The other day I powered up the drone and RC to check some app settings along with an IMU and camera calibration. When I was done the battery was at 95%. I thought it would be a good idea to "top it off" to 100%.

When I flew with that battery, it seemed to drain quickly. I barely made it back even though I had flown the route before with plenty of time to spare.

Is topping off a bad idea? Does the battery memory somehow get confused?

Topping off should not cause any issues at all. Wind on the other hand will cause your battery to drain much faster.
How long was your flight and also how windy was it?

microcyb Posted at 2016-6-1 03:13
Topping off should not cause any issues at all. Wind on the other hand will cause your battery to dr ...

I don't remember. I did have two other batteries and they flew normally. I do not believe wind was a factor. I always check the wind before I fly and would have remembered if it was 10mph or more

skipilot1 Posted at 2016-5-31 14:23
I don't remember. I did have two other batteries and they flew normally. I do not believe wind was ...

Is it a new battery? One that you could exchange?
Just seems odd that it would do that unless firmware is out of sync or the battery cells are having trouble.

I suspect that battery has been flown "light duty", short duration and recharged several times without running it down deeply for awhile.  Run it down until it won't run anymore and then recharge it.  That will probably rejuvenate it.

How do you run it down?  Fly it until it gets fairly low, remaining "local" to your home point as it gets lower.  When it gets to critical, it will land.  If not, you land it and shut it down.  Let it sit a few minutes and start it back up to idle.  Don't fly.  Let it idle until it shuts itself down again.  If you want to be ultra safe, remove the props before you do that last step, but it will take longer to run it down without the props as load.  After it has shut down, remove the battery and let it cool down to room temp.  When it cools, recharge it fully, and you're done.  That needs to be done now and then, depending on how it is used.  Deep cycling the batteries every 20-25 charge cycles is a good idea, and recommended by DJI.  They say 20 charges, I believe, but I haven't tested it that much.  I deep cycled both of my batteries when the "LIFE" on both of them dropped below 100%.  They both fully recovered and have a nice long flight time again.

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-6-1 04:02
I suspect that battery has been flown "light duty", short duration and recharged several times witho ...

They have six charges. Is that too soon?

They have been run down anywhere from 15 to 30 per cent.

How do you know how much life is in them.

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-6-1 04:02
I suspect that battery has been flown "light duty", short duration and recharged several times witho ...

They have six charges. Is that too soon?

They have been run down anywhere from 15 to 30 per cent.

How do you know how much life is in them.

The manual says: If the battery over %90 and you want to charge, turn on the battery by twice pressing button then connect to charge. Otherwise the battery doesn't charge properly.

skipilot1 Posted at 2016-5-31 15:17
They have six charges. Is that too soon?

They have been run down anywhere from 15 to 30 per cent. ...

Yes.  You are supposed to fly light duty, shallow discharges for the first 10 (if I remember correctly) cycles and only fly to 50% before recharging.  It's kind of like breaking in an engine.  Easy on the throttle and speed until it is "broken in".

balciatilla Posted at 2016-6-1 04:18
The manual says: If the battery over %90 and you want to charge, turn on the battery by twice pressi ...

That's helpful. Thanks.

skipilot1 Posted at 2016-5-31 23:22
That's helpful. Thanks.

you can find battery life in settings

balciatilla Posted at 2016-6-1 04:34
you can find battery life in settings

I have version 2.8.2 and it does not show Battery life.

Push and hold the button on the battery for about 5 seconds and the lights will come on for several seconds and tell you the life reading.  The legend for the lights is in the manual.

Hello skipilot1, microcyb's reply is right. How long can your battery last when the drone hovers or flies in a windless condtion?

The battery should be charged before flying if it has been three days since the last charge. Why? Exactly what you experienced. The voltage will show to be fine yet, the current has fallen. The current (Amperage) does the work, the voltage moves the current. You can check the battery and what you see is the voltage and it looks fine yet the current has dissipated..

When I intend to fly I bring the battery down to around 30& by flying for a while with the Phantom in close proximity and then recharging the battery. I do this the day before I am going to fly.