DJI Phantom Battery Not Charging [Try THIS First!]

If your DJI Phantom battery suddenly stopped charging or if was in storage for a long time and now it won’t charge, this troubleshooting guide will help you get your battery charging again.

If your DJI Phantom battery is not charging, it’s probably in hibernation mode. To get it out of hibernation mode, connect your battery to the charger directly and leave it on charge for 12 hours straight.

But hibernation mode is not the only reason your battery won’t charge. There are a few other reasons for your DJI Phantom battery not charging.

In this article, we are going over all the reasons for the phantom battery not charging and also discuss how to fix them.

Reasons for DJI Phantom battery not charging

Battery is in hibernation mode

Hibernation mode is a special safety feature built into all DJI Intelligent Flight Batteries to protect them from overdischarging.

During shipping or long storage time when the battery percentage falls below certain level, the battery goes into a sleep mode to avoid the cells from discharging completely.

When cells completely discharge, their cell chemistry is destroyed and they get damaged permanently. To avoid this condition, hibernation mode is built into DJI batteries.

If you are not aware of hibernation mode, you might think you battery is dead. But in actual, its just sleeping.

Getting your battery out of hibernation is very easy but most people are unaware of it. You just have to connect your battery to the original DJI charge and leave it for up to 12 hours.

You might not see any charging activity on the battery initially but if you leave it overnight, it will eventually come out of the hibernation mode and start charging.

Hibernation mode is the reason for many other DJI model batteries to not charge like the DJI Spark and Mavic Air.

Battery cells are dead

If your Phantom drone is an old model and has been with you for a long time, chances are that your batteries are old as well.

Lithium based batteries are perishable and when enough time passes, their cell chemistry degrades and they die eventually.

This degradation is accelerated if you don’t care for the batteries during their life time and they won’t last their natural lifetime.

If your battery is not in hibernation mode and doesn’t charge even after connecting it with the charger for 12+ hours, chances are that your battery cells are dead now.

In that case, there is no hope for them and you should just get new batteries for your Phantom drone.

Charger is faulty

One of the common reasons for the Phantom batteries not charging is a faulty charger and not the battery itself.

Many people misuse the charger or it gets damaged during voltage fluctuations. If your charger is not providing enough current or required voltage, it won’t be able to wake up your sleeping battery and charge it.

The solution is to get a new charger either from DJI or you can also get a third-party charger from Amazon.

Before buying a replacement charger, make sure that you are buying a compatible charger with your Phantom drone. For example, Phantom 3 & the newer Phantom 4 both uses different kind of connectors and are not compatible with each other.

Firmware is outdated

An outdated firmware can also be the reason for your Phantom battery to not charge. If your battery has enough juice to turn on your drone, you can check for battery firmware update inside your Fly app.

If a new update is available, you will get a prompt for the update.

But if your battery is completely out of charge and can’t turn the drone on, you won’t be able to update the firmware. That’s why its a good idea to keep the firmware updated at all times.

Charging in high/low temperature

Lithium batteries are susceptible to extreme high and low temperatures. Their capacity and discharge rate significantly reduced when operated outside of their temperature envelop (0°C ~ 40°C)

To safeguard the battery against permanent cell damage, the intelligent flight battery won’t charge if its very hot or very cold.

If your battery is not charging due to temperature being too hot or cold, you will see an LED indicator for it.

As you can see in the above table, if the last LED blinks twice per second, that means the temperature is too low (below 0°C). If it blinks three times per second, the temperature is too high (above 40°C)

If that happens, bring the battery temperature to normal levels first before attempting to charge it.

Charging ports are dirty/damaged

Compared to the newer DJI drones, the Phantom series connectors are large in side with bigger pins. Due to this design, they are susceptible to dirt and damage.

If you have been flying your drone for some time, it is possible that your battery or charger pins have accumulated dirt or the charging surface has oxidised due to humidity.

When that happens, you will face difficulties in charging your drone battery at times. To fix the issue, you will have to clean your connector contacts thoroughly with either isopropyle alcohol or some suitable contacts cleaner.

Battery is damaged in a crash

Finally, if your drone has been in recent crash after which your battery is exhibiting the signs of malfunction, it is possible that it is damaged physically.

Inspect your battery closely and see if it has any visible deformation or signs of swelling.

Even if the battery seems fine from the outside, it is possible that the circuitray inside is damaged. If you are a DIY person, you can open up the battery carefully and check the charging circuit inside.

Repairing a damaged drone battery is not an easy job. You will have to get help from professional repair person or dispose off the battery and get a replacement.

DJI Phantom Battery Won’t Charge – Summary

If your DJI Phantom 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.