New DJI batteries produce "MC invalid battery" message

[Metar28]

Hello, members. This is my first post because we just became Phantom owners! We have a Phantom Vision 2 Plus that my brother-in-law purchased last Christmas. We bought it from him to give our son this year because he only flew it 3 times and had no interest in keeping it. The original battery he sent with it works perfectly and we have had no issues with any kind of error messages and it is flying beautifully. No battery loss of signal or any errors on the iPad FPV app. We only experience that with two new DJI Intelligent Flight batteries purchased from an eBay selling who is claiming to be a DJI distributor and says the batteries were purchased directly from DJI this year. The "MC invalid battery" comes up immediately on the iPad FPV as soon as we try to connect to the Phantom when using these new batteries. We have not tried flying it with the new batteries nor will we if the error message continues to exist. I have read on this forum that such a situation could lead to a fly-away drone. I also read that in order to use the new batteries I may need to downgrade the firmware to an older version? I already cleaned the gold battery connectors with a Q-tip and alcohol as some (including DJI) suggest. I've included a photo of the original battery (which is working) and one of the new batteries next to each other. You can see the original battery on the left has a different model number. The eBay seller is willing to take the batteries back. Thoughts?

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Milly]

If it is of any comfort, I am in the same boat exactly. I did have a look on here before and got the answer, but never found the time to do it. I now have a few days off over Christmas and intend to plug my drone into the internet for the first time and have a look.
Good luck with yours.

 

[Metar28]

If it is of any comfort, I am in the same boat exactly. I did have a look on here before and got the answer, but never found the time to do it. I now have a few days off over Christmas and intend to plug my drone into the internet for the first time and have a look.
Good luck with yours.

Please let me know if any of your efforts prove successful. Thanks!

 

[hunch]

the battery on the right is fake. and you won't be able to take off with it.
send it back and purchase from reputable DJI dealer.

 

[Metar28]

Wow, really! How can you tell? ...Just for my own edification I'd like to know. I purchased them from Dave's Motors, also known as DDM Racing. As a seller they have good ratings on eBay and their website appears legit. See "About Us" link below.

About Us

 

[Dirty Bird]

Dave's Motors is a legitimate DJI authorized dealer. I bought my Vision+ from Dave's. Have you contacted them to inquire about the issue you are experiencing?

Wow, really! How can you tell? ...Just for my own edification I'd like to know. I purchased them from Dave's Motors, also known as DDM Racing. As a seller they have good ratings on eBay and their website appears legit. See "About Us" link below.

About Us

 

[Davowalshy]

Hello, members. This is my first post because we just became Phantom owners! We have a Phantom Vision 2 Plus that my brother-in-law purchased last Christmas. We bought it from him to give our son this year because he only flew it 3 times and had no interest in keeping it. The original battery he sent with it works perfectly and we have had no issues with any kind of error messages and it is flying beautifully. No battery loss of signal or any errors on the iPad FPV app. We only experience that with two new DJI Intelligent Flight batteries purchased from an eBay selling who is claiming to be a DJI distributor and says the batteries were purchased directly from DJI this year. The "MC invalid battery" comes up immediately on the iPad FPV as soon as we try to connect to the Phantom when using these new batteries. We have not tried flying it with the new batteries nor will we if the error message continues to exist. I have read on this forum that such a situation could lead to a fly-away drone. I also read that in order to use the new batteries I may need to downgrade the firmware to an older version? I already cleaned the gold battery connectors with a Q-tip and alcohol as some (including DJI) suggest. I've included a photo of the original battery (which is working) and one of the new batteries next to each other. You can see the original battery on the left has a different model number. The eBay seller is willing to take the batteries back. Thoughts?

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

I bought a new DJI phantom 2 series battery as well from a reputable dealer. I flew it for the first time today and had the same message come up. It flew beautifully and I had no problems. I'm not sure how a battery can cause a fly away though.

 

[Metar28]

Dave's Motors is a legitimate DJI authorized dealer. I bought my Vision+ from Dave's. Have you contacted them to inquire about the issue you are experiencing?

Brad from Dave's Motors has been great. He said they have not had any issues with other Phantom owners, just me. At first he suspected there was something wrong with our drone but I told him it is flying fine with the original battery. He recommended NOT messing with the firmware. He offered to give us a refund on the batteries since they have not been used. I was kind of hoping we'd get them running because I got a good deal.

 

[Metar28]

I bought a new DJI phantom 2 series battery as well from a reputable dealer. I flew it for the first time today and had the same message come up. It flew beautifully and I had no problems. I'm not sure how a battery can cause a fly away though.

From what I've read and understand, the fly away part is because if the FPV is sensing an invalid battery then it is likely the controller will stop responding to the drone and the connection will be lost, allowing the Phantom to fly away. At least that's how I comprehend it. So something is definitely not working between the FPV app and the new batteries once they are inserted in our Phantom. The app likes the original battery just fine but nada on the new ones. Our son refuses to fly with the new batteries. For him, not using the FPV is really not an option. He likes to record video and have piece of the mind that he can see what the drone can. Plus, now he's way too paranoid it will fly away on the new batteries.

 

[Metar28]

If it is of any comfort, I am in the same boat exactly. I did have a look on here before and got the answer, but never found the time to do it. I now have a few days off over Christmas and intend to plug my drone into the internet for the first time and have a look.
Good luck with yours.

Milly - you mentioned you looked on here before and got the answer... what exactly were you told to do to correct the problem?

 

[Milly]

I spent ages trying to find it last night but failed. I am sure it was on the phantom 3 page about it. I could do with getting mine validated as one of the two that I got with my phanton2+ is going a bit dicky.
I am surprised that none of the wiser owls have not come forward with the answer.

 

[Milly]

Hi Metar28
On the top right hand side of your screen is a small magnifying glass, this is the search facility, if you click on that a cursor will appear on the left hand side.
type in there "MC invalid battery" and it will take you to loads of previous posts on the subject.
I didn't have time to read through them all to find the answer that we are looking for, but this is where to find it. Good luck and happy flying in the new year.
Regards
Milly

 

[Metar28]

I bought a new DJI phantom 2 series battery as well from a reputable dealer. I flew it for the first time today and had the same message come up. It flew beautifully and I had no problems. I'm not sure how a battery can cause a fly away though.

Are you still having the MC Invalid Battery error message? So, when using the batteries that produce the error message, are you getting solid red, rear lights on your Phantom instead of flashing yellow? Can you use the FPV with these batteries or does the error message prevent you from doing so?

 

[Karanba]

Those DJI guys are really worse than Apple when it comes to taking our money.

 

[Davowalshy]

Hi metar28
I haven't gone for a fly for quite a while but I think the notification for the error just stayed on the screen for a moment and then disappeared. Also all lights were fine. I'll get back to you next time I take the bird out.

 

[Wheelie]

Hi Metar28
did you find the solution? if not here it is.
i had exact same problem when i bought new the new type of battery for my P2V+,MC error and red flashing LEDs when trying to start motors,..... if you read the instructions that came with it it says to update the main board in the phantom to the latest firmware...i did that now i have old and new batteries working perfectly.

 

[gez]

Yep same error message at start. Brought from reputable (UK) authorised dealer. Had other items from them all great so won't mention names. Now it's intermittent error message but no red lights and so far (touch wood) flies same as other batteries

 

[Illina]

I use non-DJI batteries in my P2V+ and have had no problem. Plus they're 5400 mAh over the DJI 5200 mAh. In fact I use them before I use the DJI batteries.

 

[Karanba]

Link ?

 

[Illina]

Link ?

You can get them from BangGood for $60 or GearBest for quite a bit more to name a couple. You can also find them on EBay. I can't guarantee that they'll work for you but they work in my P2V+ without any issues. I've got 5 DJI batteries and 2 of these, no issues with any.