Erroneous Battery Reporting

[donniew]

P2V less than a year old, along with 2 new DJI batteries at purchase. Flown moderately, maybe twice a month. Just started reporting low battery to the app even though showing 85%+ charge level (Klaxon goes off). P2V goes into emergency landing process as if battery is dangerously low. Lights on battery show full charge though ... appears accurate. Tried cycling both batteries, problem persists ... both batteries. Only thing out of ordinary here is batteries had sat idle for about 5 weeks previous during a span of time I wasn't able to fly due to a variety of distractions. Any suggestions ?

 

[donniew]

OK, no replies, so more info. Called DJI and they told me batteries only have 3 months warranty. My P2V is less than 1 year old, as are both batteries. They both started this behavior at the same time. They gave me an RMA# and want me to send the unit in for inspection or repair. If it checks out, I guess I have to buy new batteries, which seems kinda bogus since they are less than a year old and only cycled probably 1-2 times monthly. What is the proper hygiene for these batteries anyway ?

 

[PsychopathRC]

I don't think not using them would do that. Did you recently do any updates to them? Issues could be related to that.

 

[WessexWyvern]

I'm sorry to say this is very common - lots of people have been reporting this sort of thing - there is a very long thread dedicated to this on the non vision forum. Non vision owners have been experiencing early autoland despite the battery percentage being reported as well in excess of 15% (early autoland threshold). I don't believe the exact cause is fully understood but batteries that exhibit this phenomena report a significant cell imbalance and it starts around 25-30 cycles or so. (flying twice a month for a year = 24 cycles!) DJI should be well aware of this as a number of people claim to have been in touch with them about it and I understand the latest firmware update attempts to address (cover up?) the problem by lowering the voltage at which this occurs. All this really does though is to shift the autoland procedure closer to the point to where the battery is exhausted.

Some people have been trying out Lime Fuel batteries as an alternative. I'm not aware of anyone reporting using them for 25+ cycles yet but at least they come with a 1 year warranty and are significantly cheaper!

http://shop.limefuel.com/collections/al ... nt-battery

note the warning on the limefuel website "*Limefuel Air L54P battery is not compatible with the latest DJI battery firmware update (v2.6). To continue using the L54P DO NOT update the battery firmware via DJI's Assistant program- leave at v1.6. The Main Controller, Receiver, and PCB can be updated without issue. Updating drone firmware to v3.08 will not affect battery firmware.*"

 

[morph000]

OK, no replies, so more info. Called DJI and they told me batteries only have 3 months warranty.

Sounds like things are different out your way.
Down here in Oz we have the "ACL" - Australian Consumer Law which protects you against this sort on limited warranty nonsense.
In short, regardless of manufacturer's stated warranty, you have a consumer right to expect the product to last a satisfactory time (undefined) and the seller/dealer/whoever is required by law to repair/replace the product.
ie 3 months is laughable and unacceptable under the ACL. 1-2 years is much more acceptable.
20 years ago a battery would last for thousands of charges (literally), but of course the "light bulb conspiracy" factor rules supreme these days.

 

[donniew]

I was told the same thing (3 months). That seems ridiculous for 2 batteries I bought < 1 year ago with very reasonable use. These freaking things are $129 each for crying out loud.