How bad is it to be continually topping-off my I2 Batteries

[rmb]

Here’s the thing. I always charge my batteries before I store them so I am ready to fly. But I find that more often than not, life gets in the way of plans and 10 or 15 days go by and the Batteries have begun to self-discharge. So I am always putting them on charge to top them off. My feeling is that that can’t be good? Does anyone else have this issue? And if so what are you doing? I.e. If you were me, would you just disable the self-discharge setting? Also just as an FYI I do bring all of my batteries down to below 5% charge every 20 or so charges.

Thanks, rb

 

[Mixchief]

Here’s the thing. I always charge my batteries before I store them so I am ready to fly. But I find that more often than not, life gets in the way of plans and 10 or 15 days go by and the Batteries have begun to self-discharge. So I am always putting them on charge to top them off. My feeling is that that can’t be good? Does anyone else have this issue? And if so what are you doing? I.e. If you were me, would you just disable the self-discharge setting? Also just as an FYI I do bring all of my batteries down to below 5% charge every 20 or so charges.

Thanks, rb

that is a loaded question for me, I've been known t "think" I'm going to fly tomorrow, and end up grounded for various reasons for 10 days or more. I was keeping discharge at 10 days because of my wishful thinking, then I started to keep them at or below 50% , however the damage seems to have been done, and the batteries, all my batteries just started flaking, creating tons of app issues disconnects etc, my newfound tech and (even though he doesn't know it) my new best friend, after repairing an issue I had, determined the batteries were bad, almost as soon as he took off the A/C landed again, even though the app displayed over 80% charge, however closer look in the battery page showed all the cells in the red. Issue repeated itself on all four of my batteries. I will probably never know for sure what the issue was that f***ed up the batteries, as I also was using an aftermarket quick charger, but I would not be surprised if it was partly if not totally caused by my keeping them charged. However, to answer your question, I don't think topping them off is bad, certainly better than getting airborne with less than 100% charge, I'm finding our a/c's don't like not having a full breakfast.

 

[rmb]

Well other than the aftermarket charger you and I are a replica. Thanks for the input, it will be great to hear if others chime in.

Fly safe!

 

[Mixchief]

Well other than the aftermarket charger you and I are a replica. Thanks for the input, it will be great to hear if others chime in.

Fly safe!

Indeed it would

 

[Dobmatt]

Here’s the thing. I always charge my batteries before I store them so I am ready to fly. But I find that more often than not, life gets in the way of plans and 10 or 15 days go by and the Batteries have begun to self-discharge. So I am always putting them on charge to top them off. My feeling is that that can’t be good? Does anyone else have this issue? And if so what are you doing? I.e. If you were me, would you just disable the self-discharge setting? Also just as an FYI I do bring all of my batteries down to below 5% charge every 20 or so charges.

Thanks, rb

It was discussed to death on all related forums and determined that keeping DJI smart batteries fully charged for longer than 2 days is not a good strategy, as well as keeping them fully discharged for longer periods of time. We're not talking about storage, which requires checking and maintaining approx. 50% charge once every 3 months. For typical usage several days apart leave them as they are (typically 15-20%) and fully charge just hours before flight. I would not rely on self-discharge feature as it seem to fail sometimes.

 

[rmb]

It was discussed to death on all related forums and determined that keeping DJI smart batteries fully charged for longer than 2 days is not a good strategy, as well as keeping them fully discharged for longer periods of time. We're not talking about storage, which requires checking and maintaining approx. 50% charge once every 3 months. For typical usage several days apart leave them as they are (typically 15-20%) and fully charge just hours before flight. I would not rely on self-discharge feature as it seem to fail sometimes.

Thanks. So to be clear if I flew let's say every 20 days like clockwork, that it would be better putting the batteries away uncharged and then simply charge them the day before or day of the flight?

 

[The Editor]

Thanks. So to be clear if I flew let's say every 20 days like clockwork, that it would be better putting the batteries away uncharged and then simply charge them the day before or day of the flight?

Only if you want to destroy your battery packs.

Fly, charge to storage level (3.86v per cell) then store your Batts.

Perfectly fine to charge the day before you fly or the morning of flight etc ( or even top off the morning of flight) but if you leave your packs discharged for circa 3 weeks your lipo packs life will be sort lived.

As mentioned above - debated/discussed to death over the forums previously and there are numerous threads on the subject.

 

[rmb]

Only if you want to destroy your battery packs.

Fly, charge to storage level (3.86v per cell) then store your Batts.

Perfectly fine to charge the day before you fly or the morning of flight etc ( or even top off the morning of flight) but if you leave your packs discharged for circa 3 weeks your lipo packs life will be sort lived.

As mentioned above - debated/discussed to death over the forums previously and there are numerous threads on the subject.

Thank you. I guess my confusion and what I was not getting from the other posts was based on my hypothetical "flying every 20 days" scenario. I was a concern that ever 20 days I would find partially discharged batteries (90%) and that continuing to top them off the additional 10% repeatedly would make them unhappy. Also if I know that I will be flying ever 20 or 30 days year round without fail, if I would be sim to simply turn off the auto discharge option.

 

[Dobmatt]

Thanks. So to be clear if I flew let's say every 20 days like clockwork, that it would be better putting the batteries away uncharged and then simply charge them the day before or day of the flight?

In perfect scenario charge each battery to approx. 50% after flight and fully charge the day or just before the next mission.

 

[rmb]

In perfect scenario charge each battery to approx. 50% after flight and fully charge the day or just before the next mission.

Ah. Now I get it. Thanks. Takes some of us older guys a while...

 

[Dobmatt]

Ah. Now I get it. Thanks. Takes some use older guys a while...

Haha, I'm not a teenager either ...

 

[S White]

Here is my strategy for keeping my batteries as long as possible. I fly an I2, and I1 as backup. I only charge up before I need to. I have 4 sets to charge, and 2 DJI chargers with hubs. If I do not use all my juice, then I take time to fly out my batteries soon after and down to around 45-50%. I do not fly my I1 much, but at least one a month I charge up all the batteries (5) and fly them down to 45-50%. I store all the batteries at no lower than 45 deg, typically 50-60 deg temp. I have never needed to dump a battery, and never had any issues. I also fly other stuff with lipos, and am just as careful with them. Nothing is worse than to setup for a job and be grounded. Hope this helps others, I have always treated the batteries golden.

 

[rmb]

Here is my strategy for keeping my batteries as long as possible. I fly an I2, and I1 as backup. I only charge up before I need to. I have 4 sets to charge, and 2 DJI chargers with hubs. If I do not use all my juice, then I take time to fly out my batteries soon after and down to around 45-50%. I do not fly my I1 much, but at least one a month I charge up all the batteries (5) and fly them down to 45-50%. I store all the batteries at no lower than 45 deg, typically 50-60 deg temp. I have never needed to dump a battery, and never had any issues. I also fly other stuff with lipos, and am just as careful with them. Nothing is worse than to setup for a job and be grounded. Hope this helps others, I have always treated the batteries golden.

Good to know S White. Thanks for chiming in!

 

[fasterpastor]

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it but it is very bad to store any lithium polymer battery at full charge they will not last too long ideally if you could store them between 40 and 50% that’s a lot healthier for the battery. My first year I would keep all my batteries charged so I was always ready to go and I found that my batteries only lasted one season. So it is better to charge them when just before you go.

 

[Dobmatt]

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it but it is very bad to store any lithium polymer battery at full charge they will not last too long ideally if you could store them between 40 and 50% that’s a lot healthier for the battery. My first year I would keep all my batteries charged so I was always ready to go and I found that my batteries only lasted one season. So it is better to charge them when just before you go.

Too lazy to read the entire thread ???

 

[fasterpastor]

Too lazy to read the entire thread ???

Mapping warehouse roofs, gets a bit boring But I AM SUPPOSED to be watching the drone.......hope you are well.

 

[**Kyle**]

I can attest to the battery issue. I fly the I2 almost everyday but used to be more intermittent. I would charge them up when I got home and leave them charged up, sometimes for days till my next job. 4 sets of batteries are going out and 2 of which are bulging out. 2 sets charge up and when I go to fly, they read full then one drops down to zero% mid flight or sometimes both. Needless to say, I no longer use those.

If it's one thing that stresses me out the most is those **** batteries and having enough to do my jobs throughout the day. Such a big money pit when it comes to I2 batteries.