Quick Battery Question

[WWK888]

I am getting a free battery which would make my total number of batteries 5. I rarely use more than three when flying but I have been trying to rotate my 4 batteries equally to keep them all about the same as far as battery life. When I get my 5th battery should I add it to the rotation or just do a long time storage to keep the charging cycles down?

Thanks!

 

[Pete Leare]

If you rarely use more than 3 when flying, and you currently have 4... Why would you get a 5th? Just curious

 

[WWK888]

If you rarely use more than 3 when flying, and you currently have 4... Why would you get a 5th? Just curious

It was a freebie due to an order mix up on my original purchase. I also like to have extras in case of failures.

 

[Pete Leare]

Ahh, missed the 'free' part. If I were you I would use the new one as much as possible to bring it close to the others, and then put it in the rotation. I don't like to let my batteries sit too long without use, but that's just me.. Good luck

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I have 6 batteries are casually rotate their use so that no battery gets overused or unused.

As for Pete's question: I think a valid case could be made for occasionally getting extra batteries so that they come to end-of-life at different times. So when 1 of 4 dies, you still have 3 and if you replace the 4th, then that would be the newest and would live the longest of the 4 current ones.

Another reason: while I have 6 now, if the P3P compatible batteries start selling and really low prices (under $100), I would be tempted to get at least one or two to stock pile. I guess it depends on how soon you would consider retiring your current craft.

 

[WWK888]

I have 6 batteries are casually rotate their use so that no battery gets overused or unused.

As for Pete's question: I think a valid case could be made for occasionally getting extra batteries so that they come to end-of-life at different times. So when 1 of 4 dies, you still have 3 and if you replace the 4th, then that would be the newest and would live the longest of the 4 current ones.

Another reason: while I have 6 now, if the P3P compatible batteries start selling and really low prices (under $100), I would be tempted to get at least one or two to stock pile. I guess it depends on how soon you would consider retiring your current craft.

When you say "compatible batteries" are you referring to aftermarket ones? I heard with the new update DJI will not allow the use of aftermarket batteries. I panicked when I heard this as I had purchased two from Amazon but luckily they were DJI batteries. Thanks for your response!

 

[alokbhargava]

My suggestion would be either sell off your extra battery or use it in sequence.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Sorry for the confusion. When I say compatible, I mean official DJI batteries made for this model only. DJI batteries made for other DJI models won't work on the P3P, right?

Likewise, if I buy too many P3P batteries and then upgrade to the P4, I have to buy all new batteries again.

Someday, DJI might release progressive models that can use the previous models bat ... NAAAH, it'll never happen!!

 

[2nd2non]

Excluding cell issues, has anyone actually reached end of life of their P3 battery yet? I haven't heard of anyone and the oldest one is just nearing the 1yr anniversary. I'm curious if life is more a factor of time vs usage. I think both play a role, but thinking time may be the main factor

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Not me. I just calibrated all of my batteries and all seem to still be at 95% life or greater and a couple of mine are closing on a year too.

(The procedure to determine this is in the manual, but in a nutshell, press and hold the battery power button for ~5 seconds and see which lights blink, the more solid bars the better.)

In respect to time vs usage, there's another factor or two. I'm not a battery expert, but there seems to be a few things you can do to shorten the life of a battery, such as storing got a long time at an improper state. P3 Intelligent batteries discharge down to ~65% on their own I hear, but what if you ran one down to 10% and then stored it for a long time without charging it around 1/2 way?

Batteries are more robust than they were several years ago (no more NiCad memory issues for instance), but they can still be mistreated.