So I am a new pilot and have about 10 hours on the sticks. On 1/7 I was flying on a beautiful winter day and lost my I1 in the sun. Thinking I was higher than I was and flying away from the sun I clipped a branch and my bird fell about 80 feet and landed in some grass. It suffered a broken arm and some other damage. I sent it to DJI on the 18th for repair and after paying $350 should be getting it back next week. I'm very excited to get back on the sticks a little poorer and hopefully wiser. My question is should I use the battery that was in the bird when it crashed? It seems to be completely intact. No swelling and it auto-discharged to 60% as I should. I just have always read how volatile these batteries can be. It is a TB48. What do you all say?
Is it safe to use a battery after a crash
- Thread starter Busted_Dingo
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Here are the considerations from my perspective:
In general, we go by the rule of a dropped lipo is a dead lipo. We have sold a lot of the Tattu brand batteries over the years and until the recent "smart" version of their batteries were released, the flight batteries never had any protection to them. The new ones have their corners and edges protected - much better for velcro strap tightening and being handled in general. DJI batteries are enclosed with some protection for the cells as well. This lowers the risk of having any minor cell damage from the fall...but because they are smart batteries with little circuit boards in them you have the risk of a hairline crack to the board or some other non lipo cell damage that might show up right now - or maybe later when the copter is vibrating a little or fighting some wind.
I know its not an easy thing to look at a battery that appears normal and functional and decide to make it a $200 paperweight; but having had a recent crash you also know thats a terrible feeling as well - especially if you put your newly repaired copter up in the air with the battery from the crash and something happens. If that were to happen you would probably ask yourself the question "Why did I do that?".
So those are some of the things to consider. Fly safe.
In general, we go by the rule of a dropped lipo is a dead lipo. We have sold a lot of the Tattu brand batteries over the years and until the recent "smart" version of their batteries were released, the flight batteries never had any protection to them. The new ones have their corners and edges protected - much better for velcro strap tightening and being handled in general. DJI batteries are enclosed with some protection for the cells as well. This lowers the risk of having any minor cell damage from the fall...but because they are smart batteries with little circuit boards in them you have the risk of a hairline crack to the board or some other non lipo cell damage that might show up right now - or maybe later when the copter is vibrating a little or fighting some wind.
I know its not an easy thing to look at a battery that appears normal and functional and decide to make it a $200 paperweight; but having had a recent crash you also know thats a terrible feeling as well - especially if you put your newly repaired copter up in the air with the battery from the crash and something happens. If that were to happen you would probably ask yourself the question "Why did I do that?".
So those are some of the things to consider. Fly safe.
Thanks for the advice. I think I may call that battery a loss. It's definitely not worth the risk of losing the whole bird over the cost of a tb48. Means less time in the air for me because that leaves me with only 2 batteries but that's better than another crash, or worse...
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"but that's better than another crash, or worse..."
Excellent rule to live by. I had a crash and even though the battery looked good, it is 86d from my lineup. Not worth taking a chance...
So here is another question. Now that I have ruled out using that battery in my bird, what do you all think about using it as a backup power source for a charging device? Do you think there is significant risk in continuing to charge the battery? Or should I just call it a total loss?
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