Spark battery maintenance question

[bmarlowe]

The DJI battery manual says:

1) Never over-discharge, as this may lead to battery cell damage
2)...
3) Fully charge and discharge the battery at least once every 3 months to maintain battery health.

So what is the difference between "fully discharge" and "over-discharge"? I know the DJI GO 4 app can display %age as well as cell voltages.

 

[Zookeeper]

When the app reads 0% the actual battery will still have at least 10% of its total capacity still unused. If the battery itself reaches 0% it becomes chemically unstable and can stop accepting a charge or have problems holding a usable charge..

 

[bmarlowe]

Thanks much Zookeeper.

Do you agree with the "once every 3 months" or do you think it should be after a given number of flights?

 

[Zookeeper]

Personally I would check the battery every 3 to 4 weeks because discharge speed varies with temperature humidity etc. After charging you can just turn spark on, no need to fly it, it will discharge fairly quickly just sitting on your table..

 

[jay1028]

The batteries have a processor inside. It keeps tabs on cell condition such as temperature, state of charge, cell balancing and firmware version. The processor will not allow the battery to discharge below a safe level, just as your cell phone monitors its battery. You can safely use your battery and not be concerned about running it down too low. The electronics in the battery will not allow it to be discharged below its specification. It will disconnect the battery connection before any damage can occur. That is why the Spark will not just run slower as the battery runs down. It will run at the same power level until the processor cuts off the power. Because the electronics inside use a small amount of energy from the battery, it is suggested to charge it every so often to replenish what the electronics has used.