Battery setup for storage

[Sixgun89]

I set all my batteries to discharge in (1 day), now 2 days later still full charge. Went through them again and they still say 1 day. This check will probably restart the clock again.
Does the discharge really work?
Is it safe to store these together in my backpack as they should begin to discharge soon! I hope!
Thanks in advance for any insight

 

[msinger]

Does the discharge really work?

Yes. Let them sit idle for 4 days and check them at that point.

FYI, pressing the battery button restarts that 1-day clock.

 

[Sixgun89]

Thanks for the reply! That explains why they never discharged, I checked them everyday to see how they were!
****! Dumb move!

 

[slbynum]

Just so I understand, pressing the battery button resets it or are you meaning tap and tap hold turning on the battery resets it? I wouldn’t think just tapping the battery to see how many lights light up would reset it but I could understand actually turning on the battery by tap and then tap hold would reset it.

 

[Sixgun89]

I’m not surprised at either, storage mode is during extended undisturbed periods and any activity may be programmed to restart the inactivity clock. And my experience shows pinging the status button does just that. I hate to have them sitting out to discharge very long as putting them in my backpack to heat up and discharge is probably dangerous. I should probably get a better charger that will discharge as well.

 

[With The Birds]

I’m not surprised at either, storage mode is during extended undisturbed periods and any activity may be programmed to restart the inactivity clock. And my experience shows pinging the status button does just that. I hate to have them sitting out to discharge very long as putting them in my backpack to heat up and discharge is probably dangerous. I should probably get a better charger that will discharge as well.

No need to worry about heat, the battery is dissipating less than 400mw in the bleed resistors during the self discharge process.

 

[Sixgun89]

Nice! TANX you made my day!

 

[msinger]

pressing the battery button resets it or are you meaning tap and tap hold turning on the battery resets it?

Any kind of pressing on the battery button will reset the auto discharge wait period.

 

[slbynum]

I have the DJI hub, and that works great for discharge. It’ll discharge three at once. Just keep in mind it takes about 40 hours from my full high capacity battery to get to half (storage level).

 

[StanMI]

Using the DJI hub, are we safe to just leave them alone for an extended period of time. It's been REALLY cold and windy around here and the extended forecast doesn't look any better.

 

[Speedmeister]

Using the DJI hub, are we safe to just leave them alone for an extended period of time. It's been REALLY cold and windy around here and the extended forecast doesn't look any better.

The DJI battery hub has a storage mode which is used when the batteries are not used. It keeps the batteries at 50%-65%. You use charging mode hours before flying and if you change your mind then you go back to storage mode. The hub acts basically as a storage tray once batteries reach storage capacity and keeps them at that level. You dont have to worry if you havent used your batteries for extended period of time.

 

[msinger]

The hub acts basically as a storage tray once batteries reach storage capacity and keeps them at that level. You dont have to worry if you havent used your batteries for extended period of time.

Meaning the batteries will start to automatically charge again weeks later after the charge level drops too low? If that's what you mean, I don't think that'll actually happen. The batteries should stop charging/discharging the first time they reach the storage level.

 

[N017RW]

DJI’s own description does give that impression. Could be poor Sino-English translation....

“Storage Mode allows the Charging Hub to keep the Phantom 4 Intelligent Flight Battery at a 50% charge, which is ideal for storage.”

 

[msinger]

DJI’s own description does give that impression.

Yes, it surely does read like that.

I don't think it actually works like that (nor have I seen anyone confirm it does). I'll admit though, I've never kept my batteries connected to a charger for weeks/months to verify.

 

[racman66]

Meaning the batteries will start to automatically charge again weeks later after the charge level drops too low? If that's what you mean, I don't think that'll actually happen. The batteries should stop charging/discharging the first time they reach the storage level.

I found out the hard way...left 3 batteries (all started at 2 lights) for around 9 weeks and one was dead and the other 2 had 1 flashing light but came back to life...so is looks like they don't stop discharging once they reach their optimal 40%-65% mark!! Lucky it was still under warranty. Probably why they designed the hub with that trickle charge...

 

[Speedmeister]

I debated a long time selecting a charger. The DJI hub as I described it is how I understood the spec. It was a toss up between a charger that simultaneously charge at same time or a charger with storage mode. If the battery on the dji hub drops below 50% and does not re charge it then it is not a good choice for me. I did not buy the hub and chose a charger that simultaneously charge batteries at same time. I charge manually to storage level when not in use and have to check them if left unsed for a long time. This is where I thought the DJI hub would be the choice.

 

[msinger]

@Speedmeister, so, are you saying you bought the DJI charging hub because you thought it would constantly maintain the charge level? Or are you confirming that you've left batteries connected to it for weeks/months (without touching them) and it has maintained the charge level?

 

[Speedmeister]

I found out the hard way...left 3 batteries (all started at 2 lights) for around 9 weeks and one was dead and the other 2 had 1 flashing light but came back to life...so is looks like they don't stop discharging once they reach their optimal 40%-65% mark!! Lucky it was still under warranty. Probably why they designed the hub with that trickle charge...

So after flying and put batteries in hub and in storage mode, it will discharge further instead of charging the batteries.?

 

[msinger]

so is looks like they don't stop discharging once they reach their optimal 40%-65% mark!

The batteries don't continue to discharge using the built-in auto discharge feature, but the charge level will continue to decrease slowly over time (like when using any rechargeable battery). That's why I always keep an eye on my batteries like this.

 

[Speedmeister]

@Speedmeister, so, are you saying you bought the DJI charging hub because you thought it would constantly maintain the charge level? Or are you confirming that you've left batteries connected to it for weeks/months (without touching them) and it has maintained the charge level?

I did not buy the DJI hub but thinking of getting it just for the storage mode capabilty.