I have three batteries and try to keep them charged so I can fly when conditions are good. I am thinking this is not the best way to keep them ready to fly. Anyone have any tips in doing such.  I have a three baterry charger and typically fly and use two batteries twice a week on average. Sometimes more, and sometime less. Is putting them in the fridge in ziplocks a good idea when charged? BTW, all is great with my P4P which I have not upgraded firmware in 6 months and use a Nvidia K1 rolled back to 6.0 and have full google maps with NO issues at all.  Thanks in advance and always learn a bunch on this board.

It is best to charge the batteries shortly before you will use them and store them discharged. They will self discharge after a set period anyway. No need to keep them in the fridge.

Aloha journey,

     What you are doing is the same basic approach I am using.  Probably not a good idea to put the batteries in the fridge though, as Caban says.  If you decided to fly and the battery is in the fridge, you would have to wait until the temperature stabilizes to fly.  

     As DB notes, you can set the auto-discharge period.  I have mine maxed out to 10 days.  My HC batteries are always ready to fly at a moments notice.  But sometimes I do not fly for a week or so because of wind or rain or a hurricane or a visiting president or who knows what-all!

     BTW, what is your rationale for your system not being the best way to keep them ready to fly?  I like your system and I fly three batteries to.

Aloha and Drone On!

I need to charge my four flight packs, for a nice exscursion, this week. Yeah, if it stops raining long enough. Haha


We used to deep cycle our flight packs after every 20 full charges, then DJI suggested after every ten full charges...


I will, buy one of these units when the price drops...
https://smartpowercharge.com/proddetail.php?prod=SPCP3



RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-7-20 20:55
I need to charge my four flight packs, for a nice exscursion, this week. Yeah, if it stops raining long enough. Haha

Yes the P4 p one is 500 is that in  dollars?

Is it really important to deep cycle the batteries and is the smart charge the best option given the cost!

Woodwanger Posted at 2017-7-20 22:39
Yes the P4 p one is 500 is that in  dollars?

Is it really important to deep cycle the batteries and is the smart charge the best option given the cost!

'Is it really important to deep cycle the batteries and is the smart charge the best option given the cost!'

You really don't need to 'deep-cycle' the batteries, the normal operation is just fine. The problem with deep-cycling the batteries is that few people have the equipmewnt to do it properly, and if you get it wrong, you have the potential to ruin the battery.
And the batteries themselves determine how they are charged, not the charger, it is nothing more than a power supply.

Woodwanger Posted at 2017-7-20 22:39
Yes the P4 p one is 500 is that in  dollars?

Is it really important to deep cycle the batteries and is the smart charge the best option given the cost!

Is deep cycling the intelligent flight packs, important enough, to drain them down to around 8% capacity every ten full charges?  
This action has been a topic of discussion with some who do, and others in disagreement, within the drone forums, for ever. ;-)
I continue to do all 4 flight packs of mine, but not sure if it will help extend their ultimate life/longevity, or not. I will leave it up to you, to decide for your packs.


Yes those high listed prices are in American dollars.  Which means they cost even more if shopping from here in Canada. Were it not for the price tag, I would have bought one of those awesome chargers, already. I still hope to, Someday...
You can run them down in several ways. One easy way is to fly with them to a low voltage, then let the drone continue to run, on the ground, until they are drained down.Another easy method of draining the flight packs, would be to utilize your onboard flight SIM, as the drone must be left on for that too.

Some say nay, and never bother to deep cycle their intelligent flight packs. I wish there was a definitive intelligent battery guide that would put thee argument to rest..


RedHotPoker

Very cold temps and very hot temps are not good for your battery. If you fly in cold weather, you can easily tell the difference. If you fly in extremely cold weather, you'll be stunned how much flying time is reduced.

If the battery gets really hot, it also degrades performance. In routine weather, the motors and the battery often get somewhat warm - here in central Florida that translates to somewhat hot!

There are lots of reports here and elsewhere of people putting their Phantom in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before calibrating the IMU - that is apparently beneficial, but belongs in another thread.

At a minimum, your battery will get warm after flying for 15 - 20 minutes (flight times vary depending on wind, fast flying, etc.). Don't put a hot/warm battery on the charger. Let it cool off before you attempt to recharge it.  My personal experience has been that if the battery is pretty warm, the charger will not start charging. Once the battery cools off somewhat, the charger will function normally.

Not a true battery expert, but I seriously doubt that storing fully-charged batteries in your refrigerator will help hold the charge. (Your camera batteries won't like being cold either!)

Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

The fridge is only a good idea if they will be in there for several weeks.  When they come out they need at least an hour to warm up inside the air tight bag/box before you can charge them.  

Ideally you store them at around 50% charge and charge them to full just before use, doing this is the only thing that will make a big difference to their life, but if you are using them more than once a week it is probably not very practical.

Deep discharge, down to 8% is only needed if they go out of balance - if the cell voltages do not match, or you get an unexpected low voltage critical landing.

If you only ever use them down to 50% then taking them down to 10% once a month may help keep the % figure accurate.

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-7-21 01:22
Is deep cycling the intelligent flight packs, important enough, to drain them down to around 8% capacity every ten full charges?  
This action has been a topic of discussion with some who do, and others in disagreement, within the drone forums, for ever. ;-)
I continue to do all 4 flight packs of mine, but not sure if it will help extend their ultimate life/longevity, or not. I will leave it up to you, to decide for your packs.

I have deep cycled mine once every few months.  Does it help?  Not sure.  I have over 400 flights, with an average of 19 minutes of flight on three batteries.  I have not noticed any deterioration in performance or flight time since the batteries were new.  I have set the auto discharge to 3 days, and often top up if I don't get out to fly within that time.  In winter, I set the discharge to 1 day, and recharge every 2 months.  They are tough !  This is the first time I have heard of storing the batteries in the fridge.  The auto discharge takes the battery to an equilibrium (approx. 50-60%) for room temperature, so, why the fridge?

Geebax Posted at 2017-7-20 22:44
'Is it really important to deep cycle the batteries and is the smart charge the best option given the cost!'

You really don't need to 'deep-cycle' the batteries, the normal operation is just fine. The problem with deep-cycling the batteries is that few people have the equipmewnt to do it properly, and if you get it wrong, you have the potential to ruin the battery.

Thanks for the update and saving me blowing a few quid ;-)

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-7-21 01:22
Is deep cycling the intelligent flight packs, important enough, to drain them down to around 8% capacity every ten full charges?  
This action has been a topic of discussion with some who do, and others in disagreement, within the drone forums, for ever. ;-)
I continue to do all 4 flight packs of mine, but not sure if it will help extend their ultimate life/longevity, or not. I will leave it up to you, to decide for your packs.

Very well explained thank you and you both have made my mind up,
$500 is better spent on a crystalsky for my Mavic ;-)

Interesting reading: http://batteryuniversity.com/lea ... ium_based_batteries  It also suits my old age knowledge.   

Regards Leif.

Cetacean Posted at 2017-7-20 19:26
Aloha journey,

     What you are doing is the same basic approach I am using.  Probably not a good idea to put the batteries in the fridge though, as Caban says.  If you decided to fly and the battery is in the fridge, you would have to wait until the temperature stabilizes to fly.  

Let me clarify something about chargers. Batteries catching fire or even exploding is due to people using a third party charger. For your DJI batteries use a DJI charger which is 100% compatible (not getting paid to say that!!).  Third partys dont have the exact current and voltage pushing throught the battery which can result in overheating .

coco60 Posted at 2017-7-21 10:26
Let me clarify something about chargers. Batteries catching fire or even exploding is due to people using a third party charger. For your DJI batteries use a DJI charger which is 100% compatible (not getting paid to say that!!).  Third partys dont have the exact current and voltage pushing throught the battery which can result in overheating .

The DJI 'charger' is not a charger. All the regulation and control over the charging process is in the battery itself. the 'charger' is simply a power supply, and as such, there are many power supplies out there that can do an equivalent job. All they need to provide is 17.5 volts DC at 5 amps or better.