Battery

[Traveler]

As promised, I sent the question to DJI: should users continue to deep cycle batteries given that it has been removed from the current manual.
Here is a pic with their response:

 

[G Lee]

Thx sir

glee

 

[Flipsonic]

So it depends who you talk to at DJI. I'm concerned about that. One DJI guy will tell you one thing and another will tell you the opposite. I guess it's up to each one of us who to believe. The best thing we should do is do our own research regarding Lipo batteries and apply what we have learned. I'm not trusting DJI 100% anymore.

 

[Mark The Droner]

I ain't buyin' it.

Also, the video does not discuss deep discharging at all! All they say is to "charge and discharge every three months" if in storage. See 2:51

I'll stick to my current plan: no deep discharge unless I have a balance problem.

 

[msinger]

In the most recent Phantom manuals, DJI removed all traces of the deep discharge content. Why? I don't know. However, I can only assume it's because they no longer recommend we do it.

 

[Traveler]

I agree it was removed from the manual. I also see that it speaks to it on battery overview, and you see the email they sent me.

All the contradicting information does make it difficult to know who to trust or what to advise. Personally I don't take giving advice lightly and I would never want my advice to cause any harm, thusly I asked DJI.

My take is:
if you were doing it before and you found value in it, why stop now. Removing it from the manual doesn't have an impact on its effectiveness.

If you found it to be of no value or even harmful, don't keep doing it.

If your a new OP and you have battery deviation, I would consider it, if no deviation is occurring than, monitor for changes and cross that bridge when you need too.

I personally see some logic in choosing 8% as the deep cycle point. I could be all wrong with my thinking, but with 10% being considered a critical point for the battery, it just makes sense to me to exercise the battery down to a couple of points below this.

I wish I could offer more data, but as the say; in DJI I We Trust?


Sent from the Traveler from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Traveler]

I agree it was removed from the manual. I also see that it speaks to it on battery overview, and you see the email they sent me.

All the contradicting information does make it difficult to know who to trust or what to advise. Personally I don't take giving advice lightly and I would never want my advice to cause any harm, thusly I asked DJI.

My take is:
if you were doing it before and you found value in it, why stop now. Removing it from the manual doesn't have an impact on its effectiveness.

If you found it to be of no value or even harmful, don't keep doing it.

If your a new OP and you have battery deviation, I would consider it, if no deviation is occurring then, monitor for changes and cross that bridge when you need to.

I personally see some logic in choosing 8% as the deep cycle point. I could be all wrong with my thinking, but with 10% being considered a critical point for the battery, it just makes sense to me to exercise the battery down to a couple of points below this.

I wish I could offer more data, but as they say; in DJI I We Trust?


Sent from the Traveler from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

Sent from the Traveler from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Mark The Droner]

As I've noticed and said in another thread, doing the deep discharge robs mAh which is to say it robs battery strength which can't be repaired and can't be replaced, so why do a deep discharge if it's not specifically needed to balance cells? I think that's why we don't see it in the manuals anymore.

 

[msinger]

All the contradicting information does make it difficult to know who to trust or what to advise. Personally I don't take giving advice lightly and I would never want my advice to cause any harm, thusly I asked DJI.

We sometimes see contradicting and/or incorrect information from DJI employees. That's not too surprising though since Phantoms are complex machines. It really takes a lot of personal effort in order to stay on top of everything -- and, to keep track of things that change.

If you want to deep discharge your batteries, then feel free to do so. For new Phantom owners though, I would advise they follow exactly what's written in the Phantom manual. It's usually the most accurate source of information (even though it sometimes needs to be deciphered a bit).

 

[Matchlock]

This thread has been a real eye opener for me. Especially being fairly new to the Phantom breed of quads. Battery maintenance can be a real problem if you're not sure and so all the experience here on this forum can only be viewed as a good thing. Also, if you're still unsure, it's a simple thing to simply double check with DJI to be certain.

That being said, I would like to say thank you to all those that freely give of their knowledge here to help others. We all had to start at the bottom and forums such as this one do nothing but good for the average new user.

Thank you everyone for your willingness to help those of us who sometimes need a little extra help. If it weren't for many of you here, a lot of us would be in a great deal of trouble. Your contribution to the sport of flying UAV's by sharing what you know with others is definitely a huge plus for many of us.

Thanks to all that fit into this category. Your willingness to help others is just amazing.

Bud

 

[arierep60]

my batteries only have 5 cycles and I still a bit afraid of the deep discharge thing but let's see the voltage on each cell once they have 20 cycles or so

 

[yorlik]

I can get a good look at a t-bone by sticking my head up a bulls a** but wouldn't you rather take the butchers word for it? I'll email DJI and see if I can get a actual response on this due to flying most my packs to 50% and landing and recharging.

Consider taking some advice from designers of lithium batteries: you will get exponentially MORE charge cycles (longer life) the less you discharge each time. So know it is a simple fact that doing 50% discharges min will be making your batteries last 4+ times LONGER than the other guy running his down to 8% each time!

Many have theirs die after only 20-50 charge cycles. Others, like me, have our 2+ year old batts with higher capacity than new (5300mah) after nearly 40 charge cycles! My flights are like yours - typically down to 50-60% charge left...

PS: I love T-bone and your comment!