Sudden drop in battery condition - still usable?

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The condition of one of my batteries is being reported by the DJI Go app as being 84%. This suddenly dropped from 100% the flight before.

I understand that batteries/cells can just suddenly die on me, but at what point does one decide the battery is no longer fit for use?

Bottom line:- What exactly does the 84% represent? Limited recharge cycles left? How many? Short flights only? No more flights?
 
All indications is the battery will now only take 84% of it capacity or charge. Means less time in the air. Battery life is 16% less. Keep an eye on it. How may cycles has the battery been through?
 
Run all your flights through HealthyDrones.com. See if you can identify a specific issue. Based on HealthyDrones analysis I took one of my batteries out of flight rotation and DJI replaced it free under warranty.
 
I did a test flight today with the suspect battery - mostly easy flying from 100% to 30%. HealthyDrones reports a possible flight time of 19 minutes.
Both DJI Go and HealthyDrones report a bad cell 1 - major deviations/lower voltage than the others.

Only 30 charge cycles on this battery.:(

I'll retire this battery from flights and used it for warm-ups, calibrations and other ground based activities.
 
I did a test flight today with the suspect battery - mostly easy flying from 100% to 30%. HealthyDrones reports a possible flight time of 19 minutes.
Both DJI Go and HealthyDrones report a bad cell 1 - major deviations/lower voltage than the others.

Only 30 charge cycles on this battery.:(

I'll retire this battery from flights and used it for warm-ups, calibrations and other ground based activities.

I agree that I would also retire that battery, however
the warranty replacement process through DJI Los Angeles was completely painless and took only 3 weeks to receive a brand new battery. The warranty period is 6 months or 300 cycles. Seems like you could still be within that window.
 
I agree that I would also retire that battery, however
the warranty replacement process through DJI Los Angeles was completely painless and took only 3 weeks to receive a brand new battery. The warranty period is 6 months or 300 cycles. Seems like you could still be within that window.
At what point would a warranty replacement be valid . Such as 94% battery life after 30 cycles , would dji replace a battery like that .
 
In my case, I still had 100% battery life but HealthyDrones analyzed severe major and minor deviations in cell 1. I had 28 cycles on the battery.
 
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I had a mid-flight "Cell Damaged" warning on my app (latest GO App and 1.4 fw) after only 20 flights on a battery. It showed cell one lower than the other three. I brought the pack down to 8% and recharged it and on the next flight I did not get the warning. It also reported 94% life left. After another charge cycle its back to 100% life and the cells are close in voltage. Not sure what it was, but you may want to try a calibration cycle and see what happens.
 
I had a mid-flight "Cell Damaged" warning on my app (latest GO App and 1.4 fw) after only 20 flights on a battery. It showed cell one lower than the other three. I brought the pack down to 8% and recharged it and on the next flight I did not get the warning. It also reported 94% life left. After another charge cycle its back to 100% life and the cells are close in voltage. Not sure what it was, but you may want to try a calibration cycle and see what happens.
Thanks. I will explore the recharging option.
 
Thanks. I will explore the recharging option.

After a recharge from 8% the App is now reporting 94% life - a 10% improvement. HealthyDrones is reporting the same, and interestingly no major deviations. I'll let it rest a bit and do another full recharge cycle this weekend.
 
After a recharge from 8% the App is now reporting 94% life - a 10% improvement. HealthyDrones is reporting the same, and interestingly no major deviations. I'll let it rest a bit and do another full recharge cycle this weekend.

I took the battery down to 8% again. HealthyDrones reported only minor deviations for that flight. After recharging the battery DJI GO reports 99% battery life!

I'll fly a few 'local' flights first before I will trust again for a long distance, but certainly still usable now.
 
I was on the Webinar today by Heli Direct and the 8% issue was discussed. According to the Moderator-Instructor- The bringing the battery down to eight percent after 20 cycles serves to "recalibrate the Smart Battery" since it reports individual cell voltages as the batteries are used.. The other important step that they made was Not to fly the batteries down to 8%, but instead, fly them down to 20 %, put them on the bench with the props off, and run the motors on idle until the battery reaches 8%.. That keeps the battery from discharging under full load, which is a factor in damaging a cell. IOW you are slowly bleeding off the mah's till it reaches the recycle voltage. The webinar is well worth the time spent.
 
I was on the Webinar today by Heli Direct and the 8% issue was discussed. According to the Moderator-Instructor- The bringing the battery down to eight percent after 20 cycles serves to "recalibrate the Smart Battery" since it reports individual cell voltages as the batteries are used.. The other important step that they made was Not to fly the batteries down to 8%, but instead, fly them down to 20 %, put them on the bench with the props off, and run the motors on idle until the battery reaches 8%.. That keeps the battery from discharging under full load, which is a factor in damaging a cell. IOW you are slowly bleeding off the mah's till it reaches the recycle voltage. The webinar is well worth the time spent.

Thanks for that. Learning all the time....
 
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