What is the best strategy for new batteries?

[Andy9]

Just get the new P4P battery today. It is the original one from DJI.
Now I'm not sure what is the best to do. It is filled to around 37% (one green light lit and another one blinking).
I'll have this battery for backup - it is not going to be used for a while. So, should I live it as it is, should I charge it to full. or should I charge it to around 60%?

 

[Starz]

Why not just use it along with whatever else you have. Charge cycles are what they are built for. Better to use them than store them is my take on batteries. If it’s out of hibernation mode, it’s either baby sit the thing or use it. If you have the time for monitoring the battery level that’s required for storage, no big deal. I would rather spend the time elsewhere. It’s your hardware and certainly your choice.

 

[Andy9]

Thanks but still this is not the answer.
Let me be more exact.
I will probably not fly at least one week.
Charge it to full and let it to auto discharge as preset, or charge it to 60% and filled it to full just before the flight?
It's not a big thing, just curious.

 

[Phantomwolf]

Thanks but still this is not the answer.
Let me be more exact.
I will probably not fly at least one week.
Charge it to full and let it to auto discharge as preset, or charge it to 60% and filled it to full just before the flight?
It's not a big thing, just curious.

DJI recommends storing batteries at 40% to 65% charge. They have a guide for caring for the batteries. You can read it here... Battery Care is More Important than You Think - DJI Guides

It may answer all your questions.

 

[JC in NH]

Just rotate your batteries - it seems you are unlikely to wear them out from too many charge cycles, but you -are- at risk of losing a battery that gets completely dishcarged unnoticed while in storage.

 

[Capt KO]

Charge it fully and let it auto discharge. Whatever you do don’t try to test it without charging fully. Can kill it.

 

[Andy9]

Thanks!

 

[Harleydude]

Just get the new P4P battery today. It is the original one from DJI.
Now I'm not sure what is the best to do. It is filled to around 37% (one green light lit and another one blinking).
I'll have this battery for backup - it is not going to be used for a while. So, should I live it as it is, should I charge it to full. or should I charge it to around 60%?

I would charge it fully, use it (fly it) and monitor the cells on full throttle ascent to make sure none of the cells dip into the red. If the battery checks out, then fly it down to about 65% for long-term storage. Using this routine I have batteries that are YEARS old that still fly like new.

D

 

[Andy9]

OK. Something similar I had in mind.

 

[TontoFAC]

At the very least put it in the drone and make sure the auto discharge is set to 10 days. I have numbered my batteries and keep a log for the number of charges and any anomalies that may occur while flying that battery. I also know the average flight time of each battery.

 

[daisy D]

Yeah, charge it fully, and let it auto discharge.

 

[Harleydude]

First, my qualifications:

(Not seen are my Mavic Pro and M600 Pro batteries)

I have achieved great success storing batteries in the 60%-70% range, with 65% being my target. What this generally equates to is 2 illuminated LED's with the third blinking:

In addition, I completely discharge and recharge all my batteries every 10 flights. I generally do this before I use them so that I can then discharge the battery down to 65%(ish). Some of my batteries have over 80 flights on them and are still going strong.

I recently retired a couple of Inspire 1 batteries that were my original batteries. These batteries were not always stored correctly, as in my first days of using intelligent LiPo batteries I was unaware of good long-term storage practices. Now all batteries are "babied."

For nomenclature, each battery is dated and then each dot represents a discharge, which represents 10 cycles or flights.

In this example you can see that the battery is over 3 years old and has over 80 flights on it.

This system has worked extremely well for years.

D

 

[Andy9]

You can get all this on Airdata. No need to write it.

 

[snowghost]

Also this guide.

HOW TO: Maintain and store your DJI drone batteries

Follow these tips to maintain your DJI Phantom, Mavic, or Spark batteries and ensure they are being properly stored when not in use: Don’t charge your batteries unless you’re going to fly. The batteries are programmed to automatically discharge after left unused, so there is no need to fully...

www.djidronenews.com

 

[EricE555]

When you use a DJI multi charger on storage mode, it charges or discharges to 50%. So I would say that is the best way to store them long term. Then charge to full right before use.