I have the habit of "prepping" my 4-day-old MA at my desk prior to flight, thereby bringing the battery level down to around 90 percent.  

Wanting to fly with a full 100 percent, I will usually put it on the charger and bring it back up to 100 prior to going out the door to fly.

Is a bad habit to get into for this type of battery?  TIA

I am not sure what kind of "prepping" you need at your desk before each flight. I'd rather do the "prepping" in the field with pre flight check for good GPS link, home point recording, avoiding interferences etc. But since the MA has a new type of battery, I honestly do not know if your habit can have negative impact.

I wouldn't keep charging it from a 90% point, just go out and fly it down to 25-30% then charge it up after cooling it down. LiPo's can be a finicky bunch. They don't retain a memory and they don't like being fully charged all the time, I discharge my batteries every 20 charges down to 8% (not while flying) then fully charge them, and refrain from charging run down batteries until the day before I fly them.

Wachtberger Posted at 2018-3-1 10:42
I am not sure what kind of "prepping" you need at your desk before each flight. I'd rather do the "prepping" in the field with pre flight check for good GPS link, home point recording, avoiding interferences etc. But since the MA has a new type of battery, I honestly do not know if your habit can have negative impact.

Oh, believe me, there's a whole lot of prepping to do before jumping right into a field situation for a brand new drone flyer -- between acclimatization, developing a small degree of muscle memory for controls to use in an emergency situation, firmware updates, clearing drive space for pics/vid and the many, many personal/safety settings, I'm sure I've taken it well below 90 a few times.  

I'm sure after you've been droning for a while, it seems unimaginable.

Thank you sir for your response, I appreciate any dialog and all help.

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-1 10:44
I wouldn't keep charging it from a 90% point, just go out and fly it down to 25-30% then charge it up after cooling it down. LiPo's can be a finicky bunch. They don't retain a memory and they don't like being fully charged all the time, I discharge my batteries every 20 charges down to 8% (not while flying) then fully charge them, and refrain from charging run down batteries until the day before I fly them.

Good advise, thank you very much.

I have seen a number of posts for various aircraft that when the battery has not been fully charged it has suddenly lost power causing the aircraft to land. While you think you have 90% capacity you may have a lot less. I always fully charge my batteries if left for a week the night before flying., especially if it is cold. We all make our choices ;-)

Mullheliflier Posted at 2018-3-1 11:55
I have seen a number of posts for various aircraft that when the battery has not been fully charged it has suddenly lost power causing the aircraft to land. While you think you have 90% capacity you may have a lot less. I always fully charge my batteries if left for a week the night before flying., especially if it is cold. We all make our choices ;-)

Totally agree - I discharge to 40% and recharge fully to 100% the night before.

Bluehook Posted at 2018-3-1 10:56
Oh, believe me, there's a whole lot of prepping to do before jumping right into a field situation for a brand new drone flyer -- between acclimatization, developing a small degree of muscle memory for controls to use in an emergency situation, firmware updates, clearing drive space for pics/vid and the many, many personal/safety settings, I'm sure I've taken it well below 90 a few times.  

I'm sure after you've been droning for a while, it seems unimaginable.

Thank you for your further clarification and this is the perfect approach you are taking. You had not mentioned previously that it is all new to you. In that case it is the best you can do for ensuring a good experience. Spend a lot of time to make yourself familiar and learn about all the settings, security features etc. It is well invested time and will help you avoid problems when actually flying.

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-1 10:44
I wouldn't keep charging it from a 90% point, just go out and fly it down to 25-30% then charge it up after cooling it down. LiPo's can be a finicky bunch. They don't retain a memory and they don't like being fully charged all the time, I discharge my batteries every 20 charges down to 8% (not while flying) then fully charge them, and refrain from charging run down batteries until the day before I fly them.

Just FYI- The Mavic Air's battery is not a LIPO. It's actually a LiCoO2 so I don't know if they should be treated like an MP battery.

MiniPalourde Posted at 2018-3-1 12:25
Just FYI- The Mavic Air's battery is not a LIPO. It's actually a LiCoO2 so I don't know if they should be treated like an MP battery.

Mavic Air Battery is a 3S Lipo 2375Mah

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-1 12:39
Mavic Air Battery is a 3S Lipo 2375Mah

[view_image]

In another thread people said that the mention of MA battery being a LiPo was just a mistake by DJI. If you look online it says that it's a LiCoO2.

MiniPalourde Posted at 2018-3-1 12:47
[view_image]In another thread people said that the mention of MA battery being a LiPo was just a mistake by DJI. If you look online it says that it's a LiCoO2.

Interesting, Gonna try to prompt a Mod for an answer.

MiniPalourde Posted at 2018-3-1 12:47
[view_image]In another thread people said that the mention of MA battery being a LiPo was just a mistake by DJI. If you look online it says that it's a LiCoO2.

Agreed - and if you go onto DJI's official on line store and look at the specs of the Air battery for sale it lists this: -

Specifications
Capacity: 2375 mAh
Voltage: 11.55 V, Max 13.2 V
Battery Type: LiCoO2
Energy: 27.43 Wh

Back to the original post.  I agree with those that say do your prep inside and then go out and fly.  Until you're comfortable with your quad, it's great to take your time and be sure you've checked things.  After you get quicker at it all, then just do the prep in the field.  And, of course, read the manual - more than once.  

A CW Posted at 2018-3-1 13:11
Agreed - and if you go onto DJI's official on line store and look at the specs of the Air battery for sale it lists this: -

Specifications

Whatdayaknow, they obviously didn't proof read the spec's for the drone, found this interesting as well,

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-1 13:29
Whatdayaknow, they obviously didn't proof read the spec's for the drone, found this interesting as well,

[view_image]

Best not to use any third party chargers with those then! Will be interesting to see how long they last too!

LiCoO2 tend to have low C rating, like maybe 5C... interestingly, I can't find C rating for any of DJI produced batteries. Anyone stumbled upon those specs somewhere?

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-1 10:44
I wouldn't keep charging it from a 90% point, just go out and fly it down to 25-30% then charge it up after cooling it down. LiPo's can be a finicky bunch. They don't retain a memory and they don't like being fully charged all the time, I discharge my batteries every 20 charges down to 8% (not while flying) then fully charge them, and refrain from charging run down batteries until the day before I fly them.

I agree with the practice of discharging down to 8% every 20 charges or so. I believe that's also stated somewhere as a DJI recommendation for conditioning the batteries.

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2018-3-1 13:57
LiCoO2 tend to have low C rating, like maybe 5C... interestingly, I can't find C rating for any of DJI produced batteries. Anyone stumbled upon those specs somewhere?

The "C" Rating is .001 of the total Mah a battery is rated, IE: Mavic Airs Battery is 2375Mah rated so you should not charge any higher than 2.375 (1C) (just move the decimal to the right of the first number) Amps @ 60W, it looks like the recommendation for the LiCoO2 Batteries to be charged at .0008 which for the MA would be 1.9 Amps. The internal intelligence system of the battery watches that closely, wish I could get a schematic of the MA chargers port just for kicks to see what amperage it is dumping into the battery while charging. These batteries like all LiPo's have a propensity to explode or catch fire while charging although more so during discharge.  

I have had one (4S/2200Mah) explode and burn on one of my race quads while in flight, I was really pushing it at the time, they burn like white phosphorus once the ignite. Always best to charge in a LiPo safe Bag or metal container like an ammo box. Many You-Tube videos about them.

It is okay to charge the battery to full in the scenery you mentioned above. But please don't charge it when the battery at a high temperature, cooling it before charging it.

MiniPalourde Posted at 2018-3-1 12:47
[view_image]In another thread people said that the mention of MA battery being a LiPo was just a mistake by DJI. If you look online it says that it's a LiCoO2.

Hi there, Mavic Air uses LiPo 3S battery, thank you for your report. I will forward this case to the relative team.

DJI Thor Posted at 2018-3-1 18:58
Hi there, Mavic Air uses LiPo 3S battery, thank you for your report. I will forward this case to the relative team.

Wow. Thanks for the information!

My opinion ACW stated the proper way to do it...this is the way i do it also. I also do this for my bigger heli lipo's .....40% will bring u around to a storage charge which is perfectly fi e for sitting a few days...then when u are ready to fly go charge them and have fun. .what will kill your batteries longevity? Sitting at 100% for days....over discharging repeatedly like flying to 7 %...no good...also leaving them sit at a low charge like that can hurt them...lipos tend to lose charge as they sit...so leaving them super low. And a week later u might not be able to get it to take a charge

Another tidbit....i also do not believe in discharging these lipos down to 8% every 20 cycles dont care what literature says to do that ...it is just plain stupid in the end its a lipo.. if i did that with one of my thunder power 5000mah lipos goodbye punch and power!....i know older manuals for dji ac said to do this for the smart board... but i dont buy it...i have never done it...and have a had most dji ac ....never ever had a problem with my batteries, cells are always healthy deviation is within .01 .02 and always performed. Everyone follows what they think is best. So by all means!

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-1 15:25
The "C" Rating is .001 of the total Mah a battery is rated, IE: Mavic Airs Battery is 2375Mah rated so you should not charge any higher than 2.375 (1C) (just move the decimal to the right of the first number) Amps @ 60W, it looks like the recommendation for the LiCoO2 Batteries to be charged at .0008 which for the MA would be 1.9 Amps. The internal intelligence system of the battery watches that closely, wish I could get a schematic of the MA chargers port just for kicks to see what amperage it is dumping into the battery while charging. These batteries like all LiPo's have a propensity to explode or catch fire while charging although more so during discharge.  

I have had one (4S/2200Mah) explode and burn on one of my race quads while in flight, I was really pushing it at the time, they burn like white phosphorus once the ignite. Always best to charge in a LiPo safe Bag or metal container like an ammo box. Many You-Tube videos about them.

I am talking discharge C rate.... Drones can easily pull 10, 15, 20 A in peaks.... not sure about DJI drones tho... Acros do have huge C rate batteries starting at about 50C up to 95C (max I saw).

New Question:

I've read here on the forums that it's not good to do a button one-push level check on the battery.  

Why is that not a good thing to do?