The Pros and Cons of taking a Dji Battery to the 8% level to balance cells

[dgd3]

DJI does not recommend this procedure. While I'm not convinced it'll hurt your batteries, I've never seen any evidence that showed it was beneficial for DJI batteries.

DJI recommends battery deep discharge for the PV2+

 

[Mark The Droner]

Yes, but if you've been watching the evolution of this, DJI initially recommended deep discharge of the P3. And then one day, that recommendation disappeared. So you have to wonder if they would have liked to make the recommendation disappear on the P2 batteries as well... ?

 

[N017RW]

It's likely the battery internals changed since 2013-14 with better available silicon and are better at monitoring, adapting, adjusting, etc.

 

[Dennis 1]

I have several "Genuine Dji" batteries that are nearing the 20 re charges....and i have read of many that claim that they have done that and it has ruined their batteries and they will never do that deep cycle again then re charge their batteries....So i have read of those who have and recommend that procedure as per Dji has also....I'm Confused....Yes i'm nearing the 20 recharges....and i have monitored the battery levels before flights and my volt levels are all very very close to each other....So Shall i take them to " 8% discharge" and recharge Them ? Thanks to all who help me with my question !

 

[Dennis 1]

The internet is a great place for both fact and fiction.
In a never changing environment, it can be difficult to discern between them.
At this time, here is the fact I found:

Some people say that you shouldn't allow a Li-Ion battery to become fully exhausted before recharging, other people say it doesn't matter.
Truth is, with Li-Ion batteries it doesn't really matter because their discharge is closely regulated by on-board circuits.
This used to matter with the old NiCd battery chemistry because they could discharge completely and become impossible to recharge (those batteries also didn't like being charged too often, and were much more sensitive to temperature), and it matters with lead-acid batteries which also don't take too well to being discharged too much unless they are rated for "deep cycle."

 

[GadgetGuy]

I regularly have flown all of my DJI battery packs, from P3P to P4 and P4P, to under 10% without any noticeable battery degradation. Some have even reached 0% and not suffered any apparent damage. Keep in mind that DJI somewhat arbitrarily and conservatively establishes what that 10% is, which has little bearing upon the actual true remaining battery capacity. Each successive battery version has become even more conservative. 10% on the P4P still has all four cells at above 3.6V! Most of us will be replacing the drone long before the battery ever needs replacing, so prolonging battery life by shortening your flight times seems like a wasted effort to me. DJI also still always shuts off the battery when any single cell ever drops below 3.0V, even if in the air, "to prevent damage to the battery"!

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

This is very very true !

The internet is a great place for both fact and fiction and pro n cons !
In a never changing environment, it can be difficult to discern between them.

 

[jryser]

I've never run any battery less than 50%, haven't upgraded in several years, and have tons of flying time on both P3Ps! I used to be 100% hooked on doing all "perfect" maintenance on things, but watched upgrades brick peoples' phantoms, issue after issue...so I just follow the if it ain't broke policy now. And keep all 5 of my batteries rotated, used, and flying.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I've never run any battery less than 50%, haven't upgraded in several years, and have tons of flying time on both P3Ps! I used to be 100% hooked on doing all "perfect" maintenance on things, but watched upgrades brick peoples' phantoms, issue after issue...so I just follow the if it ain't broke policy now. And keep all 5 of my batteries rotated, used, and flying.

All my P3P batteries are also still fully functional. I have yet to have any DJI battery need replacing because it was regularly run to below 10%. Every one them are still good for way longer than 50% of a new battery, so I am still getting more flight time out of every battery than you are, by never going below 50%. Clearly, 50% gets you where you want to go and back. I need almost 50% just to get to my destination, so 50% isn't even an option! At most, I see a 10% reduction in flight time over a brand new battery. Agreed on "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

All my P3P batteries are also still fully functional. I have yet to have any DJI battery need replacing because it was regularly run to below 10%. Every one them are still good for way longer than 50% of a new battery, so I am still getting more flight time out of every battery than you are, by never going below 50%. Clearly, 50% gets you where you want to go and back. I need almost 50% just to get to my destination, so 50% isn't even an option! At most, I see a 10% reduction in flight time over a brand new battery. Agreed on "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I'm With you on the post.... IF i was only allowing batteries to never go below 50%.....is sure not getting what i paid for in a flight battery....and in cold weather wow....i hate to think how short that down to 50% power left flight would be ......A very informative and Interesting Pro and Cons question that i have asked !.....I'm going to post one soon about where do you put your drones battery when you recharge them.

 

[Johnnygone]

DJI Susan probably hasn’t seen a DJI battery- there is no benefit in deep discharging LiION cells and the suggested routine does nothing to calibrate the smart battery electronics. All my packs have the expected level of “liveliness” or whatever meaningless term it was Susan used to describe the benefit of the discharge routine. This wouldn’t be the first nonsense response from DJI support.

You are correct. There was a time when a deep discharge was necessary due to the fact early rechargeable batteries had a memory affect that necessitated a deep discharge occasionally to allow the battery to accept a charge to its full potential. The LilON cells should not have that requirement to realize full storage potential.

 

[GadgetGuy]

You are correct. There was a time when a deep discharge was necessary due to the fact early rechargeable batteries had a memory affect that necessitated a deep discharge occasionally to allow the battery to accept a charge to its full potential. The LilON cells should not have that requirement to realize full storage potential.

The previous recommendation to discharge to a very low level every 20 cycles was solely designed to recalibrate the smart battery meaurement of remaining battery life, and had no effect on storage potential. Even 8% was not enough. It needed to be around 3-4% to work properly. In the interim, it appears the newer DJI Smart Batteries have additional intelligence that obviates the need for this periodic recalibration.

 

[With The Birds]

You are correct. There was a time when a deep discharge was necessary due to the fact early rechargeable batteries had a memory affect that necessitated a deep discharge occasionally to allow the battery to accept a charge to its full potential. The LilON cells should not have that requirement to realize full storage potential.

It is well known that LiION chemistry does not suffer from “memory effect”. We are principally concerned with the battery monitoring electronics here. Some do need an occasional run to LVC or close to it to calibtare the usable capacity.

 

[Mark The Droner]

You are correct. There was a time when a deep discharge was necessary due to the fact early rechargeable batteries had a memory affect that necessitated a deep discharge occasionally to allow the battery to accept a charge to its full potential. The LilON cells should not have that requirement to realize full storage potential.

It is well known that LiION chemistry does not suffer from “memory effect”. We are principally concerned with the battery monitoring electronics here. Some do need an occasional run to LVC or close to it to calibtare the usable capacity.

To be fair, Johnnygone is correct in that the early Li-Ions circa 2001 or so had a memory issue which could cause problems if the batteries were not maintained correctly. I'm not exactly sure how that evolved re the Lipos, but I agree and it is common knowledge that these Lipos (also sometimes referred to as Li-Ions) don't have the memory problem.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

To be fair, Johnnygone is correct in that the early Li-Ions circa 2001 or so had a memory issue which could cause problems if the batteries were not maintained correctly. I'm not exactly sure how that evolved re the Lipos, but I agree and it is common knowledge that these Lipos (also sometimes referred to as Li-Ions) don't have the memory problem.

I have To 100% Agree This "has and still IS".........a Very informative and Very interesting Pro and Cons forum topic.....Thank You all who add the information to help and explains the Flight batteries in our drones....i'm sure we have sure leaned a lots on the care and performance of the very important airborne flight batteriey ! Thank You all. ))))))))Drone On >>>>>

 

[With The Birds]

To be fair, Johnnygone is correct in that the early Li-Ions circa 2001 or so had a memory issue which could cause problems if the batteries were not maintained correctly. I'm not exactly sure how that evolved re the Lipos, but I agree and it is common knowledge that these Lipos (also sometimes referred to as Li-Ions) don't have the memory problem.

He was referring to “earky rechargeable batteries”, never mentioned LiPO (which by the way is LiION chemistry). I suspect he was referring to NiCAD chemistry which was probably the most notorious for memory effect, a problem that LiION chemistry had never had.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Ahh, you are right. So for the past fifteen years I've been mistaken about the early Li-Ions! Thank you.

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