Charging / Discharging DJI Phantom Batteries

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Hi all,

I need suggestions for a smart charger that can handle Phantom 5200mAh 11.1v batteries. By handle, I mean to charge to max 11.1v and to discharge to 50% as recommended for storage.

I have no clear understanding for the shelf life of these batteries and how they decrease output / time in storage. Any references would be appreciated.

I have limited flying time these days and I have 5 batteries just sitting in my case.

A friend uses ThunderPower's chargers for Dragonfly's copter batteries.

Any recommendations for my needs?

Thanks
Tim
 
All of the these chargers will work with those batteries.

If you have the latest battery firmware installed, the batteries will automatically discharge to a safe level after 10+ days. So, it's perfectly safe to store them fully charged for long periods of time.
 
Last edited:
Thank you msinger,

I suppose this means I have to plug in each battery, and then, download firmware for the battery. I didn't realize the battery keeps time.

Tim
 
Each battery has it's own power management charge and balance circuit within the top part (where the LED's and on/off button is) along with some other processor electronics. The newer batteries are able to self discharge over a period of time if they are not turned on for about 10 days. This protects the battery as Li-Poly batteries don't like to store a full charge for an extended time, but are quite happy at about 60% charge. Some of the recent older ones can/could be updated to self discharge, but I think it was reported that DJI has silently pulled the update from their website?
 
Thank you, Phil.

Not surprised about Dji. Consistent with their money sucking campagne. On the side, did you note their interview with a news commentator about the craft that landed on the White House lawn. The DJi Mouth, told everybody that they have taken measures to avoid high profile danger zones (as if it were new), and then, the news episode merrily showed-off the Inspir 1 craft flying about. They didn't mention that pilots to override this feature.

Tim
 
PhilD13 said:
Each battery has it's own power management charge and balance circuit within the top part (where the LED's and on/off button is) along with some other processor electronics. The newer batteries are able to self discharge over a period of time if they are not turned on for about 10 days. This protects the battery as Li-Poly batteries don't like to store a full charge for an extended time, but are quite happy at about 60% charge. Some of the recent older ones can/could be updated to self discharge, but I think it was reported that DJI has silently pulled the update from their website?
I talked to them in December. They said they were reworking the firmware for the batteries. I am not holding my breath!
 
my question relates to the recommended draining of the batteries after 20 flights or so. I am using the new controller and all the latest firmware updates and such, and all works very well, however at 19% the app starts flashing the low batt warnings. I brought it in and let it hover at 2-3 feet and at 14% it self landed and shut itself down. Does this qualify as a full draining cycle?
 
jetlag said:
Does this qualify as a full draining cycle?

Not quite, you can force it to stay up a while longer with full throttle, then run it some more on the ground.
You want it down below 10% or further.
I suspect there's no great need to do this at all though unless you are seeing reduced flight time.
 
Thanks, no it is doing fine. It only has 15 total flights. I still can't see the difference between this so called total drain and my helicopters. Depending on the helicopter, I fly them between 4-5 minutes and end up around 3.7 volts, which happens to be in the ballpark for battery storage volyage. They are all doing fine. The Phantom I always flew to the bitter end with the old controller, so I was surprised to see it shut itself down at 14%. I am sure it will be just fine though, and keeps the stupid mistakes to a minimum?
 

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