DJI Mini 2 Battery Not Charging [SOLVED]

The DJI Mini 2 batteries can sometimes act crazy and refuse to charge. If you are stuck with one such battery that won’t charge, this detailed article is your guide.

DJI Mini 2 battery not charging is quite a common problem. In fact, almost all DJI drone owners face this issue every once in a while. Fortunately, most of the time, the issue is fixable.

The most common cause of the Mini 2 battery not charging is that you stored it for a long time, and it went into hibernation mode.

To get it out of hibernation mode, you will have to connect it directly to the charger (no hub or serial charger) and leave it for a few hours, even if you don’t get any indication of charging.

Once the battery is out of hibernation mode, you can then use it normally.

However, hibernation mode is not the only reason your battery might not be charging. Depending on the conditions and how you used it before, there can be multiple reasons.

Let’s discuss things in more detail and learn how to properly get the Mini 2 battery out of hibernation and some more troubleshooting techniques you can use to wake up your dead battery.

DJI Mini 2 battery not charging – Reason

As we discussed above, the batteries go into hibernation mode during the long shipping time and simply won’t wake up when connected to the drone or to the charging hub.

They can also enter hibernation mode if stored for a long time without intermittent re-charging.

What is hibernation mode?

All DJI Intelligent Flight batteries have a safety feature called “hibernation” mode.

As the name suggests, it puts the batteries in long sleep when they are not used for a long period, and the charge level depletes below a certain level.

If the battery cell voltage is less than 3.0 V or the battery level is less than 10%, the battery enters hibernation mode to prevent over-discharge.

DJI Mini 2 User Manual, page 21.

This hibernation mode reduces the risk of over depletion of the cells. Over depletion can otherwise be detrimental to lithium-ion cells and can permanently reduce the battery life.

When in hibernation mode, your battery will not turn on normally. When you press the power button, the LED will turn ON for a while, and then it will turn OFF.

Someone unaware of hibernation mode will simply think their battery is bricked, but that’s not the case (hopefully!).

In a few cases, I have seen people reporting that the battery LED won’t even turn ON. That’s because their battery has been in storage for so long that it has literally no charge left to even power up for a second.

Hibernation mode is not only for new batteries.

If you store your batteries for a long period without charging, they will enter hibernation mode, and you will have to wake them up by following the method below.

This is true for other DJI batteries as well. I recently researched why DJI Spark batteries were not charging, and one of the reasons was hibernation.

Users have reported similar cases with DJI Mavic Air batteries not charging.

How to get Mini 2 battery out of hibernation?

Now that you know your battery is not dead and is simply “sleeping”, you can wake it up.

To get your battery out of hibernation mode, follow these instructions:

1. Put the battery inside your Mini 2. Do not turn the drone ON.
2. Plug the drone into the original DJI charger (IMPORTANT: Do not use a hub charger)
3. Leave the battery for a few hours even if you don’t see any LED activity. Do not disconnect or try to power on during this stage.
4. After a few hours, the battery will come out of hibernation and will start charging normally. Charge it fully.
5. Repeat this for other batteries if they are in hibernation mode as well.

Once your battery is out of hibernation mode, you can charge it with the hub charger without any problem.

Make sure you update your battery firmware the first time you put them into your drone. Here is a video overview of the same process.

Battery installation error 30068

This is another problem droners have experienced with the new batteries that they just got out of the box and out of hibernation mode.

After you install the battery on your drone, you might get a 30068 error saying that your battery is not correctly installed and you need to detach and install it again.

This error is due to a poor connection between the battery and compartment terminals. The solution is quite simple.

Take a clean towel or piece of cotton cloth and dip it into rubbing alcohol. Now clean both the battery and the drone compartment terminals with a damp cloth.

Do this carefully not to misalign the terminals. Once the terminals are clean, put your battery in and check if the installation is successful this time.

If you are still getting an error, that means the terminals are still not making adequate contact.

This might be misalignment during shipping or due to mishandling at a manufacturing assembly line.

If you are a DIY person, you can align the terminals correctly using a flat surface screwdriver.

If you don’t want to risk voiding your warranty, you can simply ship them back under warranty and get replacement batteries.

If the terminals seem fine and you are getting the error, a firmware update or resetting the drone can be helpful.

Further troubleshooting

Due to long-term storage, most DJI Mini 2 batteries won’t charge because they are in hibernation mode.

However, if that is not the case with your battery and it stops charging while in active use, something else might be wrong with it.

Below, I will list some troubleshooting techniques you can use to identify the issue.

We will use the elimination technique to check out more frequently occurring problems first, so make sure you read until the end.

Battery is fully depleted

If you have fully depleted your DJI Mini 2 battery during your last flight session, or you stored the battery for too long, and now it has fully discharged, this could prevent charging up.

DJI Mini 2 uses LiPo cells inside the battery pack. LiPo batteries are critically damaged when the cell charge level drops below 3.0V.

However, certain failsafe mechanisms inside the Intelligent Flight battery prevent that.

But under certain conditions, you might be stuck with an over-drained battery (image flying your drone in a tree and it stucks there overnight draining)

If your battery is not charging after an over drain or long storage, follow the method above in the hibernation section and plug and leave your battery on charge for at least 12 hours.

If the damage is not substantial, you might awaken your dead battery.

Battery is not correctly inserted

Sometimes, the problem is as small as an incorrectly inserted battery.

If the battery is incorrectly inserted and the terminals don’t make enough contact, you might also get an error 30068 discussed above.

While inserting the battery in the compartment, make sure to check there is no debris inside the compartment (pretty common while working outdoors).

Once the battery is correctly inside, you should hear a “click” sound. Close the battery compartment lid after that to secure the battery.

Damaged charger or cable

Sometimes, the problem is somewhere else, and we look in the wrong place. While diagnosing your battery, make sure you have a working charger and cable.

To check this, you can use your phone, which is USB-C, and quickly check the charger and cable with it. If you are getting a charge on the phone, that means your charger and cable is fine.

One important thing to keep in mind here; even if your charger is showing charing on your test phone, chances are it is not providing adequate voltage.

Its pretty common with chargers to have a blown capacitor inside their charging circuit. When this happens, the charger will supply voltage, but it will be too low to charge your battery.

You can check this simply by using a voltmeter, and it’s pretty easy. Check the below video on how to do that.

Incompatible charger

If you are using a charger other than the DJI-provided official charger, make sure it is compatible with your drone.

The charger you are using should have 12V 1.5 A or 9V 2A or 5V 3A output and should be rated at 18W.

If your charger is rated lower than that, you might be unable to provide sufficient voltage/current to the battery to charge.

Also, make sure your wall outlet provides enough power at 100 – 240V at 50/60 cycles. If you are getting a low voltage at the mains, that can be a problem too.

Battery is too hot or too cold

This is another pretty common reason for a battery not to charge properly. Charging LiPo at very high or very low temperatures could be damaging.

That’s why there are failsafe features built-in to avoid charging at outside recommended temperature ranges.

Your battery will only be charged between 5°C – 40°C (41°F – 104°F). If you try to charge outside that range, your battery will simply refuse to charge.

If you are not aware, you might try to charge your battery right after a flying session when the battery is very hot.

Or if you live in a cold part of the country, you might try to charge the battery while it’s still freezingly cold.

In both cases, the battery will not start charging. First, try to bring the battery to its normal temperature range and then plug in the charger.

Drone charging board is damaged

If you have recently crashed your drone and it took any damage, perhaps the problem lies inside the drone and not the battery itself.

Unlike some models, the Mini 2 battery is plugged inside the drone to charge and cannot be charged directly outside the drone.

To quickly check this, you can use the DJI two-way charging hub to see if the battery is picking up charge.

If it is charging on a separate charger, it confirms that your drone is damaged, not the battery.

Swollen or damaged battery

This one is quite obvious. If you recently crashed your drone and the battery is physically damaged, it can be the cause of it not charging.

If your battery is de-shaped in any way or swollen, it is as good as a brick. You should safely discard it and buy a new one.

Remember, you should NEVER try to fly your drone with a damaged or swollen battery. It is a high safety risk and can cause explosions and fire.

You can also lose your drone if the battery fails critically in mid-air.

Battery is too old

Lastly, if the battery is too old and has been up in the air for quite some time, it can also be the reason.

LiPo batteries have a maximum life; once they reach that mark, you can expect a rather quick degradation.

Your Mini 2 battery can last for up to 300 cycles of charge if you take good care of it by following recommended practices for LiPo care.

Conclusion

If your Mini 2 or any DJI battery is not charging fresh out of the box, it is probably in hibernation mode and needs to be awakened before you can charge and use it normally.

You can do that by charging it directly from the DJI Charger instead of the hub charger or from any third-party charger.

But if the battery is not charging due to hibernation mode, is swollen, or has any other visible damage, it’s time to get new batteries.

You should safely dispose of the batteries since they are a fire risk if not handled properly.