Hello all,

  

I did post about this issue before, but it was under the wrong topic with not a clear picture so probably didn't get many hits, one DJI rep said he was going to ask engineering department but I never got an answer.

  

Sent an email and picture to DJI support but they cannot see anything wrong with the battery and told me the APP would tell me if something is wrong with the battery, so not very helpful.

  

  

As you can see in the picture, my Mavic Pro 2 battery is developing some sort of indentation on top of its casing.

  

Now, just to clarify, in order to show the indentations I had to bring the Mavic to a dark room, play with the angle and a flash light, get the camera a bit out of focus to make them show easily, by the naked eye "it doesn't look that deep" but I can assure you they are real, I noticed them after the 3rd charge cycle, not sure if they were already there out of the box.

  

  

Battery seems to be performing normal, no DJI GO app alerts and it now has about 11 charge cycles.

  

Is anybody else having this issue? I just don't want to lose a $1.5K drone over a $100 battery, I don't have any extra battery (out of stock) so not sure if I should fly it.

  

  

Thanks for your feedback

  

-FC

  

Yeah don't have those on mine.. It's new.

Hope DJI can address / answer this as to if it is safe / not safe. Only they know what's on the other side. Since they are symmetrical, must be something under it in those spots and could be that heat (internal / external?) is causing the plastic to warp ? You may have to contact them for updates with your case number and push for an answer.

long story short, not safe to fly!  i wouldn't trust a lithium battery acting like that in my $1500 drone.. if the battery fails your drone fails..  lithium batteries are extremely picky and energetic, you are overheating the smart circuit boards and power delivery system, and the risk of fire is real with lithium batteries and failing protection circuits.   

return it to the store, tell them its defective and tell them it was destroying the battery.  get another one..

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-9-7 20:55
long story short, not safe to fly!  i wouldn't trust a lithium battery acting like that in my $1500 drone.. if the battery fails your drone fails..  lithium batteries are extremely picky and energetic, you are overheating the smart circuit boards and power delivery system, and the risk of fire is real with lithium batteries and failing protection circuits.   

return it to the store, tell them its defective and tell them it was destroying the battery.  get another one..

Return the battery or the entire drone?
This is the original battery that came with the Mavic purchased from DJI.COM


-FC

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-7 21:00
Return the battery or the entire drone?
This is the original battery that came with the Mavic purchased from DJI.COM

No matter which option you choose, it’ll take a month to resolve. The battery looks like it is shorting; causing excessive, rapid heating up.
Try using Best Buy, Apple, or B&H Photo next time for EXACTLY this reason.

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-7 21:00
Return the battery or the entire drone?
This is the original battery that came with the Mavic purchased from DJI.COM

as long as the battery came with the drone return the entire thing.  dont know where the detect lies if its in the drone or the battery itself and dont want to find out the hardway with the drone dying mid flight and falling to its death catching fire if the battery goes goes itno a runaway state..

either get an exchange if possible or if they only hand out refunds because its online, take the money and rebuy it again, personally i would buy it from amazon if you get refund because their return policy is amazing no questions asked and faster shipping usually..

Well as a refund not sure if DJI will give you a refund if the drone is activated.

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-7 21:09
Well as a refund not sure if DJI will give you a refund if the drone is activated.

they will, just open a case for a return and refund for being defective.  we have consumer protection laws here in the states as well..

DRONE-flies-YOU! Posted at 2018-9-7 21:04
No matter which option you choose, it’ll take a month to resolve. The battery looks like it is shorting; causing excessive, rapid heating up.
Try using Best Buy, Apple, or B&H Photo next time for EXACTLY this reason.

I doubt the battery is actually shorting.  If were, the battery would not power drone and battery would not charge.  That assumes there was anything left of battery besides burnt pile of ashes.

Regardless, battery needs to be returned.

The dimples in plastic look like spots that got hot, then cooled down.  Heating causing plastic to droop down.

You can return just the battery, in the process you just enter the return as an accessory and enter the battery serial number. The system will link your aircraft serial number and generate a RMA

In Europe the process takes about a week, have done it before for MP1 batteries, you don’t need to return the drone.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-9-7 21:24
I doubt the battery is actually shorting.  If were, the battery would not power drone and battery would not charge.  That assumes there was anything left of battery besides burnt pile of ashes.

Regardless, battery needs to be returned.

So you think the actual aircraft should be fine?, not actually causing the battery issue? just a battery issue alone but good Mavic?

-FC

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-7 22:00
So you think the actual aircraft should be fine?, not actually causing the battery issue? just a battery issue alone but good Mavic?

-FC

First let me say, I do not have a Mavic Pro 2.  Only Mavic Pro Platinum.

I would think if it were aircraft itself, you would be seeing problems with drone.  Like warning messages about motor over current.  Possibly signs drone's power circuits or motors are getting to hot.  Or smells of overheated electrical components.

If it were me and I had another battery, I would try flying with that battery.  Checking battery for any dimples or warping before and after every flight.  Might try a few short flights, then longer flights.

After couple longer flights, and finding no plastic deformations, I would go with dimpled battery being bad.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-9-7 22:14
First let me say, I do not have a Mavic Pro 2.  Only Mavic Pro Platinum.

I would think if it were aircraft itself, you would be seeing problems with drone.  Like warning messages about motor over current.  Possibly signs drone's power circuits or motors are getting to hot.  Or smells of overheated electrical components.

I appreciate your input
I contacted DJI for the third time, it’s hard dealing with them let me tell you. Trying to get a refund and purchase something else. I’m not taking sending the unit for repair and wait a month grounded  

Regards,
-FC

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-7 22:24
I appreciate your input
I contacted DJI for the third time, it’s hard dealing with them let me tell you. Trying to get a refund and purchase something else. I’m not taking sending the unit for repair and wait a month grounded  

Also, for the record, I'm attaching a picture of the battery with normal light condition, without dimming the room and playing with contrast, as you can see the indentations don't look that dramatic as the previous picture I posted, you can spot them now as you know where they are and they are more evident to the naked eye than a normal picture without dimming contrast.
The aircraft performs normal, no smells, overheating or error messages reported of any kind, I check the battery before and after every flight and charging cycle, I see no overheating on the battery itself or swelling. However, being the only user reporting this, I just don't feel safe flying anymore with it and now waiting on DJI.

Regards,
-FC

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-7 22:46
Also, for the record, I'm attaching a picture of the battery with normal light condition, without dimming the room and playing with contrast, as you can see the indentations don't look that dramatic as the previous picture I posted, you can spot them now as you know where they are and they are more evident to the naked eye than a normal picture without dimming contrast.
The aircraft performs normal, no smells, overheating or error messages reported of any kind, I check the battery before and after every flight and charging cycle, I see no overheating on the battery itself or swelling. However, being the only user reporting this, I just don't feel safe flying anymore with it and now waiting on DJI.

if it were me, i would be returning it and getting a replacement.  better to get your money back and try again than it is to risk it al..  also if it dies mid air, it is an uphill battle to make a case with DJi that wasn't pilot error and was their fault and that you deserve a replacement/repair..

I have 3 batteries and you can see they all have those 4 small bulges, maybe not as visible to yours but I can see it. Seems very normal with the product or I got very unlucky with my 3 batteries.

I suspect that it is part of the production molding process more than a battery defect. There are several threads on the forum where MP batteries were observed with the same dimples. The tell tale sign of a bad battery is the cell deviation. If the cells look balanced and you're not having any problems, I wouldn't worry about it. But if you want to exchange the battery so you can sleep better, by all means do so. I wouldn't return the whole package though, just the battery.

I would just fly it. In my opinion, you are being a little over critical. Of course keep an eye on it, but, I would not worry.

Early Mavic pro batteries had a bad habit of cracking in the same area, but, it never affected their usability.

Hi, we're sorry for the inconvenience caused. I already coordinate this concern to the right department and we're checking on it. Please kindly wait for the email that we will send to you. Your patience and understanding are highly appreciated.

To the one guy just because the case has there is weird indentations does not mean that the actual lipo inside the case is bad. if the app is reporting that it's good then it should be good but I wouldn't stand for that with a $1,500 drone I would definitely try to get a new battery. Now if it was swelling up then I would worry a whole lot more because the app can't necessarily determine that even though the voltage read out might be okay, under heavy load that could change. Either way try to get them to warranty it that's not right for a $1,500 drone. Gl

DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-9-8 11:59
Hi, we're sorry for the inconvenience caused. I already coordinate this concern to the right department and we're checking on it. Please kindly wait for the email that we will send to you. Your patience and understanding are highly appreciated.

Thank you DJI Natalia, I hope this time I will get a follow up, as I was already told to wait for engineering and never happened, even sent a post asking for status to the DJI rep who was helping but I'm yet to get an answer.

Your support is truly appreciated.
-FC

Thank you all of you for your inputs.
Perhaps I'm being a little over critic like someone mentioned, but it's best to be safe than sorry.
I know batteries are consumables and are subject to be replaced down the line like that Mavic1 battery with cracks but to tell the true I wasn't very happy to see this with only 3 charges out of a 1500 drone.

Regards,
-FC

Meldor Posted at 2018-9-8 02:02
I have 3 batteries and you can see they all have those 4 small bulges, maybe not as visible to yours but I can see it. Seems very normal with the product or I got very unlucky with my 3 batteries.

This is good info, exactly what I was looking for, making sure I'm not the only one.
I'm checking every day to see if batteries are back in stock so I can order more to compare but not not available yet.

Thank you
-FC

Manufacturing tolerances. Unless the battery is not charging/discharging properly and shows up as an error status, you're fine. My batteries from Mavic Pro had those. I now have 5 batteries for my Mavic 2 Pro and all of them has some sort of surface irregularities. Not a single issue at all.

No Man's Drone Posted at 2018-9-8 18:33
Manufacturing tolerances. Unless the battery is not charging/discharging properly and shows up as an error status, you're fine. My batteries from Mavic Pro had those. I now have 5 batteries for my Mavic 2 Pro and all of them has some sort of surface irregularities. Not a single issue at all.

Very useful information. Thank you sir.

-FC

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-8 18:07
Thank you DJI Natalia, I hope this time I will get a follow up, as I was already told to wait for engineering and never happened, even sent a post asking for status to the DJI rep who was helping but I'm yet to get an answer.

Your support is truly appreciated.

Hi there. Thanks for your reply. Please contact our support team to start a ticket for the refund. You'll need to send the whole package for us to analyze and if there is no manual fault after checking, we could provide refund service. Please note that you need to send the whole package. Should you have further question, please let us know. Thank you.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-9-11 08:40
Hi there. Thanks for your reply. Please contact our support team to start a ticket for the refund. You'll need to send the whole package for us to analyze and if there is no manual fault after checking, we could provide refund service. Please note that you need to send the whole package. Should you have further question, please let us know. Thank you.

DJI Natalia,
I'm confused, so you want me to return the unit? and I will get a full refund?
Then purchase again?
Can you please advise?

Thank you
-FC

It's their own way of saying "you mess with the bull, you get the horn." The don't want a flood of batteries sent back with irregular tops, but, otherwise OK expecting exchanges.

Like I said, I would fly the battery, but, I understand "peace of mind" does have a value.

Glenn Goodlett Posted at 2018-9-11 10:49
It's their own way of saying "you mess with the bull, you get the horn." The don't want a flood of batteries sent back with irregular tops, but, otherwise OK expecting exchanges.

Like I said, I would fly the battery, but, I understand "peace of mind" does have a value.

If that is only way DJI will replace battery, then they can have whole bloody thing back.  

I just got a new battery delivered to the office (a standalone order I placed after they became available on DJI Store), I will check that one and compare. My current battery is performing normally, equal voltage on all 4 cells, I don't want to send the entire unit, wait a month for them to say "no fault found" here's your unit back. No thanks, battery is only about $100 no big deal.

Dealing with customer support from China is very hard, you get a different email from multiple reps, they are not very clear, one will say "You have to pay for shipping" but a the same time I got an email saying my prepaid label is being sent to me for my to drop the shipment.
Every time you try to follow up you get a different case number and generic answer like "If the product qualifies for refund, and they post the link to their policies."
Not very confident at all, I got email from Wick, Janah and Francis.
Not worth the risk. At the end of the day, the battery has 6 month warranty, if it it fails down the line, then they should honor warranty for the battery itself, not asking for the entire drone.
-FC

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-11 09:19
DJI Natalia,
I'm confused, so you want me to return the unit? and I will get a full refund?
Then purchase again?

Hi, sorry for the confusion. If you wanted to have a full refund, you will need to send the whole package to us and we will send back the amount that you paid to the drone. You also have another option, by sending it back to us and we will replace your drone.

Hi FRCornelis,

I just checked carefully my batter it is showing also very light indentations, My M2P was flown only about 3 times and I'm pretty sure that battery never gets hot, it was only warm so I think those are cause by manufacturing process, either by manufacturing process of cover itself or during assembly.

How it looks with your new battery you ordered?

David

DH_Pilot Posted at 2018-9-12 09:09
Hi FRCornelis,

I just checked carefully my batter it is showing also very light indentations, My M2P was flown only about 3 times and I'm pretty sure that battery never gets hot, it was only warm so I think those are cause by manufacturing process, either by manufacturing process of cover itself or during assembly.

Hello David,
Thank you for your feedback.
My new battery I received yesterday still in the box sealed at work, left in my server room, but I will check it tomorrow morning.
Regarding my current battery I noticed the same behavior as you did, I check it before and after each flight and charging cycle, it doesn’t get hot (I believe my iPhone gets hotter than the Mavic2 battery when watching YouTube), right after I land, I pull the battery and it’s barely warm, in fact, the Mavic battery compartment is a lot hotter than the battery itself (right on the product label)
Battery voltage on all 4 cells are exactly the same during the entire flight (landing at 20%)

I too noticed it about my 3rd flight and you are probably the third person reporting about similar indentations and like you say, they are very light, the fist picture I posted has “special lighting and contrast modifications” because otherwise it wouldn’t show on the picture, therefore they look dramatic.
I will now inspect my new battery very carefully out of the box and during the first flights since I know what to look for and will report back, since I really wasn’t paying that level of attention to the battery when I unboxed my new Mavic.
The whole idea about the post was making sure I wasn’t the only one which apparently I am not. Shipping a perfectly working drone back makes no sense at all to me, all the down time for something that’s not really an issue.
The only thing I do notice is the flight time, I get about 22 mins landing at around 20%, since DJI claims 31 mins I was expecting something around 26 (give or take)
Thanks again for taking your time and sharing your own findings, hopefully it’s all about manufacturing process. Now let’s wait for the missing features from Mavic1.
Regards,
-FC

one of my battery as the same indentations on it, don't know whats causing this, but the battery still performing like it should. dji did hover gave me the option to exchange it though.

One of my battery has the same indentation on it, reached out to DJI about my concerns about this. they ask me if its charging etc and I said yes. I have already flown it twice before noticing the indentations. And looking at the cell on the Go4 app everything looks good. However DJI did give me an option if I ever wanted to replace the battery I could, but since the battery is performing like it should i not worried about it.  

I think it’s nothing to worry about if the battery performs as it should!

Fly safe all
Alex

FRCornelis Posted at 2018-9-11 12:18
I just got a new battery delivered to the office (a standalone order I placed after they became available on DJI Store), I will check that one and compare. My current battery is performing normally, equal voltage on all 4 cells, I don't want to send the entire unit, wait a month for them to say "no fault found" here's your unit back. No thanks, battery is only about $100 no big deal.

Dealing with customer support from China is very hard, you get a different email from multiple reps, they are not very clear, one will say "You have to pay for shipping" but a the same time I got an email saying my prepaid label is being sent to me for my to drop the shipment.

Well done, you're validating &^%*-poor customer service and an anti-consumer business strategy.

Why would they even bother offering customer support when they know they can just make it "hard" for people to hold them accountable and instead just wait for them to hand over more money buying the exact same thing again with the exact same lack of quality control / "will this one be a good batch or not" roulette...

That's right.
Here's a picture of both, the original battery (right side) and the new one I got delivered the other day (left side), now the new battery is just out of the box, not even a single charge to it, as you can see.... both batteries under the same light condition look the same, so the 4 indentations are actually "out of the box", then if you add all other users feedback reporting similar scenario, you can easily dismiss the case and have peace of mind.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad my AC and batteries are fine, what really bothers me is DJI suggestion to send the entire drone back and claiming "our engineers never saw such thing, send it back". Really? ... REALLY? nonsense
I really love DJI products, I believe they are second to none, but pray you get a good unit, because if you ever have to deal with customer service you are on your own, they really have to learn from the other company when comes to customer service. This is one of the reasons I waited for MP2 instead of P4P2 because we all know the shell cracks and you'll end sending the unit back to DJI only to get a refurbished unit with someone else's scratches and issues, I think Mavic, due to its design it's less susceptible to stress cracks.
I remember a couple of years ago, I had an issue with a battery from "the other drone company", I contacted them and they sent me a new battery and instructed me to ship the old/defective one once I received the new replacement covered by warranty.  Now, THAT IS what customer service should be.

-FC