Is it easy to change when a year or so later the battery doesn't hold that much of a charge?

Looks like it'll have to be returned to DJI for battery replacement unless you know how to do it yourself and can get hold of the batteries (which are not sold separately by DJI).

A J Posted at 7-29 03:29
Looks like it'll have to be returned to DJI for battery replacement unless you know how to do it yourself and can get hold of the batteries (which are not sold separately by DJI).

Eventually, it will matter.  As long as the world doesn't end by an asteroid, earthquake, supervolcano, nuclear war, etc. and we made it into that future as we did today from the past, it will matter to have some sort of DIY kit to do it yourself.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-29 03:59
Eventually, it will matter.  As long as the world doesn't end by an asteroid, earthquake, supervolcano, nuclear war, etc. and we made it into that future as we did today from the past, it will matter to have some sort of DIY kit to do it yourself.

As I said, I suspect DJI will expect the RC unit's to be returned to them for the batteries to be replaced as and when they deplete. I'm surprised the Smart RC didn't come with detachable batteries as seen on the CrystalSky monitors, cendence and Phantom 4 RTK controllers.

Hello and good day AntDX316. Thank you for the inquiry. If you are having issues with your DJI Smart Controller's battery it is best to contact DJI support for us to assist you further. In addition DJI do not recommend doing a DIY in fixing the said remote controller. To avoid further damaging the said unit. By the way it is great to see that your DJI Smart Controller Icon is now appearing on your DJI Forum profile. Thank for your understanding and for your support.

DJI Stephen Posted at 7-29 08:04
Hello and good day AntDX316. Thank you for the inquiry. If you are having issues with your DJI Smart Controller's battery it is best to contact DJI support for us to assist you further. In addition DJI do not recommend doing a DIY in fixing the said remote controller. To avoid further damaging the said unit. By the way it is great to see that your DJI Smart Controller Icon is now appearing on your DJI Forum profile. Thank for your understanding and for your support.

How much would it cost to replace the battery in 2 years?

AntDX316 Posted at 7-29 14:04
How much would it cost to replace the battery in 2 years?

Hi AntDX316. Thank you for the inquiry. I am sorry to say that as of the moment we do not have the exact amount how much the battery replacement will be after two years for the DJI Smart Controller.

A J Posted at 7-29 07:08
As I said, I suspect DJI will expect the RC unit's to be returned to them for the batteries to be replaced as and when they deplete. I'm surprised the Smart RC didn't come with detachable batteries as seen on the CrystalSky monitors, cendence and Phantom 4 RTK controllers.

Maybe smart RC is not that smart as it could be....

ro_flyer Posted at 7-30 18:34
Maybe smart RC is not that smart as it could be....

Does appear to be under continuous development

A smart design would be for user-replaceable batteries. That should not require sending the unit back. I do a lot of underwater work and when I am in remote areas and a non-user replaceable battery dies, the entire unit, usually a strobe or video light, is useless.  I now only purchase underwater camera equipment with user replaceable batteries.  The comfort of redundancy when you are remote or paid a lot of money to visit a far away place knowing I can replace a battery on a whim is critical for some of us.

SC inbuild batteries are similar like many mobile phones inbuild batteries, eventually (and sadly)  will reach to end of charge- discharge cycle.
by then, SC 2 or 3 generation would be  already in the market and we will naturally turn our head to these new model

I have a battery in my Spektrum DX8 for Many years, probably over 5 years same battery and it's still good.  It came with an upgraded battery.

akozc Posted at 5-9 16:31
SC inbuild batteries are similar like many mobile phones inbuild batteries, eventually (and sadly)  will reach to end of charge- discharge cycle.
by then, SC 2 or 3 generation would be  already in the market and we will naturally turn our head to these new model

Not me, I don't need DJI "upgrading" my firmware to some utterly useless and business killing version if I send it in for replacement and no need for a new generation for the same reason.

When my SC internal battery starts to lose capacity I will hopefully be able to send it to a thrid party for pack replacement. It's not like it will be under warranty by then anyway.
Here is a tear down that shows the packs by the way, made by Huizhou Desay Battery Co., Ltd.

DJI Stephen Posted at 2019-7-30 08:13
Hi AntDX316. Thank you for the inquiry. I am sorry to say that as of the moment we do not have the exact amount how much the battery replacement will be after two years for the DJI Smart Controller.

I have 2 SCs and still cant see an icon in my profile.

I don't think a battery change would be that difficult for a 3rd party: https://fccid.io/SS3-RM5001808/Internal-Photos/Int-Photos-4130412

Billboyheritagesurvey Posted at 5-12 07:47
I don't think a battery change would be that difficult for a 3rd party: https://fccid.io/SS3-RM5001808/Internal-Photos/Int-Photos-4130412

how long it take?

AntDX316 Posted at 5-12 20:13
how long it take?

I have not opened my SC so I estimate, provided the battery pack is supplied, about half an hour to open the case fit, re-seal and close. Be a good idea to test the new set up with a paired drone too.

Expect something like a 48 hr turnaround if the battery pack can be sourced. If not it may be possible to build a new pack with replacement cells and the old loom- that's not straight forward but I did one for a Spektrum DX5 a while back so doable in a week.

The battery pack is currently available here but with a 45 day lead in so expect a delay!

Billboyheritagesurvey Posted at 5-12 23:21
I have not opened my SC so I estimate, provided the battery pack is supplied, about half an hour to open the case fit, re-seal and close. Be a good idea to test the new set up with a paired drone too.

Expect something like a 48 hr turnaround if the battery pack can be sourced. If not it may be possible to build a new pack with replacement cells and the old loom- that's not straight forward but I did one for a Spektrum DX5 a while back so doable in a week.

can DJI sell it from their site?

AntDX316 Posted at 5-13 06:47
can DJI sell it from their site?

Nope. Maybe it's available to 'authorised' repairers. The good news is it is replaceable so you won't have to scap the SC when the battery is done.

Joe_Diver Posted at 4-21 10:54
A smart design would be for user-replaceable batteries. That should not require sending the unit back. I do a lot of underwater work and when I am in remote areas and a non-user replaceable battery dies, the entire unit, usually a strobe or video light, is useless.  I now only purchase underwater camera equipment with user replaceable batteries.  The comfort of redundancy when you are remote or paid a lot of money to visit a far away place knowing I can replace a battery on a whim is critical for some of us.

It appears there is a replaceable battery pack for the SC when shipped as a controller for the new M300. I don't know for sure if the adaptor for it it will plug into the Mavic SC as there some slight differences between the Mavic version and the 'Enerprise' version:

A WB37 battery from DJI is probably still sitting on the back between the handles. At least you can see that in the videos.

DJI Stephen Posted at 2019-7-30 08:13
Hi AntDX316. Thank you for the inquiry. I am sorry to say that as of the moment we do not have the exact amount how much the battery replacement will be after two years for the DJI Smart Controller.

That's a lie. It's not rocket science hard to look up the price of items your company has in inventory. Just answer the gentleman's question regarding the price of a battery replacement for the First-generation smart controller.

If you guys are familiar in making a battery pack, this is not a tough task. Here are the steps.
•Open the smart controller,
•Remove the battery pack.
•Unwrap it.
•To extract the old cells, carefully cut the nickel strips as close as the cells as possible (you'll need to solder these strips to the new cells)
•smart controller used 2 x 2s packs connected in parallel
•make 2 x 2S li ion packs (just tape them)
•solder everything together with proper polarity in the same stock layout (take pictures so you know you're not going wrong)
•put the wrappers back on and connect it after cross checking everything together
•make sure the controller starts and use it completely to drain the batteries completely till the controller switches off.
You can play candy crush on full brightness to do so.
•charge the smart controller fully WITHOUT INTERRUPTING
•assemble the controller and you're good to go.
•after first full charge, it should detect the new battery capacity.
High cap cell options below

I have a smart controller. No matter how I try to charge it, it now does t seem to charge.

Do we send these off to support to get them fixed?.it gives me an error message that the current charging method is too weak to charge it quickly.

I'm using a 12v 2a USB charger as requested

Few hours doesn't even shift the charge

Any help much appreciated. Expensive brick!

Rob

djiuser_I94ne8FnFvlx Posted at 9-19 11:47
I have a smart controller. No matter how I try to charge it, it now does t seem to charge.

Do we send these off to support to get them fixed?.it gives me an error message that the current charging method is too weak to charge it quickly.

I will follow this with interest.

I haven't picked up the DJI drones in a while.. I seem to have 'quit' and the Smart Controller battery is still good. : )

Cheers AntDX316. Mine is 2 years old now and still holding up well.

where can you get the replacement battery?