Battery Cell damaged.

Mactab · Sep 9, 2015

Just checking out one of my batteries this evening. On power up I got the dreaded message
'Battery Cell damaged' even though the initial charge level was showing 100%
See attached pic captured after running the battery down to 0%
The inspire was flying fine so I decided to keep it near to the ground and fly it so I could get it down to 0% hoping that a deep discharge and then recharge up to 100% will sort it out, if not I'm presuming that it will be for the bin as I have had it for over 6 months but with only 15 discharges/charges on it so it will be out of warranty.
Not too happy about this obviously
Unless anyone has a suggestion to rectify the situation?

Scotflieger · Sep 9, 2015

Sorry about your bad news. I agree that you should attempt a recharge. I have one battery with one weak cell that is 0.15V lower than the others but not 0.19V. You say the battery is 6 months old with only 15 charges. How was it stored? Did you reduce the charge to 50% before laying it aside?

Mactab · Sep 10, 2015

Yes it has been stored correctly.
I recharged to 100% last night and the cell is still down - see image.
Interestingly on looking at the battery history within the app (something that I hadn't done before - I know I know don't tell me!!)
It seems to have had a bad cell right from day one.
How reliable is the battery history file and is the top entry the latest or is it the other way round? I shall give the dealer a call this morning to see if they can offer a solution.

Scotflieger · Sep 10, 2015

If you have proof that the battery was faulty from day one and with only 17 charges, I would contact DJI for a replacement. I am closely monitoring my own battery with the similar cell under voltage as I continue to use it.

BaldEagle · Sep 19, 2015

I have same error message on the battery that I used during the firmware upgrade from 1.2 to 1.4. I tried recharging battery to 100% with no change in the error message. One of the cells is now consistently about .2 volts less than the others.

DaBone · Sep 26, 2015

I just updated the firmware to 1.4 and got that message on two batteries immediately..
Never had a problem before.

Frank508 · Sep 26, 2015

Same for me, got the warning first flight after the update. DJI said they would repair or replace it under warranty. I'm in the waiting period now, don't expect anything for another month and a half.

DaBone · Sep 27, 2015

Been part of something strange today. Was out filming for a music video in a nearby town.
Took out my 5th and final battery and was going to fly along a stream, until a bridge where the artist would be higher up. Then increase the height and fly over artist, turn and back away.
Put the battery in the Inspire and update started .... had forgot to update that battery.

When the update was finished, I turned off and then on and at once it complained that a cell was broken. Then I could not fly with the battery, so I putted in one that was little used (84%), even though I have promised myself never to do that again.

Started the flight and it went absolutely superb.

Now, when I got home, I checked the broken battery again and now it was totally okay!?!?!

The other two are still broken.

Steve Reid · Sep 27, 2015

Scotflieger said:
If you have proof that the battery was faulty from day one and with only 17 charges, I would contact DJI for a replacement. I am closely monitoring my own battery with the similar cell under voltage as I continue to use it.

Good luck with that!! I just went through getting a RA# from them ( after reading the hoops you have to jump through I canceled it ) and after sending it back to CA and them charging you if they say its not their fault plus waiting 3 months your better off deep six'in it like I did. If you have sent anything back you know what I'm talking about. DJI gets worse rather than getting better. They won't let the store where I bought it exchange it out.

SultanGris · Sep 27, 2015

DaBone said:
Been part of something strange today. Was out filming for a music video in a nearby town.
Took out my 5th and final battery and was going to fly along a stream, until a bridge where the artist would be higher up. Then increase the height and fly over artist, turn and back away.
Put the battery in the Inspire and update started .... had forgot to update that battery.

When the update was finished, I turned off and then on and at once it complained that a cell was broken. Then I could not fly with the battery, so I putted in one that was little used (84%), even though I have promised myself never to do that again.
Started the flight and it went absolutely superb.

Now, when I got home, I checked the broken battery again and now it was totally okay!?!?!
The other two are still broken.

after updating the battery firmware you need to fully charge it and then fully discharge it all in once use till it powers itself off and then fully charge it again to reset it. They say under 5% but that doesnt work for many people so the best way is to go till it powers itself off. the reset trigger is based on voltage and since the counters can be off only discharging down to around 5% isnt always low enough voltage to trigger it.

The Editor · Sep 27, 2015

Steve Reid said:
Good luck with that!! I just went through getting a RA# from them ( after reading the hoops you have to jump through I canceled it ) and after sending it back to CA and them charging you if they say its not their fault plus waiting 3 months your better off deep six'in it like I did. If you have sent anything back you know what I'm talking about. DJI gets worse rather than getting better. They won't let the store where I bought it exchange it out.

Did you use your credit card to buy the battery?
Your CC company is joint and severally liable for the transaction in law - they must give you a refund if you are unable to procure one from the manufacturer.
Simply claim off your credit card company!

Steve Reid · Sep 27, 2015

Its a long story, battery was bought on April 21. Battery caused a crash I sent bird to CA but they wouldn't let me send battery so when the bird came back 3 fing months later I put same battery back in a new bird it had another crash but not hard enough to damage it. Battery went from 65% to 2%. I explained all of that to the A H at DJI and asked if he had ever heard of that and the A H lied and said no. They sent me a RA# but after reading it I told them to stick it. I will buy batteries from Amazon where I can sent them back.

SultanGris · Sep 27, 2015

Steve Reid said:
Its a long story, battery was bought on April 21. Battery caused a crash I sent bird to CA but they wouldn't let me send battery so when the bird came back 3 fing months later I put same battery back in a new bird it had another crash but not hard enough to damage it. Battery went from 65% to 2%. I explained all of that to the A H at DJI and asked if he had ever heard of that and the A H lied and said no. They sent me a RA# but after reading it I told them to stick it. I will buy batteries from Amazon where I can sent them back.

you need to do the full drain till battery shuts itself off procedure as well, this will reset it and fix that problem. it was caused by a bug having to do with the batteries self discharge feature in older firmware versions which they say is fixed in new version. If self discharge feature activated and you fly with that battery without first fully charging it you would have that issue. Sometimes it would occur even if you did fully charge it and the only way to fix it is doing the full drain till self shut off then fully charge it reset procedure.

Failure to follow that reset procedure will result in the battery having the sudden drop issue every time you use it. I set my self discharge time in the app to 10 days to minimize the chances of having this problem. the self discharge feature takes 2 days to complete from 100% down to 60% and your results in how far it suddenly drops will vary based on how long it was in self discharging mode before you used it. I had a couple go from 36% to 7% and since i usually land at 20-30% i was close enough to the ground that I was able to land mine safely, luckily.

ilker · Oct 11, 2015

DJ inspire 1
After version 1.2 upgrade 1.4.00.10
I'm getting error Battery Cell damaged.
screen warning: battery cell is broken
stop using the battery and contact DJI customer service
What should I do

Steve Reid · Oct 11, 2015

Click on battery icon and check at you cells. I would say you need to install 1.3.0.00 firmware then re install the 4.0.00

The Editor · Oct 11, 2015

ilker said:
DJ inspire 1
After version 1.2 upgrade 1.4.00.10
I'm getting error Battery Cell damaged.
screen warning: battery cell is broken
stop using the battery and contact DJI customer service
What should I doView attachment 4095 View attachment 4096 View attachment 4095 View attachment 4096

I presume you have updated the firmware on your batteries as well as doing a complete battery calibration as per the release notes?

ilker · Oct 12, 2015

1.3 re-install? Steve Reid

Steve Reid · Oct 12, 2015

Read instructions for 1.3.0.00 and see if you did what it says to do. If not and you have to reinstall 1.3, It may corrupt 4, so you may have to reinstall 4 also,I did. I had a problem with a battery and went back and reinstalled 1.3.0.00 it wiped out the 4. JMO from the experience i had.

southerndoug · Feb 3, 2016

Mactab said:
View attachment 3544 Just checking out one of my batteries this evening. On power up I got the dreaded message
'Battery Cell damaged' even though the initial charge level was showing 100%
See attached pic captured after running the battery down to 0%
The inspire was flying fine so I decided to keep it near to the ground and fly it so I could get it down to 0% hoping that a deep discharge and then recharge up to 100% will sort it out, if not I'm presuming that it will be for the bin as I have had it for over 6 months but with only 15 discharges/charges on it so it will be out of warranty.
Not too happy about this obviously
Unless anyone has a suggestion to rectify the situation?

A very similar situation here.

A battery just over 6 months old (out of warranty period) and not overused (15 charges, 97% life reported). Nil accident or damage history. Firmware up to date. Bought with another TB48 which has a similar usage pattern, and is still performing flawlessly. Got the "battery cell damaged" warning, and "contact DJI" stuff, which I did. Best I got was "try a complete discharge and recharge" cycle. So I embarked on the discharge cycle, and the damaged cell got to 3.12V (other 5 cells 3.67-3.69V), displayed in red, so I landed, and re-contacted DJI, who directed me to their website to buy a new battery. I informed them that I knew where to buy batteries, and was asking them if they had any further advice as to if the battery was cactus or not, as I was reluctant to recharge it. After a lengthy delay , they informed me not to use the battery again, and to purchase a new one. I pointed out that I had invested heavily in their products, and was about to embark on yet more purchases, and while I thought their product was great, what I least liked about them was the price of their Intelligent Flight Batteries. No joy. I reckon DJI has a business model that mimics printer manufacturers like Epson, in which they sell their printers for not very much, and make a killing out of ink! Replace Ink with battery for DJI.
That's the rant over. I appreciate that batteries degrade with use, and LiPos are notoriously finicky, but when a couple of batteries working side by side can perform so differently, at such a cost (now $340 AU from my supplier for the TB48), then there's something wrong. Like Mactab, not too happy....

fei8820 · Feb 7, 2016

my TB48 all work great... untill one day accident happen in a mission tail hit a brances and fall in the river.. i lost a gimbal and nose unit ... and TB48 able to use after i open it and dry it.... but the battery cell are not balance ... and i would not recommend to use... it will guaranty cause sudden drop of the battery ... even totally SHUT OFF !!!! when battery level is low... other than that i can pretty sure inspire are quite waterproof lol