I stored two Phantom 4 batteries for about 5 months at 50% charge, and while one of them is fine, the other is completely dead: no lights, won't charge etc.
It's only done about 20 flights so I'm pretty annoyed. Is my only option to get a replacement? Would DJI cover a replacement for me? I'm not sure I kept the receipt

Aloha jje,

     How long did you try to charge it?  Sometimes the battery gets super-drained and it can take fifteen minutes to a half hour to get it going.  This has even happened when new batteries have been on the shelf and finally delivered to the purchasing customer.  The new customers would come on the Forum all concerned and then found out how to handle it.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 2017-10-9 23:59
Aloha jje,

     How long did you try to charge it?  Sometimes the battery gets super-drained and it can take fifteen minutes to a half hour to get it going.  This has even happened when new batteries have been on the shelf and finally delivered to the purchasing customer.  The new customers would come on the Forum all concerned and then found out how to handle it.

Hi there, thanks for the reply.  I left it charging for a good few hours, nothing happened, still very dead

The warranty period of the P4 battery is 6 Months and Charge Cycle less than 200 Times, I would recommend you send the battery to the DJI for diagnosis if this battery is still in warranty period.

jje Posted at 2017-10-10 00:08
Hi there, thanks for the reply.  I left it charging for a good few hours, nothing happened, still very dead

Aloha jje,

     Did you buy it from DJI or an Authorized Distributor (store)?  If so you should be able to get full or some sort of reimbursement.  As noted by the other battery, it should be working.  I have no idea about the warranty period on batteries though.  You should contact the seller.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!

Thanks all. I think it's out of warranty then. I'll see if my local DJI place wants to analyze it.

Had a similar problem so I sent it back to DJI. Still waiting for the replacement 5+  months later.
DJI is a 5 star company said Monarch and Ryanair customers.

This is an issue with the intelligent batteries when stored too long, and maybe why the warranty is so short too.  My RC plane's Li-Pos are a lot older and they still work, but they are just a plain battery that uses a smart charger.  RC hobby shop sells some that have sat on shelves for maybe a year and they still work, but DJI not.  Owner says some of his own plane's batteries are maybe 10 years old, but he doesn't cook them with a high-current charger either.

I try and bring mine up to full charge every month and not rely on the self-discharge part of them to make them prematurely die.  I've never let them go more than a month before getting back to the charger.  Too bad DJI doesn't put the intelligent monitoring part in the drone itself and just use a plain battery with a smart charger.  Might make these things last much longer like other RC gear, and they could provide a battery warranty both.  A six month warranty doesn't speak highly of what an item is.

I think it's a good idea to never store a dji battery for long periods of time.  They need to be used regularly.

fansa84fe8a4 Posted at 2017-10-10 06:44
This is an issue with the intelligent batteries when stored too long, and maybe why the warranty is so short too.  My RC plane's Li-Pos are a lot older and they still work, but they are just a plain battery that uses a smart charger.  RC hobby shop sells some that have sat on shelves for maybe a year and they still work, but DJI not.  Owner says some of his own plane's batteries are maybe 10 years old, but he doesn't cook them with a high-current charger either.

I try and bring mine up to full charge every month and not rely on the self-discharge part of them to make them prematurely die.  I've never let them go more than a month before getting back to the charger.  Too bad DJI doesn't put the intelligent monitoring part in the drone itself and just use a plain battery with a smart charger.  Might make these things last much longer like other RC gear, and they could provide a battery warranty both.  A six month warranty doesn't speak highly of what an item is.

A cynic would say that this is a deliberate way to make money out of expensive batteries.

I like to fly with mine, opposed to storing them for long periods, letting then auto discharge and recharging.
Thankfully all four of mine are still working properly.

Hope you can get a replacement. These voltage suckers aren't cheap.


RedHotPoker

fansa84fe8a4 Posted at 2017-10-10 06:44
This is an issue with the intelligent batteries when stored too long, and maybe why the warranty is so short too.  My RC plane's Li-Pos are a lot older and they still work, but they are just a plain battery that uses a smart charger.  RC hobby shop sells some that have sat on shelves for maybe a year and they still work, but DJI not.  Owner says some of his own plane's batteries are maybe 10 years old, but he doesn't cook them with a high-current charger either.

I try and bring mine up to full charge every month and not rely on the self-discharge part of them to make them prematurely die.  I've never let them go more than a month before getting back to the charger.  Too bad DJI doesn't put the intelligent monitoring part in the drone itself and just use a plain battery with a smart charger.  Might make these things last much longer like other RC gear, and they could provide a battery warranty both.  A six month warranty doesn't speak highly of what an item is.

'Too bad DJI doesn't put the intelligent monitoring part in the drone itself and just use a plain battery with a smart charger.'

It would not work. The reason the intelligence is in the battery is so it can monitor both the charge and disacharge sycle in order to advise the flight electronics how much charge remains. If you split the two functions, there is no way to do that.

Geebax Posted at 2017-10-10 15:38
It would not work. The reason the intelligence is in the battery is so it can monitor both the charge and disacharge sycle in order to advise the flight electronics how much charge remains. If you split the two functions, there is no way to do that.

Disagree.

If the portion that tells you the battery condition while in flight were inside the drone and taken out of the battery, you would not see a difference.  You'll still see the battery voltage during flight.

The intelligent charging could then be placed inside the charger like other RC planes, helicopters, and cars have done for years/decades.  Plus, their batteries last far longer and you can do a Condition Check with the better chargers that tell you of impending battery doom.  Even my MaHa AA/AAA battery charger for my flash units offers Condition Testing which takes about 24 hours to run through the charge/discharge testing cycle depending on the battery capacity.   It also has a Refresh Mode for stuck ones which appears to be an issue with the DJI ones where the voltage drops too low for the charger to initiate a charge.

All the current configuration does is to inflate the price of the battery fourfold, keeps third parties from making one, and kill it off much sooner unless you pamper it monthly.  You throw away a lot of electronics with the dead DJI batteries.

If you ever been around the larger 8 prop copters, they use a generic 10Ah Li-Po which sells for about $250 and $350 for 16Ah and they don't have the intelligent electronics in them, just two power leads and the balance leads.  I'm sure their owners are more aware of their battery condition for the cost of those birds and the payload they carry.

jje Posted at 2017-10-10 14:49
A cynic would say that this is a deliberate way to make money out of expensive batteries.

...or a smart person would say...

fans52cfa4bf Posted at 2017-10-10 05:48
Had a similar problem so I sent it back to DJI. Still waiting for the replacement 5+  months later.
DJI is a 5 star company said Monarch and Ryanair customers.

Sir, could you tell us your case number? I'd like to check the current status and expedite the progress.

jje Posted at 2017-10-10 00:08
Hi there, thanks for the reply.  I left it charging for a good few hours, nothing happened, still very dead

Try turning it on while connected to the charger.
I've got one battery that will only charge when turned on

fansa84fe8a4 Posted at 2017-10-10 17:03
Disagree.

If the portion that tells you the battery condition while in flight were inside the drone and taken out of the battery, you would not see a difference.  You'll still see the battery voltage during flight.

Use of batteries in orther forms of RC models is not relevant to the DJI quadcopters. RC models are flown by aircraft enthusiasts, the DJI range are flown by photographic professionals, selfie types and general public who know nothing about the care of batteries, nor do they want to.  They just expect them to work, and that is why an intelligent battery is used.

And once again, from someone who designed battery chargers for a living, your idea would not work. Monitoring the terminal voltage of a LiPo battery does not tell you anything about the percentage of available charge that is contained in the battery. That information is only obtained by measuring and knowing the exact quantity of charge, in terms of amperes/time, that is put into the battery, and then drawn out of the battery. The battery cell voltage is only useful as a secondary safety measure in determining if one or more of the cells is discharging down to a critical level.

If you put the intelligence for monitoring discharge into the aircraft and the intelligence for monitoring charge in an external charger, how do the two seperate systems communicate the results to the aircraft. As for electronics overhead in the battery, take a look, there is a couple of dollars worth of components in there at Chinese manufacturing rates.