Hi,

  

  

So far I had 2 battery swollen, need to dispose, because after running in sport mode, one after continuously hitting the head wind for nearly 6 minutes, one after 3 minutes (in hot sunny day)

  

  

I am from a country with hot ambient temperature of 35C.

  

  

How robust is Dji battery? I cannot afford to do this to more batteries. I will end up spending money on battery that will be worth than the Mavic itself.

  

  

I cannot claim warranty because they are > 6months. Looks like sport mode is a battery killer, at least in my case.

6 mins of strong headwinds..wow that's quite a bit. Do you regularly fly in these kind of conditions? What the highest temps when flying?

Might have surpassed the "C" discharge rating??

I dont know guys, but the temp in my country is min 35C. During flying, under direct sunlight it can go high. I flew in normal mode many time without any issues in this weather.

6 min strong headwind is one 1 time off experience as the outbound was aided with tail wind, i manage to bring back the bird, but the battery swollen.

The second occurrence occurred in shorter duration, but similar scenario.

These 2 battery are around 1 year old.

Hi Sir, I‘m sorry to read your post. For the swollen battery, it is not recommended to use any more. Also, please keep an eye of the battery status during flight, do not push the sticks fully for a long time in sports mode which is not good for the battery.

DJI Susan Posted at 2017-12-17 18:23
Hi Sir, I‘m sorry to read your post. For the swollen battery, it is not recommended to use any more. Also, please keep an eye of the battery status during flight, do not push the sticks fully for a long time in sports mode which is not good for the battery.

You have used it for almost a year, well I have just discovered that 2 of my mavic pro batteries suffer the same fate after 6 months.... not 6 months full usage as I fly it alternating the 3 batteries that come with the combo set.
Peter HO

djiuser_xLIQgfnI4KDi Posted at 2018-3-3 00:22
You have used it for almost a year, well I have just discovered that 2 of my mavic pro batteries suffer the same fate after 6 months.... not 6 months full usage as I fly it alternating the 3 batteries that come with the combo set.
Peter HO

It's a pity. Please refer the battery guidelines for maintenance: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... tery+Safety+Guides+(EN).pdf

I have the same issue. My found that it happen after i am using sport mode as well.
I have 3 batteries with combo package. But now i have 2 batteries are now swollen.
Bot are more than 6 months but less than 12 months.

There must be a lot of droners who fly in hot weather so I am surprised I have not seen similar reports. Still, I am not doubting your ill fortune. The batteriesare not cheap to replace.
I would be interested to know what % you usually end your flight at. If you are going below the 30% regularly, that will not help battery life.
Some people use a non-dji charger. Whilst I believe the battery circuitry controls the charge rate, that may not be the case and the battery might be charging at to high a rate. Might this be an issue for you?
I seriously doubt you leave the batteries on the parcel shelf of your car, in the sunlight, so they get to hot, but I did that with a phone and (yes, idiot rating is 5 star for that one)  it was a close call to get the battery out in time. Samsung S4.
Cold is the main problem where I live, but the battery warms up in use, so that is a blessing. I will be extra careful when I drone in a hot country now, so thanks for sharing.

Summary - Another reason to keep drone Batteries in Safety bags designed to contain a battery explosion and risk of fire.

Im in Arizona, without fail, we are gonna hit somewhere 115-120f late June through July. What is the max recommended temperature for flights? I'll keep in mind also, NO sports mode during this time.

Hot weather, and a continuous high drain on a LiPo battery does shorten it's life/and can kill a battery.
That's why on the racers, they use a high "C" rating battery for the high discharge rates.
The Mavic is not a racer, it's a camera platform. It can use the sport mode to get back when fighting high winds while you drop altitude to get home.

Wow, I am from Phoenix, Arizona where the warm temperatures are about to creep in. I've had my Spark since January, and my Mavic Pro since last week, so the batteries haven't had a chance to fly in hot sunny days. I'm nervous after reading your post. It looks like my suspicions not on flying in hot warm sunny days is going to be accurate, I'm just debating whether or not to even fly then? I'm of the opinion the DJI batteries have a 6 month warranty on them so if that's true and the battery temperature limits stated are 100 degrees fahrenheit then I should be protected if I do not fly my drones in temperatures greater than 100 degrees? Is that an accurate position to have?

Flycaster Posted at 2018-3-21 11:17
Hot weather, and a continuous high drain on a LiPo battery does shorten it's life/and can kill a battery.
That's why on the racers, they use a high "C" rating battery for the high discharge rates.
The Mavic is not a racer, it's a camera platform. It can use the sport mode to get back when fighting high winds while you drop altitude to get home.

Does flying the Spark in Sport Mode differ or lessen the drain on the Battery than say the Mavic Pro flying in Sport Mode?

nnote Posted at 2018-3-21 09:28
Im in Arizona, without fail, we are gonna hit somewhere 115-120f late June through July. What is the max recommended temperature for flights? I'll keep in mind also, NO sports mode during this time.

I'm in Arizona too, and it's good if you can tell me did you fly your Mavic Pro last year during the hot temperatures at any time, and if you did what effect did you see affecting your Mavic Pro battery?

yhkuek Posted at 2018-3-21 06:30
I have the same issue. My found that it happen after i am using sport mode as well.
I have 3 batteries with combo package. But now i have 2 batteries are now swollen.
Bot are more than 6 months but less than 12 months.

My Spark batteries have been flying in proper weather conditions and I haven't seen any issues, however, I recently purchased my Mavic Pro and only have 1 battery so don't want to have any issues with the only battery I have. I guess don't fly that much in Sport Mode?

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-3-21 11:27
I'm in Arizona too, and it's good if you can tell me did you fly your Mavic Pro last year during the hot temperatures at any time, and if you did what effect did you see affecting your Mavic Pro battery?

I got mine this past Mid December, so no hot weather flying yet.

nnote Posted at 2018-3-21 11:51
I got mine this past Mid December, so no hot weather flying yet.

What are your plans once the weather gets very warm? Fly it sunrise and sunset? I'm only planning on flying in the summer if we have cooler days and only in the mornings and evenings.

bmbk Posted at 2017-12-17 17:23
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How do you discard or dispose of these batteries when they swell like that? Does DJI have an address where they can be sent to be discarded or disposed of?

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-3-21 12:09
What are your plans once the weather gets very warm? Fly it sunrise and sunset? I'm only planning on flying in the summer if we have cooler days and only in the mornings and evenings.

I haven't found anything but max charging temp for the battery is 104f, and not designed to operate at more then 140f although I've read some have ran there's to 160f. At this point you would probably have to let the battery sit in a cool house for an hour or two before attempting to charge it after a flight in the heat.
Read some stories where people were having serious heat issues at 95f outside. Regardless, we know in AZ it may be 95 out but anything the sun is hitting is 20 degrees hotter then outside temperature.
Will probably have to fly at sunrise, per FAA, can't fly after sunset...

Any chance that it was just a bad batch of batteries? I fly at least 30% of the time in Sport mode, and I believe it is just as hot and windy here in Australia as it is in Malaysia. I haven't seen any swelling in all my 6 batteries, 3 of them have done well over 100 flights each.

nnote Posted at 2018-3-21 16:46
I haven't found anything but max charging temp for the battery is 104f, and not designed to operate at more then 140f although I've read some have ran there's to 160f. At this point you would probably have to let the battery sit in a cool house for an hour or two before attempting to charge it after a flight in the heat.
Read some stories where people were having serious heat issues at 95f outside. Regardless, we know in AZ it may be 95 out but anything the sun is hitting is 20 degrees hotter then outside temperature.
Will probably have to fly at sunrise, per FAA, can't fly after sunset...

Yeah I will probably only fly at sunrise and sunset, and definitely will not charge the batteries immediately after flying in the hot heat. I don't think the batteries will take a charge being hot and will require the need to cool down. Thanks for the information and feedback.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-3-21 12:11
How do you discard or dispose of these batteries when they swell like that? Does DJI have an address where they can be sent to be discarded or disposed of?

Just fully discharge them.  Then in the trash.  Though it might pay to discharge them twice as they seem to catch a little voltage back once discharged.

Li-po's used for model aircraft are normally damaged by over discharging them.  That is what caused them to swell.  20 percent of charge should be left in the battery.  Last minute landers can expect damage.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-3-21 18:30
Just fully discharge them.  Then in the trash.  Though it might pay to discharge them twice as they seem to catch a little voltage back once discharged.

Li-po's used for model aircraft are normally damaged by over discharging them.  That is what caused them to swell.  20 percent of charge should be left in the battery.  Last minute landers can expect damage.

Yeah, I never fly my batteries down to below 20 percent but today I flew the Mavic Pro down to 10 percent but I'm charging the battery now.

For disposal,  the battery must be DEAD

To do this place the bad battery in a salt water solution for about a week........this will kill the cells and the battery becomes INERT.  Basically a paper weight.  Then throw it away.