Battery storage for p3

cdean · Mar 24, 2016

Is there anything that needs to be done to preserve the battery for long term storage for a year or more? I have to deploy in June so it's going to be put away for a while. Just not quite sure what needs to be done to condition it.

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air kuld · Mar 24, 2016

Send them to me and i'll cycle them free of charge.

NormanNormal · Mar 24, 2016

Good question. I am also interested in the answer.

sonof40 · Mar 24, 2016

Besides the usual room temp, dry, dark place I think set them at about 50%. And thanks for your service.

cdean · Mar 24, 2016

I have a hard case that I modified to keep my bird in so it will not be disturbed during my time away. The 50 percent mark your referring to, is that in the app under the battery settings.

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NormanNormal · Mar 24, 2016

Will they really be able to maintain 50% over a year period? Would they not slowly lose charge and become damaged?

eaglegoaltender · Mar 24, 2016

What version of batteries do you have - are they the latest "smart batteries" or the older style like in the P2's. The "smart batteries" will discharge themselves after 10 days of no usage unless you have set them up to discharge sooner than 10 days via the DJI Go App.

Nonetheless, you should discharge your battery down to 3.6v-3.8v per cell for safe storage until you are ready to use the battery again.

Should be stored in a LiPo "safe" bag or even an ammo box away from any kind of heat source.

Store them in a cool (average temp) environment if possible.

Don't kid yourself - and good on you for asking......LiPo's are a huge fire risk of not stored properly - swings in temp for example are not a good thing for the LiPo's.

EDIT: LiPo's don't become damaged or lose their re-charging ability after long term storage - but after a year or so of storage they will lose around 4%-5% of their efficiency .

Imabiggles · Mar 24, 2016

eaglegoaltender said:
What version of batteries do you have - are they the latest "smart batteries" or the older style like in the P2's. The "smart batteries" will discharge themselves after 10 days of no usage unless you have set them up to discharge sooner than 10 days via the DJI Go App.

Nonetheless, you should discharge your battery down to 3.6v-3.8v per cell for safe storage until you are ready to use the battery again.

Should be stored in a LiPo "safe" bag or even an ammo box away from any kind of heat source.

Store them in a cool (average temp) environment if possible.

Don't kid yourself - and good on you for asking......LiPo's are a huge fire risk of not stored properly - swings in temp for example are not a good thing for the LiPo's.

EDIT: LiPo's don't become damaged or lose their re-charging ability after long term storage - but after a year or so of storage they will lose around 4%-5% of their efficiency .

Since he posted in the P3 forum Ill assume hes talking about P3 batteries. Do not discharge to 50% before storage. Set the discharge time to be 4 days in the app and make sure your battery has the latest firmware. Let the battery self discharge to storage level. This will discharge each cell to storage level. Thats the beauty of the smart battery. Discharging it yourself is trickier than you think to get all cells good for storage (and we dont have cell taps on the battery to discharge per cell).

cdean · Mar 24, 2016

Yes the battery in question is in fact the latest smart battery I assume. My copter is one one the 799 professional eBay deals. I'm not set to deploy till June but I just couldn't hold out on getting one after I saw what the price was.

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eaglegoaltender · Mar 24, 2016

Imabiggles said:
Since he posted in the P3 forum Ill assume hes talking about P3 batteries

Agree - worth asking however. The smart battery will take care of the proper discharge after the allotted time has passed - like you said and is the proper way for discharging for sure.

cdean said:
Yes the battery in question is in fact the latest smart battery I assume.

Just be sure to store in a LiPo safety bag or box - that's important.

We had a LiPo for an analyzer explode inside a shop metal container that was placed there for safety.

Unfortunately and forgetfully - over time the storage box was moved a couple of times and the last time it was exposed to direct sunlight for half the day - hence the "boom".

If you don't mind me asking - where are you being deployed to?

With The Birds · Mar 24, 2016

Imabiggles said:
Since he posted in the P3 forum Ill assume hes talking about P3 batteries. Do not discharge to 50% before storage. Set the discharge time to be 4 days in the app and make sure your battery has the latest firmware. Let the battery self discharge to storage level. This will discharge each cell to storage level. Thats the beauty of the smart battery. Discharging it yourself is trickier than you think to get all cells good for storage (and we dont have cell taps on the battery to discharge per cell).

Auto discharge can be set to commence after 1 day now in the DJI Go app.

cdean · Mar 24, 2016

I am due to deploy to Kuwait and make runs into Iraq. With that said I highly doubt that will be where I end up because they don't tell you, well atleast they were not to truthful on my last deployment. It's the whole operational security thing I guess.

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Noodle · Mar 24, 2016

NormanNormal said:
Will they really be able to maintain 50% over a year period? Would they not slowly lose charge and become damaged?

Not sure, but at least at 50% charge it is the most stable and stay at that chemical state the longest.

UpTo90 · Mar 24, 2016

I understand that the ammo box won't prevent a lipo fire but rather, contain it in case something does go terribly wrong. But my question is; should there be a small vent hole somewhere on the box to release the pressure if a fire were to happen? If it remains sealed during a fire and pressure builds, wouldn't the ammo box (potentially) explode?
My batteries have been stored in an ammo box for the majority of the winter and after seeing examples of lipo fires on YouTube, I've wondered about adding a small vent.

With The Birds · Mar 24, 2016

UpTo90 said:
I understand that the ammo box won't prevent a lipo fire but rather, contain it in case something does go terribly wrong. But my question is; should there be a small vent hole somewhere on the box to release the pressure if a fire were to happen? If it remains sealed during a fire and pressure builds, wouldn't the ammo box (potentially) explode?
My batteries have been stored in an ammo box for the majority of the winter and after seeing examples of lipo fires on YouTube, I've wondered about adding a small vent.

Put away at full charge or while on charge are the most dangerous conditions.

I have seen the you tube vids also. Drive a nail into a cell or apply a significant over voltage to the pack and you will get spectacular results. Other circumstances a puffed pack is all is likely. The ammo box as is probably enough.

Mark The Droner · Mar 25, 2016

sonof40 said:
Besides the usual room temp, dry, dark place I think set them at about 50%. And thanks for your service.

A year is an awfully long time. At first I liked sonof40's response (with a lipo bag) but I too wonder what happens to the battery as it sits for months unused. Does it slowly lose its charge? I don't know. But I'd imagine it would. So maybe storing it closer to 60% is best.

skysense · Mar 25, 2016

4S LiPo batteries should be put, for long term storage, at 3.80-3.85 (mostly 3.85 Volts per cell).

Just put them to auto discharge, and they should discharge to long term storage level.

cdean · Mar 25, 2016

My main concern was the degrading of the battery over time. My wife will remain at home so I had thought about getting her to top it off every month but I didn't know if that would actually do more harm than good. I would guess that it would add cycles to the battery therefore lowering its effectiveness.

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skysense · Mar 25, 2016

Just put them at factory storage level, and don't worry. That is the best you can do to store them long term. Also use a lipo bag, or ammo case as said before.