Battery troubles

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So I recently received my phantom and have done a couple flights, but am already running into battery issues. The stock battery that came with the phantom doesn't seem to want to charge. I plug it into the charger per the directions from the dji website, but even after multiple hours it still is just blinking red. I believe I've read on here somewhere that it should be more like 30 minutes so it makes me think something is wrong. Is there something I did on the first couple charges or flights that could cause this or just a faulty battery? My reading makes it seem like there are a lot of caveats with these lipo batteries in order to make them last and not catch on fire and I'm worried that I'm not following them all.

Also, since I was planning on buying spare batteries anyway, can anyone recommend what to look for when buying batteries? Who are the best manufacturers? What sizes fit inside the phantom?

Thanks for any help.
 
Not that I know of. The only times I've flown it I landed before the red light started flashing. The only other thing I could say is I recently attempted to fly it even though it said it wasn't fully charged. It flew really sluggish for about a minute, then the red light started blinking so I shut it off. I checked the battery voltage after all this and it was 10.4V.
 
Did you ever, even for just a second, connect the battery to the charger with the banana plugs in the charger reversed negative for positive? That will blow a fusible link in the charger in about 2 milliseconds that would cause the behavior you are seeing. (I assume you are of course connecting the balance lead to the charger in addition to the supply leads.)
 
I don't believe so, but I guess its a possibility. Would this have damaged the battery as well or just the charger?
 
crep31415 said:
I don't believe so, but I guess its a possibility. Would this have damaged the battery as well or just the charger?

If you did it, you would know. There would be a fairly obvious spark. Such an instantaneous event would be unlikely (although nothing is impossible) to have done any damage to the battery.

Yeah, there are a lot of warnings on Lipo's...some of it is warranted, some not. Do not fear them. Just respect them. I'd lay money on the problem being the charger, as has been suggested. Just a guess - not a certainty.

I hear the Storm 2700mah batteries are the bomb. They are small, light on a per mah basis (they do weigh a tiny bit more than stock but will give you more flight time) and evidently WILL fit into the Phantom battery bay. :idea:

PF
 
Sounds familiar. Recently bought the DJI Phantom and after two initial flights have had nothing but battery issues. Initial battery had less than one minute flight tie after a 7 hour charge; the initial replacement battery never worked. After turning on remote, then connect battery, and quick repetition of beeps from the Phantom, doesn't power up. Balance charger is set for LiPo and 2A.

When I attach batteries to charge per enclosed specs, the Charge Status shows only a blinking green light.

Since the Quantum is only 2 weeks old, no crashes, am hoping it's not the copter. Any troubleshooting ideas?
 
Definitely was the charger. Got home and took it apart and immediately found the lead coming out of the negative terminal fried in two. Hopefully the battery will be alright and charge after I get a new charger. Now to beat myself up over when I did that. Thanks for the help.
 
crep31415 said:
Definitely was the charger. Got home and took it apart and immediately found the lead coming out of the negative terminal fried in two. Hopefully the battery will be alright and charge after I get a new charger. Now to beat myself up over when I did that. Thanks for the help.

Well, don't beat yourself up too hard -- lots of people have done it. Not that it's ever happened to me...(cough, cough)....

If you feel super handy with a soldering iron you could probably replace that lead yourself. There's also a fusible link on the charger PC board itself that's designed to melt and serve as a fuse in this case. So you might want to check to see if that is burned as well. If it is, you can solder it back together, *but* be aware if you do that you are eliminating the only fuse protection you have, so if you screw it up again you *will* have a fire on your hands.

I guess that's a great argument for buying a new charger. :)

. . . which if you're going to invest in anyway, you might as well spend more and get a decent computer-controlled balance charger with a digital display. If you get serious about all this stuff, which tends to happen, you'll want to have a charger that can properly charge/discharge a lipo to "storage charge" levels so you can keep them idle without damage. They don't like to be stored for more than 5-7 days at full charge, and they hate being stored in a discharged state even more.
 

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