Batteries: not 100% charging and LED never stop

[imagecatcher000]

I have 3 Ph4pro batteries. After doing an update in Jan/Feb, all three now will not fully charge. 88% is as high as they will display.
When on charge, the LED's eventually go into a never ending sequence of 1234 on, of for about 5 seconds and the 1234 on.
I have just run one down to 8% to see if it helped reset the capacity but it has continued to do the sequencing thing.

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[Twilightdrone]

Bummer! What country are you in and which country did you buy it from? Hopefully you'll get good back up service.
I'm asking because I'm on the verge of buying my first P4P or + and am contemplating buying it out of Hong Kong as they are way cheaper there than here in Perth, Australia but won't then have the same consumer rights as if I go local.

 

[Techcop50]

If all the batteries are doing it, you need to try another charger. If your line voltage is low enough, it might not be producing enough voltage to get a full charge. Could be the house voltage (120 ac) or the DC output from the charger itself.

 

[imagecatcher000]

If all the batteries are doing it, you need to try another charger. If your line voltage is low enough, it might not be producing enough voltage to get a full charge. Could be the house voltage (120 ac) or the DC output from the charger itself.

I did check the output some weeks ago and it read 17.xxV so I thought yep thats okay. I have done more research towards using my Hyperion charger as an alternative and realised it need to be 17.4v. I just re-tested the output and it is 17.04v. Probably just not enough to push them that extra bit.
Going to try another house outlet, then another house... but looks like a new charger is in order
UPDATE: yep tried another house and 17.04v, not quite 17.4v

 

[N017RW]

Mains are tied into a national grid.
Moving outlets or to another residence will have no effect.

 

[Techcop50]

Mains are tied into a national grid.
Moving outlets or to another residence will have no effect.

Obviously you've never heard of a "floating neutral"?

 

[N017RW]

Obviously you've never heard of a "floating neutral"?

Yes I have.

The OP explained moving to different outlets or locations showed no change in his results.

Aside from necessary in some situations and potentially dangerous in many,

Please explain...
How does this floating effect Line to Neutral potential?

Thank you.

 

[DanMan32]

Small but finite resistance in the line wiring, breakers, meter, outlets. Resistance lowers voltage relative to the current.
If the charger was putting out 17.4v when not under load, I would have recommended checking charger output under load. Wouldn't have to be the battery to be the test load.

 

[Techcop50]

Please explain...
How does this floating effect Line to Neutral potential?

Thank you.

No offense intended. That was just a response to your statement that implied all outlets on the "national grid" are created equal. After 50 years of troubleshooting electrical problems, that sounds a bit ridiculous.

 

[N017RW]

No offense intended. That was just a response to your statement that implied all outlets on the "national grid" are created equal. After 50 years of troubleshooting electrical problems, that sounds a bit ridiculous.

Not offended. But you take a diversionary snipe and then fail to deliver on how it could contribute to the topic.

Cheers

 

[Techcop50]

Sorry it appeared that way. I'll be more careful from now on.
As for the topic, a loose neutral can cause line voltages to drift from 0-240 volts all the way to the outlet. Doesn't happen often, but it can.
Thanks.

 

[DanMan32]

Modern switching power supplies like the DJI charger can accept a wide range of input AC voltages. Usually as low as 90v and as high as 240v
The charger itself probably is bad.

 

[N017RW]

Agreed. They are also rated for differing line frequencies as well.

However, I'm not able to see how a single phase can achieve 240vac potential with a 'loose neutral'. It would take a second phase to create such potential as is typical at your household stove, clothes dryer, some pool pumps and hot tubs, or water heater outlets.

 

[DanMan32]

Maybe not at 240 but if the neutral is leaning significantly enough towards the other phase, could go significantly above 120v. Probably not supporting much current though. People have gotten shocked by fences and such due to voltage leaks. The physical ground is not electrically inert.

 

[Techcop50]

Agreed. They are also rated for differing line frequencies as well.

However, I'm not able to see how a single phase can achieve 240vac potential with a 'loose neutral'. It would take a second phase to create such potential as is typical at your household stove, clothes dryer, some pool pumps and hot tubs, or water heater outlets.

Remove the neutral, then all the devices are "sharing" the full 240 potential. Depending on load, it can vary widely from one side of the panel to the other. If there is equal load on both buses, the voltage to ground will be close to 120 on each side. If the load shifts to one side, that side has less voltage and the unloaded side has the rest. Always adds up to full phase 240, but the difference can be very wide.

 

[SRJ_Phantom_4_Pro]

Sheesh did we time warp into the NEC forum?

 

[DanMan32]

Remove the neutral, then all the devices are "sharing" the full 240 potential. Depending on load, it can vary widely from one side of the panel to the other. If there is equal load on both buses, the voltage to ground will be close to 120 on each side. If the load shifts to one side, that side has less voltage and the unloaded side has the rest. Always adds up to full phase 240, but the difference can be very wide.

I hadn't thought of a 120 device picking up the other phase from the neutral by way of other devices on that other phase.

 

[DanMan32]

Sheesh did we time warp into the NEC forum?

No, just the IEEE forum [emoji16]

 

[N017RW]

That's the beauty of forums. Many tangential conversations about stuff you never knew you'd learn about.

Ok, so then the affected service (home owner) would then experience dimming lights, slowing fans or other motor driven devices, etc., blown small appliances and other issues prior to (or amazingly coincidental with) poor battery charging.

Thanks all.

 

[AnchorageAk]

I think I remember reading that to charge a battery 100%, you had to turn the battery on while charging. Does this sound right to you guys?