Spark battery went down to 1% according to the app

[SparkOwner]

I was looking in the app while connected to the Spark and forgot the battery was low.. (my own fault), I noticed it went down to 1% battery according to the app. I quickly turned off the Spark and charged it as normal.

Anyone know if this has drained too low to hurt the battery? I know LiPo’s do not like draining too low as it effects performance and flight time.

I have flew my Spark in doors since this and noticed its flight time was short just hovering it got around 8 mins (might just be normal).

My battery has only been charged 7 times since I’ve had my Spark. (also confirmed in the app). All volatages are balanced in the app since this 1% also.

Cant believe DJI actually lets you drain the battery below 5%

Thanks guys

 

[NyJosh]

As this is a "smart" battery, I suspect it's like most modern smart phones where the percentages displayed to users are the usable amount of the battery and that there's still a buffer. Since lipos generally shouldn't go below roughly 5% at the low end and 95% at the high end, they just program them to display 1% when there's 5% left and 100% when charged to 95% total capacity. This is why you can press the button when it's supposedly dead but still light up the LED's to see the charge status.

I wouldn't worry about it. If you do a scientific comparison between the battery you're worried about and another and find it's no longer performing properly, open a warranty case with DJI and they'll likely replace it if it's within 1 year of activation or whatever they say the top number of recharge cycles is (I vaguely want to say 240-250).

 

[strobing_nyc]

It's good to run them down once a month it resets the battery

 

[mimixtz]

Depends on the individual cell voltage the battery have at 1%. You can see that on the battery menu. At 99-100% voltage per cell is app. 4.25 V. At app. 50% its app. 3.85. According to that, I'd say its app. 3.50. This is low, but not critical. I have lipos which I recieved as a gift and they had 1.1 V per cell. I "woke them up" with DC power supply unit and after app. 50 cycles still works great. So even going way to low with voltage will not necessary destroy them. Once they are puffed even just a little bit, dispose them immediatelly.

 

[ReMark8]

I have seen some vids suggesting that LiPos can be dangerous and start fires. But, it didn't seem clear as to why and/or under what circumstances. Perhaps they were just trying to sell LiPo bags. They even suggested you should keep all your LiPos in a metal container (like a bucket) to contain a fire should on start.

 

[mimixtz]

They can catch a fire if:
- being charged with too high current
- being damaged (physically)
- being damaged or puffed and charged despite of that
- being dissasembled
- being short cutted
- being charged with unsuitable charger
- being carged hot
- anything else?

I'm in RC stuff for Quite a few years and haven't seen or heard that anyones lipo would catch a fire. we had to dewtroy one deliberatelly once just to see if YouTube videos are real. We have thrown a rock on it from safety distance It was quite a big one, but had hundreds of cycles and it was not fully charged. A lot of smoke, tiny fire, bad smell.

But as always, safety first: Lipos are not AAA toy batteries and should be used carefully - using basic technical information and CCS - common country sense.