Extended Storage

[Atrus]

I know that somewhere that I haven't found is the answer that I need, but as a new person to Drones and really old I will use that as my excuse for asking this again.

Got a Phantom 3se last year and where I live you can go months waiting on the weather to be able to get out and fly. Last week we got over 10" of rain and the wind has been 20+ mph for a long time.

Now my question is if you cannot get out for a couple of months (or more) what is the standard procedure for the battery's?

What I have been doing is draining them to below 50% and checking them every 10 days to make sure that they don't go dead.

Is this OK or just stupid.
Remember that I have been retired for 7 years and calling me a stupid old man is OK.

 

[Fly Dawg]

What I have been doing is draining them to below 50% and checking them every 10 days to make sure that they don't go dead.

Keep them between 20% and 40% roughly. You will be fine.

 

[chatikib]

Remember that I have been retired for 7 years and calling me a stupid old man is OK.

Believe me, you can never ask a stupid question! For every question is an answer.

 

[Oso]

I know that somewhere that I haven't found is the answer that I need, but as a new person to Drones and really old I will use that as my excuse for asking this again.

Got a Phantom 3se last year and where I live you can go months waiting on the weather to be able to get out and fly. Last week we got over 10" of rain and the wind has been 20+ mph for a long time.

Now my question is if you cannot get out for a couple of months (or more) what is the standard procedure for the battery's?

What I have been doing is draining them to below 50% and checking them every 10 days to make sure that they don't go dead.

Is this OK or just stupid.
Remember that I have been retired for 7 years and calling me a stupid old man is OK.

Welcome to the forum!

Click here for a good post we often refer people to when they ask this common question

Good luck!

 

[ROD PAINTER]

The only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

 

[anotherlab]

I know that somewhere that I haven't found is the answer that I need, but as a new person to Drones and really old I will use that as my excuse for asking this again.

Got a Phantom 3se last year and where I live you can go months waiting on the weather to be able to get out and fly. Last week we got over 10" of rain and the wind has been 20+ mph for a long time.

Now my question is if you cannot get out for a couple of months (or more) what is the standard procedure for the battery's?

What I have been doing is draining them to below 50% and checking them every 10 days to make sure that they don't go dead.

Is this OK or just stupid.
Remember that I have been retired for 7 years and calling me a stupid old man is OK.

The short answer is that you don't have to do anything, the firmware on the batteries will manage this.

For future reference, there is a document on the DJI site titled "Phantom 3 Intelligent Flight Battery Safety Guidelines" that has a section that covers this. For the Phantom SE, visit this page for the following section on extended battery storage.

Extended Storage

1. Discharge the battery to 40%-65% if it will not be used for 10 days or more. This can greatly extend battery life.
2. The battery automatically discharges to below 65% when it is idle for more than 10 days to prevent it from swelling. It takes approximately 3 days to discharge the battery to 65%. It is normal that you may feel moderate heat emitting from the battery during the discharge process. Set the discharging thresholds in the DJI GO app.
3. The battery will enter hibernation mode if depleted and stored for a long period. When in hibernation mode, if you try to power on the battery, the battery LED will show a solid red light and the battery level LEDs will be off. You can not manually turn off the battery power LED in this state. Leave the battery unattended for 5 minutes, and the light will turn off. Recharge the battery to bring it out of hibernation.
4. Remove batteries from aircraft when stored for an extended period.

 

[Atrus]

Thanks a million, I was getting confused due to all of the different things that I have read about this.
Even in the DJI manual it talks about discharging the battery's to 8% but doesn't say why.

 

[paulmorel]

Thanks a million, I was getting confused due to all of the different things that I have read about this.
Even in the DJI manual it talks about discharging the battery's to 8% but doesn't say why.

I guess you should follow the manual. I know the battery automatically discharge but it is still safe to keep the battery below 50%. Also I suggest you try to fly your drone even inside your house for at least once every 2 - 3 days even for just a minute.

 

[MrGolf]

Thanks for the information..