Reviving new-old stock batteries

[moozer]

Just received a handful of Phantom 3 batteries from a friend. They were never used - still in original packaging. Unfortunately, none of them seem to be wiling to take a charge. Is there any way to revive them, or did I just inherit a small pile of useless stuff?

Thanks for any help!

 

[ROD PAINTER]

Do any of the led lights come on at all? Try holding the power button for five seconds and see if any lights up. Also try pluggin battery in charger then turn power button on and see if that works. Its possible they sat for a very long time and may be no good.

 

[Oso]

They could also be in hibernation.
Click here for more info and steps to wake them up.

 

[N017RW]

Have they become ‘puffy’, as though they are inflated?

 

[moozer]

No lights at all. Not puffy at all.
I'll look at the hibernation threads to see if anything works.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[solentlife]

It really is hit or miss land with old batterys - LiPo's absolutely hate being discharged to very low levels.

The links to Hibernation threads are worth going through but maybe I can suggest following based on DJI info - but corrected where in error ... (according to my and others observations that we compared).

First you observe that lights may not come on ... or you get strange lights ... this shows that battery is 'not happy' !!

Now you need to sort out your charger - it has to be a DJI or similar 17.5V PSU (DJI chargers are NOT chargers in fact but regulated PSU's of 17.5V). This one time that 3rd party chargers are not suitable.
Get it ready and you should be in a safe area where you can leave all connected ....

Press battery button twice as if you are turning it on ... IGNORE WHAT HAPPENS.

DO NOT press that button again.

WAIT 5 minutes.

Plug in charger ... still not pressing that button again.

put all aside in safe area and LEAVE IT ALONE ...

Do not be tempted to 'check' by pressing button ... resist temptation !

It may take all day ... it may take an hour ... each battery can be different. But IF the battery is recoverable - it will eventually start to charge. You need to leave it alone and let it charge up fully.

I cannot emphasise enough - do this in a safe place - because the length of time it can take makes it unlikely you want to babysit it so long !

IF the battery does come alive ... then I suggest give it a few low level close in flights to check its ability to power a reasonable flight ... charging up fully between each.

Judging by results I have seen and others I know - the recovery is about 1 or 2 in 4 batterys.

Good luck.

 

[JR808]

My battery has a bump its feels like air puckets. still charge and it doesn't say any errors on the screen about the battery. Is this still safe to use for flying? Please help.

 

[stuka75]

It really is hit or miss land with old batterys - LiPo's absolutely hate being discharged to very low levels.

The links to Hibernation threads are worth going through but maybe I can suggest following based on DJI info - but corrected where in error ... (according to my and others observations that we compared).

First you observe that lights may not come on ... or you get strange lights ... this shows that battery is 'not happy' !!

Now you need to sort out your charger - it has to be a DJI or similar 17.5V PSU (DJI chargers are NOT chargers in fact but regulated PSU's of 17.5V). This one time that 3rd party chargers are not suitable.
Get it ready and you should be in a safe area where you can leave all connected ....

Press battery button twice as if you are turning it on ... IGNORE WHAT HAPPENS.

DO NOT press that button again.

WAIT 5 minutes.

Plug in charger ... still not pressing that button again.

put all aside in safe area and LEAVE IT ALONE ...

Do not be tempted to 'check' by pressing button ... resist temptation !

It may take all day ... it may take an hour ... each battery can be different. But IF the battery is recoverable - it will eventually start to charge. You need to leave it alone and let it charge up fully.

I cannot emphasise enough - do this in a safe place - because the length of time it can take makes it unlikely you want to babysit it so long !

IF the battery does come alive ... then I suggest give it a few low level close in flights to check its ability to power a reasonable flight ... charging up fully between each.

Judging by results I have seen and others I know - the recovery is about 1 or 2 in 4 batterys.

Good luck.

I just had got battery error message regarding a bad cell just before a Litchi mission on a fully charged battery. Got the same message when I connected via Go app as well. The cell in question was at 4.17v. Fortunately, I saw the message before I ran the mission. Question is, if cells balance on subsequent charging, would it be wise to use it on subsequent flights?
Is the DJI charger an balance charger?

 

[solentlife]

I just had got battery error message regarding a bad cell just before a Litchi mission on a fully charged battery. Got the same message when I connected via Go app as well. The cell in question was at 4.17v. Fortunately, I saw the message before I ran the mission. Question is, if cells balance on subsequent charging, would it be wise to use it on subsequent flights?
Is the DJI charger an balance charger?

The DJI charger is purely a dumb brick regulated 17.4V power supply. Its a Constant Voltage PSU. It has no balance charge capability of any description whatsoever.

All the fancy gubbins is in the battery pack itself. The board that sits under the front panel of the battery pack - it has the LED lights and power button ... controls the cells charging.

It is supposed to : (Comments in brackets for each are as per my observations)

1. Prevent over-discharge. (Yes ... it cuts off at 12.0v total with ideally each cell not lower then 3.0V)

2. Prevent over-charge (Yes ... it shuts off at 17.4V with each cell at 4.35V or near)

3. Balance cells during charge (This is only partial because the board shuts off the charge before completing a full balance routine)

4. Provide Telemetry information on each cell to the radio link. (Yes - its the info you can view via menu / top bar etc. in GO / Litchi)

5. Show via the LED's life cycle, charge level and charging activity. (Yes - but pay regard to that there are 4 LED's which therefore means you have a 25% jump between each solid light and 12.5% between solid to flashing)

6. Provides mA in / out data for GO display. (Yes - but this is based not on true mA static measurement which is impossible - but on mA in / out against time on charge / discharge calculation).

OK ... you have one cell error ........ my first action - would be to switch on the battery and then plug in charger. Over-ride the full charge function of the board. You may have noticed that if a battery is more than about 90% charged - it will not charge when just connected to charger. The board defaults to prevent it. But switch on the battery before plugging in and charger then charges up the pack that last few %. Doing this 'may' cause that low cell to charge up to 4.35 with the others.
I charge all my batterys that way regardless of what level they are before charging. That way - I always have 99% or higher battery when plugged into my P3P. When I didn't do this - I often saw lower than 99% for a supposedly full charged pack.

DJI has decided that we are not to get access to cells to measure Internal Resistance or balance properly - we have to trust the 'smart board' fitted in the pack.

 

[stuka75]

Thanks solent. Which makes me wonder if the app would have allowed me to power up the ac, or takeoff? Before charging it , I'll try it in back yard.
Thanks again. Looks like a really rainy day here in US again. Havent been able to get out to our airfield to fly fixed wings. Sucks. Have a new spitfire , f16 and a Dauntless to maiden.

 

[solentlife]

Maidened my Vulcan ... but she decided to nose in ... but at least I know my design concept worked. Have a new Vulcan to maiden when weather improves.

Weather over here is crazy ...

 

[ArmyVet]

I have had very good luck reviving several drone batteries.Including a PS3 battery. I use an old HEATHKIT power supply that i can set voltage and current,

I start by charging at a very low voltage and current. I monitor with a VM. The voltage eventually starts to climb very slowly. HOURS. When it stops climbing, I crank it up a little higher. Takes days sometimes. Keep a log.

Good Luck. You mileage may vary haha


Also I do this in the garage. Relatively safe area.