Mavic 2 Intelligent Flight Battery Bloating

There are many cases reported when Mavic 2 Intelligent Flight battery bloated up to no longer be securely fixed in a drone.

I’ve been praising Mavic 2 Zoom drone virtually all the time, and I have a real basis for doing so, you can read here.

I can’t even remember any reason to critique this great aircraft. However, nothing is perfect, and Mavic 2 Zoom and Pro drones, not exclusion, occasionally have one significant issue.

Unfortunately, one of my batteries is amongst those that can’t anymore be used for safe flying with DJI Mavic 2 Zoom drone.

By Googling the keywords “DJI Mavic 2 intelligent battery bloated, swollen or puffy,” as a result, we find relatively many articles or forum threads related to this problem.

I encountered the problem myself about nine months after I have begun using this battery.

From the beginning, I didn’t pay much attention to a small swollen at the bottom of the battery as it still could be firmly fixed into the drone. After a while, I was starting to worry a little, especially after a long flight the battery had heated up as it could not be secured to the quadcopter at all.

I tried to find a solution, but eventually, I concluded that it was a DJI issue. As far as I could see from what had been read, some of the DJI Mavic 2 Intelligent Flight Batteries produced in mid-2018 could be such a problem.

What to do?

Whether it is safe to fly such a battery without fear of being disconnected into the air and the result is unambiguous – $1.3K has been lost?

Definitely not to fly as no DJI care refresh and any other guaranty will help. It is your fault. For the sake of the truth, I have to say that I have been experimenting a little and flying such a battery from the beginning.

I tried to use the rubber bands to keep the battery safe, but later I realized it didn’t really give much more security.

There is one way to temporarily eliminate the bloat, to keep about an hour in the freezer. Low temperatures reduce gas expansion and also reduce internal cell volume. In lithium-ion batteries, gases expand as the temperature rises, but in some cases, malformations in the battery structure cause the housing deformation.

After freezing, the bloat will be gone, and the battery locks safely in the drone, but the temperature rises as we fly, and after fifteen minutes or so, the battery puffs up again. It is not safe anyway.

My conclusion is that this battery should not be used

My conclusion is that this battery should not be used. This will sooner or later lead to a break of the fuel supply during the flight. As I have already said, the results will not only be a loss of money, but it can be a real danger even to life or other damage on the ground when the drone falls.

However, The DJI, after the latest updates, has made sure that a drone does not flight with a badly attached battery. In this case, the warning appears on the console, and the drone cannot even be taken off. So, I warn again- do not experiment with “freezer way” flattened battery. It will bulge again during the flight.

Is there any way to blame manufacturer DJI on this issue and the loss of money? DJI gives the battery 6 months of warranty, but battery bloat usually occurs more than half a year later. In reality, no way, and you have to accept the loss and buy a new one.

I have read that there is a great consumer protection policy in Australia, and many are lucky to solve this problem positively. I’m glad for them, but it’s not elsewhere. Also, to my questions about this problem to the DJI customer support, I haven’t received any answers.

Recently, I was lucky to buy a new DJI Mavic 2 Intelligent flight battery for an excellent discount of €104 it about $124, and also the production date is end-2020. I hope that this will be OK.

 

Has this bloated battery become completely unusable? It’s not really. This DJI Mavic 2 Intelligent Flight Battery can be used as a powerful power bank. All you need to do is buy Mavic 2 Battery Charger Converter for $12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite this limited flaw, DJI Mavic 2 Zoom and Pro drones are still unbeatable leaders in their range, with whom it is fun to fly, film, and photograph to delight themselves and others.

Safe flights!

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15 Comments

  1. William

    My friend got a drone two years ago as a Christmas present. Well, it was a present he got for himself. It wasn’t a high-end model; but, it did have a Go-Pro type camera and he got some awesome overhead pictures of his property. One day, he said the drone just fell out of the sky. He wasn’t sure why and never found out. I’m wondering if he might have experienced battery bloat as well. Also, do they offer “crash insurance” for drone operators in case their drone malfunctions/breaks and damages property or hurts people?

    Reply
    1. Andrejs (Post author)

      Thanks, William, for the comment.

      To be honest, I haven’t even heard of any kind of serious case of a drone falling on people. There are relatively similar rules in different countries where you can fly and what security measures need to be followed. The drone has to be insured, don’t fly over big crowds of people, and so on. In general, in the case of the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom drone crash, the flight data is recorded in an aircraft black box, and there is room for compensation from the manufacturer if you follow the rules.

      Reply
  2. Joyce Easton

    Thanks for the informative post on the DJI Mavic 2 Intelligent Flight Battery! I must admit this is my first time learning so deeply about this particular Flight Battery. But I got confused somewhere while reading the post!! It was mentioned somewhere that a new DJI Mavic 2 Intelligent Flight Battery was recently sold for $124. You advised getting a charger converter for the Mavic 2 Battery at $12 only in the paragraph below. Does it mean the Mavic 2 Intelligent Flight Battery isn’t packed with the battery charger? I’m so curious to find out. Thanks again!

    Joyce

    Reply
    1. Andrejs (Post author)

      Thanks for the comment! Typically, DJI Intelligent flight battery for Mavic 2 drones is sold without a charger or USB charger. They have to be purchased separately. I’ve seen some of the combo offers, though, where these accessories are included.

      Reply
  3. 1shaula

    Hi. I don’t actually own a drone but I have friends that are into that and I will pass on your recommendation. It’s really reassuring to get a warning like that. It does sound like it can be very dangerous. Is there really nothing you can do by contacting the manufacturer? Sounds like they should take responsibility here.

    Reply
  4. LineCowley

    Oh wow, I did not know that there could be an issue with the Mavic 2 Intelligent Battery, so find this post very helpful. It is a great tip that you can put the battery in the deepfreeze to get rid of the bloating, but unfortunately it does not solve the problem. 

    Would there be a guarantee on a new battery that you can get compensation if your battery starts bloating?

    Reply
    1. Andrejs (Post author)

      As far as I am aware, DJI gives a guaranty of only half a year and a certain number of charges for drones’ batteries. Some countries, like Australia, though, have a friendlier customer-protection policy and DJI has been forced to extend the warranty time.

      Reply
  5. Sharon

    This is good information about the swollen battery. You explain several ways to make the battery work. But I would agree that is better not to use this battery. Losing a drone or injury someone would be a disaster. Let us know how the new version that just came out holds up.

    Reply
  6. Paolo

    Lithium-ion batteries bloating is a dangerous thing. I didn’t know that the Mavic 2 Zoom drone had this issue. And if we hadn’t paid attention to it, it’s time to do so. This issue is a freaking time-bomb waiting to explode. You could search on Youtube for videos showing what happens when a lithium-ion battery pack goes off. I could summarize it this way: imagine setting off a military-grade flare inside your living room. Yes, the kind that burns a few thousand degrees for 2-3 minutes.

    Reply
    1. Andrejs (Post author)

      Thanks for a comment and a warning. I had already read somewhere that LiOn Batareas should not be dismantled or otherwise and that they could be dangerous and fire. I guess you’re right that you can’t keep damaged batteries at home, but where can you dispose Lithium-Ion?

      Reply
  7. Nedia

    Thanks for the article and the warning you give regarding the Mavic 2 intelligent flight battery. As an aircraft mechanic I can totally agree with the article because in the aviation field what most important is safety, then the rest follows. Taking chances with a malfunctioning battery is also a very bad idea, and it will definitely lead to real danger even to life or other damage on the ground when the drone falls as you outlined. 

    Reply
  8. Geoff

    This is a very important post for anyone who owns a Mavic 2.

    I wonder have they fixed the issue now, so that anyone buying one now will not encounter any issues.

    As much as we don’t want to have to fork out for a new battery, to loose the system mid air would cost a lot more than a replacement battery.

    If anyone detects any fault whatsoever, they would be sensible to replace it immediately and take no chances.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    1. Andrejs (Post author)

      I recently found that prices for Mavic 2 Pro, Zoom intelligent flight batteries, have risen by about 20-30%. Why, I don’t know, probably because of the high demand? Since my batterie, which is slightly bloated, is relatively new, I found a reasonably acceptable solution. I bought a battery guard protective buckle for less than $10. It will keep the batterie secured and not let the bloated during the flight.

      Reply
  9. StarGPS

    I had a device a Mavic 2.

    Thanks for this helpful article

    Reply
    1. Andrejs (Post author)

      You are welcome!

      Reply

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