With the holiday season coming up, many of you may become new DJI owners. Whether it be the pocket-sized Spark or the well-equipped Phantom 4 Pro, they all run on the same thing: a battery. While they are intelligent batteries, they can’t do everything. The batteries can’t control how they are charged or how they are stored. I’ve looked around to find a comprehensive guide on how to charge, use, and store LiPo batteries, but I just couldn’t find one. So, I’ve created one for you!
Out of the Box: When you open your new DJI, the first thing you want to do is fly, naturally. But always charge the battery fully before flight, even if you want to get into the air immediately. When you fly with a partially charged battery, you risk an emergency landing induced by a sudden low-battery warning. So, always fly with a fully charged battery to avoid surprise emergency landings.
Pre-Flight Check: You should avoid flying while your battery’s temperature is below 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit because you can damage your battery. While in the summer you probably won’t run into this issue, in the winter it is quite common. Your battery performs best when its temperature is around 30 Celsius/86 Fahrenheit, and for a safe flight, the battery temperature should be at least 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit. When flying with the battery temperature below that, you risk sudden loss of power, resulting in your DJI falling from the sky—not something anybody wants. The battery temperature can be seen on either the battery page of the DJI GO apps, or through the aircraft status bar on the top of the screen. To heat the batteries up, you can keep the battery in a warm car or house, or you can buy a DJI battery heater, though it is only available for the Inspire and Phantom 3 series. As an alternative, you can power up your DJI and just let the motors idle until the battery temperature is at least 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit. Then, you’re good to go!
Flying: Though fast is fun, if you really want to get the longest lifespan out of your battery, it is better to take things easy. When flying fast, try to accelerate and brake slowly. You put a great deal of pressure on the battery to provide lots of power to the motors when you quickly accelerate and brake. In the long run, this wears down the battery. The same concept applies to accent and decent. Also, to put less stress on the battery and avoid a low battery induced RTH (return to home), try to land when the battery level falls to around 30%. As a reminder, I’d recommend setting the “Low Battery Warning” to 35% on the DJI GO app. A manual RTH is always better than an automated RTH.
Post-Flight and Charging: After your flight, let the battery cool for somewhere around 30 minutes. Set it on a shelf or table; just make sure it has some air flow. Let it cool to around 20 Celsius/65 Fahrenheit, or to when it doesn’t feel warm anymore. Charging the battery directly after a flight harms the cells and shortens the battery life. If you are planning to fly again within the next couple days (three max), charge it fully and you are ready to go.
Storing your Batteries: If you are planning on storing your battery for longer than three days, charge it to around 40% (when the LEDs blink up to the second level) and then put it away in a battery safe bag. Storing your battery at 100% can damage the cells, and decrease the battery life. If you aren’t sure if you’ll be flying it within the next few days, or if you charge your battery over 40%, there is a way out. On the DJI Go apps, there is a setting on the battery page where you can adjust the time until the battery automatically discharges. The setting discharges to 35% and automatically starts the discharge after the battery has not been used for 10 days. I would recommend changing the automatic discharge setting to around three days. That way, if you forget to only charge your battery to 40% or just aren’t sure if you’ll fly in the next few days, there is nothing to worry about. Side note, though. It does take around six days for the battery to discharge, so I would look at this setting as more of a back up, rather than something to rely on. Also, while discharging, the battery will warm up, so just make sure it has some airflow when discharging.
Deep Cycle: Finally, around every 20 cycles—a full charge and discharge (aka flight)—or around 200 flight minutes, you should do a deep cycle. Your battery has software that needs to be “calibrated” every so often. The process is this: first fly your battery to 20% to 30% and then land as normal. Let the battery cool, then discharge the battery to no less than 8%. To discharge the battery, power up your DJI, without the props, then just let it sit. About every five minutes, 1% of the battery is used. Make sure to keep a close eye on the battery level as you get close to 12%. Draining the battery to 0% can damage the cells, so shoot for 8% to 10%. After this, let the battery cool again, then you can charge it all the way up. Remember to do this around every 20 flights. That’s all for the deep cycle.
So, let's do a quick recap:
1) Always fly on a fully charged battery to avoid sudden landings, and land when your battery level is around 30% to prolong battery life.
2) Make sure that on cold days your battery is at least 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit before flying, and to take it a bit slower on the controls, so as to prevent damage to the cells and sudden power loss.
3) Avoid fast acceleration and braking. Speed up and slow down slowly and land when battery level falls to around 25% to maximize battery life.
4) Let your battery cool down before charging—somewhere around 30 minutes or until it is around room temperature.
5) If you are planning to fly in the next three days, charge the battery to 100%. But, if you’re not planning on flying within the next three days, charge the battery to around 40%, and then top it off before your next flight.
6) Around every 20 flights do a deep cycle to “calibrate” the software in the battery.
7) Enjoy your battery life and happy flying! Please ask any and all questions you might have!
Out of the Box: When you open your new DJI, the first thing you want to do is fly, naturally. But always charge the battery fully before flight, even if you want to get into the air immediately. When you fly with a partially charged battery, you risk an emergency landing induced by a sudden low-battery warning. So, always fly with a fully charged battery to avoid surprise emergency landings.
Pre-Flight Check: You should avoid flying while your battery’s temperature is below 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit because you can damage your battery. While in the summer you probably won’t run into this issue, in the winter it is quite common. Your battery performs best when its temperature is around 30 Celsius/86 Fahrenheit, and for a safe flight, the battery temperature should be at least 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit. When flying with the battery temperature below that, you risk sudden loss of power, resulting in your DJI falling from the sky—not something anybody wants. The battery temperature can be seen on either the battery page of the DJI GO apps, or through the aircraft status bar on the top of the screen. To heat the batteries up, you can keep the battery in a warm car or house, or you can buy a DJI battery heater, though it is only available for the Inspire and Phantom 3 series. As an alternative, you can power up your DJI and just let the motors idle until the battery temperature is at least 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit. Then, you’re good to go!
Flying: Though fast is fun, if you really want to get the longest lifespan out of your battery, it is better to take things easy. When flying fast, try to accelerate and brake slowly. You put a great deal of pressure on the battery to provide lots of power to the motors when you quickly accelerate and brake. In the long run, this wears down the battery. The same concept applies to accent and decent. Also, to put less stress on the battery and avoid a low battery induced RTH (return to home), try to land when the battery level falls to around 30%. As a reminder, I’d recommend setting the “Low Battery Warning” to 35% on the DJI GO app. A manual RTH is always better than an automated RTH.
Post-Flight and Charging: After your flight, let the battery cool for somewhere around 30 minutes. Set it on a shelf or table; just make sure it has some air flow. Let it cool to around 20 Celsius/65 Fahrenheit, or to when it doesn’t feel warm anymore. Charging the battery directly after a flight harms the cells and shortens the battery life. If you are planning to fly again within the next couple days (three max), charge it fully and you are ready to go.
Storing your Batteries: If you are planning on storing your battery for longer than three days, charge it to around 40% (when the LEDs blink up to the second level) and then put it away in a battery safe bag. Storing your battery at 100% can damage the cells, and decrease the battery life. If you aren’t sure if you’ll be flying it within the next few days, or if you charge your battery over 40%, there is a way out. On the DJI Go apps, there is a setting on the battery page where you can adjust the time until the battery automatically discharges. The setting discharges to 35% and automatically starts the discharge after the battery has not been used for 10 days. I would recommend changing the automatic discharge setting to around three days. That way, if you forget to only charge your battery to 40% or just aren’t sure if you’ll fly in the next few days, there is nothing to worry about. Side note, though. It does take around six days for the battery to discharge, so I would look at this setting as more of a back up, rather than something to rely on. Also, while discharging, the battery will warm up, so just make sure it has some airflow when discharging.
Deep Cycle: Finally, around every 20 cycles—a full charge and discharge (aka flight)—or around 200 flight minutes, you should do a deep cycle. Your battery has software that needs to be “calibrated” every so often. The process is this: first fly your battery to 20% to 30% and then land as normal. Let the battery cool, then discharge the battery to no less than 8%. To discharge the battery, power up your DJI, without the props, then just let it sit. About every five minutes, 1% of the battery is used. Make sure to keep a close eye on the battery level as you get close to 12%. Draining the battery to 0% can damage the cells, so shoot for 8% to 10%. After this, let the battery cool again, then you can charge it all the way up. Remember to do this around every 20 flights. That’s all for the deep cycle.
So, let's do a quick recap:
1) Always fly on a fully charged battery to avoid sudden landings, and land when your battery level is around 30% to prolong battery life.
2) Make sure that on cold days your battery is at least 25 Celsius/77 Fahrenheit before flying, and to take it a bit slower on the controls, so as to prevent damage to the cells and sudden power loss.
3) Avoid fast acceleration and braking. Speed up and slow down slowly and land when battery level falls to around 25% to maximize battery life.
4) Let your battery cool down before charging—somewhere around 30 minutes or until it is around room temperature.
5) If you are planning to fly in the next three days, charge the battery to 100%. But, if you’re not planning on flying within the next three days, charge the battery to around 40%, and then top it off before your next flight.
6) Around every 20 flights do a deep cycle to “calibrate” the software in the battery.
7) Enjoy your battery life and happy flying! Please ask any and all questions you might have!
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