After a year and a half of flawless operation, a few weeks ago I finally had the dreaded Broken Cell Error.
I have three sets of TB50's, A,B and C labeled.
A set probably had about 38 cycles, B set about 18 cycles and the C around 5 cycles.
A and C sets exhibited the error.
I purchased a Phantom Angel battery Dis-charger and tried cycling them a few times.
The voltage differential got a lot smaller, but not enough to clear the error.
Perhaps if I tried a few more discharge/charge cycles it would have decreased to the point it became acceptable.
I reluctantly updated the firmware and the A set no longer had an error.
The C set showed a lower lever of charge on one pack, but would not take any more charge from the hub.
Using the Phantom Angel, I dis-charged that pack to the storage level and put it back on the charge hub, bringing it up to full chooch.
C set and now working fine with no error.
Just wanted to share my experience with correcting this error and let others know the Phantom Angel is a good tool to add to your toolbox.
Eddie
Ed, you're fortunate. I have 40+ DJI batteries for
Inspire 2, M600 and Mavic 2 Pro aircraft. Recently, ALL 8 of my
Inspire 2 TB50 batteries swelled to the point they will hardy insert into the DjI Battery Station or the aircraft. None of the remaining 32+ batteries are having this issue.
Good Information on both issues... thanks for the info share.
I personally wasn't aware there was a "swelling issue" with the TB50 (TB55?). This was a TB50 issue only correct, you site the other platforms but assume no swelling issues with Mavic or TB48. For all 8 TB50 to swell, that's interesting and unfortunate. Were they all purchased same time period... as in same production lot?
Speaking of swelling and Mavic series...with the full hard case enclosed, has any one had a swelling Mavic series battery? Does the case swell out preventing inserting into bay or does the case contain the swell and the battery just begins to behave poorly on performance & charge?
On the "Broken Cell" error, what FW were you maintaining on the
I2 & batteries.
My "recall" and I may be incorrect; the "Battery Error" was created during the 3 attempts of FW versions during the "supposedly" Battery Failure problem stimulated as a result of 1 UK Tactical unit. I thought the 1st "rushed" FW update to counter the main focus was the FW that initiated and created several battery error issues and 2 versions later corrected the problem. I recall holding off on FW updates during this period, and then later applied a FW past this series of opps & corrections.
Don't recall now where in FW versions: I had 1 of my 16 TB50 (
I2 & M210 versions) fail and refuse to accept a charge. I tried a manual "wired" discharge without success, and when I thought it was a "trashed battery", began a process to open and see if I could manually perform a low voltage Balance Charge like can be performed on TB47-48 series to recover & refresh failures. Realizing this wasn't practical and before it lost all charge, I tried a FW update... and it corrected the battery, providing a correctly performing battery that has since been used & cycled 4-5 times.
The "Phantom Angel" device is a great device to discharge, especially if a busy shop for maintenance. Any method to slowly draw the LiPo down is helpful for healthy battery cycling... although I think it's design is to obtain "storage" level, not lower limit for deeper recycling. (Edit- looked it up, and it does perform both storage & deep cycle)
With the DJI batteries being so-called "smart", taking them below the LiPo (LiHV) danger lower limit of 3.0v would be difficult, I believe the cutoff in circuitry is 3.1~3.2v, so by design the smart battery circuit will prevent damage discharge. This doesn't include levels "dipped during load" draws, so still need to land and reduce loads prior to lower voltage limits. Keep in mind, the reported "0 %" on Smart batteries is not zero, it's 0% to the programmed "smart" discharge level of apx. 3.2v, above the LiPo chemical damage voltage 3.0v.
When time allows, about every 3-5 cycles, I'll land and spin motors as a minimal load and take them down to 5-3%, then turn off motors and let it electronically run until 2-1% as no-load. Then place in stack to cool & recharge to 2 LED storage or Full Charge... when fully cooled. A more important policy is to never charge Hot or Warm LiPo batteries, that's the purpose of multiple sets. Charging LiPo gel when warm is probably more damaging than running battery down to lower percentages under load. The "Smart" circuitry includes a temp probe between the gel bags, and will prevent a "Hot" charge and will limit and reduce current loads when hot-warm... you may notice a charge on a busy day takes longer than normal due to charging hot-warm batteries in a rush.
The "Smart" batteries removes a lot of LiPo attention compared to traditional LiPo paks. But a little cycle maintenance still has benefit in LiPo health.