Hi all

The reason I am asking is, that I have pointed out this situation in another thread, See Here and it was not noticed. So I am asking in a new thread, this might catch some attention.
I have bought from Amazon a battery for my P3P after installation I have noticed that, at the Battery Status page, there was a message saying that the battery had a 'Cell Broken'.
This is a brand new battery, you can see images of this in the link above. This is not a DJI battery it is actually made by or distributed by PowerData, they are less expensive than DJI around 50$ less. So I returned the battery and got another one from the same distributor, Powerdata. Thought it just might be a glitch to this specific battery. Got the second one yesterday and it had the same problem. I even heard and seen on YouTube that on some occasions, morely so with latest release of DJI Go app, the app refuses to take off because it has detected a non DJI battery, again see link above for pictures and video off all this.
Some clients on Amazon say that they are completly satisfied with this battery, maybe, either their DJI App is not up to date, or the did not bother ckecking their battery conditions before using it.
So there is two questions here.
1 - Would YOU fly with this battery?
2 - Is DJI restricting the usage of generic batteries and therefore forces the usage of their own battery and is this ethical?

Thanks for your comments.
Again the link is HERE.
Ing.

No.
It may be DJI Go not liking the data it gets from the battery, it may be a broken cell. for the sake of $50 I wouldn't risk my Phantom, or anything below it.

1:- Although I can see the attraction of buying cheaper batteries, is it worth saving $50 for something you will be putting in a $1000 plus machine ? At the same time voiding any warranty claim should the aircraft develop a fault during that flight ?

So my answer would be no, I would not fly with that battery.

2:- It's no less ethical than any other company that produce product specific batteries, Apple springs to mind immediately.

This kind of thing has been going on for quite some time.

Aftermarket batteries can be unpredictable.  So in that sense, DJI is protecting its customer by refusing to fly.  

You may be able to bypass the issue by flying with an "aftermarket" app, such as Litchi.  

PaulSouthport Posted at 2017-4-13 10:00
No.
It may be DJI Go not liking the data it gets from the battery, it may be a broken cell. for the sake of $50 I wouldn't risk my Phantom, or anything below it.

Hi Paul thanks for your answer.
What I am interested in is that, not only one battery but two in my case, but I witnessed this with as many as 5 of my friends. I do agree with you thou that I don't think I will fly with this battery. But $150 US or $195 Can for a DJI drone battery is A LOT of money 10 to 15% the price of the Drone.
Thanks Paul.
Bat

probably close to 100% of phantom owners here would tell u to never use non DJI battery...  and even if a DJI battery reports issues, i'd replace it with either DJI or Amazon - have done so in the past. Amazon prime will often help you out with replacements.
On a $200 drone, saving $70 on a battery is worth it.. on something closer to a $1k.. not so sure.....
I got all of my extra batteries from Amazon, and none cost me more than $105.. you just have to watch the prices...  There are also deals at bestbuy, target, walmart every so often...
Some people also get a price match with some online shop.. gamestop or something? They often manage to get a battery at $50+tax...
I currently have 2 Phantoms and total of 5 batteries, all DJI.

My personal opinion would be to not fly with this battery. I understand that batteries re expensive, but should that battery completely fail during flight you'd be out of a pretty expensive Phantom. Not to mention the possibility of damage and liability should it land on something/someone while falling.

Using aftermarket batteres poses a major safety issues with these aircrafts. It's also a very easy way to void the warranty on your airraft should any issues arise due to using it. Older aircrafts and, in turn, older variations of the Go app/Pilot app may have let it slide, but this is ultimately protecting the investment you've made thus far with this unit as others have mentioned.

Having proprietary batteries is not new to electronics in general, so it's not a question of 'ethics'.

There is not only the risk of losing your drone but safety issues. So for me personally, I would not do it.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-4-13 14:41
Using aftermarket batteres poses a major safety issues with these aircrafts.

Jamie, could you be more specific, in what way does, generic batteries might interfere with safety? Thanks. Ing.

Aardvark Posted at 2017-4-13 10:02
"It's no less ethical than any other company that produce product specific batteries, Apple springs to mind immediately."

Also reminds me of Printers being sold for 69$ while cartrige replacements cost 89$.  And if you put in any generic cartridge they bug you before printing with messages, about warranty issue or other problems with your printer in you are NOT using THEIR batteires.

capbat Posted at 2017-4-14 06:35

Since these aircrafts require specific information from the battery in order to operate properly, 3rd party batteries aren't guaranteed to supply what's needed. They can read incorrectly, causing random drops in voltage or they could be made poorly to where they could either combust or shut off. Any of which can lead to crashes.

These 'generic' batteries are trying to mimic algorithims that DJI does not supply to other manufacturers to make 3rd party batteries. If someone is spending $1K or more on an aircraft, most wouldn't risk their investment crashing due to battery issues that could have been avoided and will end up having to pay for their own repairs or replacement on top of it.

capbat Posted at 2017-4-14 06:41
Also reminds me of Printers being sold for 69$ while cartrige replacements cost 89$.  And if you put in any generic cartridge they bug you before printing with messages, about warranty issue or other problems with your printer in you are NOT using THEIR batteires.

'Also reminds me of Printers being sold for 69$ while cartrige replacements cost 89$.  And if you put in any generic cartridge they bug you before printing with messages, about warranty issue or other problems with your printer in you are NOT using THEIR batteires.'

A printer is not going to fall out of the sky and potentially hit someone, this comparison is silly. There is a real safety issue here, don't ignore it.

Geebax Posted at 2017-4-14 14:19
'Also reminds me of Printers being sold for 69$ while cartrige replacements cost 89$.  And if you put in any generic cartridge they bug you before printing with messages, about warranty issue or other problems with your printer in you are NOT using THEIR batteires.'

A printer is not going to fall out of the sky and potentially hit someone, this comparison is silly. There is a real safety issue here, don't ignore it.

I was more incline here the put emphasis on company who wants to make more money from us buying their products while providing us with false information why we should do this. Here is another one, it does not concern safety, it concerns greed and pollution. Remember Volkswagen cheting on pollution tests. Who is telling the truth.? Talking about silly comparison.

Bat

capbat Posted at 2017-4-14 16:51
I was more incline here the put emphasis on company who wants to make more money from us buying their products while providing us with false information why we should do this. Here is another one, it does not concern safety, it concerns greed and pollution. Remember Volkswagen cheting on pollution tests. Who is telling the truth.? Talking about silly comparison.

Bat

Again, proprietary hardware (battery or otherwise) is not new to a lot of companies. Whether or not you want to acknowledge the potential risk of damage to your gear due to incompatible components is a moot point. I'm sorry that you don't agree that there are safety concerns at hand, but the aircraft will not run on 3rd party batteries.

capbat Posted at 2017-4-14 16:51
I was more incline here the put emphasis on company who wants to make more money from us buying their products while providing us with false information why we should do this. Here is another one, it does not concern safety, it concerns greed and pollution. Remember Volkswagen cheting on pollution tests. Who is telling the truth.? Talking about silly comparison.

Bat

'I was more incline here the put emphasis on company who wants to make more money from us buying their products while providing us with false information why we should do this.'

Oh dear, the same old whines over and over again. Whatever, it does not matter because DJI have done this and no amount of whining from you or anyone else is going to change it. And what on earth does the Volkswagen issue have to do with it?

capbat Posted at 2017-4-14 16:51
I was more incline here the put emphasis on company who wants to make more money from us buying their products while providing us with false information why we should do this. Here is another one, it does not concern safety, it concerns greed and pollution. Remember Volkswagen cheting on pollution tests. Who is telling the truth.? Talking about silly comparison.

Bat

Well, companies that do this are either trying to milk more money out of you for their consumables, or they are trying to enforce quality control to protect their product from a failure, crash or fire, and resultant injuries.  They are also protecting the brand's reputation for safety and reliability.  They know the quality of their own batteries, and considering they are intelligent batteries, they know the software loaded into them.  Seeing as the subsystems are so closely interdependent, I don't think it is unreasonable to exclude non-genuine batteries from the equation.  I wouldn't think you need any other proof than you have had 2 out of 2 non-genuine battery failures.  I'm glad it does not permit you to fly on these defective batteries.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-4-14 17:00
Again, proprietary hardware (battery or otherwise) is not new to a lot of companies. Whether or not you want to acknowledge the potential risk of damage to your gear due to incompatible components is a moot point. I'm sorry that you don't agree that there are safety concerns at hand, but the aircraft will not run on 3rd party batteries.

What I understand from your answer is ' but the aircraft will not run on 3rd party batteries.'.
Period. Will DJI in future firmware completly prevent AC from flying with generic batteries? That is the question.

Geebax Posted at 2017-4-14 17:18
And what on earth does the Volkswagen issue have to do with it?

Well maybe the more recent United issue, might ring a bell. Consumer are just getting, (you put the adjective you want here.) and they don't feel a thing.