BATTERY ISSUES (Early Autoland)??? POST HERE

has it been verified that the early auto land is a battery issue? I've been all over all the forums and some have said it started to happen a lot more when they updated to the newest firmware,
others have notice that when the battery is puffy it tends to auto land earlier and earlier, I think it makes sense that it has to do with the batteries, and at 129.00 dollars a pop its almost criminal.
 
Since I don't yet own a phantom 2, I'm going to ask.."Does the lipo charger have a balance connector"?

Regards
Ross
 
4wd said:
No - the balancing is supposed to be taken care of by circuitry in the top of the battery where you turn it on.
The P2 battery charger is actually more of a power supply and doesn't really do anything except supply suitable voltage
Click to expand...

I don't know how easy it is to get into these lipo packs, but if it can be hacked, then we could put our own balance leads & charge them from a quality charger, has anyone tried this I wonder?

Ross
 
DKDarkness said:
The DJI SMART batteries with built-in charging circuits have a serious fault: There is no "storage" option. The batteries are still LiPo in the style of the low discarge Multistar LiPo batteries (https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking...apacity_3S_5200mAh_Multi_Rotor_Lipo_Pack.html) and have the same chemistry. This means they don't handle being fully charged or fully discharged for longer periods of time. Therefore most external LiPo chargers have a storage option, where the LiPo batteries will be charged/discharged to 11.5v. (3S). The only way to storage charge your DJI "Smart" batteries, is to fly them to some arbitrary level, and with a voltmeter check the voltage until it is near 11.5v.

The solution to the battery issues would be for DJI to release a charger with a storage option. But in doing so, they would admit to the design flaw, and having to replace all existing batteries under warranty. Better to just ignore the problem, or better yet release a Phantom 3 with new and improved charger? Make the customer pay once more.

NEVERMORE! NEVERMORE!
Click to expand...

Rather than flying it to a certain discharged level or idling the motors to get to a certain discharged level, would it be possible to place a load (i.e. a light bulb) across the DJI battery and monitor it with a voltmeter to get it to say a 50% level?
 
EricT said:
DKDarkness said:
The DJI SMART batteries with built-in charging circuits have a serious fault: There is no "storage" option. The batteries are still LiPo in the style of the low discarge Multistar LiPo batteries (https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking...apacity_3S_5200mAh_Multi_Rotor_Lipo_Pack.html) and have the same chemistry. This means they don't handle being fully charged or fully discharged for longer periods of time. Therefore most external LiPo chargers have a storage option, where the LiPo batteries will be charged/discharged to 11.5v. (3S). The only way to storage charge your DJI "Smart" batteries, is to fly them to some arbitrary level, and with a voltmeter check the voltage until it is near 11.5v.

The solution to the battery issues would be for DJI to release a charger with a storage option. But in doing so, they would admit to the design flaw, and having to replace all existing batteries under warranty. Better to just ignore the problem, or better yet release a Phantom 3 with new and improved charger? Make the customer pay once more.

NEVERMORE! NEVERMORE!
Click to expand...

Rather than flying it to a certain discharged level or idling the motors to get to a certain discharged level, would it be possible to place a load (i.e. a light bulb) across the DJI battery and monitor it with a voltmeter to get it to say a 50% level?
Click to expand...

You could do that. Please be mindful of the unknown C rating of the Phantom batteries. I think I would be safe to assume that it is about or less than 10C. (52A) [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvIaLN4AVlE[/youtube]
 
FWIW, I began experiencing the early autoland symptoms about a week ago. The first time it happened, it caught me by surprise and the Phantom almost went down in a mesquite thicket but I caught it and landed at my feet. I began testing, making notes and reading this thread for ideas. Finally, I decided to order a new battery. The battery arrived today and after charging and an initial test flight, I'm happy to say all of the early autoland problems have disappeared.

The old battery was serial # 13 and came with the P2V when I purchased it in December of 2013. It had 76% capacity left and had been discharged 72 times. Each of the 3 cells were within 5 mV of each other. There was some slight swelling. but no other indication of problems. Early autoland would happen at approximately 50 to 70% current capacity with the only warning being a short claxon alert. The only mod is a RE700 range extender.

My advice would be to use a new battery if you experience any early autoland problems.

I plan to deal with DJI later about the "expect 300 flights before you replace the battery" issue.
 
yep - all 3 of mine seems to be entering 'want to land mode' around 27-30% which is ~ 11.0v . Hasnt been any issue YET as far as ditching, but I'm scratching my head on the 'why' of it. I recently added FPV and was thinking the added wait is the issue, but from this thread I'm wondering if its something else.
 
Same issue here. 2 of my 5 P2 batteries are now autolanding. One at 45% and the other 75%. Both have around 30 flights. They did seem slightly swollen even though they've been well cared for. They both tested at 100% (held power button down 5 seconds) I fly over water much of the time and this really has me nervous! Sure hope DJI gets this straightened out. It seems like an issue with many people.
 
I have not flown for 3 weeks as I was hoping DJI would release an update for their faulty batteries but appears that was wishful thinking. It makes a joke of all the other updates they are releasing like the upcoming new remote when they clearly have an issue with batteries. I now have 3 batteries that all start showing empty battery icon at 70% (empty red flashing battery icon) and then go into autoland seconds after.

I would happily buy 3 new batteries if I knew they have sorted this issue.

I have looked after these batteries, not running them down past 25%. The only thing that I can think that has made them bloat is leaving them charged between flights at 100%. It is no longer than 7 days between flights and as mentioned I only run them down to 25% (or used to before they started showing empty at 70%)

Anyway has taken a lot of the fun out of flying out to 2km as there is absolutely no confidence in the batteries....
 
I am having this autoland issue on both of my batteries as well. Both are DJI batteries (bought from Dave's Motors) used about 15 times each. I'm getting autolanding problems at 30% on one and 50% on the other. This started occurring when I upgraded to the latest firmware.

I guess this means no more flying over water and over trees ??????? :cry:
 
From what I understand to look after your batteries you must do the following

Don't leave 100% charged for a long time (how long is too long?)
Don't run them down to a low charge (how low is too low?)
I understand the "smart" batteries can't be overcharged so does it matter if they are left in overnight to charge?
I have flown on 6 hour flights 3 times with my batteries. I can only assume that this wouldn't have any impact on whether they bloat or not?

This is straight from the manual

1. Connect charger to wall socket (100-240V, 50/60Hz, using the plug set if necessary).
2. Connect battery to charger. If the current capacity of the battery is over 75%, you should turn it on
before beginning to charge.
3. Battery Level Indicators will display current capacity level as the battery charges.
4. Battery is fully charged when Battery Level indicator lights are off. Disconnect the charger and battery
when charging is complete.

When the battery is turned on, do not connect it to or disconnect it from the Phantom.
2. Charge and discharge the battery completely once every 20 charge/discharge cycles. Discharge the
battery until there is less than 8% power or until it can no longer be turned on, then recharge it to
maximum capacity. This power cycling procedure will optimize the battery.
3. For long term storage, place the battery with only a 40~50% charge in a strong battery box. Discharge
and charge the battery once every 3 months to keep it in good condition. Charge amount should be
varied in these maintenance charges - (40%~50%)—0%—100%—(40%~50%).
4. Purchase a new battery after your current battery has been discharged over 300 times. Completely
discharge a battery prior to disposal. Please dispose of batteries properly.
5. Purchase a new battery if your current battery swells up or is damaged in any way.
6. Never recharge or fly with a battery that is swollen or damaged in any way.
7. Never charge batteries unattended. Always charge batteries on a non-flammable surface such as
concrete and never near any flammable materials.
8. Safety is extremely important. For more information, please see the Disclaimer.

This seems straight forward and I have not deviated from this at all but still have batteries with less than 17 cycles already useless.

I have already emailed DJI and got the "sorry you are out of warranty period" I purchased directly from DJI so can't even take them to consumer affairs for a faulty product. Maybe they should take a leaf out of Apples iBook and issue a recall
http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadge ... 7035871855
or Nokias http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... ts-battery
or Samsung http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... eplacement

Only difference here is your phone can't hurt anyone if the battery fails (unless you throw it at someone). P2V falling out of the sky is a different story. DJI should take this on the chin and get this issue sorted before one of the units falls out of the sky in a country and injures someone where they can be found culpable of knowingly selling faulty batteries.
 
The US members should gang up and file a class action lawsuit.
Unfortunately in most parts of the world, we can only sue as individuals and there's no interest in financing a lawsuit against a large company because of "a couple batteries".
The premise of injuring someone due to of a badly manufactured battery is very important.
 
I got my first Autoland at 45% just after using my newly bought 3rd pack.

On my 1st and 2nd pack never had that happen in over 30 flights each.
Then a few flights later my pack 1 made an autoland at 50%.

Could it be that once three or more different packs are used there might be some bug in the firmware that causes some malfunction?

Anyone noticed these issues starting from their third pack?
 
I have now had four batteries go bad on me.

First set had 30-40 flights each on them, went bad after about 6 months. Initially this was a low battery warning on the screen/red lights on the Phantom (2, non-vision) and auto-landing around 40%. DJI (China) recommended a complete discharge and recharge/retest. I did this and they started to go warning/auto land at 90%. DJI China gave a 20% discount on a replacement set and shipped quite quickly/painlessly. The replacement set have been fine so far (only about ten flights on each), they seem to last slightly longer than previous batteries in flight too... so far...

I had another set of batteries just go bad, about 4 months old, bought from Dronesetc in the US. 19 flights on each battery, auto-landing/low battery at 30-40%. Dronesetc haven't responded to a single email. I contacted DJI (US) and they said as they're over 3 months old from point of sale (despite the fact they took nearly a month to get to me (shipped to the Caribbean) and I've been chasing this problem for another month or more) they've washed their hands of it.

I notice the low warning occurs under load, usually drops to about 10.8/10.9v. Release the sticks, voltage stabilises and the warning goes away. However, when you hit the lower percentages (e.g. 35% or less) you can watch the percentage drop down nearly 1% a second. Really not best pleased that DJI just expect me to take a $500 hit (nearly $800 when landed/duty paid) on equipment every six months with the added bonus it might happen at any time and drop the entire rig into the sea!
 
I have a similar story, I have 4 batteries for a p2 and they range from 22-33 cycles each. I thought maybe the phantom or the charger was the problem, so I bought a brand new battery and charger and it worked perfect. I also tried one older battery with the new charger and an old charger with the new battery, it went well to. I got 16 minutes down to 30% with the new battery.
The old batteries give me around 6-7 minutes before getting to about 50% battery and dipping below 10.7 volts, going into autoland. As you all know, that is about $600 worth of batteries that I cannot to afford to replace, if they don't do anything, I'll be forced to switch to a different company.
 
A member in the 3.08 update mentioned today that after the upgrade, his early land batteries are doing better now - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=28493&p=261480#p261381
If you have Limefuel batteries be careful not to update the battery firmware (usually 2.0.0 to 2.6).
Otherwise if anyone out there with a couple of the seemingly dead batteries could confirm, it would be great.
 
Fyod said:
A member in the 3.08 update mentioned today that after the upgrade, his early land batteries are doing better now - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=28493&p=261480#p261381
If you have Limefuel batteries be careful not to update the battery firmware (usually 2.0.0 to 2.6).
Otherwise if anyone out there with a couple of the seemingly dead batteries could confirm, it would be great.
Click to expand...
Update your batteries and report back!!!!
 

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