Self-Discharge Process - How Long & How to Stop It?

[Fink]

I have six TB48 batteries that I purchased along with my Inspire 1 Pro X5, and then the TB47 battery that came with the Inspire itself.

I charged all six of the TB48 batteries last week expecting to go on a couple of shoots this past weekend and this week; however, those shoots had to be canceled due to weather and other project delays and now it looks as though I won't be flying for a few days due to more weather moving in. The batteries have begun the self-discharge process (which I have set to begin at 10 days).

It's looking like I will be able to fly this coming weekend; however, I'm nervous to do much with these batteries until they have completed their self-discharge process and I am able to recharge them myself.

Has anybody tried stopping the self-discharging process, topping them off (depending no how far into the process they are) and using them? If so, how did you do it and how did it work out?

I truly wish the Inspire Battery Hub had the option to do a full discharge/recharge and a storage charge - that'd be incredibly useful and would likely help us keep these batteries as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

I'm open to all thoughts and suggestions. As of right now, I'm inclined to let all of the batteries sit until Saturday or so and then do a full recharge on them - it's looking like I'll be flying early this coming Sunday.

Cheers.

 

[msinger]

If you press the battery button, the 10-day period will be reset. It will also stop the discharge process if it has started.

 

[Fink]

If you press the battery button, the 10-day period will be reset. It will also stop the discharge process if it has started.

Thanks for the quick reply! So just a single press of the button as if I am checking the charge on it will stop the process? Or do I have to do a power-on of the battery itself? I hope it's not just a single press. I was kind of liking the idea of them discharging themselves and I've already pressed the button once on all of them.

 

[The Editor]

I have six TB48 batteries that I purchased along with my Inspire 1 Pro X5, and then the TB47 battery that came with the Inspire itself.

I charged all six of the TB48 batteries last week expecting to go on a couple of shoots this past weekend and this week; however, those shoots had to be canceled due to weather and other project delays and now it looks as though I won't be flying for a few days due to more weather moving in. The batteries have begun the self-discharge process (which I have set to begin at 10 days).

It's looking like I will be able to fly this coming weekend; however, I'm nervous to do much with these batteries until they have completed their self-discharge process and I am able to recharge them myself.

Has anybody tried stopping the self-discharging process, topping them off (depending no how far into the process they are) and using them? If so, how did you do it and how did it work out?

I truly wish the Inspire Battery Hub had the option to do a full discharge/recharge and a storage charge - that'd be incredibly useful and would likely help us keep these batteries as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

I'm open to all thoughts and suggestions. As of right now, I'm inclined to let all of the batteries sit until Saturday or so and then do a full recharge on them - it's looking like I'll be flying early this coming Sunday.

Cheers.

The self discharge process will START after the delay period you have set in the DJI Go app - Anything from 1-10 days.
If, after the process has started you press the button on the battery it will start the timer back to zero again. So if for example you had set the discharge to start after 2 days and on the third day you pressed the button on the battery you pack would have been one day into the discharge mode but you would have just reset it so another 2 days would need to pass before it begins again.
You do not need to cancel or do anything if you wish to fly - The discharge will stop at circa 50% (3.85v per cell) and sit there.
You can just grab the battery at anytime, charge it up and fly. By charging you automatically stop the discharge process.

 

[Fink]

The self discharge process will START after the delay period you have set in the DJI Go app - Anything from 1-10 days.
If, after the process has started you press the button on the battery it will start the timer back to zero again. So if for example you had set the discharge to start after 2 days and on the third day you pressed the button on the battery you pack would have been one day into the discharge mode but you would have just reset it so another 2 days would need to pass before it begins again.
You do not need to cancel or do anything if you wish to fly - The discharge will stop at circa 50% (3.85v per cell) and sit there.
You can just grab the battery at anytime, charge it up and fly. By charging you automatically stop the discharge process.

Thanks for the information. So it's just a single press of the battery button that stops the process?

The only reason I wanted them to discharge themselves is I prefer to not charge from anything over 60-70%. I prefer LiPos to get exercise before I put more voltage into them. Just one of my things.

Again, thanks for the info.

 

[The Editor]

Thanks for the information. So it's just a single press of the battery button that stops the process?

The only reason I wanted them to discharge themselves is I prefer to not charge from anything over 60-70%. I prefer LiPos to get exercise before I put more voltage into them. Just one of my things.

Again, thanks for the info.

It doesn't STOP the process - it just restart the timer from zero again (but in the interim it stops it yes)

 

[Fink]

It doesn't STOP the process - it just restart the timer from zero again (but in the interim it stops it yes)

Understood. That's what I meant.

I appreciate the quick responses.

 

[Patrick Leschinski]

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to clear something up for anyone reading this in the future.

You don't need to let lithium batteries discharge before you charge them again. This misconception is left over from the days of old nickel-cadmium batteries, which needed to be fully flattened before they were charged again, or you would lose some of the capacity permanently.

This is not a feature of LiPo, Li-ion or LiFe batteries. They can be fully charged, discharged 10% then charged again with no adverse effects.

In fact, given that a LiPo's life is measured in 'charge cycles', its actually healthier not to unnecessarily discharge them. A full 'charge cycle' is when a LiPo releases the amount of current equivalent to its capacity, regardless of what happened in between. So you could full discharge a LiPo once, or discharge it by 20% then recharge, then discharge to 20% 5 times, and it would have the same effect on the battery.

What does damage LiPos is keeping them either side of 3.85V per cell, or roughly 50% charge for extended periods. This can be either above or below 3.85V - they're both bad. So the self-discharge is good if you're not using your batteries for weeks at a time. The batteries discharge to what we call 'storage charge'.

If you are going to use your batteries, though, then there's no problem taking them away from storage voltage, and you don't need to let them go down to any particular level before charging them back up.