Aftermarket battery vote/ survey.

Would you use an aftermarket battery

  • Total voters
    97
So again nothing in stone just internet warriors with opinions.
I can se how if you brough the cheapest battery going it's not going to be as good as the original but, there is one on Amazon for £70 with sound reviews ( not that Amazon can be trusted ) next week I will order one and give real feedback .

Powerextra 15.2V 4480mAh LiPo Intelligent Replacement Battery for DJI Phantom 3 Professional, Phantom 3 Advanced and Phantom 3 Standard, 4K Drones Powerextra 15.2V 4480mAh LiPo Intelligent Replacement Battery for DJI Phantom 3 Professional, Phantom 3 Advanced and Phantom 3 Standard, 4K Drones: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games
 
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I found my Irish seller provided good batterys and on that I will stick with him. Even if it costs me a couple quid more.

That's the thing - once you find a good supply - stay with it.

I have to say that I am wary of Amazon .... more than eBay in fact ! But that's my personal view.

Nigel
 
For me is a risk/reward thing. Yes, the DJI battery is expensive, no questions. In comparison the whole package is cheap...

But these are "intelligent batteries", with custom chips and firmware. So the risk is not simply that the 3rd party battery is poor quality (usually is not), but that in the future a firmware update will render the battery useless. So, do I spend $149 for an expensive battery that I know will work for sure, or $63 (all US prices) for the Banggood one? In one case, I overspend, in the other I risk ending up with a $63 paperweight.

I doubt that the European rules (I'm European and used to live there, btw) would cover a battery that worked but is rendered unusable by a DJI update

Not a simple binary choice...
 
"Fit For Purpose" means that if a vendor in EU states it works with a P3 .... then that's it. They are liable if it does not. No ifs or buts.

EU is strange ... even Microsoft cannot get round EU rules ....

Nigel
 
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It might be a good idea to rename this post, since those that will never touch 3rd party batteries may not even open the post - maybe rename it ''3rd party /aftermarket battery poll?''
 
solentlife said:
"Fit For Purpose" means that if a vendor in EU states it works with a P3 .... then that's it. They are liable if it does not. No ifs or buts.

EU is strange ... even Microsoft cannot get round EU rules ....

Nigel
Click to expand...
I lived in both the US and EU (multiple countries)... hard to see which is strangest :)

My understanding is that there is a time limitation in the "fit for purpose" definition, like in this case:

Three common printer ink problems and how to fix them

Even if you bought the cartridge in advance of needing to use it, you can still go back to the retailer with your complaint. However, if you bought the cartridge more than six months before discovering the problem, the onus will be on you to prove the cartridge wasn’t as described, of satisfactory quality or fit for purpose when you received it.​

If the battery worked, then a DJI update bricked it months later, would be hard to have a case against the battery seller, methinks. DJI, might be on the hook, like HP who recently had a big mess with their firmware disabling third party cartridges... they had to backtrack, but it's far from clear what would have happened if they stuck to their guns (my understanding is that they backtracked to avoid a PR problem, mostly)

In any case, the strictest definition of "fit for purpose" is mostly a UK thing, different European countries have different laws (for example a 2 years limitation and "for defects that existed at the time of purchase") and it doesn't apply at all outside of the EU, so there is still a risk for a lot of folks. For those folks (like me), the decision is hard...
 
solentlife said:
I think OP means that buying from a UK or EU source, he lives in UK - he has consumer rights that mean sale of faulty goods contravenes the Fit For Purpose rules that apply.

Banggood in fact is not only in China .... never noticed the little box that you can click on to see if local Warehouse has it ?
Click to expand...

I did know that they have a warehouse in the US. I did not know that they were in the UK as well. However, the recourse in these situation is still to either rely on the seller refunding the money or replacing the product or pursuing them in court. Court only gets you a nice paper called a judgement. It's not any guarantee of collection.

As I understand from other posts, Banggood offers a guarantee that their batteries will work.
 
robca said:
For me is a risk/reward thing. Yes, the DJI battery is expensive, no questions. In comparison the whole package is cheap...

But these are "intelligent batteries", with custom chips and firmware. So the risk is not simply that the 3rd party battery is poor quality (usually is not), but that in the future a firmware update will render the battery useless. So, do I spend $149 for an expensive battery that I know will work for sure, or $63 (all US prices) for the Banggood one? In one case, I overspend, in the other I risk ending up with a $63 paperweight.

I doubt that the European rules (I'm European and used to live there, btw) would cover a battery that worked but is rendered unusable by a DJI update

Not a simple binary choice...
Click to expand...
Yep, and that is why im staying put on firmware 1.3.5.
 
At $149 for the original battery, spending $60-70 for an aftermarket one might be worth the risk. But it seems to me that promotions pop up from time to time and it's not that difficult to put your hands on an original one for $100 or less. So unless someone is in a hurry, there's always the option of waiting for a deal to come up, and buying DJI original at a more tolerable price.
 
I think we have to draw a line here .... no-one is insisting all MUST change to 3rd party battery's.
What others like me are doing - is showing that there are 3rd party battery's that work.
The choice then remains with user what they do.

The argument of "why risk your model with cheap battery ..... DJI may update and your battery not work ....." etc in my mind are weak arguments that so far seem to have no evidence to support.

As to warranty in EU - that was rationalised some years ago to be EU wide with only local add-on. Consumer rights and sellers obligations were increased substantially.

Nigel
 
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In Australia a proper DJI battery cost around $250, the 3rd party battery cost for $90-140. It's easy to see how one would choose the cheaper option. Also non of these China copies are identical to the original so I think it's hard to call them fakes more 3rd party. I just wish you could buy the brains and housing seperate then choose your own 4s to build your own battery
 
You can buy the case in Banggood ...... but you cannot buy the board or connector for it.

Second - the LiPo's used are shorter / more square than common LiPo's .... similar to the GE brand that are now hard to find.

Nigel
 
I bought this one. Amazon.com: Powerextra 15.2V 4480mAh LiPo Intelligent Battery Replacement battery for DJI Phantom 3 Professional, Phantom 3 Advanced, Phantom 3 Standard, 4K Drones - Upgraded: Toys & Games

I use it mainly to plug in at home and download my videos and pictures instead of using one of my DJI batteries. I have flown with it, no problems. It doesn't last quite as long as a DJI, probably 80% as long. I do put the voltage on the screen so I can keep an eye on it. I won't fly missions or go full speed with it, but for hovering at 50ft for a shot/video, or just tooling around at the park 15 feet off the ground, the risk seems worth it to me. 19 charge cycles so far.
 
Just purchase from Toby's deals.

They are genuine dji and are £83.
 
I am always amazed ....

People will go to non-authorised service to save money servicing their car ... have all sorts of bits put on as replacements and then happily drive down the road at 100mph ...

Ask them to use a 3rd party battery in a model and you become the Devils Disciple !!

And before the typical response of "Drones don't glide etc. " .... what do you think of a model aircraft without control does ? It is not really any different ... Lose battery on an E-Powered model and it becomes a lethal Lawn Dart ...... even my fuel powered models rely on batterys to control.

Crazy man !!

Nigel
 
I purchased a genuine DJI battery from Best Buy on Aug 10th 2016. It is 12 days past the warranty. It says broken cell after 17 charges. I've done the suggestions to fix it but it's junk. Of course DJI will not cover it. So I think it must not matter wether or not it is after market or not.
 
Now's your chance to see inside ... maybe get a new case from Banggood ..... or maybe just a broken balance lead etc.

But first try this :

Switch on battery
Put Multi Meter probes to the main contacts to see if you read any voltage. IF it reads more than 13.1V - then all cells are connected.

Why ? A Lipo will often claim a broken cell when a balance wire from one is faulty - but main power is still there. If you are relying on GO to tell you - then believe me ... get a Multi Meter .... GO relies on Telemetry via the balance lead and so-called intelligent board.

Example ... a 4cell HV LiPo such as this should be 15.2V at storage ... 17.4V at full charge.

Now lets say we have one cell down ... effectively creating a 3 cell pack ... 3 x 4.35 = 13.05V

Trouble is DJI design and sealing up the pack des not let you get at the cells individually or the balance lead to find out if a cell is actually faulty. But open the case ... carefully look behind the 'smart board' and you will see a small white plug from the pack into the board. This is the micro balance plug.

This can be carefully unplugged and then a meter can be put across it to see which cell is down / problem.

Each balance plug is configured to have one more lead than the number of cells. Reason being :

Outer pair of wires give total voltage.
But working from one side each adjacent pair give individual cell voltage ... so imagine the plugs pins numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

1 + 2 would give cell 1
2 + 3 would give cell 2
3 + 4 would give cell 3
4 + 5 would give cell 4

If one cell does not register voltage - but total pack does at level for 4 cells ... then the balance lead is faulty on that cell. Giving rise to GO fault warning.

Note that a dud cell can still allow voltage reading to be made of a total pack - it just adds nothing to the total. It really needs broken wires or massive internal breakdown to stop electrical conductivity.

For anyone interested - if a wire is broken of from a LiPo cell tab ... then unless you have sophisticated alloy tab spot weld capability - soldering won't work.

Anyway ---- just thought I'd pass on for interest ...

Nigel
 
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