I bought a spare battery for my Mavic in November.  I haven't flown much due to weather but the last two flights I've been getting a battery error with this battery.  It has been charged 4, now 5 times.  Today I tried discharging the battery to about 8% then doing a full charge and the problem remains.  Voltages at full charge are 4.20, 4.36, 4.33.

Is there any way I can recondition this battery or should I just figure on contacting customer support?

Thanks!

Looks like your cells are unbalanced. You should discharge your drone completely and charge it back to 100%. You can get the battery percentage lower than 10% by fighting the "critical battery landing" and you should be able to discharge to about 5 or 6%.

Lipo cells will be damaged if you discharge below 10%. It will shorten life of battery significantly. Just put battwry in drone, switch on just the battery and leave it to discharge gently in the drone. Controller is not needed. Drone will just make fan noises.
When drone switches off, and after battery is cool again, recharge.

It is unsafe to use this battery for flying. There is an adaptor that will allow its use as a power bank. Keep phone fully charged with it, when going out to fly.

The battery is 4 months old and has only been charged 5 times.  I'll see if DJI will replace it.  If not guess I'll look for one of those adapters.

Thanks!

AlansDronePics Posted at 2018-2-5 02:21
Lipo cells will be damaged if you discharge below 10%. It will shorten life of battery significantly. Just put battwry in drone, switch on just the battery and leave it to discharge gently in the drone. Controller is not needed. Drone will just make fan noises.
When drone switches off, and after battery is cool again, recharge.

THIS IS WRONG!! UNBALANCED BATTERIES NEED TO BE DISCHARGED TO 6% AND THEY WILL WORK AGAIN!! STOP SPREADING LIES!!

OP, DO NOT TRASH YOUR BATTERY! DO JUST AS I SAID AND IT COULD WORK AGAIN

MiniPalourde Posted at 2018-2-5 07:55
THIS IS WRONG!! UNBALANCED BATTERIES NEED TO BE DISCHARGED TO 6% AND THEY WILL WORK AGAIN!! STOP SPREADING LIES!!

OP, DO NOT TRASH YOUR BATTERY! DO JUST AS I SAID AND IT COULD WORK AGAIN

I tried that yesterday.  I got the battery down to about 8%.  It did not fix the problem.  I'll see if I can get it discharged lower today.

I have no intention of trashing the battery.  If it can't be fixed or replaced by DJI I will get an adapter and use it for a battery pack.
Thanks!

cb4017 Posted at 2018-2-5 08:22
I tried that yesterday.  I got the battery down to about 8%.  It did not fix the problem.  I'll see if I can get it discharged lower today.

I have no intention of trashing the battery.  If it can't be fixed or replaced by DJI I will get an adapter and use it for a battery pack.

8% is NOT low enough, try it again, when it gets down to 10% it will try to land, keep giving it up stick on the throttle until the battery reaches 3% then land.. you must get below 5% for the battery to “reset” it will NOT hurt your battery,with lipo battery’s even at 3% there is still over 3 volts in each cell. It’s not 3% from zero.....

batteries have a 6 months warenttee so if you can't get it reset i am sure dji will replace it for you.

R&L Aerial photography Posted at 2018-2-5 08:31
8% is NOT low enough, try it again, when it gets down to 10% it will try to land, keep giving it up stick on the throttle until the battery reaches 3% then land.. you must get below 5% for the battery to “reset” it will NOT hurt your battery,with lipo battery’s even at 3% there is still over 3 volts in each cell. It’s not 3% from zero.....

I'll try it again today.

AlansDronePics Posted at 2018-2-5 02:21
Lipo cells will be damaged if you discharge below 10%. It will shorten life of battery significantly. Just put battwry in drone, switch on just the battery and leave it to discharge gently in the drone. Controller is not needed. Drone will just make fan noises.
When drone switches off, and after battery is cool again, recharge.

Well said and totally correct advice.

MiniPalourde Posted at 2018-2-5 07:55
THIS IS WRONG!! UNBALANCED BATTERIES NEED TO BE DISCHARGED TO 6% AND THEY WILL WORK AGAIN!! STOP SPREADING LIES!!

OP, DO NOT TRASH YOUR BATTERY! DO JUST AS I SAID AND IT COULD WORK AGAIN

The OP needs to see what lipo battery manufacturers and qualified experts say about over discharging such cells.
My reference to 10% and other posters lower % figures are not strictly helpful in the quest for the maximum safe discharge value, cell voltage is.
The DJI circuitry inside the battery and  the point the battery will stop working in the drone, in a safe manner, is the key factor in preventing over discharge.
The 10% value the drone recognises will be a safe value for you to work with. The lower values others have suggested, take the battery closer to, if not into the point of damage.
When the battery is charged, each cell voltage is measured and the charge current for that cell is adjusted by the battery circuitry. It is more likely than not, a defect in the cell has triggered the problem, leading to unbalanced voltages.
It is not impossible for the cells to rebalance after a number of gentle discharge and normal charge cycles. I personally would not risk flying the drone with this battery, but it is the users decision.
Far better to send the battery back to where you bought the drone and press for replacement, if the battery is still within warranty.  6 months I believe, but I am working from memory on that point.
If you cannot get a replacement, using the battery as a power bank is a good safe use. You probably know that the phone is charged by the controller (unless you have disabled that function)  I always use a power bank to ensure the phone is fully charged before flying, because I tend to use up to 6 drone batteries per flight session.  

AlansDronePics Posted at 2018-2-5 10:37
The OP needs to see what lipo battery manufacturers and qualified experts say about over discharging such cells.
My reference to 10% and other posters lower % figures are not strictly helpful in the quest for the maximum safe discharge value, cell voltage is.
The DJI circuitry inside the battery and  the point the battery will stop working in the drone, in a safe manner, is the key factor in preventing over discharge.

The reason that we want to discharge the battery so low is that it resets at a certain percentage (around 5%). Unbalanced batteries are common and a lot of users have done this reset in the past- OP has nothing to worry about

I understand your concerns and sorry if I sounded harsh in my reply

Luckily I don't have to mess with it.  I sent DJI Customer Service an email today.  Looks like they will replace the battery.  Waiting on a return label now.

cb4017 Posted at 2018-2-5 21:21
Luckily I don't have to mess with it.  I sent DJI Customer Service an email today.  Looks like they will replace the battery.  Waiting on a return label now.

Since you had tried to do the battery recharging cycle but the issue persists, you might need to send the battery in if you purchased the battery from the authorized channel. Since you are waiting for the shipping lable, hope things will be sorted out soon.