Battery to 1% is it bad?

[Weston Ney]

That would be a hoot seeing you fly a old dinosaur like that with all the hi tech you fly at work

Said he was teaching people to fly with it. The Phantom 2 is a perfect drone for teaching people to fly because it is not as expensive as a phantom 3 or Phantom 4, so if it crashes it's not the end of the world.

 

[dronesky]

Said he was teaching people to fly with it. The Phantom 2 is a perfect drone for teaching people to fly because it is not as expensive as a phantom 3 or Phantom 4, so if it crashes it's not the end of the world.

Yes I know they make good trainers and Big Al sure not a stranger to the RC industry just kinda tickled my funny bone thinking bout him out flying grandpas drone instead of his usual aircraft

 

[Weston Ney]

Yes I know they make good trainers and Big Al sure not a stranger to the RC industry just kinda tickled my funny bone thinking bout him out flying grandpas drone instead of his usual aircraft

Yeah

 

[BigAl07]

Yes I know they make good trainers and Big Al sure not a stranger to the RC industry just kinda tickled my funny bone thinking bout him out flying grandpas drone instead of his usual aircraft

And it was a brand new aircraft too. It's been in his workshop New In Box and it's "cherry new" or it was. It was a hoot that's for sure.

 

[Weston Ney]

And it was a brand new aircraft too. It's been in his workshop New In Box and it's "cherry new" or it was. It was a hoot that's for sure.

Wow, must have been like those guys on YouTube unboxing a brand new Mac from 1998!

 

[BigAl07]

Wow, must have been like those guys on YouTube unboxing a brand new Mac from 1998!

That's pretty dang close. He already had it out when I arrived at the flying field but I still had to remove the Gimbal foam, decals, and all those things for the first time. Flew like a charm too.

 

[albert4178]

If properly cared for and stored they can last a long time. I was teaching with a Phantom 2 Standard yesterday with batteries over 3 years old and they performed very well.

Solar Energy? Not a viable option.
Bigger Battery? Not in this particular system... no room.... and the electronics are expecting certain parameters.

What I mean by how long they. Last. Is
How long can they stay in the air on a mission ?

 

[BigAl07]

What I mean by how long they. Last. Is
How long can they stay in the air on a mission ?

I'd say, depending on age, condition of aircraft, and how you fly anywhere from 12-15 minutes. Lots of variables to take into account.

 

[albert4178]

I'd say, depending on age, condition of aircraft, and how you fly anywhere from 12-15 minutes. Lots of variables to take into account.

That's not very long needs to be longer to actually do a mission

 

[Weston Ney]

That's not very long needs to be longer to actually do a mission

I just checked my DJI flight log to get some exact numbers on my flight times on my Phantom 4 batteries. When I fly in the windy weather near my house my average mission time is 13 to 15 minutes. When I went to a place up north I had to fly from my location 2 miles across some farmland and film a silo and take some pictures and fly 2 miles back. That was a 20 minute flight and I got back with about 35% battery. But that was in perfect conditions, it was about 65 degrees outside there was no wind, and it was overcast, so if you are flying in good conditions expects to be able to go between 18 and 23 minutes, and if the weather is not as cooperative expect it to be between 13 and 15 minutes.

Also for Phantom 4 batteries, I don't know about the other models, but Phantom 4 batteries have two styles, one is a small capacity with less milliamp hours and other is a high-capacity with more milliamp hours.

 

[solentlife]

1% isn't a problem, I've done that add least a dozen times for test purposes to see what happens with craft behavior. Below 3.00 volts is not good, and potentially harmful, but shouldn't keep the battery from charging unless stored a long time under 3.00V, potential death. If the battery is too hot, sensors in the battery will prevent charging until cool. Avoid letting the batteries get above 100F while storing, that's not helpful, keeping them 50-75F is ideal at half charge for storage.

Repeated discharge to 'ultra low' levels is a problem. We are lucky that DJI control board on front end of the battery - one of its duties is to try prevent people taking the battery below 'threshold' level. It not always succeeds though.

Many LiPo users actually store their batterys in the fridge - this slows down chemical action in the battery and does prolong life.

As regards storage charge level ... the range is 30 - 55% as advised by battery manufacturers. Independent advise is to stay in the lower part of that range. As a LiPo user for over 55 different models and numerous sizes of LiPo including DJI - I aim to store at ~3.75v per cell ... which is deemed best by various sources.
DJI auto-storage discharge actually stops at the higher range - BUT discharge still carries on at a much reduced rate. This rate is very low - but still can lead to battery discharging to Hibernation point. This is a protective mode that DJI have devised to try terminate self discharge.

ALL BATTERYS SUFFER SELF DISCHARGE ... but Lithium ion batterys (LiPo, LiFe, LiIon) have the lowest rates of Self Discharge.

 

[BigAl07]

Repeated discharge to 'ultra low' levels is a problem. We are lucky that DJI control board on front end of the battery - one of its duties is to try prevent people taking the battery below 'threshold' level. It not always succeeds though.

Many LiPo users actually store their batterys in the fridge - this slows down chemical action in the battery and does prolong life.

As regards storage charge level ... the range is 30 - 55% as advised by battery manufacturers. Independent advise is to stay in the lower part of that range. As a LiPo user for over 55 different models and numerous sizes of LiPo including DJI - I aim to store at ~3.75v per cell ... which is deemed best by various sources.
DJI auto-storage discharge actually stops at the higher range - BUT discharge still carries on at a much reduced rate. This rate is very low - but still can lead to battery discharging to Hibernation point. This is a protective mode that DJI have devised to try terminate self discharge.

ALL BATTERYS SUFFER SELF DISCHARGE ... but Lithium ion batterys (LiPo, LiFe, LiIon) have the lowest rates of Self Discharge.

Very well said and spot on.

I store my "NonSmart" batteries in the "Veg Crisper Drawer" for long term storage. My "SmartBattery" aircraft are flown often so they don't get the pleasure of long term storage LOL.

 

[Weston Ney]

Very well said and spot on.

I store my "NonSmart" batteries in the "Veg Crisper Drawer" for long term storage. My "SmartBattery" aircraft are flown often so they don't get the pleasure of long term storage LOL.

Yeah, I like the idea of storing your lipos in the fridge. I used to do a lot of rc car racing with those fancy Traxxas rc cars and trucks, and I had a lot of lipos. I killed 2 of them when I discharged them too much one time, and I had to go through the hassle of making sure they had no power and property disposing of them. That is why I was a little worried when I noticed that my Phantom battery was at 1%. I turned the aircraft off immediately after it touched the ground.

 

[skiptv]

The percentage of battery is not an indicator of battery health or charge, the voltage is. The percentage of battery is an arbitrary indicator in your GoApp that gives you an idea of how much battery you have available at a given distance to get your drone back to its home point.
Im sure your next battery post will be how your drone fell out of the sky? How would that happen, oh by actually flying the thing at below 15%, good luck.

 

[Weston Ney]

The percentage of battery is not an indicator of battery health or charge, the voltage is. The percentage of battery is an arbitrary indicator in your GoApp that gives you an idea of how much battery you have available at a given distance to get your drone back to its home point.
Im sure your next battery post will be how your drone fell out of the sky? How would that happen, oh by actually flying the thing at below 15%, good luck.

At this point I'm going to be extra careful of my batteries.