Battery Life & Stroage

[Coconut Pete]

I don't know if this will help anyone else or not but thought i'd share it. After flying my Spark i typically return the batteries to the charging station and leave them there till the next flight. I've often wondered if the station keeps the batteries charged up but whenever i was wondering i wasn't around the instructions so.... At any rate yesterday i took the Spark out to fly after about 3 weeks of no use and all five batteries were at about 52%. The three in the charging station and the 2 that were in the case. So my question was answered and I know not to expect the batteries to remain charged after an extended storage period - whatever that is.

Hope this helps someone else avoid some unexpected short flights.

 

[Jonl78]

On a side note lithium polymer batteries such as the spark uses should never be put away uncharged, if stored for a decent amount of time uncharged they wont work again.

 

[Coconut Pete]

A very good upgrade. I knew this but did not realize that while sitting in the charger it wasn't being kept charged. And apparently even if you take it out and put it back in the battery does not charge. I'm guessing the "smarts" in there want you to run it first before recharging.

 

[Hddeuce03]

A very good upgrade. I knew this but did not realize that while sitting in the charger it wasn't being kept charged. And apparently even if you take it out and put it back in the battery does not charge. I'm guessing the "smarts" in there want you to run it first before recharging.

This should not be the case. I've had my batteries go through the auto-discharge after 10 days to 65%. I then simply put them back in the charger to charge them back to 100% before flying.

 

[Coconut Pete]

This is helpful to know. I will try again. I don't normally go 10 days without flying, but will make a conscious effort and then try as you prescribe. Thanks for the upgrade.

 

[superryo]

What do you do in the winter if you're not flying for a while? They need to be monitored and charged still?

 

[Nils1976]

As far as I know, the batteries discharge to storage level after a few days of no usage and stay there. There's no need to monitor the batteries, just store them cool and dry.

 

[AlohaDrone]

The words of wisdom with Lithium Polymer batteries is:
1. Never let them discharge completely, they will die and not recharge.
2. They don't like being stored with a 100% charge, I was told that the "smarts" in the DJI batteries automatically start a discharge. A 30 to 50% storage charge is recommended.

 

[NyahOne]

This should not be the case. I've had my batteries go through the auto-discharge after 10 days to 65%. I then simply put them back in the charger to charge them back to 100% before flying.

That's exactly how mine does