Hello everybody!

I'm not a forum guy, so I was just watching here what other people say, until now.

  

  

Recently I've checked batteries from my Mavic Air which I bought less than 2 years ago, at July of 2019, and found out that one of three batteries from my fly more combo is dead. At first, I thought that it will charge, but it didn't. I did my research and found out that those batteries can lock themselves to protect user from a faulty battery during the flight, which is good, BUT.

  

  

Here goes the main thing: that battery was used and charged only TWICE. And it was taken care of, I was checking it from time to time and charging it according to the User Manual.

  

  

Now there is no "magic" about those batteries, they all are simple LiPo cells and use Texas Instruments chips to control their parameters. And those chips were programmed to lock batteries under certain circumstances­. Like (in my case) when voltage of the cells goes below given minimums. Which is also alright, sometimes LiPo batteries stop working after they've been discharged too low. And here is another BUT.

  

  

I understand that what DJI guys are trying to do here is done for our protection (and to protect other people from UAV’s that's falling from the sky), but still, I don't get one thing.

  

DJI customer service told me that I can do one of two things: either buy new battery from them, OR send my existing battery for a paid repair. Why there isn't third option (given its age and this whole situation)?

  

  

By that third option I mean remote unlock. Those batteries are unlockable with special tools, like EV2300 programmer (or development board if you will). And there are actually some guys online who sell special software which is intended for people who repair batteries (not only UAV batteries but also ones from notebooks, phones, etc.) which can unlock those batteries. You can check YouTube and see that it’s actually possible.

There is a thing called PF or Permanent Failure and it's just a "flag" at IC of the battery that locks it. To turn it off you just connect your battery to PC through EV2300 (or other board that can communicate with battery) and push a few buttons. Done. Battery is working again.

Now what I'm trying to say here is that our UAV is a same programmer for our battery, it can communicate with it and it can, for instance, upgrade its firmware. More than that, PF won't activate while UAV is still in the air to prevent it from falling from the sky. It will kill the battery in a certain scenario but won't just turn off, unless there is a hardware failure.

  

  

There is also a problem – those chips have a passphrase and you can’t just take any adapter connect and mess with their parameters, which is also good since that protects us from the batteries with wrong manufacturing date or wiped charge counters.

  

  

DJI can’t give us a passphrase by the same reason, but I have an idea what they actually can do for us and it is a remote unlock. I understand that they can’t unlock ANY battery, in case it has some other issues, but they can run remote diagnosis using our UAV which can be connected to PC as programmer and some kind of service software, which don’t have to be in a public access, but can be sent to those who has same problem as me and activated for a small period of time while DJI specialists could disable that lock.

  

Even if they will do it on a paid basis it will be easier, cheaper and more effective then sending our batteries to them every time that little lock thing works by itself.

  

  

At the same time User Manual states that battery should prevent itself from such discharge and enter hibernation mode, not permanent lock, so that’s not exactly our fault which makes all that situation even more important. More than that while battery will be transported to DJI it will discharge even further as time goes, so at the moment it will arrive to a service facility cells can be completely dead. Which leads us to another problem which is environmental since those cells need to be recycled.

  

  

So, my point is that DJI actually can take that idea into consideration since I actually can repair my battery myself, it will take some time and it won’t be easy but I have some knowledge and tools how to do that, but for those who can’t do that this situation is much more unpleasant.

  

  

I will be grateful if DJI guys (or anybody else with more knowledge than me) will correct me if (and where) I might be wrong, but that’s my thoughts and my point of view on that problem, which already exists for a while.

  

  

Thanks for your time.

Same here. Just bricked one accu because of low voltage warning. Drone landed, hitting the ground (survived), couldnt turn it off for a while. After finally motors stopped, turned it off and it, the accu is not responding.

Trapez Posted at 8-26 07:32
Same here. Just bricked one accu because of low voltage warning. Drone landed, hitting the ground (survived), couldnt turn it off for a while. After finally motors stopped, turned it off and it, the accu is not responding.[view_image]

Also Mavic Air? First version?

1RONMAN_C Posted at 8-27 08:14
Also Mavic Air? First version?

Not sure. I've bought it in the middle of 2018 but does it matter? First time it heppened when one cell of accu was lower than other two. This second time, I started on 55% charge and looks there was enough power to ascend in normal speed. I should slow down. It was nice rainy cloud, so I had no time to charge

Trapez Posted at 8-27 23:27
Not sure. I've bought it in the middle of 2018 but does it matter? First time it heppened when one cell of accu was lower than other two. This second time, I started on 55% charge and looks there was enough power to ascend in normal speed. I should slow down. It was nice rainy cloud, so I had no time to charge
[view_image]

Nice photograph!)

Have you updated battery firmware? Was it latest or the one you bought your drone with?

I managed to fix my bricked battery and if you have a bit of technical knoweledge I can explain you how you can do same thing as I did if you want to, not the easiest thing in the world, but also nothing to special, no special tools required, just some kind of charger for batteries, something to disassemble it and a multimeter, plus some free time. PM me if you interested.

1RONMAN_C Posted at 8-28 10:10
Nice photograph!)

Have you updated battery firmware? Was it latest or the one you bought your drone with?

I don't remember it was original or not. I have 7 batteries but now only two are ok. The rest have some issues - 1 bricked, 3 - swollen, 1 - cell deviation. And Don't remember all have actual software.

If you know some way to unbrick without EV2300, It will be very helpful. Recently bought 9 cells to restore 3 swollen ones but so far don't know how to unbrick after removing the cells. Only I know, I need EV2300 and Texas Instruments software for drivers.

hi there!

have the same issue with Mavic Air 1. one of the three batteries is dead and we are talking about 3-4 cycles each. i tried everything suggested on the forum or youtube but no luck :S and the i found a guy on YT who unlocks the battery in seconds, as mentioned above, using EV2300 and the software. It looks kinda "too easy" , dont need to dissemble the battery, just plug some pins, connect to pc, 1-2 minute, done! so i ve checked the links provided.... the EV2300 costs about $40-50 from China and the software from their website, about $70 for the annual registered key.  

now, i m in between buying a new battery or trying their software :s not sure if this is a scam or not but i saw many people on YT doing the same thing with different batteries  and looks like it's working...

1RONMAN_C Posted at 8-28 10:10
Nice photograph!)

Have you updated battery firmware? Was it latest or the one you bought your drone with?

hi there!

are you talking about using a IMAX6 battery charger?

i think they dont really care about Mavic air anymore! I live in Greece and most of the stores here dont ever sell Mavic Air1 batteries! They are discontinued duo to Manic Mini pandemic :s The thing is that that battery issue is common in every DJI product and they simply dont care! If you know how to fix it "illegally" go ahead, if not, go buy some new one from our their stores! Really annoying!

1RONMAN_C Posted at 8-28 10:10
Nice photograph!)

Have you updated battery firmware? Was it latest or the one you bought your drone with?

hello, I just purchased a used mavic air for myself for Christmas it was the fly more combo and unfortunately two of the batteries are locked do you have a PDF or a video link you can send on how to unlock them I think I'm handy enough with a little screwdriver I'm willing to try

1RONMAN_C Posted at 2021-8-28 10:10
Nice photograph!)

Have you updated battery firmware? Was it latest or the one you bought your drone with?

I have this issue, can you help?

Guys, who have same issue and want some help:

Idk if it is allowed to post here anything about how to fix it "illegaly", so I can't tell all the details, BUT just think for yourself do you actully want all that hassle?

Because at very least you need to disassemble lithium-polymer battery with a few cells, which can be VERY dangerous by itself, then you need to charge it, then you need to make a cable so that you can connect two batteries simultaneously to your drone and then you need to flash the dead one, at any step you can short some wires and either break your drone or even get injuries in case battery will catch fire.

It's not because I don't want to help, I'd really love to, but don't want to be a person who can put someone at risk with my explanations. More than that even though I managed to fix my battery, I'd rather never do it again because it was hard and I can't be 100% sure this battery won't die mid-air.

DJI's don't want to give us simple way to fix it and I don't want anyone to be hurt.

Same issue here, had one battery bought one more left it for a while on  used and now it is don over and out. Opent it and all seems well is it really a bit in the chip??, can you send me some more info abouth this please.  Can be don bij email w.lagerberg@gmail.com.

these batteries are smart to steal our money! use their intelligence for evil! they are disposable batteries should not cost so much! I believe there is some legal process to correct this bizarre error.

It's called a class action suite

I make sure to rotate my batteries so that way they don't have issues.  I have 8 batteries and keeping them all healthy is very important.  I numbered my batteries and keep track on a spreadsheet the batteries that I use each time.  There are times I use all 8 and then times I use less than that.  

Thanks DJI, I love your products so much))