With the new firmware, we can set the rate at which the batteries auto discharge. DJI says the default is 5 days.

What will you be setting your batteries at?


Please feel free to leave a post explaining your opinion and any tips for improved battery health.

Hello and good day Rockyraaccoon. Thank you for creating this poll and I hope that you will get the best information from our valued DJI co pilots with regards to this matter. Thank you.

The longer the batteries are on 100% the worse it is - I typically set 3 days to auto discharge

Anyone know where the new setting is located? I’m unable to find it, (using Crystalsky, so Android).

Aj is right 2 to 3 days max and that is it!

Matman Posted at 9-27 12:52
Anyone know where the new setting is located? I’m unable to find it, (using Crystalsky, so Android).

You should be on DJI Go 4 version .24 to see the option under the battery settings.

Matman Posted at 9-27 12:52
Anyone know where the new setting is located? I’m unable to find it, (using Crystalsky, so Android).

Scroll down in the battery setting and you'll find it

Do we need to run this update with each battery? Or will the drone automatically update the battery as it is installed?

Stryker03 Posted at 9-29 04:09
Do we need to run this update with each battery? Or will the drone automatically update the battery as it is installed?

Each battery needs to be set

5 days for me: a happy medium considering the choices provided by DJI, but realistically it’s not hugely important as the difference in ‘damage’ done to Lipo cells holding a full charge over, for example, 3 or 7 days is fairly negligible. In a perfect world the simple answer is the less time the better, but the ‘damage’ done via auto-discharge of a battery on day 3 and then recharging it on day 5 is likely greater than leaving the battery fully charged until day 7, so it really depends on how the owner uses their drone. Having said that the ‘damage’ is generally considered acceptable whatever auto-discharge rate is chosen or charge frequency is used as the permitted charge rate is slow in order to protect the battery, and cell disintegration following charge is rather minor over a length of time such as 1-10 days.

If you want the very best for your batteries only charge them just before flight, make sure to use them all so none are left fully charged, and store all batteries with approximately 30% power. Alternatively, don’t worry too much and just enjoy flying using your Mavic batteries set with whichever auto-discharge time length makes sense to you and makes you feel most happy.

7 days for me,  a bit better than the old default of 10 days but this allows me to have a set of batteries charged for a week ready to fly.  It would be nice if the charger  had an option to change to the best storage level.

DA i wouldnt leave them charged for a week....i can not get away with this with my heli batteries, they start to perform like crap and then eventually swell. I said 2 or 3 day discharge setting true, and mr titan does have a point about changing it to 7 stating that auto discharges do heat the batteries up  and ultimately end up losing a cycle. Thats all true and i think for the more inexperienced but what i mean is to never have them fully charged sittingin the 1st place..and even if set for 2 to 3 day discharge its unlikely u will go in to auto discharge. I think especially for the new guys this can be good....they need to get in the habit of ONLY charging when u are going out that day or next day. (Not saying u are a newb just an example) i think pilots should break out of this cycle of charging there lipos and leaving them sit....even for 6 or 7 days . It does irreversible damage and on top of that fully charged lipos sitting around are not safe....auto dischar for 2 or 3 would kic

old habits.......So yea in the end i feel 7 days is a no go for a lipo to sit around fully charged ....Hopefully you guys understand my comment about the two or three day discharge. I never let it get to discharge but just in case i did have one charged up and say we got a blizzard i would be cool with 2 day discharge. I have been messing with lipos for a good fifteen years. I won't say im a guru but lots of people come to me for advice.....anyway just trying to help you guys save a little money in the end these dji lipos are pricey. and don't get me wrong in a perfect world I would love to have my lipos sit around for at least a week fully charged ready to go but you just can not do that with lipos they are like little kids and you have to baby them....or they start whining and attacking your wallet ;) and mr.titan is right on seems to have a bit of experience

   I used to build a lot of Tamiya RC models in the 80's and 90's and NiCad batteries were used then. It was best to store NiCad's fully charged. LiPo batteries are new to me. I bought a Mavic Pro and Fly More kit last year and kept the batteries charged up all the time. I had my auto discharge set at 10 days and they did auto discharge on occasion. I usually landed with between 10 and 15 percent battery remaining. After having the Mavic Pro for about 8 months I took it with me on a trip to another island. One time when I landed and changed batteries I noticed the used battery was a little squishy on the back. I thought that was strange, I had never noticed that before. On the next flight I was about nine hundred meters out when I checked my battery level. I had 59% left so I kept going. A couple minutes later I got a low battery warning and the Drone would start RTH in ten seconds. I let it, I had 34% battery remaining. I landed with 6% battery. When I took it out it was more puffed up than the first had been. The batteries had only been charged 28 times. The third battery got a little puffy not long after I got home from the trip.
   The Mavic Pro had some other issues and I never really trusted it. In June rather than spend the money on three new batteries, I bought a M2Z and Smart Controller combo along with a Fly More kit. I only charge these batteries before I fly and I fly at least twice a week. I also do not put them back in my hard case until they have cooled down completely. Smart Controller too. I think the foam compartments act as insulation and keep the batteries from cooling down quickly. I have over sixty charges and no sign of swelling. When the Firmware update comes out to include the Smart Controller I'm going to set the auto discharge time to two days.

rbtmckny Posted at 10-5 02:10
I used to build a lot of Tamiya RC models in the 80's and 90's and NiCad batteries were used then. It was best to store NiCad's fully charged. LiPo batteries are new to me. I bought a Mavic Pro and Fly More kit last year and kept the batteries charged up all the time. I had my auto discharge set at 10 days and they did auto discharge on occasion. I usually landed with between 10 and 15 percent battery remaining. After having the Mavic Pro for about 8 months I took it with me on a trip to another island. One time when I landed and changed batteries I noticed the used battery was a little squishy on the back. I thought that was strange, I had never noticed that before. On the next flight I was about nine hundred meters out when I checked my battery level. I had 59% left so I kept going. A couple minutes later I got a low battery warning and the Drone would start RTH in ten seconds. I let it, I had 34% battery remaining. I landed with 6% battery. When I took it out it was more puffed up than the first had been. The batteries had only been charged 28 times. The third battery got a little puffy not long after I got home from the trip.
   The Mavic Pro had some other issues and I never really trusted it. In June rather than spend the money on three new batteries, I bought a M2Z and Smart Controller combo along with a Fly More kit. I only charge these batteries before I fly and I fly at least twice a week. I also do not put them back in my hard case until they have cooled down completely. Smart Controller too. I think the foam compartments act as insulation and keep the batteries from cooling down quickly. I have over sixty charges and no sign of swelling. When the Firmware update comes out to include the Smart Controller I'm going to set the auto discharge time to two days.

I will add that now I land with between 25 and 30 percent battery remaining.

What about the remote controller? That has a lipo in it.

3 or 5 days depending on your personal usage patterns.  i personally set it to 3 days both for best health of my battery if for any reason not flying for a period of time as well as cuz im very likely to fly atleast once a day.
other issue is multiple batteries..  there is no 1 right answer, it is all about how you fly and use your drone and how much battery cycling happens.   but i typically suggest 3-5 days and also labling each battery. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc etc etc how many ever batteries you got and that can definatly help you cycle them more throughly and need to rely less on self discharging function  

I set mine to 1 day, but, I rarely let them sit fully charged for more than 6 hours. I admit I'm probably overly conservative but have never worn out or had a DJI battery puff. I have helicopter batteries that I still fly from 2013.

P.S. The software setting determines the time when the discharge begins not the rate. I discharge full batteries on an ISDT discharger at a rate of 3 amps.

Here is an interesting device that can charge, discharge for storage, and recycle up to 4 M2 batteries in parallell in 70 to 80 minutes. It can also charge the controller at the same but they say that will slow down charging on the main batteries. A minor nit IMO as who doesn't have some spare USB connections to charge the controller.
I just bought one and can report back if anyone is interested.

NightThunder Posted at 2-17 10:55
Here is an interesting device that can charge, discharge for storage, and recycle up to 4 M2 batteries in parallell in 70 to 80 minutes. It can also charge the controller at the same but they say that will slow down charging on the main batteries. A minor nit IMO as who doesn't have some spare USB connections to charge the controller.
I just bought one and can report back if anyone is interested.

Thanks, I had not seen that charger before. Storage charge and storage discharge is perfect. I have one on the way.

NightThunder Posted at 2-17 10:55
Here is an interesting device that can charge, discharge for storage, and recycle up to 4 M2 batteries in parallell in 70 to 80 minutes. It can also charge the controller at the same but they say that will slow down charging on the main batteries. A minor nit IMO as who doesn't have some spare USB connections to charge the controller.
I just bought one and can report back if anyone is interested.

So I tried this device out. I only tested two batteries at the same same time but they both fully charged to the same voltage in in more or less the time they advertise. I then put the unit into discharge mode and both batteries discharged to 60% as advertised at a rate of 1.5A. Took about an hour. I have not tried a deep cycle yet  but this seems to be the real deal. At all times the batteries were just slightly warm to the touch, nothing outlandish as was the charging/discharging station.

Been going with 10 days forever.

NightThunder Posted at 2-22 18:40
So I tried this device out. I only tested two batteries at the same same time but they both fully charged to the same voltage in in more or less the time they advertise. I then put the unit into discharge mode and both batteries discharged to 60% as advertised at a rate of 1.5A. Took about an hour. I have not tried a deep cycle yet  but this seems to be the real deal. At all times the batteries were just slightly warm to the touch, nothing outlandish as was the charging/discharging station.

My only complaint is the charger has limited power to charge four batteries simultaneously. It will only output about 6 amps divided by four batteries. In use I noticed that channel 1 and 2 were charging at about 2.2 amps, channel 3 at 1.4 amps, and channel 4 at 0.2 amps.

The older blue metal YX charger output 4.5 amps on each of the three channels. This is much quicker even though it only charges three batteries at a time.

The storage charge feature makes up for this chargers lack of output power. It will storage charge and storage discharge batteries at the same time. You basically set it to storage and forget. The charger does the rest.

I have not tested the car charge option yet, but, that's another feature that will come in handy.

Glenn Goodlett Posted at 2-22 20:29
My only complaint is the charger has limited power to charge four batteries simultaneously. It will only output about 6 amps divided by four batteries. In use I noticed that channel 1 and 2 were charging at about 2.2 amps, channel 3 at 1.4 amps, and channel 4 at 0.2 amps.

The older blue metal YX charger output 4.5 amps on each of the three channels. This is much quicker even though it only charges three batteries at a time.

Considering that DJI batteries have a built-in charge controller and processor, I cannot see how any third party device can do a better job of charging the batteries, as the battery itself is controlling the process, not the 'charger'.

Geebax Posted at 2-22 20:32
Considering that DJI batteries have a built-in charge controller and processor, I cannot see how any third party device can do a better job of charging the batteries, as the battery itself is controlling the process, not the 'charger'.

I don't think you fully understand how the smart batteries function in that they do not have a means to limit current. If you charge a battery at 0.2 amps and another battery at similar state of charge at 4.0 amps, the battery charged at 4 amps will complete the charge sequence much faster.

Glenn Goodlett Posted at 2-22 20:56
I don't think you fully understand how the smart batteries function in that they do not have a means to limit current. If you charge a battery at 0.2 amps and another battery at similar state of charge at 4.0 amps, the battery charged at 4 amps will complete the charge sequence much faster.

You would be forgiven for not knowing, but I designed the very first processor controlled charger for NiCad batteries so long ago I cannot remember the date. But Yes, I do know about batteries and the DJI batteries DO have a current  control circuit, and can charge at a constant current selected by software.

And because the DJI batteries have intelligence on-board, they are able to charge at the optimum rate, and then drop the charge rate down to balance the charge. The processor also knows exactly how much charge is put into the battery and the quantity of charge used, that is how the aircraft knows the state of charge of the battery, since there is no other way of determining that.

For this reason, the DJI 'chargers' are not in fact chargers at all, they are simply power supplies, because all the smarts needed to control the batteries are in the batteries themselves. Therefore, a device that is a smart charger, is a waste of time, since it cannot control the charge to the DJI batteries in any way. The only function it can perform is a controlled discharge, and the DJI batteries have got that covered too.

So a separate charger is something of a chocolate coffee pot.

Geebax Posted at 2-22 21:48
You would be forgiven for not knowing, but I designed the very first processor controlled charger for NiCad batteries so long ago I cannot remember the date. But Yes, I do know about batteries and the DJI batteries DO have a current  control circuit, and can charge at a constant current selected by software.

And because the DJI batteries have intelligence on-board, they are able to charge at the optimum rate, and then drop the charge rate down to balance the charge. The processor also knows exactly how much charge is put into the battery and the quantity of charge used, that is how the aircraft knows the state of charge of the battery, since there is no other way of determining that.

It's easy enough to test. Give it a shot.

Glenn Goodlett Posted at 2-22 22:00
It's easy enough to test. Give it a shot.

I dont 'need to, I have a couple of perfectly serviceable DJI power suppllies to charge my batteries. And I know my stuff technically, and I also know the after market chargers are a waste of time.

Geebax Posted at 2-23 00:04
I dont 'need to, I have a couple of perfectly serviceable DJI power suppllies to charge my batteries. And I know my stuff technically, and I also know the after market chargers are a waste of time.

Good enough then, happy flying.

I have two of these. Works great       https://phantomangel.rocks/

Pauxier Posted at 2-23 05:55
I have two of these. Works great       https://phantomangel.rocks/

Those things are more likely to harm a DJI battery than do any good. You DO NOT need to deep discharge a DJI flight battery, despite the fact that DJI ONCE said to do so, and the automatic discharge facility in the intelligent batteries is perfectly adequate.

Geebax Posted at 4-1 16:03
Those things are more likely to harm a DJI battery than do any good. You DO NOT need to deep discharge a DJI flight battery, despite the fact that DJI ONCE said to do so, and the automatic discharge facility in the intelligent batteries is perfectly adequate.

You have a choice to either discharge or just go to recommended  storage level. I like having the ability to manually set the batteries for storage. I do not discharge fully.  The automatic discharge facility of the batteries is adequate if it is set properly and it takes longer than 30 mins.

I also use a charger that can discharge up to 4 batteries to storage level at the press of a button.  I see no reason to leave them fully charged for even 2 days if I don't fly them as expected.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/produc ... e?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What storage charge is optimal?

How hard bad is it to leave it down at 10% for a long time? Sometimes I fly and forget to recharge

I totally agree with Geebax and I am sure that DJI also know the same thing already, so therefore they have made the smart battery to discharge the right amount and to the right level over the right time. The same goes for charging. This way you can not harm the battery. DJI would have done their reserch and surely they want you to enjoy flying with their batteries as long as possible.