P3A Battery Gone Bad?

[Sam007]

Has anyone had a battery that although it shows that it is about 75% full it does not power the copter? When I try to charge it it cycled on and off. Any idea if it can be salvaged or should I just junk it?

Thanks in advance.


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[RedHotPoker]

Have you deep cycled that battery pack? Draining it down to 8% or less. Then try and charge it back to 100%.
It's always best to fly with a freshly & fully charged flight battery.
But if yours won't hold a full charge, it may very well be toast.
When an intelligent flight battery has sat for a long while, unused, it will have already entered into its auto self discharge and will not function optimally. How many full charge cycles has it seen? That's also visible in the app.

RedHotPoker

 

[Multicoptertec]

Have you deep cycled that battery pack? Draining it down to 8% or less. Then try and charge it back to 100%.
It's always best to fly with a freshly & fully charged flight battery.
But if yours won't hold a full charge, it may very well be toast.
When an intelligent flight battery has sat for a long while, unused, it will have already entered into its auto self discharge and will not function optimally. How many full charge cycles has it seen? That's also visible in the app.

RedHotPoker

Agree with the first statement. As far as it being best to fly with a fully charged battery, well, yes for max flight time, but no if you just want to fly for a while longer on that battery. Kinda like your cell phone. Do I want that 100% charge for longevity, or is that 30% gonna get me through the next few hours until I can plug in and charge? As far as the last part, once you operate the battery, even just a status check, the discharge timer resets, so the battery functions normally, and is not less than optimal, based on the current level of percent charged.


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[Multicoptertec]

To the OPs question, a 75% charged battery is fine to fly with, if you can't start your motors, there is something else wrong.


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[Sam007]

Thanks to all for your comments. The real issue is that although the lights show that it is about 75% full, when you plug it into the P3A, nothing happens and when you try to charge it, the lights and the red-light on indicator cycle on and off. I left it charging for about 45 minutes and it just kept cycling on and off. As far as deep cycling the battery, I've always stored the batteries at 30% or less. I'm not able to review the number of full cycles, I can't see it for this battery because it will not power up the phantom.


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[flyNfrank]

Thanks to all for your comments. The real issue is that although the lights show that it is about 75% full, when you plug it into the P3A, nothing happens and when you try to charge it, the lights and the red-light on indicator cycle on and off. I left it charging for about 45 minutes and it just kept cycling on and off. As far as deep cycling the battery, I've always stored the batteries at 30% or less. I'm not able to review the number of full cycles, I can't see it for this battery because it will not power up the phantom.


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The light sequence you described while charging happens to be the common process. That's the way they all look when charging. Btw, when charging the battery, allow it to stay connected to the charger at least until the lights stop flashing altogether.

The situation with the aircraft not powering on is likely non battery related. Did you recently upgrade the firmware?

 

[Trackman1]

Some people had reported leaving the battery on the charger for a long period of time and it charged and was normal after that. Try over night.

30% is too low for any long term storage. 60% would be better. If a cell drops below minimum voltage it may not recharge.

 

[Sam007]

Hi, sorry I wasn't clear on the charging issue. It's not the normal charging cycle process that's happening. The battery turns on and off as if it's trying to go through its normal charging sequence. I also did recently upgraded to the latest firmware and the battery was working fine for the first few times after. Thanks.


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[Trackman1]

The manual tells you what the lights mean. But the only thing you can do is leave it charging for a long time an hope it does some smart battery stuff.

 

[Sam007]

I was reluctant to leave it charging that long. I may be too cautious with LiPo batteries, but I'll give it s shot.


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[WetDog]

If it's any consolation, I leave at least one battery on the charger at all times, often for two or three days at a time. I've been burned by a wonderful view opening up and no charged battery before.... I do have the chargers on a heavy aluminum plate on a table set up such that any untoward exothermic event won't take the house down but if anything the DJI chargers are pretty mellow compared to most LiPo systems.

And yes, it is probably not optimal for battery longevity but I'm not trying to collect them, just use them.

 

[Sam007]

Good to know...thanks.


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[Mocho]

Op have you tried turning the battery on, and then connect it to the charger while turned on?

 

[Trackman1]

These batterys have a 6 month warranty.

 

[Sam007]

I thought they only had three months warranty? I did try to turn on the battery first, but no luck :-((


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[Trackman1]

You can look on DJI site. But from memory 6 months or less than 200 cycles.

Macho had a good idea. Worth a try.

 

[Sam007]

Thanks, I've sent an email to DJI support. It will be interesting what they respond with (and when!!!). The very first thing I did is what Macho suggested and it did not work. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that DJI can do something for me. I will let you all know what they say and/or willing to do. Have a great long weekend.


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