P4 or P4P battery issue?

KevMo Photog · Jun 5, 2018

Just noticed today that one of my original P4 batteries is feeling slightly puffy or bloated a tad on the top and bottom of soft cell area. Never noticed this before and all 4 of my others aren't like this either. This battery prob has 100 plus cycles at least. Is this the starting of this batteries end? Never got any notices in app at all about it. It's still slightly soft and puffy even after it's totally cooled down too. I'm charging it right now to see if anything weird happens.

GadgetGuy · Jun 5, 2018

KevMo Photog said:
Just noticed today that one of my original P4 batteries is feeling slightly puffy or bloated a tad on the top and bottom of soft cell area. Never noticed this before and all 4 of my others aren't like this either. This battery prob has 100 plus cycles at least. Is this the starting of this batteries end? Never got any notices in app at all about it. It's still slightly soft and puffy even after it's totally cooled down too. I'm charging it right now to see if anything weird happens.

Put that sucker in a bomb proof case, until you can safely dispose of it!

Charging a bloated LiPo that also is soft and leaking inside is a great way to start a fire! Be careful! Leaking and bloated LiPos are the ones that can easily start fires!

Techcop50 · Jun 6, 2018

KevMo Photog said:
Just noticed today that one of my original P4 batteries is feeling slightly puffy or bloated a tad on the top and bottom of soft cell area. Never noticed this before and all 4 of my others aren't like this either. This battery prob has 100 plus cycles at least. Is this the starting of this batteries end? Never got any notices in app at all about it. It's still slightly soft and puffy even after it's totally cooled down too. I'm charging it right now to see if anything weird happens.

Both my newer P4Pro "Hi-Cap" batteries are starting to exhibit this. Time to replace them, I guess, but I'd rather spend it on a P5!

Mr. T's Drones · Jun 6, 2018

Get rid of those puffy batteries NOW They are DANGEROUS! ! ! ! !

$gambino$ · Jun 6, 2018

Why should he throw it out? If he has a warranty on it I would try to go that route if not if it's just slightly puff that you can still use it you just have to keep an eye on it some of my RC heli batteries get puffy I just keep an eye on them if they exhibit weird behavior on the charger that's when I get rid of them or if they become to swollen...
Inflated / Swollen Lipo Battery Pack - Dangerous???? - RC Groups

Mr. T's Drones · Jun 6, 2018

Ok you do it your way. I tend to err on the side of caution. I would never use a puffy battery. So in the meantime happy droning. I know that I am enjoying my learning process. Lots of just flying in open area. Take care.

$gambino$ · Jun 6, 2018

Mr. T's Drones said:
Ok you do it your way. I tend to err on the side of caution. I would never use a puffy battery. So in the meantime happy droning. I know that I am enjoying my learning process. Lots of just flying in open area. Take care.

Sure....seems like u are still learning.. and still have some learning to do. If the lipo is slightly puffy it is ok you just have to keep an eye on it this is from being discharged at a high rate. or keeping the batteries charged at full for too long. Now if it's batteries are too swollen then I would be worried but if it is just slightly swollen that is nothing most RC batteries exhibit this Behavior you wouldn't know anyway with the batteries in the P4 because of the case! Trust me i have tons of rc lipos for rc heli's and 100mph rc cars...idk why u would tell someone to get rid of a slightly puffed lipo especially one that expensive. The only time he should worry if it is super swollen and the case starts to expand. Or his cells are deviated to far from one another....so op slightly swollen and cells are all within reason dont worry ....especially if it slides in and out of p4 ok.... I would try to get a warranty on it though that's too much money in the air

Techcop50 · Jun 7, 2018

The last time I used one of my "puffy" batteries, it did not want to come out of the drone. That's enough warning for me.
I'm just curious if this is a trend with the 5870 hi-caps. Both mine are "puffy", occurred (or at least, noticed) at the same time. Both purchased at release of the P4Pro.

GadgetGuy · Jun 7, 2018

As soon as the puffyness of the battery prevents insertion or removal, regardless of the battery condition internally, the battery is no longer usable. A LiPo in my old unused Samsung Note 2 phone left on a charger eventually swelled and popped the back off the phone! If a swollen P4/P4P battery ever gets stuck inside the aircraft, you'll have more than the battery to worry about!

KevMo Photog · Jun 28, 2018

So today one of my 2 1/2 year old 5300mah P4 batteries puffed up enough that it was pretty tight in the bird to get out. So I guess that's it on that one for sure. I never let my batteries stay fully charged for more than 10 days and then they start coming down on their own. They go down some after cooling but they are still cushy feeling to the touch. I have one more that is same age that has done this yet. I'll push it a little farther. But as for the other 2, they just got retired. Don't want it hanging up in the bird and possible messing something else up.

GadgetGuy · Jun 28, 2018

KevMo Photog said:
So today one of my 2 1/2 year old 5300mah P4 batteries puffed up enough that it was pretty tight in the bird to get out. So I guess that's it on that one for sure. I never let my batteries stay fully charged for more than 10 days and then they start coming down on their own. They go down some after cooling but they are still cushy feeling to the touch. I have one more that is same age that has done this yet. I'll push it a little farther. But as for the other 2, they just got retired. Don't want it hanging up in the bird and possible messing something else up.

Wise move. Once you reach 2.5 years on a well used Lipo battery, you are on bonus time anyway. Usually, the aircraft gets retired or replaced before the battery gets that old. The battery is the one critical failure point for which there is no backup, unless you have modded the aircraft to accept external batteries, and have them attached. My one battery failure happened when the externals were not attached! Dropped like a rock from 200 feet onto concrete steps, just 10 feet from where I was standing!

Be careful out there!

John Locke · Jun 29, 2018

High integrity batteries are really important if you use a 3 gang charger, like the one from DJI that charges batteries, one at a time. If you have the habit of putting 3 batteries in the charger and letting them charge, it's safer to do this outside on the patio, in case one catches fire, the house won't burn down. But most of us do this indoors. Adding more risk to this process by charging a bloated battery is not advised. At that point I would always charge bloated batteries outside on the patio (not in the garage) for preventative measure. And never leave home if you have batteries charging (easy to forget and leave for a quick errand). It's rare you hear of batteries catching fire, but it does happen. It really depends on your relationship with Murphy. How's your luck lately?

KevMo Photog · Jul 3, 2018

John Locke said:
High integrity batteries are really important if you use a 3 gang charger, like the one from DJI that charges batteries, one at a time. If you have the habit of putting 3 batteries in the charger and letting them charge, it's safer to do this outside on the patio, in case one catches fire, the house won't burn down. But most of us do this indoors. Adding more risk to this process by charging a bloated battery is not advised. At that point I would always charge bloated batteries outside on the patio (not in the garage) for preventative measure. And never leave home if you have batteries charging (easy to forget and leave for a quick errand). It's rare you hear of batteries catching fire, but it does happen. It really depends on your relationship with Murphy. How's your luck lately?

I have only charged mine with stock chargers Tom. I have two of them. Only thing that has me baffled is that both of my high capacity batteries have less than 70 cycles on them. And they are starting to go bad. You can hold the on/off button for about 5 seconds and it you don't have all 4 light's lit when power button starts blinking, then that is saying you have a cell that is starting to go. And all of mine just in the last month have started puffing up enough that it is getting tighter in the slot. All my older batteries all have over 100 cycles and one has 125. Some guts get 200 out of them. So I'm a little ticked about these two high capacity ones that I've had for a year and a half.

John Locke · Jul 3, 2018

KevMo Photog said:
I have only charged mine with stock chargers Tom. I have two of them. Only thing that has me baffled is that both of my high capacity batteries have less than 70 cycles on them. And they are starting to go bad. You can hold the on/off button for about 5 seconds and it you don't have all 4 light's lit when power button starts blinking, then that is saying you have a cell that is starting to go. And all of mine just in the last month have started puffing up enough that it is getting tighter in the slot. All my older batteries all have over 100 cycles and one has 125. Some guts get 200 out of them. So I'm a little ticked about these two high capacity ones that I've had for a year and a half.

If the battery is less than 6mos old I would send it to DJI for warranty replacement. If that's not an option you could resort to an Amazon purchase swap. What do the battery cells show for voltage deviation?

GadgetGuy · Jul 3, 2018

KevMo Photog said:
I have only charged mine with stock chargers Tom. I have two of them. Only thing that has me baffled is that both of my high capacity batteries have less than 70 cycles on them. And they are starting to go bad. You can hold the on/off button for about 5 seconds and it you don't have all 4 light's lit when power button starts blinking, then that is saying you have a cell that is starting to go. And all of mine just in the last month have started puffing up enough that it is getting tighter in the slot. All my older batteries all have over 100 cycles and one has 125. Some guts get 200 out of them. So I'm a little ticked about these two high capacity ones that I've had for a year and a half.

I wonder if the storage conditions or the higher capacity might be a factor. The high capacity batteries might also be more sensitive to heat, in that a higher capacity battery has been crammed into the same physical space. The other normal batteries may be also be swelling but have more room to expand inside the shell. I remove all my batteries immediately upon landing, and don't charge them until they have cooled off, and then charge them immediately. So far, with 10 high capacity batteries, no apparent swelling. Could also just be two batteries at the wrong end of the Bell Curve of expected life.