The DJI Mini 3 Pro batteries can occasionally act erratically and refuse to charge. If you are stuck with a non-charging battery, this detailed article will help you.
DJI Mini 3 Pro battery not charging is a fairly common issue and you are not alone.
In fact, almost all DJI drone owners experience this issue on occasion with other DJI drones as well. Fortunately, the majority of the time, the problem is easily solvable.
The most common cause of the Mini 3 Pro battery not charging is because it went into hibernation mode during a long shipping duration.
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 at least 12 hours even if you don’t get any indication of charging.
Once the battery is out of hibernation mode, it can be charged normally even with a hub charger.
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 3 Pro battery out of hibernation and some more troubleshooting techniques you can use to wake up your “dead” battery.
DJI Mini 3 Pro battery not charging – Reason
As we discussed above, the batteries go into hibernation mode during the long shipment 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 [you have to charge the battery every 3 months during storage]
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 3 Pro User Manual, page 30
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 who is not aware 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 and Mini 2 batteries.
How to get Mini 3 Pro 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:
- Put the battery inside your Mini 3. Do not turn the drone ON.
- Plug the drone into the original 30W DJI charger (IMPORTANT: Do not use a hub charger)
- 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.
- After a few hours, the battery will come out of hibernation and will start charging normally. Charge it fully.
- 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 to not 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.
Further troubleshooting
Most DJI Mini 3 batteries won’t charge because they are in hibernation mode due to long-term storage.
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 am going to list some troubleshooting techniques that you can use to identify the issue.
We will be using the elimination technique to check out more frequently occurring problems first so make sure you read till the end.
Battery is fully depleted
If you have fully depleted your DJI Mini 3 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 3 Pro uses LiPo cells inside the battery pack. LiPo batteries are critically damaged when the cell charge level drops below 3.0V.
However, there are certain failsafe mechanisms inside the Intelligent Flight battery that prevents 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 overdrain 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 substaintial, 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 3 A or 9V 3A or 5V 3A output and should be rated at 30W.
If your charger is rated lower than that, you might not be able to provide sufficient voltage/current to the battery to charge.
Also, make sure your wall outlet is providing 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 to not 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 your drone recently crashed and suffered any damage, it’s possible that the issue is with the drone itself rather than the battery.
The Mini 3 Pro battery cannot be directly charged outside the drone, unlike some other drone models, and must be plugged into the drone itself to charge.
To quickly check this, you can use the DJI two-way charging hub to see if the battery is picking up the charge.
If it is charging on a separate charger, it confirms that your drone is damaged and not the battery.
Swollen or damaged battery
The drone’s battery may not be charging if you recently crashed it and it has physical damage.
Your battery is unusable if it has de-shaped or swollen. You should safely discard it and get a new one.
Never attempt to fly your drone with a damaged or bloated battery, just to be clear. It poses a serious safety risk and can start a fire or explode.
If the drone’s battery fails completely while it’s in the air, you could possibly lose your drone.
Battery is too old
Finally, if the battery is too old and has been flying in the air for a while, that could also be the cause.
LiPo batteries have a finite life, and after they pass that point, you may anticipate a rather rapid decline in performance.
If you treat your Mini 3 battery well and adhere to suggested LiPo care procedures, it can last up to 300 cycles of charging.
Conclusion
If your Mini 3 Pro 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.