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Battery Cell Broken - Return for repair? [resolved in 45 days]
10734 37 2016-9-6
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gil
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[21 Oct 2016 - broken battery finally returned as requested]


[03 Oct 2016 - while the answer to the original question in contained in my summary of 22sep2016 below, I seem to have confounded the brains of the repair team with a simple request:  send back my battery.   Just tell me how much for the shipping.  There was no swelling, no punctures, no physical damage, just a cell with low voltage that I was assured could be "repaired"... but turns out couldn't.  So PLEASE, just send it back.  Heck, I can still use it when testing stuff indoors with no flying.


A follow up request got a sympathetic response from "Lau" who said she notified the Special Team and I would get a response in about 1 - 2 business days (that was 12 days ago)  And I waited... So then I called and spoke to "Eugene" who was also sympathetic and apparently knew of the Special Team that Lau referred to earlier and said they would be getting in touch with me.  And I waited some more (this was 6 days ago)


Iin and earlier post (#14 below) DJI-Ken said he would bring it up with management as to why I was told to send in a battery that was so obviously out of warranty and apparently they don't even repair them if they ARE in warranty -- they simply replace them.  


Well, I suppose this is an embarrasment to them and maybe that Chinese "losing face" thing might be involved.  Consequently, they seem to be employing the "if we ignore it maybe it will go away" strategy.  


Ah Grasshopper, A man who has committed a mistake, and doesn't correct it, is committing another mistake...




[ 22 Sep 2016 SUMMARY:   
[ If your battery is still within the warranty period with no physical damage send it in for replacement (6 Months and Charge Cycle less than 200 Times)
[ If your battery is NOT within the warranty period -- don't bother.  Follow safe disposal guidelines for lithium batteries, local hazerdous waste disposal, etc.


Seems I've joined the "Battery Cell Broken" club.  Ah well, figured I would just take it apart out of curiosity.  But then I took a closer look at the message and noticed it had changed from what has been posted before.  The change NOW says "...return it to factory for repairing."  
Seriously, would it be worth the time, trouble and all the shipping charges to send it in for repair?  Would I possibly even get any trade-in value for a new replacement.

Inquiring minds want to know!  Has anybody actually sent a battery back "for repairing"?





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2016-9-6
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roymoon
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Call/email them and see what options you really have.
2016-9-6
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DJI Mindy
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Hello gil, I'd suggest you send it in for evaluation.You can get in contact with the NA Support team at: support.us@dji.com, tech support will help you out.
Hopefully you'll be back in the air very soon.
2016-9-6
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gil
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DJI Mindy Posted at 2016-9-6 21:47
Hello gil, I'd suggest you send it in for evaluation.You can get in contact with the NA Support team ...

Well, I suppose it's at least worth an email to see what happens.  I've still got two other batteries so it won't keep me out of the air.  

I do find it kind of annoying that a 17 month old battery has gone bad after just 34 charges.  Heck, all three have only been charged about 34 times because I was kind of pampering them with a cool down period after flight and before charging and a regular rotation between uses.  I'll certainly be monitoring the other two more closely from now on!
2016-9-6
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gil
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So, I sent an email with, what I thought was all the pertinent information to get a simple answer to that seemingly simple question asked at the beginning of theis thread, to wit:  would it be worth the time, trouble and all the shipping charges to send an out of warranty battery in for repair?


As expected, a pretty generic "sorry 'bout your troubles, fill out this form" response.

Thank you for raising your concern here in DJI Support.

I am very sorry for the unfortunate experience that you encountered with our DJI product. May I request you to try discharge the battery and then recharge it, do it twice. If nothing happens kindly provide all the informations needed in our request form for us to process a request ticket for your battery.

First and Last Name:
Shipping Address (no PO box):
Phone number:
Name of DJI Product:
Purchase date of product:
DJI account for activation: (Only applicable for Phantom, Inspire, OSMO and Ronin MX)
Dealer name or DJI Order Number:
Brief Description of damage or technical issue:
Troubleshooting steps you have tried to fix the issue before contacting support:
Do you have DJI Care:
(If yes, please include a copy of your DJI Care proof of purchase with your RMA.)
• Proof of Purchase
• Photos of the battery, including the Serial number
• Screen shot of the battery info, from the DJI GO app
• Short video showing the charging process
• Has the battery been involved in any rough landings or crashes? If yes, please send us the DJI account (email address) you used for that flight and the specific time of that flight so we can analyze the problem.

Please do not hesitate to email us if you have any further clarifications.

Best Regards,
Florence

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)
Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after





And so it goes...
(I'll keep y'all posted)68/4


2016-9-8
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gil
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Well... I just got the invoice for the "repair" of my DJI Phantom 3 battery.  To say I am disappointed would be an understatement.  Prior to actually boxing it up and sending it in I repeatedly pointed out it was beyond it's warranty and repeatedly asked this CRITICAL question: is this battery actually repairable and more importantly, is it worth the time, trouble and all the shipping charges to send it in for repair?

I now know the answer to that question to be a solid NO!

Now I try to have this personal philosophy during certain circumstances that "it's only a bad experience if I didn't learn anything" and, as you might guess, I am having doubts as to whether or not I actually learned anything of practical value (disclaimer: this was MY experience, your level of frustration and mileage may vary ;-)

To wit:

1) The repair service doesn't read the initial emails so you will need to repeat yourself.
2) Some repair service people will overstate the capability to repair anything (at least "Florenz" and "Kino" have done so)
3) Phantom 3 batteries can NOT be repaired less expensively that simply buying a new battery.
4) I couldn't honestly criticize the repair service without actually going through the process itself.
5) $$ ??

So I told them, do NOT "repair" my battery.  Simply tell me how much it will cost to return so I can place a financial cost on item number 5 of my learning experience.

DJI Battery 'repair'.jpg
2016-9-21
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2016-9-21
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Capt. Wild Bill
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I just sent my "broken cell battery" back to DJI.
I purchased it in May, so it "should" be covered under warranty.
I assume they will mail me a new battery.

Let's hope.{:4_181:}
2016-9-21
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droneflyers.com
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Isn't the warranty only 6 months on the batteries?

Yeah - just checked.

With about 3X that period the amount of charges is really not the point. Personally I wouldn't even have contacted them. But that's me.
Basically it cost you about $3 per flight - which is not ridiculous.

Sure, ideally it would last longer but it didn't and it was far out of warranty. The good news is that the App seems to have informed you - because if it did not (some other machines have dumb batteries), you could hae crashed your machine.

I can understand complaining if something goes a few days or weeks after the warranty - but after almost 1 1/2 years I think folks are expecting too much.
IMHO, of course. If you can find a better value in a drone smart battery with a better warranty, go for it.

2016-9-21
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DJI-Ken
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droneflyers.com Posted at 2016-9-21 23:03
Isn't the warranty only 6 months on the batteries?

Yeah - just checked.

I have DJI P3 batteries almost 2yrs old with over 150 charges and they are still going strong.
2016-9-21
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DJI-Ken
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gil Posted at 2016-9-21 19:58
Well... I just got the invoice for the "repair" of my DJI Phantom 3 battery.  To say I am disappoint ...

DJI does not repair batteries, if you've had it over 1.5 years I'm not sure why they did an RMA on it.
2016-9-21
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gil
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DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-9-21 11:28
DJI does not repair batteries, if you've had it over 1.5 years I'm not sure why they did an RMA on ...

Ken, would you do me a favor?  The next time you run into "Florenz" or "Kino", kindly ask them why they told me it WAS possible (in spite of repeated questions about it being worth the time, effort and money) I'd honestly be curious as to their reasoning.
2016-9-21
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gil
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Capt. Wild Bill Posted at 2016-9-21 09:56
I just sent my "broken cell battery" back to DJI.
I purchased it in May, so it "should" be covered  ...

With it still under warranty, I would presume they will as well.  

Seeing as I've already served as the guinea pig for what happens to an out-of-warranty battery, we'll see where you end up under the bell curve of "you would think..."

2016-9-21
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DJI-Ken
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gil Posted at 2016-9-22 10:01
Ken, would you do me a favor?  The next time you run into "Florenz" or "Kino", kindly ask them why ...

I do not know who they are.
I am sorry about that and I will bring that up to management in the morning.
I'm sorry about that.
2016-9-21
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Mark97564
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It's 100% illegal to ship a lipo battery with knowledge that it's bad.. So if that battery caught fire or anything else happened and the shipping company found out the customer and DJI knew it was faulty and still mailed it you both would be involved in a shit storm......  If you Get a bad battery from hobby King or anyone else they ask for pictures with cell voltages displayed and the serial number both in the pics, then they send a replacement and tell you to properly dispose of the bad battery....  So none of you should be sending bad batteries thru any shipping company...
2016-9-21
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2016-9-21
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gil
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Mark97564 Posted at 2016-9-22 01:04
It's 100% illegal to ship a lipo battery with knowledge that it's bad.. So if that battery caught fi ...

It was simply a bad cell with low voltage -- there was no visible or actual physical damage to the battery.  

Well (can you believe I'm gonna say this?) in their defense, the shipping instruction include the admonition in bold letters: Do not ship swollen/punctured/visibly damaged batteries.

What has been chapping my hide about the whole thing is the idiotic Kafkaesque bureaucracy.  14 emails back and forth so far and, for the last two days, I've just been trying to get them to tell me how much it will cost just to ship it back unrepaired!
2016-9-22
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Mark97564
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A bad cell is a bad cell.. For all you know it could be partially shorted out and the ride of being tossed around by ups could be all it takes to short it out that little bit more that causes it to puff flame up and get the other 3 cells burning...  I would at least drain it down as low as the electronics will allow it to go, that way if something does happen it will be much much smaller than if the other 3 cells were fully charged..  Lipo with 5% power left may smoke for a few minutes to as a fully charged lipo will definitely start on fire
2016-9-22
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gil
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Mark97564 Posted at 2016-9-23 01:37
A bad cell is a bad cell.. For all you know it could be partially shorted out and the ride of being  ...

And drain it I did.  Flew it around in a circle a few times until I got the critical warning and go home.  Then to the point where the Phantom shut itself off.  Sheesh, it's hard to tell who you're criticizing, DJI for telling me to send it back or me for doing it.  

And just in case you were going to nitpick how I packed it up, would you believe I encased it with self-extinguishing expanding foam, in a hermetically sealed mil-spec ammo box equipped with a pressure relief valve and shock sensors?




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2016-9-23
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DanMan32
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Even with the intelligent batteries reading 0%, they still have 3.6V left in them according to what DJI Go says.   That's still plenty of power left in them.   The very inexpensive drones will run with them going down to close to 3V which is as low as one should ever go with LiPos without damaging them.
2017-1-10
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Gil
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DanMan32 Posted at 2017-1-10 20:29
Even with the intelligent batteries reading 0%, they still have 3.6V left in them according to what DJI Go says.   That's still plenty of power left in them.   The very inexpensive drones will run with them going down to close to 3V which is as low as one should ever go with LiPos without damaging them.

Umm... perhaps you are not aware that this particular thread pretty much died out back in September of 2016,
2017-1-12
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DanMan32
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Still useful information.
2017-1-12
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RedHotPoker
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Things can and do change over time...  Particularly Phantom 3 firmware and the Go app as well.
Don't be afraid to start a new post, whenever you feel the need with questions, concerns or just to share helpful info.. ;-)

RedHotPoker
2017-1-12
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Gil
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Ah well, I suppose it is still useful as a cautionary tale to others so as to avoid the same 45 days of frustration.

2017-1-13
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fans2d0f9651
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DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-9-21 07:28
DJI does not repair batteries, if you've had it over 1.5 years I'm not sure why they did an RMA on it.

I have just asked DJI if they can repair my out of warranty batteries suffering from 2 cells that are low and they too have asked me to send them in for evaluation, do I take it that they will not be able to repair them ??
2017-2-2
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DJI-Ken
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fans2d0f9651 Posted at 2017-2-2 03:12
I have just asked DJI if they can repair my out of warranty batteries suffering from 2 cells that are low and they too have asked me to send them in for evaluation, do I take it that they will not be able to repair them ??

Yes, at least in the US they do not repair any batteries.
How old is the battery and how many cycles does it have.
It may just be a worn out battery.
Can you post a screenshot of the battery page showing each cell voltage.
2017-2-2
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fans2d0f9651
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DJI-Ken Posted at 2017-2-2 07:11
Yes, at least in the US they do not repair any batteries.
How old is the battery and how many cycles does it have.
It may just be a worn out battery.

I have a TB48 that has only been charged 3 times, now showing a broken cell message, Battery is out of warranty, Would DJI replace this ?
2017-2-10
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fans2d0f9651
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DJI-Ken Posted at 2017-2-2 07:11
Yes, at least in the US they do not repair any batteries.
How old is the battery and how many cycles does it have.
It may just be a worn out battery.

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2017-2-10
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Biensky
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I have experienced the same problem with my Phantom 4 Pro Battery, mine just popped out after a firmware upgrade. I am not sure if its related but I can no longer use it now and the battery looks okay on the outside, not sure in the inside for I have not opened it..
2017-11-28
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Biensky
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Biensky Posted at 2017-11-28 20:56
I have experienced the same problem with my Phantom 4 Pro Battery, mine just popped out after a firmware upgrade. I am not sure if its related but I can no longer use it now and the battery looks okay on the outside, not sure in the inside for I have not opened it..

I also checked the voltage on the app, one cell seems to be not balanced with the others so I am sure which way to go for it's only been charged not over 35 times..
2017-11-28
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DJI Diana
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Biensky Posted at 2017-11-28 20:59
I also checked the voltage on the app, one cell seems to be not balanced with the others so I am sure which way to go for it's only been charged not over 35 times..

Have you tried to discharge it to less than 5%, then fully charge it again. You can also try to use the DJI Assistant 2 to refresh the firmware of the drone with this battery inserted, see if it works.
2017-11-28
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Biensky
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DJI Diana Posted at 2017-11-28 22:16
Have you tried to discharge it to less than 5%, then fully charge it again. You can also try to use the DJI Assistant 2 to refresh the firmware of the drone with this battery inserted, see if it works.

Yes, I tried both.  
2017-11-28
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Biensky
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Hi Diana,

I already tried both.
2017-11-28
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DJI Diana
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Biensky Posted at 2017-11-28 22:26
Hi Diana,

I already tried both.

If it persists, I would recommend you send the battery in for diagnosis if the batter is still in warranty period. The warranty period of the battery is 6 Months and Charge Cycle less than 200 Times.
2017-11-29
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Biensky
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DJI Diana Posted at 2017-11-29 00:46
If it persists, I would recommend you send the battery in for diagnosis if the batter is still in warranty period. The warranty period of the battery is 6 Months and Charge Cycle less than 200 Times.

Hi Diana,

The battery has only been charged 30 times and I am sure that its still within the 6 months period. What steps should I do next. I am in the Philippines and I was informed by the dealer to contact DJI. Do you have a physical store that I can bring it to?
2017-11-29
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Biensky
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Biensky Posted at 2017-11-29 01:02
Hi Diana,

The battery has only been charged 30 times and I am sure that its still within the 6 months period. What steps should I do next. I am in the Philippines and I was informed by the dealer to contact DJI. Do you have a physical store that I can bring it to?

Battery Serial Number is 0DQADAM03100B5
2017-11-29
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DJI Diana
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Biensky Posted at 2017-11-29 01:02
Hi Diana,

The battery has only been charged 30 times and I am sure that its still within the 6 months period. What steps should I do next. I am in the Philippines and I was informed by the dealer to contact DJI. Do you have a physical store that I can bring it to?

Please send an email with the details to support@dji.com, the support will start a case for you. They'll tell you what you should do to claim warranty service.
2017-11-29
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hello, I am from Indonesia, I would like to ask if I want to buy the DJI Spark Battery Cell Part where I really need this information give me a link to buy
2020-11-16
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