I read the DJI tips for cold weather battery operations that were "pushed" via the Go app a few days ago, and realized I've been doing a number of things wrong, and was wondering if someone here had an explanation as why some of these tips are necessary?
One tip was to not discharge new batteries below 50% before recharging for the first 10 cycles. I hadn't seen that in the manuals for both the aircraft or the batteries when I first got my P3P in June--so now I'm wondering if I've ruined the three batteries I have (or at least decreased their potential)?
Another tip was to not fly on batteries that are not fully charged. However, don't these batteries automatically discharge from the moment they stop charging? I do have a pure-sine-wave-inverter in my car now, but even so, it's not always possible to charge my batteries right before flight--especially since my inverter only works with the engine running. Also, how can it make logical sense that you can't make a second flight after flying a short previous one (that drains the battery down to say 80%), when you can continue a flight at 80%? Is there something that confuses the available power when the battery is turned off and back on between charges?
Another tip says to discharge a battery to at least 90% before re-charging it if it sat for more than 24 hours. I assume this means hovering your phantom till you drain this amount of power? In any case, why is this necessary? I realize lipo batteries' remaining power is not directly proportional to remaining voltage; but can someone explain to me why this is necessary?
All this time, I've been flying with partially charged batteries (when I've gone more than 24 hours since last charge); and have flown multiple flights on one battery charge. I haven't had any issues, until last week when I was flying over 7,000' MSL at 15F; but I assumed that was due to the cold weather, and the thinner air requiring more amps to maneuver.
From this point on, I plan to abide by these tips (just wish I had known earlier); but am also curious what the reasoning is behind them...
One tip was to not discharge new batteries below 50% before recharging for the first 10 cycles. I hadn't seen that in the manuals for both the aircraft or the batteries when I first got my P3P in June--so now I'm wondering if I've ruined the three batteries I have (or at least decreased their potential)?
Another tip was to not fly on batteries that are not fully charged. However, don't these batteries automatically discharge from the moment they stop charging? I do have a pure-sine-wave-inverter in my car now, but even so, it's not always possible to charge my batteries right before flight--especially since my inverter only works with the engine running. Also, how can it make logical sense that you can't make a second flight after flying a short previous one (that drains the battery down to say 80%), when you can continue a flight at 80%? Is there something that confuses the available power when the battery is turned off and back on between charges?
Another tip says to discharge a battery to at least 90% before re-charging it if it sat for more than 24 hours. I assume this means hovering your phantom till you drain this amount of power? In any case, why is this necessary? I realize lipo batteries' remaining power is not directly proportional to remaining voltage; but can someone explain to me why this is necessary?
All this time, I've been flying with partially charged batteries (when I've gone more than 24 hours since last charge); and have flown multiple flights on one battery charge. I haven't had any issues, until last week when I was flying over 7,000' MSL at 15F; but I assumed that was due to the cold weather, and the thinner air requiring more amps to maneuver.
From this point on, I plan to abide by these tips (just wish I had known earlier); but am also curious what the reasoning is behind them...