Are my batteries going bad?

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
I dusted off my WKM Y6 to take up to the mountains this weekend. I had something very weird happen for the first time ever. My throttle was 100% full and i still barely had enough juice to cushion a decent that would otherwise be no issue at all. I did change the firmware from 5.08 to 5.12 and this was my first flight on it. I could notice even on a fresh pack of lipos that it didnt have the same "get up and go" that it used to have. Nothing has changed physically on the heli and they are the same batteries I have always used. but these packs have light use. The gains on throttle were at 150% and the radio settings were the same they have always been. Any ideas? batteries are the only thing i can think of. But I fly my XY8 on the same packs and they are fine.
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
do you have a icharger or fma brand?

when batteries are stored there are two major factors, being stored charged, and heat. Idealy you want to store your packs with 3.7v and the colder the better but not freezing. alot of my friend use the produce crisper. the most damage comes from storing them charged just behind full and hot,but alot less to do with heat and alot more percentage of damage comes from charged over 3.7........ alot more. i've lost new packs in 2 months when the house hit 80 and they were charged. i've even seen em swell a couple times. Lipo is very unstable. in a car they have there own heating and cooling systems just to be able to do what they do and live........

if you put them on a balance charge do the cells all measure the same? is the pack a different shape? rounded corners. When you kill em from use, they die in one flight. Goes from no problem to half a pack in one foul swoop
 

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
Some good points there. I am very conservative with how long I fly them, normally dont go below 3.85v/cell. I never leave them charged for extended periods of time, meaning if am not going to fly them in a week, I hover it in the shop for 5 minutes to draw them down. they stay in my shop in their cases where the temp is never hot. You could store wine in my shop. The cycles on the batteries are so light that cant imagine its an age thing. I use the B6AC Sky chargers.

everything aside, all the symptoms would lead to a bad battery but I have 8 packs and they all did the same thing. I'm baffled.
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
that one doesn't measure IR, that's a sure way to tell. Are all the cells still balanced looking?

is voltage cuttoff enabled?
 

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
no voltage cutoff is and always has been off. it doesnt shut off it just seems to have limited power. And I know the heli and how it normally handles. there is 1 cell that is 4.19 here and there. I have ignored it for the most part. I just see it as a sign to balance charge them instead of just normal charge. but what do I know?
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
that doesn't sound like a battery.... a burned cell like to show a hundredth or two right off the bat different, but sags sitting still kinda fast. you'll look at it in 3 hours and it 4.16 and falling as it goes.

was it hot when you flew?
 
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DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
Ah! I didnt think of that! it was hot and about 6000'. that could very well be it right there. Good thinking. Cells were not hot at all.
 

G

graham_newton

Member
I was going with altitude too... I normally fly at sea level and travelled up a very thousand feet for a job. Made a fast decent and had exactly the same expeirence.
 

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