Phantom Battery Won't Charge - LED blinks 3 times

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DJI sent me a replacement Phantom recently. However, the battery included must have been sitting for a very long time without a charge since it was manufactured. The battery just blinks 1 green bar 3 times in a row.

This is what I have tried so far to get it to charge:

- Connected it to two different charges (one is a DJI slow charge, and one is a DJI fast charge). No success.
- Held down the button x 2 on the battery until it went to 4 bars, then quickly connected the charger. It then blinks 1 green bar and appears to be charging, but it really isn't. After 5 mins it returns to 1 green bar blinking 3 times in a row.
-Tried it in my car with a cigarette Phantom battery charger. No success.

It is apparent that the charge (voltage) has become so low that the not so smart battery won't charge with the DJI charges.

Any suggestions?
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Patience Padwan.... if that doesn't work it is probably a bad battery. Although there are some ways to force the issue (charge with a regular power supply), unless you have some experience in this area, I'd suggest just sending it back. You really want to have some faith in the power supply as these things don't autorotate.
 
This recently happened to two of my Inspire 1 batteries. There is a known Inspire 1 firmware issue that allows batteries to discharge down to an unsafe level -- which doesn't affect Phantom batteries. I'm just mentioning that point because I know mine discharged too low and now they don't light up at all. I'd recommend you return them and get a replacement.
 
I think my question is the same, but I want to re-ask it to be sure. P3P.

Just recently after a flight, I brought the bird in with about 35% battery left. Normally when I plug it into the charger the lights will blink in order and add a light as it charges. (starts with one light blinking, then two, three, etc. This last time however, when I plugged into the charger, the 4th light blinked a few times by itself, then no lights would blink at all. I unplugged it and tried a couple more times with the same result. The battery isn't very old, about 4 months with maybe 15 charges on it.

I had heard about "force charging" on this forum, so I tried that. I pressed the on button on the battery once, then held it down until the battery turned on. (the same as if it was starting up in the bird) The battery came on with 2 lights, then I connected the charger and it charged fully.

Does anyone know what the blinking 4th light means and why it wouldn't charge normally?
 
I think my question is the same, but I want to re-ask it to be sure. P3P.

Just recently after a flight, I brought the bird in with about 35% battery left. Normally when I plug it into the charger the lights will blink in order and add a light as it charges. (starts with one light blinking, then two, three, etc. This last time however, when I plugged into the charger, the 4th light blinked a few times by itself, then no lights would blink at all. I unplugged it and tried a couple more times with the same result. The battery isn't very old, about 4 months with maybe 15 charges on it.

I had heard about "force charging" on this forum, so I tried that. I pressed the on button on the battery once, then held it down until the battery turned on. (the same as if it was starting up in the bird) The battery came on with 2 lights, then I connected the charger and it charged fully.

Does anyone know what the blinking 4th light means and why it wouldn't charge normally?

From memory (no manual close to hand) it might be too hot?
 
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Could be. The battery is always very warm after an extended flight, and has always charged immediately after the flight even when hot. This is the only time it gave me this issue. Maybe it was "extra hot" this time. Thanks.
The behavior you noticed was the 'intelligence' in the battery rejecting the charge because it was still too warm.
You should never charge 'immediately after' a flight, even if the battery will accept a charge. Let the battery cool down first. This will greatly extend the battery's life.
 
The behavior you noticed was the 'intelligence' in the battery rejecting the charge because it was still too warm.
You should never charge 'immediately after' a flight, even if the battery will accept a charge. Let the battery cool down first. This will greatly extend the battery's life.

Thank you. I did not know that.
 
DJI sent me a replacement Phantom recently. However, the battery included must have been sitting for a very long time without a charge since it was manufactured. The battery just blinks 1 green bar 3 times in a row.

This is what I have tried so far to get it to charge:

- Connected it to two different charges (one is a DJI slow charge, and one is a DJI fast charge). No success.
- Held down the button x 2 on the battery until it went to 4 bars, then quickly connected the charger. It then blinks 1 green bar and appears to be charging, but it really isn't. After 5 mins it returns to 1 green bar blinking 3 times in a row.
-Tried it in my car with a cigarette Phantom battery charger. No success.

It is apparent that the charge (voltage) has become so low that the not so smart battery won't charge with the DJI charges.

Any suggestions?
View attachment 57574

I have the identical issue. Battery sat for long time at very low charge. Also tried 2 chargers both the 100watt. Appears to be charging for about same 5 minutes with LED1 blinking and then goes into the 3 blinking mode sequence. Battery is not hot. I suspect could be the temp sensor failure saying it's too hot when it isn't or maybe the 5 minutes gets it too hot. Did you ever get a solution for it?
 
I have four batteries. Some time back I had a similar issue - won't charge - with one of them. It had been sitting in the case about three weeks and was not hot. Someone told me to put it in the refrigerator for a while and then try again when it was really cold. I thought he was nuts but tried it. He wasn't nuts - worked for me. Since then, I have had no problems at all charging that - or any battery I have. As they say - stranger things have happened. Worth a shot for you.
 
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Similar, but worse problem here. I just got my P4P (my first drone) and registered it yesterday. I bought 3 batteries, and the 3-battery smart charger.

The smart charger will not charge ANY of the batteries. Period. Nada. I then tried the single battery charger that comes with the P4P. One of the batteries charges fine. The other two will not charge at all. At first they would give a single bar, blink 3 times, and then turn off. Now, after a day of trying to get them charged, they won't even do that. For all I can tell, they are stone dead. (Yes, I tried the fridge trick mentioned above, but no change)

To make matters worse, I live in Ecuador. I ordered this unit 6 months ago, and it took this long to get to me. Trying to send back batteries for replacement will take a minimum of 6 more months... :(

Is there any hope for somehow bringing these 2 zombies back to life?
 
If the battery goes into hibernation - it will refuse to charge.

DJI manual says to switch on ... (they don't say what lights will appear so ignore it ...) do not touch any button again ... LEAVE BATTERY ALONE FOR 5 MINUTES - then plug into charger .... leave it connected ...
This is supposed to be the wake-up routine.

Nigel
 
If the battery goes into hibernation - it will refuse to charge.

DJI manual says to switch on ... (they don't say what lights will appear so ignore it ...) do not touch any button again ... LEAVE BATTERY ALONE FOR 5 MINUTES - then plug into charger .... leave it connected ...
This is supposed to be the wake-up routine.

Nigel
I was not able to find that information in the user manual (the word "hibernation" is not found, and reading every sentence with the word "battery" did not say anything about this).

At any rate, I gave it a try last night. When I pressed the button to turn it on, no lights came on at all (ie, no visible response). Waited 5 min (set a timer, so as not to rush it) and plugged it in. Next morning (now), it still gives no visible response to pressing the button. :(
 
It was only a thought ... anything is worth a try !!

Now if it was mine ... I would unclip the front panel and then 'jump' the main leads with a LiPo charger to give it a kick-up-the-a ....

But I do not recc'd this to anyone not used to LiPo's ...

Trouble is once a LiPo goes too low - its basically ********d !


Nigel
 
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It was only a thought ... anything is worth a try !!

Now if it was mine ... I would unclip the front panel and then 'jump' the main leads with a LiPo charger to give it a kick-up-the-a ....

But I do not recc'd this to anyone not used to LiPo's ...

Trouble is once a LiPo goes too low - its basically ********d !


Nigel
I also have a P4P battery that will not show lights (red or green) after pressing button. I've taken off the panel and am scrubbed in for surgery... do you actually know how to 'jump the main leads'?
 

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Hibernation mode ... yes DJi say about the red light ... BUT that is not always the case ... I know personally that lights can be all sorts and this will still be the case.

I do not say ALL are ... but its worth the try.

As to jumping the LiPo ... I would use a proper LiPo programmable cahrger set to NiCd and 2.0A, auto voltage.

Clip to the main power leads and charge as a NiCd till voltage is about 12.0 or slightly more but not over 12.6V. This way you have brought the battery to minimum level for DJI charger to accept.... or LiPo charger. Why direct to battery leads internally ? To avoid the board refusing to pass charge ...

Ideally it would be good to do cells individually but its difficult on a DJI battery as the balance plug is very small and does not fit normal LiPo socket etc.

Honestly - if you do not know how to do this .. are unsure ... best NOT to do it.

Nigel
 

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