Bringing a battery back from the dead

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Feb 3, 2018
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Location
TORONTO, Ontario, CANADA
Ok, I admit it. I neglected my P4 Pro plus for a year. Last year during covid I was bored one day (temp layoff, a tax refund and the ability to buy things over the internet is a dangerous combo!) and bought a Mavic Mini from DJI's website. Had it in three days all the way from China! It was a fun little thing to fly and I could actually fly it legally in many places I couldn't fly the phantom 4 in the greater Toronto area. Then I got busy going back to work. Didn't fly much at all in the fall and winter. Phantom sat in the box because there was a new girl in town.

Fast forward to the last few weeks and I brought out the mini again and started flying regularly. Last weekend I thought I should haul out the phantom and let her have some air. Charged the battery no problem. Went to a spot to fly and she wouldn't take off. Said Battery cell damaged. Only had about 44 cycles on the battery. Ouch. Voltages across the first three cells were all within a short range. Cell 4 was a little more depleted but not by much compared to the first three.

Came home and stewed over it. Tried again. No Joy. Got annoyed and ordered a new battery from DJI. Watched it take three days to make the short drive from DJI in China across the border to Hong Kong. Waited another day for it to get on a DHL flight across the pacific yesterday. Monday is a holiday in Canada so I won't have it until Tuesday. Not happy.

This afternoon, I fired up the phantom (wouldn't start the motors due to battery error) and let it sit to discharge the battery. Current status was showing Self Discharge in Storage. Discharged it to 48 percent and then powered it off. The voltage gap between cell 4 and the other three narrowed. Powered it up again and didn't get the message! Battery showed OK under status. Took it into the back yard, and she started up. No battery error listed! Flew it at 3 ft until it auto landed.

So, hopefully if others should run across this problem, they will find this post and they can save their money and not junk a battery that might still be good. As for me, I'll have a brand new battery come Tuesday to join the existing one which still works.
 
Ok, I admit it. I neglected my P4 Pro plus for a year. Last year during covid I was bored one day (temp layoff, a tax refund and the ability to buy things over the internet is a dangerous combo!) and bought a Mavic Mini from DJI's website. Had it in three days all the way from China! It was a fun little thing to fly and I could actually fly it legally in many places I couldn't fly the phantom 4 in the greater Toronto area. Then I got busy going back to work. Didn't fly much at all in the fall and winter. Phantom sat in the box because there was a new girl in town.

Fast forward to the last few weeks and I brought out the mini again and started flying regularly. Last weekend I thought I should haul out the phantom and let her have some air. Charged the battery no problem. Went to a spot to fly and she wouldn't take off. Said Battery cell damaged. Only had about 44 cycles on the battery. Ouch. Voltages across the first three cells were all within a short range. Cell 4 was a little more depleted but not by much compared to the first three.

Came home and stewed over it. Tried again. No Joy. Got annoyed and ordered a new battery from DJI. Watched it take three days to make the short drive from DJI in China across the border to Hong Kong. Waited another day for it to get on a DHL flight across the pacific yesterday. Monday is a holiday in Canada so I won't have it until Tuesday. Not happy.

This afternoon, I fired up the phantom (wouldn't start the motors due to battery error) and let it sit to discharge the battery. Current status was showing Self Discharge in Storage. Discharged it to 48 percent and then powered it off. The voltage gap between cell 4 and the other three narrowed. Powered it up again and didn't get the message! Battery showed OK under status. Took it into the back yard, and she started up. No battery error listed! Flew it at 3 ft until it auto landed.

So, hopefully if others should run across this problem, they will find this post and they can save their money and not junk a battery that might still be good. As for me, I'll have a brand new battery come Tuesday to join the existing one which still works.
This is what Battery Factory DJI wants u to do. Buy more batteries.
 
Thanks for sharing!
 
I got a bad battery error message on one with cracks in the top cover. Cycled it several times and the error message went away. Charged it again and took off....

P4 2 flew great for about 5 minutes and then it went berserk. Would not stay level....came down, went up, came down, went up. Finally came down in my wife's prized rose bush. Drone was undamaged but the rose bush, not so much.

Lesson learned: When a battery tells you it's sick, NEVER trust it again. Not worth the risk.
 
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I got a bad battery error message on one with cracks in the top cover. Cycled it several times and the error message went away. Charged it again and took off....

P4 2 flew great for about 5 minutes and then it went berserk. Would not stay level....came down, went up, came down, went up. Finally came down in my wife's prized rose bush. Drone was undamaged but the rose bush, not so much.

Lesson learned: When a battery tells you it's sick, NEVER trust it again. Not worth the risk.
Curious to know what the cell voltages showed.
 
Going berserk like that sounds like a compass error- not battery
Thought so too except the battery error was back and while I tried cycling it again, the battery went completely dead and the drone couldn't even try to start up. Put another battery in and everything was perfect.
 
Ok, I admit it. I neglected my P4 Pro plus for a year. Last year during covid I was bored one day (temp layoff, a tax refund and the ability to buy things over the internet is a dangerous combo!) and bought a Mavic Mini from DJI's website. Had it in three days all the way from China! It was a fun little thing to fly and I could actually fly it legally in many places I couldn't fly the phantom 4 in the greater Toronto area. Then I got busy going back to work. Didn't fly much at all in the fall and winter. Phantom sat in the box because there was a new girl in town.

Fast forward to the last few weeks and I brought out the mini again and started flying regularly. Last weekend I thought I should haul out the phantom and let her have some air. Charged the battery no problem. Went to a spot to fly and she wouldn't take off. Said Battery cell damaged. Only had about 44 cycles on the battery. Ouch. Voltages across the first three cells were all within a short range. Cell 4 was a little more depleted but not by much compared to the first three.

Came home and stewed over it. Tried again. No Joy. Got annoyed and ordered a new battery from DJI. Watched it take three days to make the short drive from DJI in China across the border to Hong Kong. Waited another day for it to get on a DHL flight across the pacific yesterday. Monday is a holiday in Canada so I won't have it until Tuesday. Not happy.

This afternoon, I fired up the phantom (wouldn't start the motors due to battery error) and let it sit to discharge the battery. Current status was showing Self Discharge in Storage. Discharged it to 48 percent and then powered it off. The voltage gap between cell 4 and the other three narrowed. Powered it up again and didn't get the message! Battery showed OK under status. Took it into the back yard, and she started up. No battery error listed! Flew it at 3 ft until it auto landed.

So, hopefully if others should run across this problem, they will find this post and they can save their money and not junk a battery that might still be good. As for me, I'll have a brand new battery come Tuesday to join the existing one which still works.
Learning how to bring a DJI battery back from the dead is the best (and quickest) way to begin learning how to bring a drone back from the dead. Of course, ya gotta go find it first. Then locate the replacement parts you need. Think of it as a $2000 jigsaw puzzle. Don't forget your JB Weld and a good hot glue gun. And don't throw that battery away! Sometimes they work better on the second try...
 

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