Looking for advice buying P3 4480 mAh batteries at good price from eBay. They are Brand New, Fully Decoded for $64.
Buying Non-OEM Batteries
- Thread starter kyrvas
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ryantrax
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I personally don't fly anything but OEM batteries, I'd rather not risk my bird to save a few bucks. When buying non-oem batteries I would look them up on Amazon (if available) to see how buyers have reviewed them prior to purchasing them on eBay though.
Battery brands is a personal thing. If those batteries are an aftermarket brand (and I suspect they are), you may or may not have a problem with them later on. If a battery mentions "fully decoded" in the description, that's usually a giveaway that it's not an OEM DJI battery. For the record, all of the batteries that I've bought for both my P3S and P4 have been new in the box genuine DJI batteries from eBay sellers, and I haven't paid over $85 for any of them. That's roughly half the retail list price, so I saved a good chunk of cash and got DJI OEM quality as well. You can find deals on new DJI OEM batteries if you look for them. Good luck with whichever path you choose.
AND most Important thing is : IF you have a after market battery in your Drone and the drones still Under Dji warranty.....If you have a crash do to a "battery related issue" !......Dji will Not repair it......I have that in words from them...I have way to much at Stake to mess with after market battery's !
It's the most important thing keeping it in the sky.
While there has been substantial discussion in the forum over OEM versus aftermarket batteries, which battery brand to use in your Phantom comes down to a personal choice. Many pilots use and prefer DJI batteries, while others swear by aftermarket brands. The way I look at is this, you have two key failure points on a Phantom: props and battery. If either one fails, it's not going to end well. Whether you choose DJI brand or aftermarket brand for those parts remember this. If you use an aftermarket brand part for a crucial function, and that aftermarket part fails and you sustain a crash, I promise you, the very LAST thing you'll think about is how much money you saved buying that aftermarket part. As always, just my two cents.
YOUR 2 Cents...worth is very valuable "Information " ! Now my 2 cents makes 4 cents ! ( Great post "running" )
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Just don’t. It isn’t worth the risk. The OEM batteries aren’t much more and they come bundled with peace of mind
I have heard some non-oem batteries have failed mid flight, crashing and causing a fire, completely totaling the drone. You can't salvage a burnt drone!
It's not just the Lithium and other "special" ingredients in the batteries... it's mostly the electrical components assembled, the software and quality control involved. A battery is mostly just a battery, but it's the tight relationship of the system working correctly when you need it most ( Hovering over a lake) that you aren't required to pinch your butt cheeks... quite so tightly..
I have the original OEM battery and 3 PowerExtra ones for my P3S. Have not had a single problem with any of them. My P3S is long out of warranty so any battery issues wouldn’t matter anyway.
I have 3 original DJI batteries for my Spark. Had to send one back for warranty replacement due to a bad cell.
I have 3 original DJI batteries for my Spark. Had to send one back for warranty replacement due to a bad cell.
Ryantrax - thanks for your input. My gut reaction is to buy OEM; have two DJI ones now, a third would be useful. Still, $64 versus $150 is a big difference to me; maybe moreso to my wife. Regarding Amazon - not sure if this generic battery could be found on Amazon for comparison.
Running - Good input; especially, $85 DJI batteries; that price is doable; I'll search for them.
This brings up another question - Do the new DJI batteries accept being introduced to legacy firmware; I now use AC firmware 1.8.80 and would like to stay with this version. The "fully decoded" statement on the non-OEMs got my attention.
RunningWithScissors sounds like a questionable thing to do.
Weston - I agree what you said about battery failure; I'm generally cautious but sometimes price has me leaning toward the risk-taking side of things.
RunningWithScissors sounds like a questionable thing to do.
Only if you have your fingers in the holes
Fwiw, I'll probably only ever use OEM batteries and props... oh and btw - I'm right there with you on Wife being CFO... lol
umanbean -Only if you have your fingers in the holes
Fwiw, I'll probably only ever use OEM batteries and props... oh and btw - I'm right there with you on Wife being CFO... lol
scissors; 
CFOThanks, but I look at the thousands of dollars I have worked hard for, and spent on video equipment. A few hundred dollars here and there looks small in comparison if it saves thousands later. That's why I always buy OEM. I can then blame DJI or Canon or Blackmagic if something happens, which for me has never happened, because I am careful to buy OEM accessories, unless it is a cheap accessory that doesn't affect the camera, computer, or drone electronically.Weston - I agree what you said about battery failure; I'm generally cautious but sometimes price has me leaning toward the risk-taking side of things.
If the battery isn"t clearly identified as DJI brand, you need to know what a DJI brand battery looks like to tell them apart. You have to be careful because some less than honest sellers will go to great lengths to try and deceive you, sometimes by stating outright that it's OEM when it's not. I've seen it happen too many times. But, yes, you can find new DJI OEM batteries for something like 50% off list price. I've done it many times for both P3 and P4 batteries.
I've never had an issue using new batteries with legacy fm/sw. My P3S hasn't been updated in well over a year and it flies flawlessly. If I told you what I can get for range with it, you wouldn't believe me.
Yeah, I've always been one to push the envelope as far as I can (flying drones excluded).
We have 10 Phantoms in our club ............... each owner has at least 3 batterys. Guess how many are DJI batterys ? 10.
Why 10 ? The original that came with the Phantom in the box ................. SORRY ----- mistake ... 9 !! One original DJI decided after a few weeks only to give up .... we ripped it open to see inside and how to sort maintenance as with a normal LiPo ... we were not impressed with what we saw.
So that's 30 batterys and 21 are non DJI. No reports of fails other than that DJI original.
Nigel
Why 10 ? The original that came with the Phantom in the box ................. SORRY ----- mistake ... 9 !! One original DJI decided after a few weeks only to give up .... we ripped it open to see inside and how to sort maintenance as with a normal LiPo ... we were not impressed with what we saw.
So that's 30 batterys and 21 are non DJI. No reports of fails other than that DJI original.
Nigel
