I purchased the Mavic Air Fly More package a few months ago. Last month I noticed the controller charging light was blinking very rapidly and the controller battery was not charging. I contacvted DJI support and told them the battery in the controller was defective and needed to be replaced. Support said they do not sell the battery for the controller, that I would have to send the entire controller to get repaired. They opened an RMA ticket for me, but I did not want to send the entire controller for "repair". Just send me a battery I said. They refused. I had added a long range antenna mod to the controller and I did not want to lose it. So one month later and no working controller. I had to order a $25 battery replacement from China that should be arriving anyday. So, if anybody else is experiencing any Mavic Air controller battery issues, please let me know. I feel for the price I paid, more than $1000, that DJI should have shipped me a new battery.

BTW, the disassembly instructions of the controller are extremely simple. It takes about 5 minutes to remove the battery from the unit. I am attaching some photos of the defective battery...

Thanks DJI for nothing... :-(

That battery was really punched when you opened the controller? That is so dangerous it could easily cause fire in your home.

By the way, if you never opened the controller, let me say that the battery is well protected by a hard plastic case that you can easily open once removed from the unit by 6 screws. There is no way to physically damage the battery.

Very informative, thanks for sharing

Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. The reason why we're not selling the battery in the remote controller because that we're not advising our customer to fix this on their end as it may lead to the warranty avoidance. Therefore, it's better to send it into our facility and leave the job on our engineers so that we could use the warranty of the product it any case that it will be covered by the warranty. Thank you for understanding.

DJI Tony Posted at 11-14 13:04
Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. The reason why we're not selling the battery in the remote controller because that we're not advising our customer to fix this on their end as it may lead to the warranty avoidance. Therefore, it's better to send it into our facility and leave the job on our engineers so that we could use the warranty of the product it any case that it will be covered by the warranty. Thank you for understanding.

Thanks DJI Tony, however, there are many do-it-yourself people like myself who would prefer not to have to deal with warranty crap like this and simply buy a new battery and be done with this already...

Thank you for understanding...

For others experiencing the same or similar issue and want to do-it-yourself, here is the battery that is used https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Gen ... 2060353.m1438.l2649

Krunch Posted at 11-14 13:16
Thanks DJI Tony, however, there are many do-it-yourself people like myself who would prefer not to have to deal with warranty crap like this and simply buy a new battery and be done with this already...

Thank you for understanding...

Hi Krunch, we are so sorry that the battery of the RC is not for sale, we understand that some users prefer to repair by themselves but this is never recommended by DJI since there are maybe other issues that customer is unaware of and an inappropriate self-repairing could cause more issues, we appreciate your understanding.

The big question is why did the Lithium Ion battery exploded.

nywrecker Posted at 11-14 20:23
The big question is why did the Lithium Ion battery exploded.

That is a great question. Only used the controller a handful of times before I noticed it not charging. I have built quite a few racing drones, I have the build pictures to prove it, so I know how to use a quad. I am more privey to lipo batteries rather than li-on batteries. Could simply be a defective battery... I already ordered a new one and will report back once it's received.

Krunch Posted at 11-14 20:31
That is a great question. Only used the controller a handful of times before I noticed it not charging. I have built quite a few racing drones, I have the build pictures to prove it, so I know how to use a quad. I am more privey to lipo batteries rather than li-on batteries. Could simply be a defective battery... I already ordered a new one and will report back once it's received.

Or something went wrong with the antenna mod?

I get your frustration, but surely modding the controller in the first place voided any warranty?

Ridg Posted at 11-15 01:32
Or something went wrong with the antenna mod?

I get your frustration, but surely modding the controller in the first place voided any warranty?

Ridg, here are some photos of the modded controller and the hard plastic casing protecting the battery. So it would be difficult to damage the battery. When the battery stopped charging was when I opened the case, which is very easy BTW, there are 4 tabs.

You guys can close this thread. I just wanted to have my voice and frustration heard from DJI. All I wanted to do is purchase a replacement battery for the controller...

Krunch Posted at 11-15 07:36
Ridg, here are some photos of the modded controller and the hard plastic casing protecting the battery.[view_image] So it would be difficult to damage the battery. When the battery stopped charging was when I opened the case, which is very easy BTW, there are 4 tabs.

Looks like a very straight forward and trouble free mod.  Do you get improved range or just a more reliable signal?  

Ridg Posted at 11-15 08:44
Looks like a very straight forward and trouble free mod.  Do you get improved range or just a more reliable signal?

Depends on what I am using it for. For short runs I use 2 x 2.4 Omni antennas. For longer distances without a lot of obstructions I bought the Raptor XR <- turned out to be wayyy overkill. I could have settled for the Raptor SR.

https://www.4hawks.com/dji/mavic-air/raptor-xr-air

Either way, I live in a densely populates area and I seem to get better range with Omni pole antennas, the cheapie kind.

Call me cynical, but that battery did not blow a hole like that while inside that controller. There would be considerable damage inside the casing due to the heat and chemicals that come out of a burning battery of this type. You don’t need to do much googling to watch videos of a battery going up.

To follow up, I received a $25 battery I ordered from China. Installed the new battery and Viola! I am back flying. Took less than 5 minutes to install.

Stevom Posted at 11-15 13:53
Call me cynical, but that battery did not blow a hole like that while inside that controller. There would be considerable damage inside the casing due to the heat and chemicals that come out of a burning battery of this type. You don’t need to do much googling to watch videos of a battery going up.

Video

Just so you know the controller battery is a lithium ion, not a lipo battery. When they pop they behave differently similar to a capacitor in most electronics. But thanks for the amusing video.