Hello Fellow Yuneec Pilot!
Join our free Yuneec community and remove this annoying banner!
Sign up

Battery blinking blue light

Worked for me!
Cell 1: 1.78V
Cell 2: 0.97V
Cell 3: 1.8V

Holding the USB leads to each cell for about 2 minutes brought the voltages back up above 3 and the battery now charges on the Yuneec charger.

Thanks!
 
Many thanks, as this worked for me. However, I'm hoping to get some advice about best practices to avoid this happening again. I purchased my Yuneec Breeze about 7 weeks ago, and flew it for about 6 quick sessions. At the end of the last session on 12/12/18, the battery was about 40%. I stored it in that manner. Today, I had my first blue blinking light issue, with 2 cells 1 & 2 at around 0.4V and another one at about 1.3V. Unfortunately the battery only has a 30 day warranty, so I'm just out of that period.

I thought that storing LiPo batteries not fully charged was the way to go, and I'm not sure why it lost so much charge in storage on its own. Would a preferred approach be to charge the battery a bit every 2 weeks or so? Do we need to manually check voltages? (This all seems a bit excessive, but would still be better than needing to buy a new battery once every season.)

Edit: This post wasn't so reassuring: LiPo Battery Danger - You should read this! Have people who have used other drones, such as DJI, had similar issues with battery longevity being so poor, or does this seem to especially be an issue with Yuneec batteries? LiPos that I've used in other applications such as computer and phones seem to be much more tolerant.
 
Last edited:
Most phones and computers use Li-ion batteries and not LiPo batteries. There is a huge difference in the way they can be charged and stored. A little reading on the internet will show the differences.

Getting to your battery that was stored showing 40% charge in Breeze Cam when you stopped using it.

Was it stored in the Breeze or the charger?

Was it stored where temps were normal, or in sub freezing or 100F+ temps?

Double check your voltages after charging to full capacity. Then after flying the Breeze allow it to cool to ambient temp and take voltage readings for each cell. They should all read within a couple tenths of a volt. I am concerned with the mismatch of voltages between cells. This should not happen if they are removed from any devices and not subjected to excessive temps.

If I am not going to fly for a week or more I run the batteries to about 30% then land and remove the battery. When cool the rebound to around 3.8 V per cell which is a good storage voltage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yaz
Ah, sorry for the mixup with Li-ion batteries! My mistake.

The battery was stored outside of the drone, plugged in to an unplugged charger. Could that have led to it becoming discharged? If so, I'm kicking myself since the battery is probably now much worse than it otherwise was before. It was in a 68-70 degree Fahrenheit room.

After charging to green, all cells were right around 4.18 V. I wanted to use the drone to check out a few things around my house, and will remeasure once I get back in.
 
Hi, I also find it puzzling to read about inconsistent cell voltages with Breeze batteries quite often.
I have three of them since about eight months, and to me this has not yet happened. I also hardly ever see this with my other LiPos (a number of 2s and 1s Lipos for smaller quads). What I have had to learn with these other quads - esp the ones with 1s batteries - is that over-discharging Lipos really shortens their overall life.
I could imagine that it actually is the power management of the Breeze itself that contributes to this. I have come to the impression that the internal low voltage handling is too aggressive and runs the batteries too far down. That would be a reason for individual cells to break in. In other words, the remaining capacity indicated by the BreezeCam app is too optimistic. DoomMeister's advice not to deplete the battery below 30% should be taken very seriously.
 
Last edited:
Ah, sorry for the mixup with Li-ion batteries! My mistake.

The battery was stored outside of the drone, plugged in to an unplugged charger. Could that have led to it becoming discharged? If so, I'm kicking myself since the battery is probably now much worse than it otherwise was before. It was in a 68-70 degree Fahrenheit room.

After charging to green, all cells were right around 4.18 V. I wanted to use the drone to check out a few things around my house, and will remeasure once I get back in.

That is definitely the problem! The battery has to be removed from the charger not just having the charger unplugged. You would get the same type of reaction if you left your phone plugged into the charging block and unplugged the block from the wall. Your phone’s battery would deplete much quicker.

There has been some damage done depleting the cells that low. Just watch for swelling of the battery. If it starts puffing up, place it in a bucket of salt water for a couple days then dispose of in the trash.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yaz
That is definitely the problem! The battery has to be removed from the charger not just having the charger unplugged. You would get the same type of reaction if you left your phone plugged into the charging block and unplugged the block from the wall. Your phone’s battery would deplete much quicker.

Argh. I don't remember seeing documentation about that. Well, what's done is done, and now I know to not make that mistake. After a 2 minute flight, after letting things cool down, the Yuneec app reports 86% charge remaining. Cell 1: 3.93V; Cell 2: 3.93 V; Cell 3: 3.94 V.

Although I'm glad that I was able to get the battery working again so quickly, I wonder if there was option to use the modified USB cable in a more gradual way (i.e. with a lower current) to charge the depleted cells. I could feel the thin gauge wires heating up after just about 10-15 seconds of current being applied. I did these brief charges about 5 times for each cell, and it probably would have been gentler to be brought from <1V to ~3V more slowly.
 
Last edited:
Argh. I don't remember seeing documentation about that. Well, what's done is done, and now I know to not make that mistake. After a 2 minute flight, after letting things cool down, the Yuneec app reports 86% charge remaining. Cell 1: 3.93V; Cell 2: 3.93 V; Cell 3: 3.94 V.

Although I'm glad that I was able to get the battery working again so quickly, I wonder if there was option to use the modified USB cable in a more gradual way (i.e. with a lower current) to charge the depleted cells. I could feel the thin gauge wires heating up after just about 10-15 seconds of current being applied, and it probably would have been gentler to be brought from <1V to ~3V more slowly.

Yes, a regular USB port on a PC limits current to 500mA, which will slow it down some. You can also use a couple of regular D cell alkaline batteries in series to charge at a lower voltage of 3V. If the cells are below 1V you can even start with a single D cell alkaline battery.

Try flying the Breeze until you get to 30% battery level then see what voltage each cell is at after it cools to ambient temp. It should be near 3.8V per cell. You can adjust accordingly to find the percentage that will give you the proper storage voltage.

Please don’t feel bad, there have been many others that did the same thing leaving the battery in an unplugged charger. It may have shortened the life of the battery to some extent, but many are still flying with those batteries months later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yaz
Sorry for the late update. I didn't have a need or opportunity to drain my battery lower. After flying the refreshed battery to ~23% 2 times while flying--but it jumps up >50% after things cool down--the voltage on all cells is pretty even, at about 3.74V. I might recheck again later, but my best guess is that this is fine to store it, and I'll charge to 100% immediately before my next flight. Cheers!
 
3.74 V is fine as a storage level. Hobby grade chargers with a storage function put batteries to a storage level of 3.8 V per cell, but I have read posts in other forums about this possibly being a tad too high for optimal stability of the battery chemistry. Personally, I would be very surprised to learn that a deviation of .05 V in one or the other direction had a massive effect.
 
From reading all this am I right in assuming that a battery reading no higher than 99mV and making the charger flash green, is totally curtains right?
 
  • Like
Reactions: O’lyra
Many have used the USB cable when a cell was down to single digit mV and recovered the battery. It does not mean that it did not sustain permanent damage to longevity, but it is probably still usable. Most people get this by leaving the battery in an unplugged charger. When unplugged the charger will pull energy from the cells of the battery pack and deplete them to near 0 volts. Always store your batteries at a storage level of 3.7 to 3.85 volts per cell.
 
Many have used the USB cable when a cell was down to single digit mV and recovered the battery. It does not mean that it did not sustain permanent damage to longevity, but it is probably still usable. Most people get this by leaving the battery in an unplugged charger. When unplugged the charger will pull energy from the cells of the battery pack and deplete them to near 0 volts. Always store your batteries at a storage level of 3.7 to 3.85 volts per cell.

I think that is exactly what happend, I just bought the drone used, and it was working before they posted it and I think it arrived with the battery in the charger.
Many have used the USB cable when a cell was down to single digit mV and recovered the battery. It does not mean that it did not sustain permanent damage to longevity, but it is probably still usable. Most people get this by leaving the battery in an unplugged charger. When unplugged the charger will pull energy from the cells of the battery pack and deplete them to near 0 volts. Always store your batteries at a storage level of 3.7 to 3.85 volts per cell.

I think that's exactly what happend. I just bought the drone used and it was working before they posted it.

I am assuming they have left the batt in the drone or the charger.

Is it causing more damage the longer it is in this state?
 
Yes! you can start restoring it with D cell batteries Tape a wire to each end of a D cell and use the cell diagram from the post earlier in this thread and charge each cell up over 1 volt. Then use two D cells in series like in a flashlight and charge the cells of the Breeze battery to around 3 volts. Try using the OEM charger at this point. If it still flashes blue, construct the USB charger cable and get each cell near 3.7 volts. It should then work properly in the OEM charger.

I suggest using D cell battries at first because the current availability will be less and less likely to cause overheating and/or fire.

If you get the battery to charge fully on the OEM charger, be cautious for several flights to see how well it will power your Breeze. Keep things low and slow until you know the battery will keep the Breeze in the air safely.
 
Yes! you can start restoring it with D cell batteries Tape a wire to each end of a D cell and use the cell diagram from the post earlier in this thread and charge each cell up over 1 volt. Then use two D cells in series like in a flashlight and charge the cells of the Breeze battery to around 3 volts. Try using the OEM charger at this point. If it still flashes blue, construct the USB charger cable and get each cell near 3.7 volts. It should then work properly in the OEM charger.

I suggest using D cell battries at first because the current availability will be less and less likely to cause overheating and/or fire.

If you get the battery to charge fully on the OEM charger, be cautious for several flights to see how well it will power your Breeze. Keep things low and slow until you know the battery will keep the Breeze in the air safely.

I was just about to give it a try with a phone charger (5V 1amp). I don't have any D batteries around.

Do you think I have a massive risk of it catching fire with the volrages being so low? I was only going to charge for 30 seconds or so and check the voltages again.
 
I was just about to give it a try with a phone charger (5V 1amp). I don't have any D batteries around.

Do you think I have a massive risk of it catching fire with the volrages being so low? I was only going to charge for 30 seconds or so and check the voltages again.

that should be fine, just give the cells a little boost and check them. It may take a while, but once you get over 3.2 volts in each cell the OEM charger will probably work.
 
Just give it 30 seconds at a time and measure, if the wires are staying cool enough to hold you should be OK to go for longer. Just keep monitoring the cell voltages and try to keep them as even as possible.
 

New Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
20,955
Messages
241,587
Members
27,284
Latest member
csandoval