough power to even check the charge state of the other two batteries clipped into the hub.

Try a charging brick that kicks out a minimum of 30watts. Also choose a USB-C to USB-C charging lead that can handle fast charge. Both will never be a wasted investment.

Yes just checked the charger I was using and it's 20W. I don't have any rated for >30W, so time to invest in one, by the sounds of it. Will give that a go. Thanks

 

[mwilson315]

One thing it could be. The DJI charger charges one battery at a time, starting with the battery with the highest remaining charge. That enables the quickest time to get a battery fully charged and the drone back in the air.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

One thing it could be. The DJI charger charges one battery at a time, starting with the battery with the highest remaining charge. That enables the quickest time to get a battery fully charged and the drone back in the air.

This is precisely what is occurring. The battery with the highest charge level is first topped up, followed by the other two in turn, prioritized by the charge level detected in each one, until all three are fully charged in sequence.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Thanks, yes I did try that with one of them though.

So, exactly what happened when you tried charging that one battery inside the drone?

 

[dannyboy75]

This is precisely what is occurring. The battery with the highest charge level is first topped up, followed by the other two in turn, prioritized by the charge level detected in each one, until all three are fully charged in sequence.

Would that explain why I’m having the blinking LED 3 issue even when I only have one battery in the 3-battery caddy though?

 

[dannyboy75]

So, exactly what happened when you tried charging that one battery inside the drone?

It seemed to charge normally, as far as I could tell anyway. The 4 LEDs each went from blinking to solid green, until all 4 were solid green. It’s only with the caddy that I seem to get these weird issues, and then only with two of the three batteries.

 

[GadgetGuy]

This is precisely what is occurring. The battery with the highest charge level is first topped up, followed by the other two in turn, prioritized by the charge level detected in each one, until all three are fully charged in sequence.

Except in the video, neither battery is charging. Both are flashing the low power input flash on LED 3 because the OP states he is only using a 20W charger, instead of the minimum of 30W. That's the real problem.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Would that explain why I’m having the blinking LED 3 issue even when I only have one battery in the 3-battery caddy though?

No. Red herring.

 

[GadgetGuy]

It seemed to charge normally, as far as I could tell anyway. The 4 LEDs each went from blinking to solid green, until all 4 were solid green. It’s only with the caddy that I seem to get these weird issues, and then only with two of the three batteries.

Great! That confirms no problem with any of the new batteries, and insufficient power on the hub charger to function properly. You need at least a 30W charger. Double check by charging the third battery in the drone, too.

 

[dannyboy75]

Great! That confirms no problem with any of the new batteries, and insufficient power on the hub charger to function properly. You need at least a 30W charger. Double check by charging the third battery in the drone, too.

Thanks. I’m ordering a 40W charger from Amazon today.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

I have one of my newer Air 2S batteries that still won't charge on the Hantora charger. I know the first charge to wake them up needs to be done on the charger that came with the drone but that is the only way that particular battery will charge. Weird...