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Yet another battery question

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I was flying the h this morning with a power 4 and it was charged at about 90%. After about 5 minutes the 1st warning came on so I was in my front lawn bringing back and the 2cd one came on. After the battery warning came on I landed it. After the battery cooled down I put it on the dy3 it was charged at 59%. This a Flat power 4 with no puff at all so any ideas.
 
Hi Peter.
It's not a good practice fly with partially charged batteries.
A not fully charged battery can be damaged from motors starting peak current.
The fact that charger is showing a residual charge of 59% can mean that electrolites of the battery have lost part of their capacity of hold the power, so this battery will not last much time more.
From my experience with lipo's, that's not a good sign, normally it happens when batteries are kept almost fully charged or totally discharged when unused.
Try to recharge it at 100% and see what happen...
You should invest some money in buying a charger that has the storage function.
 
I have the dy3 and I don't know of any other except the venom. I have a few ultrax that have never been a problem at all and they don't make them anymore which sucks. I am charging all the way and I will check it out thanks.
 
I have the dy3 and I don't know of any other except the venom. I have a few ultrax that have never been a problem at all and they don't make them anymore which sucks. I am charging all the way and I will check it out thanks.
FYI - the DY3 does have a storage mode. Just press and hold one of the storage buttons and the display will show storage and discharge the battery to 50% for storage. I don't charge my batteries until just before I'm going out to fly, and I also don't run them hard or all the way down. I only run them down to around 30% at the most, then when I'm done, I charge them to above 50%, put the DY3 into storage mode, and take them back down to 50%. You should also check your batteries at least twice per year, or quarterly. Sometimes a faulty cell can drop below what the stock or DY3 charger can handle if you don't check them periodically.

You usually can recover the cell that is too low, by using a cable specifically for the Typhoon H, then use a smart charger with a recovery mode or just charge them for a bit at 0.1 amps in NiCd mode until the low cell(s) voltage rises. This should take from 5-10 minutes with constant checking. Only do this as a last resort and at your own risk. NEVER, NEVER do this unattended, and look for signs of swelling and feel them to see if they are getting warm. If warm or swelling, discontinue and discard the battery in an approved manner. Assuming you can get the low cell above the minimum cutoff voltage, usually +4v, disconnect it and use the DY3 or stock charger as normal to balance and recharge the rest of the way.

Suffice it to say, your battery is probably getting old and tired and is in need of replacement. I wouldn't trust this battery for any extended flights but it might be fine to power on and let it sit for GPS satellite updating or any calibrations.
 
The only thing I do is idle but only the day I fly them. I just did a complete charge and the problem is fixed.
 
I have the dy3 and I don't know of any other except the venom. I have a few ultrax that have never been a problem at all and they don't make them anymore which sucks. I am charging all the way and I will check it out thanks.
Your DY3 is all you need, and it will put your batteries in storage mode...
 
FYI - the DY3 does have a storage mode. Just press and hold one of the storage buttons and the display will show storage and discharge the battery to 50% for storage. I don't charge my batteries until just before I'm going out to fly, and I also don't run them hard or all the way down. I only run them down to around 30% at the most, then when I'm done, I charge them to above 50%, put the DY3 into storage mode, and take them back down to 50%.
<SNIP>
@gwhuntoon are you aware that the storage mode in the DY series of chargers works both ways... if above storage level, it will discharge to storage level. If below, it will charge to storage level.

Since the discharging cycle takes considerably longer, I'd fly as you are, but then skip the "pre-charging" step and simply put them in storage mode to charge up to storage levels.
 
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The only question now is when the dy3 is on and the battery is in storage mode how long can you leave it in storage mode with the unit on.
 
The only question now is when the dy3 is on and the battery is in storage mode how long can you leave it in storage mode with the unit on.
Probably forever seeing it wont be doing anything until the battery calls for a charge to bring it back to 50%, but I wouldn't leave them in there with the power on ? I know cordless drill batteries suffer from leaving them in a powered up charger over extended periods ???
 
Storage mode charging has an automatic cutoff, when storage voltages are reached, just as it cuts off after balancing if full charge mode. PLEASE READ: You do not simply leave them on the charger. The battery is removed and stored in their flame retardant bags, as it should be at the completion of any charging cycle.

How long can the batteries be kept at storage charge? Best practices here suggest that the battery chemistry will degrade at an increased rate, when not in use. When possible I would take out any storage batteries that are reaching the one month mark, charge to full, and go fly them out for 15 minutes.

And now for reading all the way through... a little shortcut thru the woods, for those that have trouble keeping track of all this.

If you take the stored batteries once a month, charge up, and go fly the H... if you land at a target voltage of 14.4 - 14.5V... when you bring those batteries back home and they have cooled, the bounceback voltage under no load, will be within 0.1V of the recommended storage voltage of 15.2V. Easy, peasy... just put them away.

For those who feel that 0.1V leeway is too liberal, I agree... but at that point you have no business using the DY series anyway. You should be using a 3rd party charger to measure the truly relevant measure of battery health... internal resistance. No drone manufacturer provides those... even ones that claim their batteries are "smart".
 

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