Hi everyone!
My DJI Spark lately has been having a problem where it has erratic flight behavior - after takeoff, it flies just fine, but when I apply power, the drone responds in short bursts and occasionally drops quickly afterward, sometimes into the ground. All other control parameters are fine.
I thought it might be a problem with the battery. I did a full charge again, and monitored the voltage of each cell during takeoff and flight. At takeoff, it has around 12.4 volts. As soon as it's in the air, it drops to about 11.5, and when I ascend, it drops even further to about 11.2. After about 2 minutes of flight, the battery is about 38 degrees Celsius (about 100 Fahrenheit) and the voltage drops to about 11.0 in hover and 10.8 in an ascent - still with the erratic flight behavior. That gets worse as the battery gets lower.
By the time the battery is at 50%, voltages are at very low levels, around 10.5 in hover.
I switched around batteries as I have two and no change. Ambient temperature is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
I get a good 12 minutes of (hazardous) time in the air.
A note - this drone has been dropped into freshwater but made a seemingly successful recovery.
Each of these batteries has got over 80 cycles - have they simply run out of life? Or is the drone at fault here?
Thanks in advance!
My DJI Spark lately has been having a problem where it has erratic flight behavior - after takeoff, it flies just fine, but when I apply power, the drone responds in short bursts and occasionally drops quickly afterward, sometimes into the ground. All other control parameters are fine.
I thought it might be a problem with the battery. I did a full charge again, and monitored the voltage of each cell during takeoff and flight. At takeoff, it has around 12.4 volts. As soon as it's in the air, it drops to about 11.5, and when I ascend, it drops even further to about 11.2. After about 2 minutes of flight, the battery is about 38 degrees Celsius (about 100 Fahrenheit) and the voltage drops to about 11.0 in hover and 10.8 in an ascent - still with the erratic flight behavior. That gets worse as the battery gets lower.
By the time the battery is at 50%, voltages are at very low levels, around 10.5 in hover.
I switched around batteries as I have two and no change. Ambient temperature is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
I get a good 12 minutes of (hazardous) time in the air.
A note - this drone has been dropped into freshwater but made a seemingly successful recovery.
Each of these batteries has got over 80 cycles - have they simply run out of life? Or is the drone at fault here?
Thanks in advance!
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