Battery lifespan?

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Hello, the title is the question. I've read that it can very from battery to battery. With battery lifespan, I don't mean how long it can sta in the air, or the flight time per session, I really mean the excepted lifespan of the battery before I have to change it. Since they are expensive it would be great to know before buying a Phantom, if buying one. My small lipos seems to last many many flights. SO if anyone knows, if it is possible, how many flights or how long time can you keep the same battery before chaning it completely?
 
Reality or as per dji?
Dji says 300 cycles. None of mine have hit 50 cycles before swelling up.

I think its djis instruction on the discharge on every 20th cycle. I was told dropping the batts down to 8% is doing harm to the battery. Dji has suggested this to recalibrate the intelligent battery so that the percentages reflect true.

Others have suggested to ignore djis instructions and to land at 30% and never discharge battery. I will be doing this with my new batteries as i rather longevity over an accuracy reading.
 
Thank you for the answer. Only 50 cycles, I think I better look for another quadcopter.
 
I've read that it can very from battery to battery, seems pretty much luck based if you get a good one or not, maybe I am wrong. But they are expensive.
 
Does it means you shall not go below 30% even when you fly the quadcopter? If that's the case, it menas the flight time will be reduced a lot.
 
I also think it is discharging to 8% which does the damage. Don't discharge below 30%.
Traditional lipos don't like to be at 0 percent. 8 percent should be just fine. Lower that 30 is needed from time to time so that the smart batteries themselves don't loose track of the correct charge.
 
Anyone know how to rebuild batteries? I have two bad batteries. I would think HK would sell something that fit. DC voltage is DC voltage and something should be able to solder in I'd think. Why has no one tried this?
 
Does it means you shall not go below 30% even when you fly the quadcopter? If that's the case, it menas the flight time will be reduced a lot.

Correct. But at least you will still have good batteries and enough juice to land.
I've always made sure I have landed with 20-30 batt left, that's because I rarely do distance.
 
Correct. But at least you will still have good batteries and enough juice to land.
I've always made sure I have landed with 20-30 batt left, that's because I rarely do distance.

Alright, thanks. I am not into distance eithter, just have some fun, but I am not sure this is a great deal or not. I mean, the batteries are expensive, and the flight time is reduced if you can't use the battery, or I mean, use it and not wear it out too soon. It will become rather expensive over time right?
 
Alright, thanks. I am not into distance eithter, just have some fun, but I am not sure this is a great deal or not. I mean, the batteries are expensive, and the flight time is reduced if you can't use the battery, or I mean, use it and not wear it out too soon. It will become rather expensive over time right?

I cant give an answer yet because I have all new batteries that are all under 10 cycles.
I have chosen not to adopt what DJI suggested about dropping to 8% on every 20th cycle. I still think this method is damaging the battery.
Many others here have reported over 100 flights on a single battery - I need to confirm if they are discharging every 20th or not.
Many heli flyers follow the 30% land rule and have over 100 cycles. And these batteries are cheaper and not intelligent as the DJI.

As we speak, I am testing the PH2 (DJI series 2 batteries), and testing out the Venom 5500mah LCD batteries. I will try and fly them down to 25-30 and report in due time..
 
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Nice, would be interesting to know! My small lipos seems to last very long. If it can vary that much from battery to battery, yes maybe it's about charging and discharging. Even if you reduced flight time, the battery will maybe last longer.
 
When I flew 450 CP helis using mid-quality LiPos and following proper balance-charging, discharging limits & rates, and storage guidelines I never got more than 70 useful flights. I judged this by achieving ~70% of the initial flight times. Below that I called it 'done'.

DJI's smart charge system is not charging the batteries with the proper CC/CV profile.

Google it.
 
I always use the guide that no cell should go below 3.1v. That has worked for me on the ground and in the air. I know that based on that theory, when I put the battery back on the charger, I have about 30-32% remaining on the battery. Obviously, as it has been mentioned, it varies from pack to pack. I know that once my battery shows swelling, I stop using them.
 
Interesting, as I wrote before, I have had cheap lipos for small quadcopters a long time and they seems to be fine even with many flights behind. The Phantom seems like a really reat quadcopter, but the batteries are expensive, and if they can vary that much from pack to pack, and if you need to stop before it goes below 30%, it means reduced flight time. So I am not sure it's a great deal, it's of course just my opinion, not a fact. Maybe I have to look for another one. But really nice I got interesting answer, thank you a lot for that!
 
I have 7 batteries, 4 were swollen in under 20 flights, 1 is on 52 flights with no swelling and 2 that are around 15 with no swelling. Batteries are my big gripe with phantoms. I guess I pay $5 a flight for batteries. DJI did refund a battery for me and amazon another. If you get swelling under 20 flights contact DJI and send them screenshots of your battery info and they may help.
 
I have 7 batteries, 4 were swollen in under 20 flights, 1 is on 52 flights with no swelling and 2 that are around 15 with no swelling. Batteries are my big gripe with phantoms. I guess I pay $5 a flight for batteries. DJI did refund a battery for me and amazon another. If you get swelling under 20 flights contact DJI and send them screenshots of your battery info and they may help.

Thanks, that makes sense, really. Seems like regular lipos last longer. And 4 out of 7, that's pretty much. Since the batteries are so expensive too, I would not get many and nobody knows if I would get a bad or great pack. Well, really great to know. How come they are so sensitive compared to regular lipos?
 
I have a Prius - different battery tech - but the system prevents the battery going below 40% and above 80% - 6 years and going very strong!

Li-Pos can be killed by going too low on a charge. I too use the 30% discharged guide
 
I have three swollen phantom batteries with less than 30 charges each. They all seem to charge but can drop off from 60% charge to 7 % charge instantly, causing the phantom to go into auto landing mode. Di I have to just throw away these expensive batteries and buy a new set?
 

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