This our comprehensive guide for how to correctly use and care for your drone batteries, so they last longer and continue to perform at optimal levels â plus 15 expert âbet you didnât knowâ pro tips about drone batteries and what to look for when buying.
First Off â Do All Drones Use Lithium Batteries?
In the main, yes. Almost every consumer drone available uses lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries. These offer the perfect characteristics for a drone battery â theyâre lightweight â they have a high discharge rate â they densely pack in lots of energy into a small battery pack â and they have an impressive shelf life, providing you know how to properly use and care for them.
Now to be clear, youâll find that most consumer drones come with a battery and will be ready to fly straight from the box.
However, when it comes to building a custom drone â most commonly for FPV freestyle or racing â you will need to purchase the drone battery separately â which most pilots are pleased about as they regularly consider weight and performance output in their decision.
Why You Might Need a New Drone Battery
Ok, so before we dive into things, you may be wondering why you would even need a new drone battery in the first place. Unless youâre doing a custom build, you technically wouldnât need to buy a new drone battery â remembering that most consumer drones provide one for you.
Well, there are a few reasons why you might want to get a new drone battery. The most obvious is that your old battery has run its course. Even though drone batteries are advanced, they still have a life expectancy and will eventually degrade to the point where they need replaced.
Of course, with the right care and maintenance (which weâre covering extensively in this guide) your drone battery will last much longer, so you wouldnât need to worry about buying one for some time.
So, if your drone battery is still running at full capacity why would you need to buy a new one?
Because having extra drone batteries lets you fly for even longer! For instance, most consumer drones have a flight time of around 15 minutes, with higher end DJI drones boasting close to 30 minutes of battery life.
This means that youâre probably going to have a very short drone flight if you only have one battery! Any drone enthusiast knows how much of a difference it makes to have additional batteries for your drone, with it usually being the first upgrade many drone owners make.
Each battery that you buy lets you fly your drone much longer, making the entire experience far more enjoyable because you donât need to worry about your flight being cut short! Simply charge a few batteries and take them out with your drone, replacing them as needed when the juice runs low.
Furthermore, many pilots want to upgrade their drone batteries so they can fly faster and longer, with better batteries being an easy way to enhance a droneâs specs. While consumer drones do come with a battery, sometimes they arenât the largest so donât provide enough flight time, leading many to upgrade their drone battery.
Why Drone Battery Maintenance is Important
LiPo drone batteries offer many advantages and very few disadvantages. They are perfect for drones in almost every way, with the biggest drawback being that they require a fair amount of maintenance to keep in optimal condition and ensure they last for as long as possible.
Because a LiPo battery averages between 15-250 cycles, their lifespan is somewhat shorter than traditional RC batteries that were mostly made from nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), which offer around 1,000 cycles on average.
Moreover, the number of cycles can be significantly shortened without proper battery maintenance.
Itâs a lot more work than many new drone pilots anticipate but itâs certainly worth doing, as you ensure the battery continues to work at peak levels with every cycle and avoid a few problems that can arise.
For example, one of the biggest issues with LiPo batteries is they can often catch fire and explode.
This is down to the same senstive chemistry that makes the battery so efficient, making it a worthwhile trade-off, especially because you can avoid the battery catching fire with proper care and storage – which weâve explained how to do below!
Also, you need to properly charge and discharge the battery throughout its cycles, otherwise you risk damaging the battery and causing it to wear out much faster than it should. This also increases the chance of it catching fire, giving us all the encouragement that we need to properly charge and discharge the battery!
Buying a Drone Battery – Making Sense All the Numbers
Itâs easy to get intimidated when buying a new drone battery. One of the first things that you will see is all kinds of numbers and letters that indicate various specs of the battery, so trying to figure out what all of it means can leave you scratching your head.
However, it does help to understand all these numbers as they work as the rating systems for lithium-polymer batteries. Once you know what each one means, youâll find it much easier to choose a battery with the appropriate ratings for your drone, as youâll know exactly what the battery is capable of.
Drone battery ratings fall into three distinct categories – voltage, capacity, and C rating. Now, Iâm going to explain what each one stands for and things might get a little technical but itâs not as complex as it might initially seem!
Voltage
Also referred to as the cell count, each drone battery consists of several cells that make up the overall voltage of the drone.
Each LiPo drone battery cell has a nominal voltage of 3.7V, which is the resting voltage, with cell reaching 4.2V when fully charged and having a minimum safe charge of 3V. The 3.7V is basically the middle point between fully charged and lowest safest charge.
Also, a LiPo doesnât need to consist of a single cell! Most drone batteries require more voltage than a single cell offers, so they combine several cells that each have the same nominal voltage.
For example, a 7.4V battery consists of two 3.7V cells, with each cell combining to give the overall voltage. In this case, the battery is known as a 2 cell in series (2S), as there are two cells in the battery.
This has led many to refer to batteries by their cell count, such as 2S battery, 3S battery, 4S battery. The âSâ simply stands for the number of cells in each battery, with each cell always measuring 3.7V, so just multiply 3.7 by the number of cells to get the voltage.
For example:
- 1S â one-cell battery = 3.7 volt
- 2S â two-cell battery = 7.4 volt
- 3S â three-cell battery = 11.1 volt
- 4S â four-cell battery = 14.8 volt
- 5S â five-cell battery = 18.5 volt
- 6S â six-cell battery = 22.2 volt
So, why does the battery voltage even matter?
Well, it determines the droneâs speed, making it quite important!
The voltage influences how many RPS the drone motor makes – the higher voltage the more rotations the motor makes and the faster the drone flies!
A simple rule to follow when looking at drone battery voltage is that the higher the voltage the more speed your drone will have.
Capacity
The second drone rating to look for is the capacity, which is essentially how much power the battery holds when fully charged.
A drone battery capacity is measured in milliamp hours (mAh), meaning the amount of power that can be drained from the battery per hour. The amount of power that a drone motor drains from the battery is typically measured in amps, so it helps to know this simple conversion:
1000 milliamp hours (mAh) = 1 amp hour (ah)
Basically, the higher the battery capacity the longer it flies before needing recharged. Donât assume that bigger always means better though! Higher capacities do come with some setbacks, namely being larger and heavier.
You will find that the most common capacity for a drone battery is 2,200 mAh. This offers a nice balance of enough power for good flight times without adding too much weight or bulk to the UAV.
Itâs not always necessary to measure the drone capacity in milliamp hours, as most will give you an estimated flight time, which basically tells us the same thing. With consumer drones, expect runtimes between 12-30 minutes depending on the make and model.
For example, the Mavic 2 Proâs battery has a capacity of 3850mAh! This provides around 30 minutes of flight time in optimal weather conditions.
C Rating
The voltage and capacity of a drone battery are quite simple to understand. Voltage determines the speed while capacity determines the flight duration – each one has a notable effect on the drone.
Now weâre going to discuss something a little more complex – the discharge rating. Fear not though, itâs not as complex as most people (myself included!) make it out to be.
The discharge rating is typically shown as the âC ratingâ on the battery, referring to the capacity rating of the drone. It is basically the measurement of how fast you can safely and continuously discharge the battery.
All the confusion that stems from the C rating is the fact that you need to use the rating with the battery capacity to determine how much you can safely discharge (i.e. the amp draw).
This involves using a minor equation that is much easier than it initially appears.
How to Work Out Safe Amp Draw of the C Rating
To work out the safe amp draw, you simply multiply the C rating by the battery capacity.
Remember how I said it helps to know the milliamp to amp hour conversion?
Well, this is because we measure the discharge using amp hours, so we need to convert the battery capacity rating from milliamp hours to amp hours to work out the safe amp draw.
For example, say the battery has a capacity of 2,200mAh and a 20 C rating. The amp draw would be the following equation: 2,200mAh x 20 = 44,000mAh
But we are converting to amp hours, so the equation is now: 2.2Ah x 20 = 44Ah.
44A is therefore the safe amp draw, meaning the safest amount of power we can continuously draw from the battery.
Go any higher and the battery is going to get seriously damaged – weâre talking bursting into flames level of damage! Even going slightly over this can cause the battery to degrade very quickly, so itâs never worth it!
When looking at the C rating you need to think about the size of the motor too. Bigger motors draw more amperage per hour, so they need a battery with a higher C rating to accommodate this.
Much like battery capacity, choosing a higher C rating does result in a larger and heavier battery, so going too high may be counterintuitive, depending on what youâre using the drone for. For instance, racing drone batteries shouldnât be too heavy!
Donât Always Believe What You See
C ratings are the subject of much debate in the drone community. This is because most batteries come from China where not all C ratings are as accurate as they claim to be.
The industry isnât regulated here so there is nothing stopping a manufacturer printing a C rating that doesnât match the actual battery performance.
There are countless stories of drone enthusiasts buying batteries with high C ratings that simply do no perform as expected. Some donât offer the current draw they claim – itâs possible to find 45C batteries that canât match the performance of another manufacturerâs 25C rating!
So, always be mindful of where you buy your batteries from when considering the C rating. The best option is to look for online reviews of reputable battery makers and to see what other buyers are saying about their C rating.
Drone Battery Care 101 – How to Properly Use, Charge, and Store Your Batteries
Now its time to look at how you properly care for your batteries. This applies to any drone battery, whether itâs the one that came with the drone you bought or a separate battery for a drone you are building.
Itâs important to properly use the battery and know how to best care for it. Doing so guarantees a longer lasting battery that performs well for every flight
Caring for a New Drone Battery Straight Out the Box
When you get brand-new battery, it will only be charged to around 40% capacity. This is because itâs the optimal storage conditions for the battery cells, ensuring they remain in top condition even if being stored for long periods.
Have you ever wondered why any time you buy a new phone it always needs charged? Itâs because the battery lasts longer when stored at a lower capacity! So, always expect the battery to be discharged before you use it.
You can either fast charge from the get-go (more on charging soon!) or go for a slow charge to break the battery in. Some prefer to keep it slow the first few charges to ease the battery into operations to help it last longer, although others say itâs not necessary.
Either fast charge or slow charge depending on your preference, as there is no proof that performance improves by breaking the battery in.
How to Properly (and Safely) Charge Drone Batteries
I cannot stress the importance of properly charging a drone battery. If you do it wrong, not only does the battery degrade over time, it could end up catching fire!
Only Use Chargers Designed for LiPo Batteries
This one sounds like a no-brainer but always make sure that the charging method is suitable for LiPo batteries. Most drones will provide the charger for you but you can buy these separately too, which is handy if you want to get a faster charger or replace a broken one.
Balancing
The reason that you need a LiPo battery charger is because they need to provide a balancing function. This ensures that voltages are equally charged in each cell and not off balance (i.e. overcharged or over-discharged).
LiPo batteries need to discharge voltages at the exact same rate in each cell, otherwise the battery performance drops and there is a possible safely risk – more on that on the discharging section below.
For now, just remember that if youâre buying a new LiPo charger, always make sure it has a built-in balancing feature. You can buy a separate balancer and combine it with a charger, although itâs usually cheaper and easier to just buy a LiPo charger with balancing function.
Charge Stations
Certain types of drone batteries, such as those made by DJI, can be used with charging stations. Itâs a great investment if your battery is compatible, as you can charge several batteries at once, with most charging stations having a fast charge feature.
Many have safety features that avoid overcharging, while itâs possible to find charge stations that are compatible with most types of LiPo batteries. It will be more expensive than a standard charger but tends to be much more efficient and convenient.
Donât Overcharge the Batteries to Avoid Damaging Them
I often hear people ask, âcan I overcharge a drone battery?â to which I always respond a resounding yes! In fact, overcharging is one of the quickest ways to damage your batteries – and its easier to do than you might think!
For example, weâve covered that drone batteries have a nominal voltage of 3.7V. This means that they can be discharged to a minimum of 3V and charged to a maximum of 4.2V, with the 3.7V being in the middle of these.
Therefore, you cannot charge the battery to anything higher than 4.2V per cell. Doing so causes extensive damage and will essentially ruin the battery in no time – it can even catch fire if left to overcharge for too long!
Always make sure the battery charger is set to LiPo, as this ensures it automatically stops charging after reaching the maximum voltage of 4.2V.
Charging at the Correct Rate
It was once thought that drone batteries should only ever be recharged at a slow rate of 1C (i.e. 1 x battery capacity amps), as charging too quickly would cause faster degradation.
However, there isnât much evidence supporting this theory – Iâve recharged batteries at faster rates and didnât see it cause any problems with the lifespan.
For example, if we look at the popular drone battery capacity of 2,200mAh, charging at 1C would mean we only charge 2.2Ah. this would take over an hour to charge, which can be quite the wait when youâre desperate to head outside and fly your drone!
Charging at a 1C rate isnât necessary though. Personally, I feel charging at 3C is a nice range because you get to reduce charge times to around 30 minutes.
Of course, if a battery label recommends charging at 1C then stick with this charge rate! If you are unsure whether you are recharging it too fast, just hold the battery and see how it feels, reducing the charge rate if it feels slightly warms and stopping the charge if itâs noticeably hot.
You will find some battery manufacturers are saying its fine to charge at rates as high as 5C or 8C but these rates are bit fast for my liking – they often cause overheating which is a quick way to ruin a battery when done too often.
Donât Leave it Unattended
Charging a drone battery isnât like charging your phone – you CANNOT leave it unattended!
Remember all the talk about how they can be quite the fire hazard? Charging is the time that this is most likely to happen, so even if you are sure that the batteries are in perfect working condition, donât leave them charging unattended.
The simple truth is you canât predict how the battery reacts to charging. Even the most advanced LiPo batteries are susceptible to catching fire, so always proceed with caution when it comes time for charging.
Make Fire-Containment Precautions
Even the best maintained batteries can explode and catch fire. This usually happens during the charging process, which is why itâs always recommended that you have something to help contain the fire should the worst happen.
A common method youâll find online is to place the batteries inside a cinder block when charging. The large concrete blocks will contain a fire before it has the chance to spread, making a cheap and effective method.
Another option is to always have water or sand nearby to quickly extinguish the fire. Yes, itâs safe to use water to put extinguish a burning drone battery! Better still, if you have a fire blanket or fire extinguisher at home, have it on standby!
Charge Outside
Following on from the previous point, sometimes itâs better to just charge the batteries outside to eliminate any fire hazard should the battery catch fire.
It never hurts to be too safe, and even if youâre watching over the battery as it charges, a fire is still dangerous and could cause significant damage to you and your home. Also, if the battery explodes it will emit all kinds of nasty chemical gases, so its best to be extra precautious when charging.
Of course, use common sense – if itâs raining then donât bother charging them outside!
Consider Buying a Charge LiPo Charger Bag
One to avoid your drone battery becoming a huge fire hazard is to invest in a LiPo safe bag. These are fireproof and explosionproof bags that you place the battery inside when theyâre being charged to ensure a fire is contained should the worst happen.
Available in various sizes to suit every type of drone battery, LiPo charging bags are very affordable and a great investment to minimize drone battery fire hazards.
Temperature
Itâs important to charge a drone battery at a suitable temperature. If you charge the battery when its too cold then it can increase the chance of it exploding!
For instance, itâs recommended to store batteries at cool temperature (more on that in the battery storage section!) but you should also heat them up before charging them.
To be safe, always let the battery reach room temperature before charging.
The Importance of Properly Discharging Drone Batteries
While you always need to properly charge your drone battery, properly discharging the battery is just as important for its performance and longevity.
If you always let a drone battery run dry before recharging, it has a serious impact on the batteryâs performance, causing corrosion to develop on the battery poles that leads to all kinds of damage.
Keep this up and the corrosion continues to build up to the point where the battery is forced to work much harder to function. When the battery is overworking itself, more damage develops to the point where the number of cycles produced is significantly lower.
LiPo batteries do not like to be completely discharged and wont last as long if you always use 100% of the battery when flying.
Never Completely Discharge the Battery
There is a simple solution to this problem – never completely discharge the battery.
Now, some drones come with batteries that automatically stop the battery once a certain amount has been discharged. Check the manufacturer guidelines to see if this is the case for your drone.
If not, you simply need to monitor the battery when flying the drone, never letting it fall below 20% or the minimum safe charge voltage, which is 3.0V per cell.
Thankfully, this is quite easy to monitor, with most drone apps letting you view the battery voltage in real time. Some even send alerts that you should land as the battery is reaching its recommended discharge.
In most cases, if you leave just above 20% of the battery every time you use the drone, you should get the maximum amount of cycles from the battery. Avoid letting the battery die and you should be good!
Trust me, trading a few extra minutes of flight time is never worth speeding up the degradation of your battery!
Donât Discharge the Battery Too Quickly
There is nothing quite as fun as flying a drone at full throttle. While doing this every now and then is harmless, be very careful not to constantly be flying the drone at top speeds, otherwise you may discharge the battery too quickly.
Doing this may cause thermal runaway, which is when the internal components heat up too fast and produce a chemical reaction that causes the battery to overheat even further, lowering the runtime by quite a bit.
Continue to do this often enough and the battery will eventually produce fewer cycles or even explode due to overheating.
How to Make a Drone Battery Last Longer
One question I hear a lot is âhow can I make my drone battery last longer?â As drone pilots we obviously want to maximise our flight time and there are quite a few tricks you can use to make the drone battery last longer each flight
Charge the Battery Just Before You Use It
LiPo batteries start to discharge not long after being charged. While the discharge rate is slow, even leaving it for a few day before your flight can reduce the battery life for your flight. So, itâs a good idea to charge the battery as close to the flight time as possible, preferably the same day.
Timing is key – charge the batteries a few hours before flying and youâll maximise the battery life!
Make Sure the Battery is the Right Temperature Before Using It
Although drone batteries like to be stored in cooler conditions, they do have optimal working temperatures that are typically around 20-25C.
Batteries can handle extreme temperatures but using them when they are tool cold is only going to cause them to discharge quicker and reducing your flight time.
This means youâll want to heat the battery up before taking flight – hovering for 30 seconds should give it time to warm up properly.
Be mindful of extreme weather conditions that may make it harder to warm the drone battery – check our guide on winter weather for more info!
Remove Additional Weight
The heavier the drone the more power it takes to fly, causing the battery to drain quicker, so you can extend the battery life by making your UAV a little lighter.
What you can remove depends entirely on the drone design and what you want to do. For example, prop guards are great for avoiding damage but they also add some weight. If you want to save battery time, try removing prop guards!
You can take things even further, such as removing the camera, which significantly reduces the weight and puts less strain on the battery – expect even more flight time if you do this!
Get a Better Battery
This may be stating the obvious but if you want to fly your drone for longer then buying a new battery is a great idea. Yes, it will cost you more to upgrade the battery but itâs certainly worth it if you want to fly for longer more often.
Itâs also pretty easy to upgrade a battery. Just make sure that the mAh rating is higher than your current battery but doesnât exceed the droneâs maximum mAh rating.
Also, be mindful that more battery life means a bigger and heavier battery, so this might cancel out the extended battery life, so keep an eye out on the battery weight when upgrading.
Buy Several Batteries
One way to make your battery last longer is by having several! Each fully charged battery effectively doubles the flight time of your drone, so the more batteries you have the more time you get to spend flying!
Know How the Weather Impacts the Battery
You always need to fly in optimal conditions to get the full charge from a drone battery. This means calm and dry weather, which is obviously not always possible, so be careful of what conditions you fly in.
For instance, if you fly during windy weather then the battery life is going to be much shorter. Wind makes controlling the drone much more difficult, causing the battery to drain much faster than on a day.
Similarly, snow and rain also reduce the battery life by it adding weight to the drone – it also increases the chances of the drone short-circuiting, giving all the incentive you need to avoid flying in the rain or snow!
In terms of wind, anything more than a light breeze is going to reduce the battery life quicker than normal.
Fly Cautiously
Unless youâre building an FPV racing drone, you probably wonât be too fussed about flying hard and fast. Taking a cautious approach to your flying is a simple yet effective way of extending the battery life when you fly.
Go slow and steady, making gentle turns and not going too crazy on the throttle. Avoiding flips and tricks is also a good approach, as these will take more from the battery than flying calmly.
Better still, switch to one of the more cautious flight modes! This reduces transmitter sensitivity, making it easier to maintain lower speeds and ensure the battery lasts longer.
How to Properly Store Drone Batteries When Not in Use
Itâs easy to overlook the importance of how you store a drone battery but taking the time to properly store batteries is always recommended. It ensures that they remain in top condition while avoiding a few possible issues that can arise from storing drone batteries incorrectly.
Plus, itâs relatively low maintenance and will ensure your battery lasts much longer, so properly storing the batteries is well worth the effort!
Always Store a Drone Battery at the Right Temperature
You shouldnât store your drone battery in excessively high temperatures – anything higher than 100°F/37°C is too warm! This will increase the risk of a battery overheating and all the issues this causes, such as causing it to degrade, puff, or even explode.
Similarly, you donât want to store batteries in excessively low temperatures either. Anything below 14°F/-10°C is too cold and should be avoided, although try to store at warmer temperature if possible.
When storing batteries over the short term, the battery storage temperature should ideally be around room temperature – 60-72°F/20-22°C.
If storing for longer than ten days, such as weeks or months, try storing closer to 73-82°F/22-28°C.
Properly Discharge the Batteries for Storage
We covered how important it is to properly discharge drone batteries when flying and the same logic applies to battery storage too. One common mistake is storing the battery at 100%. Donât do this as it will only increase the rate of degradation – your battery wonât last as long if you always store it fully charged.
For example, DJI recommends that you discharge the battery to between 40-65% capacity if storing for ten days or longer. Doing so puts less stress on the battery when in storage, avoiding the chances of it puffing.
Also, be aware of completely discharging the battery too. Anything lower than 10% can cause over-discharging, accelerating corrosion inside the battery, lowering its performance and reducing the number of cycles.
Just remember to charge the battery once you take it out of storage!
Avoid Storing Near Heat Sources and Moisture
Never store a drone battery nearby to heat sources, such as a radiator, stove, and direct sunlight. Also, make sure that its stored in a dry place, as exposure to moisture will significantly damage the battery, especially if left for long periods.
Consider Storing in a LiPo Battery Charging Bag
Those handy LiPo battery charging bags arenât just great for protecting the battery when its charging – they are perfect for storage too! You get the same benefit of protecting your home should the battery explode in storage while keeping it cool and dry.
Travelling with Your Drone Battery
Donât forget to properly prepare your drones for travel, as they can end up getting damaged in transit if you arenât careful. Drone batteries arenât cheap so the last thing you want is for them to be accidentally damaging when travelling.
There are also a few laws that you need to be aware of if you plan on travelling with drone batteries on an airplane, so be sure to read below if this applies to you!
Safely Transporting the Battery
Itâs easy enough to safely transport your drone batteries in transit. For the most part its just a case of storing them in a protective environment, preferably a drone carry bag that is specifically designed to keep a drone safe when travelling.
A standard bag can work though – just ensure that the batteries are secured and have some padding to protect it from scrapes and punctures. Basically, keep it stored away from anything else that can potentially damage it during transit and you should be fine.
Laws on Travelling with Drone Batteries
The FAA has set various laws regarding travelling on a plane with LiPo batteries. The main reason for this is the risk of the battery short circuiting or even exploding, which are some obvious safety issues on an plane.
Therefore, there are certain restrictions when travelling with drone batteries on a plane!
Firstly, lithium-polymer batteries are allowed on your carry-on and checked-in luggage. They must either be inside the device (i.e. the drone) or stored inside something that prevents damage and short-circuiting.
Protecting them from short-circuiting is basically storing them inside something that prevents them from contacting with other objects (such as coins or keys) that can create a circuit for the electricity to flow through.
Battery cases, pouches, and the original packaging all qualify for this – you just need to make sure they are inside something that prevents them from touching other metals or items that can damage them.
Batteries must be used for personal or professional use – you canât bring batteries on either luggage if you plan on selling them.
Finally, each battery size must be 100-watt hours (Wh) or less. Most consumer batteries are well below this, with the DJI Inspire 1 being one of the few drones with batteries that are above the limit at 129.96Wh.
You can request approval for larger batteries between 101-160Wh, although the decision lies with each airport so there is no guarantee youâll receive approval. Should you get approved to take larger batteries, the same rules apply as with smaller batteries, except for being limited to two spare batteries per person.
Drone Battery Disposal
Even if youâve followed all the advice and suggestions in this guide to a tee, your drone batteries are eventually going to need replaced. With proper care and use, expect your LiPo batteries to offer as much as 200 cycles – possibly more depending on the size of the battery.
When Should I Stop Using a Drone Battery?
If your drone battery is treated well and ages naturally, there are a few signs yu can look for that its time to stop using it.
The most obvious sign is that itâs providing far less charge than previously. The battery capacity will lower over time, most notable at the last few cycles. Once the battery holds around 80% of its original capacity itâs probably time to stop using it.
Another sign that your drone battery is on its last leg is puffing. This is quite noticeable, as the battery begins to engage and takes on a puffy appearance, hence the name puffing.
While this does occur naturally towards the end of a batteryâs life, it can also occur for other reasons, such as poor battery maintenance (e.g. overcharging and charging too fast), the batteries being cheap and low quality, or from being damaged.
So, whenever you see puffing developing on the battery itâs a clear sign that it should stop being used and be properly disposed.
How to Safely Dispose of a Drone Battery
LiPo batteries are environmentally friendly so can be recycled, although you should check locally to see whether there is a suitable location for hazardous household waste. Providing the batteries arenât damaged you can hand them in for eco-friendly disposal.
However, before you do this always ensure that they battery is fully discharged. Do this outside as the battery will be on its last legs so will be more susceptible to catching fire.
Finally – do not throw your drone batteries away with normal trash!
Conclusion
And there we have it – a complete guide to drone batteries. I always recommend to a new drone owner to invest in a few spare batteries. It extends the flight time and means you donât need to worry about stopping for the day because your one battery died!
With this guide you should now know what drone battery ratings mean, making the buying process much easier. Proper care is essential for a long-lasting battery, which is why you need to focus on properly charging, discharging, and storing your drone batteries!
If you follow all these tips, you can expect to get the maximum number of cycles from your battery and avoid any accidents from happening!