New Drone - Old Stock - Phantom 4 Pro+ (battery problems)

[Avg_Ohio_Man]

Hey folks!

I am an amateur photographer/ fishing videographer, and I recently acquired some photo and video gear from a good friend, including some Canon Cameras and Camcorders and a Phantom 4 Pro+, all of which was new in box. This equipment has basically been sitting since he bought it in 2016, and was never used or opened. I'm really excited about the Phantom as I do a lot of backcountry hiking and photography, and having an aerial camera platform has given me some great ideas for photo and video compositions. I know that some lighter and more portable models are available on the market now, but this one didn't cost me a thing.

I am having trouble getting the main LiPo pack to charge, a preliminary google search indicates that it is probably suffering from a deep discharge after sitting for a decade. I have moderate experience with drones and RC pan car racing, but "nice" drones are pretty foreign to me. Is there anything I can do to resuscitate the battery, or should I get a new unit? The controller charged up fine, and the LiPo packs in all of the other camera equipment charged up fine after sitting.

If I need to purchase new batteries, how should I go about that? I am aware that DJI ceased support for the Phantom line a couple of years ago, so it looks like the clones on amazon are my best bet. I've seen some posts about battery support issues with software updates, but I'm pretty confident my drone was never updated.

Please, if you have any input on the battery issue of the drone, tips for the Phantom in general, or just want to say hi, I would love any input!

 

[RodPad]

Welcome to the forum!!

There is a lot of info on @msinger site.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro Accessories & Tips | Phantom Help

Phantom Help is a site for help with DJI Phantom 4 Pro drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.phantomhelp.com

What have you tried so far with the battery?
There is many twists to get them to take a charge.
Is there only one battery?

Time frame, never been used?

Let us know, keep your thread active.

These forums are #1

Been here a while

Rod ..

 

[Avg_Ohio_Man]

Welcome to the forum!!

There is a lot of info on @msinger site.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro Accessories & Tips | Phantom Help

Phantom Help is a site for help with DJI Phantom 4 Pro drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.phantomhelp.com

What have you tried so far with the battery?
There is many twists to get them to take a charge.
Is there only one battery?

Time frame, never been used?

Let us know, keep your thread active.

These forums are #1

Been here a while

Rod ..

The drone was in the sealed packaging when I received it, had not been used ever. The box only came with the one battery. So far I have tried charging the battery with the standard charging cable for varying intervals up to 30 min. I am at a university and in the middle of the exam crunch, so I've not really given it the time or attention I could in about a week. I have also tried charging it inside the drone, but I am pretty limited on tools or techniques until winter break. That being said, I will try just about anything unless it results in me setting my dorm on fire.

 

[Daniel NZDF]

The drone was in the sealed packaging when I received it, had not been used ever. The box only came with the one battery. So far I have tried charging the battery with the standard charging cable for varying intervals up to 30 min. I am at a university and in the middle of the exam crunch, so I've not really given it the time or attention I could in about a week. I have also tried charging it inside the drone, but I am pretty limited on tools or techniques until winter break. That being said, I will try just about anything unless it results in me setting my dorm on fire.

Welcome to the forum! You said you've only tried charging it for intervals of 30 mins. That might not be enough to wake the battery up- usually it has to be kept on the charger for about 9 hours to actually wake it up, if it does.

 

[WingDude]

Hey Avg_Ohio_Man,

Welcome to the forum

I also picked up a Phantom 4 Pro V2 that was still shrink wrapped since 2018. Seems, like you the controller would take a charge but the Battery Pack wouldn't. I also tried to leave the pack on the charger for 9 hours to no avail. If you do that, make sure you are watching it, for safety reasons. I did a bunch of research. Here's what I "learned". The battery pack's BMS has some programing that when the volage of the pack falls below a certain voltage, (not sure what that level is), it sets a flag in its Operations Register called PF, (Permanente Failure). Once this happens, the pack will no longer take a charge through the connector. Not all is necessarily lost. If the pack is not bloated, and one of the lights on the pack lites up when you push the button, it can be recovered. I've done this process on a few batteries now that I've picked up on eBay, as well as the one that came with this P4P v2, but you need to be a little bit handy with soldering and dismantling the pack case.

The process requires a little soldering, so you'll need a soldering iron. Preferably one with a very small tip. You'll need a CP2112 debug board off Amazon, ($12.92), software called DJI Battery Killer to clear the flag in the BMS, (Free). You need to connect the SDA, SCL, and ground pads to the board. I had to play around a bit with the software connection options to find the one that worked.

Here's a youtube video that shows the process well. I did use a different software and board than what's in the video but if you get into it this far, you're in good shape.

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. once you get the software connected to the debug board, you can clear the PF flag.

You're more than welcome to DM me for questions

 

[Avg_Ohio_Man]

Hey Avg_Ohio_Man,

Welcome to the forum

I also picked up a Phantom 4 Pro V2 that was still shrink wrapped since 2018. Seems, like you the controller would take a charge but the Battery Pack wouldn't. I also tried to leave the pack on the charger for 9 hours to no avail. If you do that, make sure you are watching it, for safety reasons. I did a bunch of research. Here's what I "learned". The battery pack's BMS has some programing that when the volage of the pack falls below a certain voltage, (not sure what that level is), it sets a flag in its Operations Register called PF, (Permanente Failure). Once this happens, the pack will no longer take a charge through the connector. Not all is necessarily lost. If the pack is not bloated, and one of the lights on the pack lites up when you push the button, it can be recovered. I've done this process on a few batteries now that I've picked up on eBay, as well as the one that came with this P4P v2, but you need to be a little bit handy with soldering and dismantling the pack case.

The process requires a little soldering, so you'll need a soldering iron. Preferably one with a very small tip. You'll need a CP2112 debug board off Amazon, ($12.92), software called DJI Battery Killer to clear the flag in the BMS, (Free). You need to connect the SDA, SCL, and ground pads to the board. I had to play around a bit with the software connection options to find the one that worked.

Here's a youtube video that shows the process well. I did use a different software and board than what's in the video but if you get into it this far, you're in good shape.

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

. once you get the software connected to the debug board, you can clear the PF flag.

You're more than welcome to DM me for questions

Thanks for the tips! I've got it on the charger for this afternoon while I am back from classes, I'll have to see if that does anything. So far there are no lights showing at all. I've got a soldering iron and a friend who is handy with coding, so I'll give the repair method a crack here soon. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have a new door stop!

 

[RodPad]

@WingDude

Dude, Welcome to the forum also!!

Thanks for your info.

Rod ..

 

[Harleydude]

Welcome to the forum.

I'd like to give you some unsolicited advice. Or what I call "Answering a question you haven't asked yet."

More than likely, when you first fire up the drone, it is going to bug you for a firmware update. Don't be so quick to update the firmware. Before doing so, do your research. Look at the release notes (which are probably incomplete anyway). My personal experience has been that DJI rolls "new compliance" into their firmware updates, which almost always cripples the drone in one way or another. I've made several videos on the subject.

My strong advice is to find a nice, open park and fly the drone sans firmware update. I think you will find that it will fly perfectly. If anything seems amiss, THEN research the FW updates and update accordingly.

Every drone I own - every one - bugs me for a firmware update every time I fire them up. I just tap the "X" and get on with my flight. Zero regrets.

Good luck.

D

P.S. If you can find a legacy iPad with legacy DJI software installed (what the kids are calling "apps" these days), I think you will find that the legacy software works better with the legacy firmware. eBay has always been a great source for gently-used legacy iPads.

 

[Mel007]

Very good point!
I was lucky, I could roll back...

 

[RodPad]

@Mel007
Welcome to the forum!

Whats your history on flying stuff in the air with out a string.

Rod ..