Blinking lights during battery charge

[Douggieboy]

New and old batteries do the same thing:—

red comes on solid, then blinking green. Red gets brighter, then blue comes on bright for just a second, then the cycle repeats. Beeps alot.

one battery is brand new— and I just bought a second new one. One is from last year, and I have another that has gotten so fat it doesn’t fit into the drone anymore. That last one is most likely trash.

the problem is the charger. It gives this weird light show and beeping with every battery I put in, even with the old swollen one.

I have a big double balance charger with the third party balance lead and will try that. I’ve had many batteries for all my drones swell up and become useless— this is the first problem I’ve had with a charger.
Hoping it isn’t 3 more bad batteries. These things are so **** expensive— every flying season starts of with hundreds of dollars ? in new battery costs…….

 

[DoomMeister]

The battery that will not fit in the aircraft needs to be retired and soaked in a bucket of saltwater for a couple of days to render it harmless.

Are you using the third party charger to place them in storage charge when not in use? The issue you describe with all of your batteries sounds as if you store them in a depleted state or fully charged.

Do you also fly until you get the low battery alerts on a regular basis? This is a practice the severely reduces the lifespan of LiPo batteries.

The OEM charger sounds like it may have a problem, but knowing the condition of your batteries would help understanding whether the issue is the charger or the batteries. Please use a multimeter to measure the cell voltages of your batteries and report them here. The attached document will guide you in measuring them.

 

[johnnyb57]

The battery that will not fit in the aircraft needs to be retired and soaked in a bucket of saltwater for a couple of days to render it harmless.

Are you using the third party charger to place them in storage charge when not in use? The issue you describe with all of your batteries sounds as if you store them in a depleted state or fully charged.

Do you also fly until you get the low battery alerts on a regular basis? This is a practice the severely reduces the lifespan of LiPo batteries.

The OEM charger sounds like it may have a problem, but knowing the condition of your batteries would help understanding whether the issue is the charger or the batteries. Please use a multimeter to measure the cell voltages of your batteries and report them here. The attached document will guide you in measuring them.

Doom, now you added to the confusion of battery care (well to me anyway) ? When you say flying until you get the low battery warning, I dont understand that, as some say they fly til 30some %, I always land at about 40-50% which theres a warning on my plus, the percentage is lit up in orange ??? Is that bad ?

 

[Steve Carr]

I always land at about 40-50% which theres a warning on my plus, the percentage is lit up in orange ??? Is that bad ?

The way you are managing your flights is fine. Continue using your method.

 

[johnnyb57]

The way you are managing your flights is fine. Continue using your method.

Would in the 30's differ at all ?

 

[DoomMeister]

Doom, now you added to the confusion of battery care (well to me anyway) ? When you say flying until you get the low battery warning, I dont understand that, as some say they fly til 30some %, I always land at about 40-50% which theres a warning on my plus, the percentage is lit up in orange ??? Is that bad ?

I was referring to the warnings on the H480 which occur at 14.3V and 14.1V. I fly to about 14.7V and start my landing procedure. I usually shut down by 14.5V

The percentage used on the H+ is one beef I have with that system. I am much happier knowing what my voltage is at while flying. As @Steve Carr said you are doing fine with your batteries. I am not certain what the trip points are for the battery alarms on the H+, but if you are on the ground by 30% you should be fine.

I use one H+ battery on my H480. The LiHV battery has levels 0.15V per cell higher than the LiPo packs for the H480 so the levels are 0.6V higher for the pack. I fly to 15.3V and start landing to be shutdown by 15.1V. If you use the LiHV packs in the H480 you have to monitor them yourself since flying to the built in warning would likely end in disaster.

 

[Douggieboy]

New and old batteries do the same thing:—

red comes on solid, then blinking green. Red gets brighter, then blue comes on bright for just a second, then the cycle repeats. Beeps alot.

one battery is brand new— and I just bought a second new one. One is from last year, and I have another that has gotten so fat it doesn’t fit into the drone anymore. That last one is most likely trash.

the problem is the charger. It gives this weird light show and beeping with every battery I put in, even with the old swollen one.

I have a big double balance charger with the third party balance lead and will try that. I’ve had many batteries for all my drones swell up and become useless— this is the first problem I’ve had with a charger.
Hoping it isn’t 3 more bad batteries. These things are so **** expensive— every flying season starts of with hundreds of dollars ? in new battery costs…….

Exact same thing happened to me today. Same light show, then I used a B6 V2 charger, and they charged properly.
I think the Yuneec charger is trash 🗑.
I had 2 more batteries with less than 10 flights on them get fat, and they won’t fit into the drone. I just have resigned myself to the fact that these batteries are only good for one season, 2 at best.

 

[Steve Carr]

these batteries are only good for one season, 2 at best.

It depends on how the batteries are used and stored.

They should be stored at 15.2 volts and should not sit fully charged for more than a day. If you land when the controller shows 14.6 volts, the voltage will rebound to 15.2 after cooling.

If you fly until the voltage is lower than 14.5 volts the batteries will degrade over time and the battery life will be shortened.

If the battery voltage is too low the OEM charger will not begin the charging cycle. So an aftermarket charger is needed.

 

[Pier2162]

From my experience : the main problem is how batteries are kept during "no fly season".
Lipo's cannot be stored for long time without "refresh" their electrolite.
Every 3 months maximum them should be fully recharged and balanced, then discharged and put back in storage.
I follow this rule from long time to say I've enough experience, and now my batteries have more than 3 years without any sign of swelling.
And do the same for the ones of my transmitters (ST10 and ST16).
I can report only a small reduction of the flight time due to the increase of internal resistance: this cannot be prevented, it comes from electrolyte aging.
I have 3 TH batteries (2 Power4 and 1 Gifi) , 2 Chroma batteries (CS) and other 6 batteries 5400 mAh for other drones from more than 3 years, all still perfectly working.
Yuneec charger is not trash, but cannot be used for this kind of procedure.
And obviously the main interest of Yuneec, out of selling drones, is (was?) selling spare parts and new batteries.
Fully agree with @Steve Carr on the fact that an aftermarket charger of good quality is a must have for saving your batteries, and your money.

 

[Chris Koch]

Excellant info. Pier2162, will screenshot your comments for future use

 

[Pier2162]

Excellant info. Pier2162, will screenshot your comments for future use

Thanks Chris.
I am not smarter than others, I have simply treasured the problems I had previously.
I also threw away semi-new batteries because they had swelled and no longer held the charge.
Then reading here and there in various forums, and doing tests on trials, I found the ideal conditions to minimize the damage.

I summarize here briefly :

1) Do not exceed with the charging current, 1/2 C is the maximum.

2) Never keep batteries fully charged or discharged, always put them in storage.

3) Do not keep the batteries in the cold and do not use them without having first heated them, even just holding them in your hands (I.e.in winter time)

4) Never recharge the batteries when they are hot, always wait for them to cool down.

5) Perform a cycle of charge, discharge, storage every 3 months max in periods of long inactivity.

6) For Li - ion batteries (transmitters) use same method.
During "flying season" try to leave transmitters batteries at 50% of their capacity when not in use, and fully recharge them before use, together with drone batteries.

 

[Chris Koch]

Thanks Chris.
I am not smarter than others, I have simply treasured the problems I had previously.
I also threw away semi-new batteries because they had swelled and no longer held the charge.
Then reading here and there in various forums, and doing tests on trials, I found the ideal conditions to minimize the damage.

I summarize here briefly :

1) Do not exceed with the charging current, 1/2 C is the maximum.

2) Never keep batteries fully charged or discharged, always put them in storage.

3) Do not keep the batteries in the cold and do not use them without having first heated them, even just holding them in your hands (I.e.in winter time)

4) Never recharge the batteries when they are hot, always wait for them to cool down.

5) Perform a cycle of charge, discharge, storage every 3 months max in periods of long inactivity.

6) For Li - ion batteries (transmitters) use same method.
During "flying season" try to leave transmitters batteries at 50% of their capacity when not in use, and fully recharge them before use, together with drone batteries.

Hello Pier, Thank you for your quick response highly appreciated, have a great weekend, hopefully the weather in the UK is good tomorrow to do some flying

 

[Douggieboy]

The battery that will not fit in the aircraft needs to be retired and soaked in a bucket of saltwater for a couple of days to render it harmless.

Are you using the third party charger to place them in storage charge when not in use? The issue you describe with all of your batteries sounds as if you store them in a depleted state or fully charged.

Do you also fly until you get the low battery alerts on a regular basis? This is a practice the severely reduces the lifespan of LiPo batteries.

The OEM charger sounds like it may have a problem, but knowing the condition of your batteries would help understanding whether the issue is the charger or the batteries. Please use a multimeter to measure the cell voltages of your batteries and report them here. The attached document will guide you in measuring them.

This PDF file doesn’t download.
I’ve retired the factory charger— the aftermarket one monitors all cells, and balances them nicely.

It would be really nice if Yuneec had a % function to tell you what the actual remaining flight time is, like DJI. The only information about battery usage while flying is a voltage reading. Different batteries start and decrease the voltage during flight and the low voltage warning is the only way to know how much flight time is left. Flipping the home switch on the controller starts a snail’s pace return, and the battery quit before it got back. The drone then landed itself upside down!

A really good idea might be the Litchi app for Yuneec. It’s such a reliable and informative app that sings out all flight data as you go at regular intervals. I never have a drone drop out of the sky for a battery dying, because it speaks all the way through the flight.
Litchi, are you listening ?

 

[DoomMeister]

I find be the voltage reading to be a lot more precise than an ambiguous percentage reading. Seasoned H480 pilots try to have their aircraft on the ground around 14.6V to avoid stressing the batteries. The first low battery warning occurs at 14.3V (3.575V/cell) and the second at 14.1V (3.525V/cell). It is recommended to not discharge LiPo cells below 3.2V/cell. DJI uses a “smart” battery if you want to call it that, Yuneec uses a regular LiPo battery where the brains are in the pilot. The OEM charger does a good job of balance charging the batteries, but it does not have a storage function or voltage readout.

The only way the RTH function is at a snails pace is if you have OBS enabled which allows the system to stop or avoid an obstacle, otherwise it returns at full speed.

The pdf file for the Power4 battery does download. I just checked it.