The DJI Phantom is a great drone whether you’re using it for personal or commercial uses, but if you’re thinking about purchasing a used one, take note of the following information. Before I get to the rest of the article, let me just put it out there. If you’re purchasing a used battery for your Phantom, if you don’t do your research you may be getting a bum-deal. Here’s why.
All batteries eventually die out
As with all batteries, your drone batteries are going to eventually die out on you. Not only that, but the way in which the current owner handled the usage of the battery is another factor. For instance if he/she didn’t completely drain the battery at least at one point in time or another, the internal programming of the battery may not be as optimal as it could or should be at the time you purchase here.
Here’s the data:
For starters, when you’re purchasing a new battery for your drone (the DJI in this case) you want to check your potentially new batteries’ life. The life of a battery reduces slightly with each use and as time passes, a full-life battery will reduce to 0% usage and become unusable.
The way to check the remaining life of your battery, simple press the power button for approximately 5 seconds. After that time the green battery indicator lights will light up. If all 4 are lit up, you have around 90% to 100% of life left on the battery. If only 1 light lights up, you have between 10% and 30% left, and if no lights are lit up, you have less than 20% power and the unit is virtually unusable.
Before you accept the offer, check the life of your battery and make sure it’s usable, and if all 4 lights don’t light up, negotiate a better price. The below chart will give you the exact details:
Usage of the drone battery
This is another quite important aspect that needs to be considered if you’re going to by a used battery for your DJI drone, that has to do with the ways the battery is charged. For starters;
- the battery should be fully charged and fully discharged once every two charging cycles
- every 3 months or so the above charing and discharging should take place regardless of usage
Has the person you’re purchasing the battery from followed these tips? That you something you have to find out for yourself. One way is to simply ask them what their charging and discharging habits where like, and of course you can check the life of the battery too.