Bad battery?

Joined
Oct 14, 2015
Messages
17
Reaction score
4
Age
67
I have a battery that goes from 98% to < 10% in under 4 minutes. It also recharges to 100% in a very short time. Has anyone else had this experience? Any remedies?
 
Bad cell? Under a year old? Contact 3DR, battery warranty is one year.....they'll need a flight log with that battery's usage.
 
I've had great luck with 3DR on battery replacement. Do a flight, fly it close and low in manual and land it before it gets to 15%, send in the logs through the app including your time and usage and they should get back to you. They will, as always reply asking you lots of question but in the end will send you a replacement. I have had this happen on 4 batteries and they replaced all of them.
 
i do have practically the same issue, however charging time remains as if the battery was healthy. i raised a ticket with no answer at all, i have flown several times watching the battery level (voltage) to never go down below 13.8V by doing this i can achieve up to 13-14min of flight, is not the best practice but at least I can still use the bird.... i would suggest to do a couple of flights watching voltage level
 
Dash, it appears you fly with more than 4 batteries. Do you have an opinion on battery break-in and battery storage voltage levels (@50%)?

I remember reading about not discharging the li-po batteries beyond 50% for the first 10 or so flights, basically a break-in or conditioning period. My #1 battery was conditioned in this manner and is still the best performer. Whereas #2 & 3 were not and have just recently failed. All are over a year old.

#4 appears to be fine as well, but is only 3 months old.

I will add that I'm also guilty for not storing the batteries at 50% charge, my tendency is to have charged for the next opportunity. Which could be a day or two weeks for whatever reason. And typically requires a top-off prior to using. I'm too lazy to build a smart charger or run the batteries to a proper storage level.

Over a year old but I don't fly nearly as often as most.
I have a buddy in the same boat with an inspire, he replaced his four batteries with new. I bet he has maybe 2 hours on each battery....
 
RW,
I do agree with the stated recommendations you listed. I have 24 batteries and I'm very anal with storage, usage and rotation.
I've used lithium batteries for over a decade in large scale RC planes with voltage as high 6s X 2 50+volts, the rules are the same whether it's a 2s (7.2v) or in SOLO's case 4s 5200 and above. The list you posted is a great go by this.

All the replacement batteries had similar issues with normal charge time and less than 20 cycles.

With that said, I have all my batteries (18 operational) and (6 new and unused) including the controller batteries charged to 50% in my refrigerator in MIAMI at 44 degrees while I'm away not flying for two months. Time will tell all this pays off.

thank you, RW for your past posts and thoughts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RichWest
With that said, I have all my batteries (18 operational) and (6 new and unused) including the controller batteries charged to 50% in my refrigerator in MIAMI at 44 degrees while I'm away not flying for two months. Time will tell all this pays off.

thank you, RW for your past posts and thoughts.

Wow, thanks for the details and reinforcing a working idea for battery life. I hope you continue to keep all the users in mind with your Solo battery experiences. Just so many new to the experience and without any reference they learn the hard way.

Me, I'm just keeping it real, but never an expert on any subject and always willing to learn or be corrected. I also appreciate your posts and thoughts.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
13,093
Messages
147,741
Members
16,047
Latest member
pvt solo