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Battery Availability??

Chrislaf

Well-Known Member
Join
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
461
Age
61
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ON, Canada
Since the Spark has been discontinued for awhile now, the availability of getting batteries for it in the future has me worried.

I have had a total of 4 Spark batteries since getting my Spark almost 2.5 years ago. One battery developed a problem with the button not working properly after it heats up in flight and another battery has been giving me consistent major cell deviations for a while now. I have since retired the one with the bad button and am retiring the one with cell deviations. My other two batteries have over 100 charge cycles on them. I have two new batteries ordered and they should arrive today or tomorrow bringing my useable total back up to 4 but the two older batteries are likely to start failing soon as they are almost 3 years old.

Right now batteries are still available from DJI and from other retailers (usually smaller ones) but availability seems to be more limited now. Amazon Canada and Best Buy either don't have them or they have increased in price. Unlike my Phantom 3 Standard that has lots of 3rd party sources for batteries, the Spark does not seem to have any 3rd party sources.

So, what happens when DJI stops selling them? Will there be third party ones available? Can existing batteries like my two retired ones be refurbished? There will likely be used ones available for awhile but I am hesitant to buy them because you can never tell how they have been treated.

I would hate to have to retire my Spark just because the sources for batteries has dried up.

Is anybody else worried about the future availability of Spark batteries?

Chris
 
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So, what happens when DJI stops selling them? Will there be third party ones available? Can existing batteries like my two retired ones be refurbished? There will likely be used ones available for awhile but I am hesitant to buy them because you can never tell how they have been treated.


I have seen this battery mentioned before.

They are marked with "FN" on the battery to show it has been refurbished.

Here is a post from a couple of years ago on the DJI Forum.
 
I have seen this battery mentioned before.

They are marked with "FN" on the battery to show it has been refurbished.

Here is a post from a couple of years ago on the DJI Forum.
Thanks for your reply. That might be an option as long as they remain available for awhile. I just checked on the DJI store and Spark batteries are now again out of stock. I was considering buying batteries from them before I found a Canadian retailer but they have changed their minimum free shipping amount to US$349 whereas before it used to be US$100, so now, unless I am buying a drone from them it is not practical to order batteries from DJI.

DJI will eventually stop selling Spark batteries, if they haven't already done so. Whereas the phantom drones have 3rd party batteries to keep them flying, I haven't seen this option for the Spark. Hopefully there will be more retailers like Alibaba that will sell refurbished Spark batteries so that we can keep our Sparks flying. I love my Spark and would hate to see it become useless because there are no more batteries available.

Chris
 
I didn't relize they had discontinued it i guess that is why prices on them have went up some. I thought it was just because the Mini Mavic came out. I love my lil Spark its a great drone for what i want to use it for ( Ariel video and photos) just for fun.
 
OmniView Tech in Mississauga has Spark batteries for $64

spark battery*
Just ordered 2 from them. They should be here today.
Once DJI stops selling/making them then the supplies of them will dry up and prices will go up. My concern is that there are no 3rd party options at present and will likely never be, so it’s going to get much harder to find sources to buy batteries. I kind of feel like DJI is forcing obsolescence on us Spark users.

Chris
 
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I keep debating myself as to whether I should get a MMini, and sell the Spark, for the added flying time and the discontinuing of the Spark. I have 3 batteries and really don’t need more unless I can find some good places to hike and fly.
 
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It is something to worry about. But having said that, I feel some source will be available in the future. What has truly kept me from buying another drone, like the mini is the build quality of the Spark. I don't like the folding wings, don't like the way the Mavic series looks and sits. I love the solid look and construction of the Spark. How it handles in the wind is important to me. Sure it has limitations but also not being fanatical helps to appreciate what the Spark can do more than what it can't do. I love my Spark. And I will keep the faith that batteries will be available for it for a few years to come.
 
Here's a website that offers solutions to extending the flight time of various DJI drones, including the Spark, by attaching an additional battery.


If no Spark batteries are available down the road, then this may work if nobody is producing them.
 
Here's a website that offers solutions to extending the flight time of various DJI drones, including the Spark, by attaching an additional battery.


If no Spark batteries are available down the road, then this may work if nobody is producing them.
Awesome!!! Thanks for doing the research 317. With all of the brilliant minds out there solutions will be found for any problem. And lets face it, it’s the Sparks Achilles heal. The flight time.
 
I too have considered the possibility of a mini but as has been said the Spark handles great in the wind (have had mine in wind over 32km/h), has more manual camera control, is well made and takes excellent pictures.

With my two new batteries, they should keep me flying my Spark for a few more years as long as I take care of them. Debating whether to buy at least one more as my two currently in use older batteries have well over a hundred charges on them and are likely to need replacing soon as they are 2.5 years old.

Chris
 
Here's a website that offers solutions to extending the flight time of various DJI drones, including the Spark, by attaching an additional battery.


If no Spark batteries are available down the road, then this may work if nobody is producing them.
I have looked into the battery adapter from UAVmods before to extend the flight time of my Spark . Might be time to reconsider one of these adapters for the future when batteries become scarce or too expensive to buy. However, they cost just as much as another battery does once the currency conversion is done :(.

Chris
 
I have looked into the battery adapter from UAVmods before to extend the flight time of my Spark . Might be time to reconsider one of these adapters for the future when batteries become scarce or too expensive to buy. However, they cost just as much as another battery does once the currency conversion is done :(.

Chris


There's also the added cost in time or labor depending on which route you take.

Taking the Spark apart to disable the bottom sensors physically, which may be a PIA.

Or purchase a third party app such as Litchi, which has an option to disable the bottom sensors in the app.
 
There's also the added cost in time or labor depending on which route you take.

Taking the Spark apart to disable the bottom sensors physically, which may be a PIA.

Or purchase a third party app such as Litchi, which has an option to disable the bottom sensors in the app.
I don't think I would do any physical modifications to the Spark hardware. I do have Litchi and have used it to disable the sensors before when I was exploring launching from a canoe/kayak. That would be better than disconnecting the sensor cable. Also, the attaching an external battery to Spark seems to me to be overkill as it increases weight, wind drag, and more stress on the motors.

Using that clip alone and putting a generic third party battery in the battery bay might work but I wonder if there would be any battery telemetry without the Spark battery installed.

For now, I will probably just buy more batteries and try to keep my Spark flying for as long as I can.

Chris
 
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For now, I will probably just buy more batteries and try to keep my Spark flying for as long as I can.

I'm up to nine with about 70 cycles on them.

Fingers crossed they last for a while because I also want to fly the Spark well into the future.

Maybe it will be like an old Model T automobile and people will see it and think about how irrelevant it is by today's standards, but it looks pretty cool. :cool:
 
I'm up to nine with about 70 cycles on them.

Fingers crossed they last for a while because I also want to fly the Spark well into the future.

Maybe it will be like an old Model T automobile and people will see it and think about how irrelevant it is by today's standards, but it looks pretty cool. :cool:
Wow, that's a lot of batteries! I try to keep both my Spark and P3S at 4 batteries each. I'm down to 3 batteries at the moment on my P3S since the original DJI one has started to swell, but there are still 3rd party options on Amazon and other places.

With the P3 and P4 lines DJI kept the same basic frame design and the batteries were the same across the line, so there was a much larger market for 3rd party batteries. Nowadays, it seems with every new model, there is a different battery design - case in point, the new Mavic Air 2 has a different battery than its predecessor.

One of my pet peeves is how perfectly good technology gets rendered obsolete when new models come out and parts dry up or become too expensive. I know it is like this with all technology products (phones, computers, etc.) and it sometimes becomes hard to resist the urge to upgrade. I'd love a better flying camera like the Mavic 2 Pro but I still have 2 great drones - a Spark and a Phantom 3 Standard. The challenge becomes how to keep them flying now that they are discontinued and become a better photographer by maximizing their features and improving my flying/photography skills.

Chris
 
and become a better photographer by maximizing their features and improving my flying/photography skills.


Amen.

Just because one has the must have new product, it won't necessarily make one a better photographer.

Practice, practice, practice. ?
 
I think it's sad but inevitable that hardware or software "obscelence" will render otherwise perfectly good devices unusable...
I have 6 Spark batteries now, down from my previous 9 because 3 are showing signs of swelling. I'm not planning to get more as I will probably get the new MA2 when it's available here. So perhaps another source of battery supply could be the pool of ex-Spark owners who no longer need them?

Anyway, what struck me more about this thread is how Spark317 is always forthcoming with problem-solving suggestions... good on you, and we appreciate it. This is yet another reason I'll stay in this forum even if I get another model. The Spark is what got me hooked and into this forum... love the gang here. [emoji4]

Cheers and stay safe!
 
I'm assuming no one cracks these open and puts in new cells? Seams like a simple'ish 'fix' once the cel form factor is found and a balance lead adapter of some sort is made.

I'd like to be able to balance from my BA62 if possible because I could battery log the life a bit easier.
 

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