Hi there,

I have now for the 3. time been in the situation where i go out on an adventure, with my Spark drone and 3 fully charged batteries.

Just to find out that one or more batteries are DEAD.

No lights when I press the button.

When they return to the USB hub charger (even in my car), they shortly after light up and are fully charged - and works as expected.

Any idea what us wrong - I must admit, that fir the steep price of batteries, I am disappointed over this.

Today I hiked to a remote lighthouse, just to realise that the first battery was the only one working - and I “wasted” that on “non important” shots on the hike out there ...

Am i doing something wrong ?

Sounds like your battery is going into hibernation mode.  How long ago were those batteries last charged?

Hmmmm, I have 3 batteries - a few days, maybe a week ?

When do they start hibernating and how to wake them up again ?

I am actually sure I had all 3 of them in the USB charger within the last few days ...

I believe 10 days before hibernation.

TonyFonagerDK Posted at 2017-10-18 11:46
I am actually sure I had all 3 of them in the USB charger within the last few days ...

That is weird then indeed. Self-discharging only starts after 10 days. All I can contribute is that my six batteries so far have not shown such behaviour and they are in use since two and a half months now always one after the other (I have put numbers on them to make sure that they get used on an equal level).

10 days and typically at between 45 and 65%

What do you mean with “between 45 and 65%?”

TonyFonagerDK Posted at 2017-10-18 12:05
What do you mean with “between 45 and 65%?”

It means battery discharge till this procentege itself. That is for extend battery life.

So after 10 days it starts discharging down to 45-65% ?

But mine were 100% minutes after they came to life in the charger !

TonyFonagerDK Posted at 2017-10-18 13:41
So after 10 days it starts discharging down to 45-65% ?

But mine were 100% minutes after they came to life in the charger !

In this case, I would recommend you send it back for check. Please contact our support and start a case. http://www.dji.com/support

sounds very strange, what about the temperature outside?

Temperature was around 15 degrees celcius.

I fly with six batteries (all numbered and brought in August 2017) i can see the battery charge decreases 5 to 10% each day , I watch mine like a hawk after my first drone crashed to the ground with battery issues and was badly damaged.

temperature has a lot to do with it , in asia I found the discharge rate more than in the EU, but we are only talking a few percent.

the discharge rate is acceptable given that some electronics inside the battery check the battery, like leaving your mobile on standby but not actually using it.

m1n1s Posted at 2017-10-19 00:57
I fly with six batteries (all numbered and brought in August 2017) i can see the battery charge decreases 5 to 10% each day , I watch mine like a hawk after my first drone crashed to the ground with battery issues and was badly damaged.

temperature has a lot to do with it , in asia I found the discharge rate more than in the EU, but we are only talking a few percent.

Sorry for your experience. Did you resolved your problem? How about your crashed spark?

I had the same issue with a battery that was charged 2 days before and another case where the battery was half-full for a previous day flight. The both appeared dead upon button pressing and went back to life when plugged on the charger.

This only happened since the last firmware (600). It not critically bad but let's say it's annoying and it reduces dependability, especially if you don't have immediate access to the charger.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2017-10-20 02:22
Sorry for your experience. Did you resolved your problem? How about your crashed spark?

Yes, resolved but very painful experience.

Two posts on here spark falls 20 meters to ground and ssid wrong.

DJI drones are cutting edge but the customer service is ..............

m1n1s Posted at 2017-10-20 07:07
Yes, resolved but very painful experience.

Two posts on here spark falls 20 meters to ground and ssid wrong.

If you have suggestion about our service, you can talk to us and we will try hard to improve it. Thanks for your attention.

There is a guy called Rick who has a Youtube channel called 'Drone Valley' - he recently did a 50 minute presentation covering all elements of battery maintenance for the Spark. You may want to take a look. All I would suggest is that when the batteries are turned on you discharge them until the they turn off, let them cool down then fully recharge them to 100%. This will effectively reset them. If you are still experiencing these issues then you may need to consider raising a ticket with DJI support and returning them for replacement. I'd also suggest doing this asap as you should never fly a drone with a malfunctioned battery - temporary or not - it could lead to a voltage drop or short mid air then you'll need a new Spark to go with the battery...