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What To Do If Your Drone Battery Will Not Charge?

If you have had your drone for very long you have likely run into an issue at one point or another where the drone battery wouldn’t charge. Issues like this are relatively common with drones and other electronics with large battery packs but that doesn’t mean we like it or that we don’t want to fix it. 

If you have ever wondered what you should do when your drone won’t charge then you are in the right spot. 

To know what you should do when your battery won’t charge you first have to determine why it won’t charge. There are variety of different things that can cause your drone’s battery not to charge including: 

  • Bad firmware
  • Battery is in hibernation mode
  • Battery is too hot 
  • High amperage is detected
  • A short circuit is detected
  • Over discharge is detected
  • Etc.

Once you have determined what exactly the cause of the issue is then you can fix it but of course determining that issue can be difficult especially if you are newer to drone use. 

That is why we wrote this article. 

We wanted to give some of the most common things that will stop a drone battery from charging so you can then fix the issue. Often fixing the issue is actually easier than locating what exactly the issue is in the first place anyway! 

To learn how to fix a drone battery that is entirely dead and won’t charge you can check out the video below.

Drone battery types

There are several different types of drone batteries that are regularly used. Among those different options the most often used and best ones are the  LiPo and LiHV FPV batteries. These batteries function at a super high level and they are also typically very good quality as well. 

In general both of these batteries will work just fine with your drone and will normally fit your drone perfectly to help with aerodynamics as well. 

Now let’s look a little bit deeper into both of these types of batteries. 

LiPo battery

A LiPo battery is considered to be the best battery and is heavily preferred by most drone users. It is typically known as a lithium-polymer battery but it is more correctly a lithium-ion polymer battery. 

This battery type is designed to be rechargeable over and over again and it will typically last for 300-500 discharge and recharge cycles before needing to be replaced. It is manufactured by using lithium-ion technology using a polymer electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyte and it has a normal voltage of 3.7V.

LiPo batteries are completely charged if they reach 4.2v/cell and their minimum safe charge is 3.0v/cell so any lower than that and the battery will become damaged. 

LiHV battery

LiHV is also a popular drone battery and the LiHV means it is a high voltage lithium polymer battery. Its function is similar to normal lithium batteries but it allows a charge of up to 4.35V/cell. If you charge LiHV batteries to only 4.20V/cell, they will perform more safely but they can go up to the higher amount. 

Problems that cause your drone to not charge

All drones are powered by batteries right now but in the future they could certainly change. It is very important for the drone to be able to connect to all of the appropriate devices such as the controlled and often a cell phone as well. 

However sometimes, the battery will fail to charge properly and when this happens you will not only have a drone that you can’t use immediately but will also have to spend the time to try and locate the issue and fix it. 

To make this process a little bit easier for you we have listed some of the most common problems that cause a drone’s battery to not charge as once you determine why it is happening you can then fix it. 

Inconsistent firmware

Inconsistent firmware is responsible for the failure of batteries charging in many cases. You may get a notification identifying the inconsistent firmware or you may not. 

If the drone controller app has suggested in the past that you update your battery but you have not done so yet then this could be the issue.

The battery is in hibernation mode

If you throw your battery in storage for a couple of months, it will be in hibernation mode. If your LiPo batteries are discharged to 0% it will hamper battery life significantly so that’s why drone batteries enter hibernation mode. 

When your batteries are in hibernation mode they will normally not accept a charge so you have to get them out of hibernation mode first before you can charge them. 

Depending on what kind of battery and the manufacturer that you have  the process to get the battery out of hibernation mode can vary so contact the manufacturer or search online for your make and model. 

The temperature of the battery is too hot to charge

Another crucial factor is the battery temperature. Your battery should only be used if the temperature is between 32 and 104 degrees with the ideal temperature being between 60-80 degrees.If the battery pack gets too cold or too hot, then it will not take charge properly if at all.

This problem happens when you keep your battery in the hot sun for very long or near any other heat-producing source. It can also get cold when you store the battery outside of the drone but in a cold place such as a garage in the wintertime. 

If your drone’s batteries have been used in extremely hot or cold temperatures then you will want to let them sit in your house for a few hours and let the temperature normalize. Once that has happened then you can try and charge the battery again. 

High amperage detection

The battery will not continue to charge if it is consistently being supplied with too much current. 

Sometimes, we forget to unplug our batteries from the charger and if the charger isn’t a smart one then that can cause the battery to shut itself off or become damaged/destroyed completely. 

Short circuit detection

The short circuit is also a major error behind this common charging problem. When there is any short circuit detected in the charger, then it will not be able to supply current to the battery. When this happens the battery will not charge.

To fix this issue you must determine what is causing the short circuit and fix it. Sometimes the issue is with the power cord while other times it is a battery or charger issue. If the problem only happens with a single battery then it is likely something wrong with that specific one. 

Over-discharge protection

Sometimes you can see an over-discharge notification on your drone app and if you see that then you should stop flying immediately. Over discharging lessens the power of the battery as well as shortens its life.

If you continually over discharge the battery, sometimes it gets damaged and will not charge at all. So please don’t ignore this notification when you receive it on your app. 

If you constantly over discharge your battery to the point that it won’t charge then you likely will have to replace the battery with a new one. 

Damaged charger

For charging, the connection between the battery and power supply obviously needed and your charger is that connection. If the charger is not working properly, that means it will not be able to send the power to your drone battery properly which in turn means it won’t charge. 

Assuming that you have checked and made sure that the battery is ok then the charger is the next logical thing to look into. 

If you have a different battery you can try charging it on the charger and see what happens. If it doesn’t charge either then you likely need to either replace the charger or repair it (although most the time it is cheaper to simply get a new one). 

Corroded pins

You will find pins on the charger and the drone itself. If one of the pins get damaged or corroded, the battery will not charge at all. Sometimes, the battery will appear to be fully charged but when you start your drone to fly, then you will quickly notice that it doesn’t have any power or hardly any. 

If this is the problem that you are experiencing then take the time to clean the pins properly on both your charger and drone and see if that resolves the issue. 

Loose connections

For charging a battery, you just need to connect your battery and charger together perfectly. You should also connect your charger properly to the board as only then will your battery start charging. 

Sometimes, you can face an issue with some  loose connections. Typically this issue is easy to find and also quite easy to fix so if you have this as your problem then count yourself lucky. 

Bad battery cell

If your battery is good, then it will receive the charge from the charger properly but if your battery cell has started to go bad, then it will not charge.

If you think that this is your issue a simple way to check is try and use another battery to see if it will charge on your charger. If the charger works fine with a different battery then you know it is something wrong with your other one. 

Batteries do go bad with time and use even if they are well maintained so if you buy a replacement battery and it works fine then just dispose of the bad battery properly. 

Conclusion

The battery is very much essential to flying your drone but unfortunately sometimes, it will not charge like it should. Try to find out the exact problem that you appear to be having as once you know the problem you can more easily solve the issue.