Looks like winters almost here and am wondering what steps should be takened for storing my drone for the winter? Concerned about the batteries and how to store them so they can be used next spring and be ready to go without having to replace them. Suggestions?

Daryl

First .... Just wipe down AC and if you have the original shipping box .. or a carry case ... put it in there to avoid knocks and scrapes. If you have any Silica Gel packets ... you could put one or two in the box to avoid moisture damage.
Put aside in a warm but dry area in the house.

The RC and batterys for me are a different matter as they have LiPo batterys that unless you care for, will not repay your lack of care with kindness !

Normally I do not advise charging up batterys for storage - because they will be charged up relatively short time later to fly. But if you are looking at long term storage such as whole winter - then a slight change to strategy is my view.

Flight batterys - lets assume you have set the auto discharge time to 2 ..3 .. 4 days or whatever ... Keep that in mind.
Choose a location that is safe but easily accessible to stand the batterys while not used. Somewhere for me - that I see them during routine day !
Once that last flight is made - then charge them fully. Yes fully. Stand in that location and let the auto discharge work.
Once the days have passed and auto discharge kicks in - it then takes 48 - 72hrs to reach 60 - 65% charge.  Once there discharge continues but slower.
I would leave the batterys for maybe a week or possibly two longer and then check the condition. Make sure green LED's are still showing correct sequence ...
When it gets down to 1 - 1.5 LED's ... I would top-up charge to restart the cycle.
For me - that would mean charging batterys approximately once a month.

When I charge the batterys - I would also charge the RC ...
The RC battery although LiPo is not high power demand in use and can survive being charged much better than flight packs.

Why ? The one thing we do not want is to enter Hibernation mode - this is where the battery pack shuts down and needs to be woken up. Judging by odd posts in various forums - some people have had batterys not wake up. So lets avoid it shall we ? If we keep the batterys relatively active - we then know what we have next spring - good batterys. The number of charges are few and would not impact on their life cycles.

OK ... last item : Why would anyone stop  flying in winter ? Some of the best flights / videos are winter scenes and I fly mine in -10C and lower temps without problem. I don't stop flying all sorts of models just because of winter or snow.
A car matt or heavy carpet provides a take-off / landing pad on snow ...

I'm sure that others have their ways to store for winter - I just provided my view on it and what I would do if I didn't also fly in winter.

Nigel

I would be sure they're charged just above 50% (two lamps on, third lamp blinking).  I would keep them out where I can see them and check them, or otherwise I'd be sure to get them out and check them every two weeks or so.  If you see the third lamp isn't blinking, charge for six minutes.  

I see Mark and I agree generally - but according to accepted LiPo info - it is not necessary to maintain at 50+% level.

Accepted storage level of LiPo is anywhere from 30 - 50% .... and many sources advise that its better in the lower range.

It is my view that DJI selected the upper level to reduce users charge time when wanting to fly.

Honest - as long as battery is alive and showing 30 up to 50% ... its fine.

Nigel

One important item .... Do Not keep pressing buttons every few days !

Pressing button on the battery resets the count-down to auto-discharge.

Nigel

Haha - yes, opinions vary.  Even DJI's opinion varies.  The battery documents for the older DJI ACs say 30-50%  The battery documents for the newer DJI ACs say 40-65%.  The battery doc for the DJI P3 Adv/Pro AC says 40-65%.  

Me?  I'm getting a headache.   

solentlife - you have the floor...

I just defer to the manufacturers and such as Battery University ....

Nothing about upmanship or having the floor ... just passing on info.

As you show - the 50% bit is highly debatable.

And why DJI would change numbers when LiPo's are LiPo's ...... whether one cell or 10 ... of HV

Nigel

in florida enough said

Best advice......https://forum.dji.com/thread-119436-1-3.html    Post # 3, by Geebax

solentlife Posted at 2017-11-14 11:09... As you show - the 50% bit is highly debatable. ...

Yes, 50% is certainly debatable.  Not just debatable, but highly debatable.   After all, it's within acceptable range for every DJI Phantom ever made, so why wouldn't it be highly debatable?

This is the month of November.  But that's also highly debatable.  There may be somebody on the Mayan calendar.  Maybe the Mayans are right?  Somebody should start a new thread on this alarming situation.  

As always, I suggest to refer the battery guidelines. If there is any issue within the warranty period, please contact us for further assistance.

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/p ... _User_Manual_en.pdf

ALABAMA Posted at 2017-11-14 12:38
Best advice......https://forum.dji.com/thread-119436-1-3.html    Post # 3, by Geebax

Agreed ... as I posted earlier - better than letting them go to hibernation mode.

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-11-14 13:08
Yes, 50% is certainly debatable.  Not just debatable, but highly debatable.   After all, it's within acceptable range for every DJI Phantom ever made, so why wouldn't it be highly debatable?

This is the month of November.  But that's also highly debatable.  There may be somebody on the Mayan calendar.  Maybe the Mayans are right?  Somebody should start a new thread on this alarming situation.

Please stop being silly. No need for playground mentality.

thanks for the infp. I don't think I have warranty on it  anymore  due to crash. pilot error so I don't think warranty good anymore lol drones 3 months old.