there are many YouTube videos offering help and advice on how to setup, fly and maintain your p3.
Most are good and informative but there are some that just blow my mind.
For example, video on how to maintain your p3 battery. The guy says that you should not charge your battery to full capacity if you are not going to use it within 24 hours. On the surface it sounds ok but my issue is this:
In the Dji go app under battery you can choose from 1 day to 10 days before your battery starts auto discharge which takes another 2 days to complete. So potentially you could have a fully charged battery for up to ten days.
Now we have DJI, a multi billion dollar company, with God knows how many engineers in different fields who have come up with this technology for their batteries.
Then we have a guy who we don't know what qualifications he has telling us "no don't charge your batteries if you are not going to use them within 24hours".
1 person against a multi billion dollar company with all types of engineers and nurds who eat and breath electronics and computer software programming!
Who are you going to go by?
I am not questioning who is right and who is wrong, the point of this thread is, in my opinion, one should always go by what the manufacturer says and not any old person who out of enthusiasm starts making videos on how to do things that conflict with manufacturer's manual.

I think, both are right. DJI has made this feature to the battery. You can also charge your battery manually 80% full (storage mode)

jorski@netti.fi Posted at 2015-8-23 17:43
I think, both are right. DJI has made this feature to the battery. You can also charge your battery  ...

I have been charging my batteries back to 3 flashing lights (50-60%), when I come home from flying.
Even if I am going to fly again the next day.

This may be overkill however.

I will try and aim for 80% now. Thanks Jorski

Right on Ray.  
Can you imagine if a major aircraft manufacturer issued a service bulletin regarding a component on their new aircraft and airlines didn't comply with the procedures?  What if an airline decided to take the advice published by Joe Blow instead of the manufacturer?  
Then you have the distant runners bragging they flew 10,000,000,00 feet and returned home with 1% battery.  Then other drone owners have to see if they can fly farther without thinking of the consequences or proper flight planning for a safe flight.  Its easy to see why Joe and Mary citizen have a bad image of drones and drone pilots.

I want to preface my statement by saying that DJI is not the know all end all authority when it comes to lithium polymer batteries.

Take a look at http://batteryuniversity.com/lea ... ium_based_batteries Then look at this http://batteryuniversity.com/lea ... thium_ion_batteries .

Battery university is known within the high performance battery use community as the outfit to look to for recommendations on charging, maintenance, and safety related information.

When the DJI Phantom 3 was introduced, DJI was only warranting batteries for 90 days. There was an uproar with many as the Phantom had multiple issues that didn't allow for flight (lack of batteries that precluded one or two flights per day at most)  and people, me included demanded a warranty extension. Dji listened and extended the warranty. Well done to DJI for this policy change.

Now you guys confuse the hell out of me ! So what is it 80 or 50 percent for storage

Does keeping the battery at "storage level" and then having to charge it to top it off before flight reduce the battery life due to the number of times charged.
Example: if when done flying I charge to 80% and then charge it to 100% the next day before flight. Now it will show 2 charges on the battery. Is the number of charges on the battery relevant to the battery life percentage. Basically I am asking if I will wear my battery out 2xs as fast doing it this way.

Willie, I watched a youtube and it was 80 then 50!
It appears that battery university is light years ahead of Joe Blow on youtube.

gregg1r Posted at 2015-8-23 22:11
I want to preface my statement by saying that DJI is not the know all end all authority when it come ...

I was nearly battery ignorant but having read those links it sure would be nice if DJI replaced the LEDS with an LCD readout. Having to power up and enter the app and switching out batteries kind sucks.

greenbean Posted at 2015-8-24 02:21
I was nearly battery ignorant but having read those links it sure would be nice if DJI replaced the ...

While a minority of people would like a battery gauge, the vast majority are too bothered to pay attention to it if supplied.

Many automobiles did away with gauges and went to "Idiot" lights for this reason alone.

My experience with gauges like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/1S-8S-RC ... ester-/131491627834 indicates that they work well. Then again, I'm pushing a short arc search light to 22 million (real not China CP) candle power with 16 cells at 24 volts. The light draws 24 amps on start and runs at around 18 amps.  I've got a bomb in my hand that if operated below the recommended voltages,

Flash light explosions aren't pretty, especially inside a closed in tube.

gregg1r Posted at 2015-8-23 22:11
I want to preface my statement by saying that DJI is not the know all end all authority when it come ...

I agree that Dji is not the all knowing body regarding "anything", I am merely saying:
One should go by the manufacturer rather than joe blow on YouTube. That's all.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-8-24 03:28
I agree that Dji is not the all knowing body regarding "anything", I am merely saying:
One should  ...

Coming to a forum and getting bad/incorrect advice is not a new event!
If I get advice from someone I've come to trust, I'd probably take it. If some guy shows up out of the blue and states blah, blah, blah, I'll wait until I'm reasonably certain he/she has some credibility.

In the event of someone I don't know from the proverbial man in the moon - a slow uptake or a "grain of salt" is in order.

aburkefl@gmail. Posted at 2015-8-24 03:35
Coming to a forum and getting bad/incorrect advice is not a new event!
If I get advice from someon ...

More like a pound of salt and in some cases a truck load of salt is in order.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-8-24 03:28
I agree that Dji is not the all knowing body regarding "anything", I am merely saying:
One should  ...

I can agree with you.

One thing to consider though is that some of the trusted video makers have a much better grasp of Phantom 3 operation than do the factory engineers due to the language barrier.

Carry on.

I'll trust battery engineers over factory engineers, unless I know there is known technology in place that will enforce the best information available about the particulars chemistry involved.  It doesn't matter who the manufacturer is, the chemistry dictates the charging method.

ag0n Posted at 2015-8-24 04:38
I'll trust battery engineers over factory engineers, unless I know there is known technology in plac ...

Ok, I'm just gonna use Duracell throw away ones.
The one undertone I've taken here, is the lack of trust in DJI!!
In my case I still gonna have to trust them over anyone else, but that's just a personal choice

I do not second guess most of the default programming that DJI has in their smart batteries.

The only thing I did do was "break them in" with not running down below 50% for 10 flights or so.

Other than that I am trying to use them as any "consumer" would - after all, that's the idea of smart batteries.

In many other endeavors I have noticed that humans (we the people) complicate simple things. It's a natural tendency it seems...when what we should be doing is the opposite (efficiency of motion and of work).

So, when I get done ruining my 3 batteries we'll all compare notes and see if those who said voodoo prayers over theirs really lasted longer!

Note - how many of you really take care with your computer or smartphone or tablet batteries? I rest my case!

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-8-24 06:44
I do not second guess most of the default programming that DJI has in their smart batteries.

The on ...

thank you, very well said. we will compare

I'm beginning to like Joe Blow on youtube.  Fly the heck out of your DJI3 batteries because in less then a year the DJI4 will be announced with an enhanced battery that won't work in your DJI3!

Skater67 Posted at 2015-8-24 08:02
I'm beginning to like Joe Blow on youtube.  Fly the heck out of your DJI3 batteries because in less  ...

I agree, fly the heck out of them and save up for the next phantom.  

Let's face it..

There are some great videos on Youtube, and there are some folks who should not be allowed to have blunt instruments posting 'how to' videos for all sorts of things...  

The same as any internet source everyone has to make their own choices about using Goats Milk to lubricate the gimbal on a P3 or not.  (I'm sure there is a video for that somewhere, there is for everything else!)

So who here is more confused than we already were? LOL  I know $150 isn't a ton of money, but I wouldn't mind my batteries to last me at least 9-12 months if possible.  Don't really care about the next phantom at this point, I'm the type who buys something for the long haul, and don't need the newest and greatest all the time.  My very first flight was a disaster and my battery was depleted all the way to the point where nothing would turn on without a charge.  I assume that that ONE time won't harm my battery, and have since been setting my low battery warning to 50% so I can land within a decent timeline.  Do I always shut it off RIGHT at 50%?  NO.  But I'm only 5 flights in and have already seem some minor fluctuations in my cells, nothing MAJOR, but within .01-.02ish differences.  So again, who do we go by?  What is the "Say all, be all" on this?

kiwichrish Posted at 2015-8-24 13:04
Let's face it..

There are some great videos on Youtube, and there are some folks who should not be  ...

there is, I made one!

jayhkr Posted at 2015-8-24 13:06
So who here is more confused than we already were? LOL  I know $150 isn't a ton of money, but I woul ...

I go by what the manufacturer of the item says not by joe blow on the web.the same dude re batteries also says you can use older iphones and other androids too, shows a video of how to do it!!
is he ..... trying to get P3 to crash? because a newbie used his old snail iphone 5 and app and phone crashed, now he is panicking cuz he cant see the video, forgets that he really can still fly and crashes his p3. Maybe this dude works for 3DR!
Sure you put your mind to it and you can get an abbacus to work with your p3. but should u?(google abbacus if you dont know what it is)

I just heard from Joe Blow that Phantom pilots should only fly their batteries down to 89.45% and then let cool and rest for 3.7 days and 36 minutes before charging up to 93.5%.  I plan to follow DJI's recommended battery procedures plus fly the heck out of my Phantom.