P3A battery won't charge

[Chris765911]

morning all,

My phantom turned up an hour ago, and I can't wait to get it in the air, but I can't get the battery to charge, I've tried everything I know of, which is limited, but I can't get it to charge. i plug it in,the green leds flash as though it's charging, then only the first green light flashes, then it's all goes off. Any help much appreciated

This is a pre owned drone

 

[George_Sav]

All batteries tend to have a memory, and it could be that yours has ended its useful life ( you said it was a used system) there are ways to place a load on the battery and try and change this state, however I would suggest that a new battery is your best bet.

 

[Chris765911]

Thanks for the reply George, I'm told it's had an hours flight, and there isn't a mark on it, the controller still has the clear stickers on, that being said, who knows. Is there a way to reset or force charge? I've pressed and held the button to check the cells, all 4 are lit.

 

[George_Sav]

Charge the battery, then fly the drone, make sure that all preflight is done especially return to home etc, just take of and hover, if the battery is good then the drone will give you normal flight time, however if the battery is faulty or worn out the drone will land itself as soon as the battery level drops below 15% or there about. Either way assuming that you just hover in a open area you can see exactly what is happening and the results should let you know if you need a new battery or not!
Once you have gone through a load and discharge cycle then you will have a better understanding of the problem... good luck!

 

[Chris765911]

Id love to! But the battery is flat, the bird won't even fire up anymore. I started it up this morning, it beeped, camera did it's thing, lights flashed, and after a few minutes it died, so I plugged the battery in, it starts to charge, then the lights go out.

 

[George_Sav]

Poop! Looks like you need to buy a new battery :-(

 

[Chris765911]

Poop! Looks like you need to buy a new battery :-(

Going to talk to the seller first, see what happens from there.

 

[MapMaker53]

I've had a charger suddenly go bad. Battery was fine but wouldn't charge. Either put a meter to the charger and see what the output is, or try a different battery and see if it charges. If it does, then the first battery is bad.

 

[Chris765911]

I've had a charger suddenly go bad. Battery was fine but wouldn't charge. Either put a meter to the charger and see what the output is, or try a different battery and see if it charges. If it does, then the first battery is bad.

Yeah, il get the tester out, the charger is fine with the controller mind

 

[Chris765911]

Yeah, il get the tester out, the charger is fine with the controller mind

17.4, as it should be

 

[crash1sttime]

No doubt the seller stored the battery fully flat and its damaged the battery. I really wouldn't mess to much with it, i would ask the seller what he can do, a partial refund maybe, either way your going to need a battery

 

[Chris765911]

Just spoke to him, he's upgraded to a p4, since then the battery has been in the drone in the box (not sure on the time span), he's going to pay the lions share of a new battery I think. Shame, it's only had an hours flight.

 

[Numone]

Just spoke to him, he's upgraded to a p4, since then the battery has been in the drone in the box (not sure on the time span), he's going to pay the lions share of a new battery I think. Shame, it's only had an hours flight.

Well, that's really good of the seller. Good one for you.

 

[Chris765911]

Yeah he seemed like a decent bloke

 

[Chris765911]

So I ordered a battery yesterday, turned up today, charged it and fired up my p3a, and all is well, the remaining images on the card are from 6/16 so I presume the battery has been sat since then? Who knows, anyway I've spent the evening updating everything and familiarising myself with the dji app, very tempted to have a fly tonight, but thought better of it, to dark,to windy,tomorrow after work in daylight and a bit of space! Chuffed