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The weather is beautiful outside, and you just received your new DJI Mini 2 SE.
Is it time to take it out of the box and enjoy some flights with it? Why not? Flying a drone during the winter has its perks.
So you make a plan, travel to your desired location, unfold the Mini 2 SE, connect the phone to the controller, turn the drone on… wait. It doesn’t turn on.
What’s happening? Why is my DJI Mini 2 SE not turning on?
The DJI Mini 2 SE, like any other drone in the market, could be prone to failure. Or simply, the drone doesn’t like the cold weather, or something could be wrong with the battery.
The reasons can be many. So that’s why, before panicking, the best approach would be to troubleshoot all the possible reasons why the DJI Mini 2 SE is not turning on.
How to troubleshoot the DJI Mini 2 SE drone
As we mentioned, like with many electronics or even other DJI drones, there could be a handful of reasons why the drone fails to turn on.
Before I can tell you why it’s not turning on, we need a little more data. That’s why a troubleshooting process is in order.
- Does the battery fail to turn on?
- Does the battery power on, but the drone does not receive power?
- The battery and the drone both turn on, but don’t connect to each other (or can’t fly).
These are the main questions I would ask to identify how to proceed with the troubleshooting process.
For instance, if the battery fails to turn on, the drone could be just fine. There could be something wrong with the battery; it could be in hibernation mode, or simply a cell failed; maybe it doesn’t like the cold winter environment, or conversely, it doesn’t like the hot weather.
What about updating your DJI battery?
But the best way to identify why a DJI Mini 2 SE won’t turn on is to take it step by step. So here they are
» MORE: DJI Drones Not Turning ON / OFF (Solved)
DJI Mini 2 SE Battery Troubleshooting Step by Step
So, here we figured out that the battery may be the culprit. I know this is a dopey question, but before we continue, are you 100% sure you’re turning it on the right way?
To turn on a DJI Mini 2 SE battery correctly, short-press the power button, and the LEDs indicate the power charge. Then, long-press until the LEDs light up in a sequence.
If you’re confident that’s not the reason, let’s go to the next step.
» MORE: DJI Mini 2 SE Battery (All You Need to Know)
1. DJI Mini 2 SE battery could be in hibernation mode
DJI batteries have safety measures to avoid getting damaged if stored for a long time.
For instance, if you bought a new DJI Mini 2 SE, but the batteries do not turn on, they have to be activated by taking them out of hibernation mode.
The hibernation of a DJI battery, including the DJI Mini 2 SE, will save power if not used for a while to avoid draining to zero percent.
If a Lipo battery stays empty for a lengthy period, the cells can be permanently damaged.
That’s why it’s possible for your battery to be in hibernation mode if you try to turn it on and nothing happens.
The same reason can happen if you have kept your drone in long-term storage (haven’t used it for a while). The Mini 2 SE intelligent battery does go in hibernation mode.
There are two ways to take it out of the hibernation mode:
- Either try to power it on, which sometimes will work just fine
- Put the battery to charge for at least a couple of hours, if not more, and without touching it.
In the second scenario, the battery may not show it is receiving power, but that’s the process behind waking up a hibernating DJI battery, including a Mini 2 SE one.
This is the most common reason why a Mini 2 SE battery won’t turn on.
It happened to me before, not to the Mini 2 SE, but to my DJI FPV. I had a panic moment, though. However, one of the batteries failed to go into hibernation mode, permanently damaging it.
» MORE: DJI FPV Battery (All You Need to Know)
2. The battery simply failed (check if it’s swollen)
A second reason the battery won’t get out of hibernation mode (if you store it for the long term) is that, as happened to me before, it failed to get into hibernation mode in the first place.
In time, the battery drained by itself to zero percent. And sat like that for a while (a few weeks at least). Then, it failed to receive power at all.
What looks like a hibernating battery could be a total failure of the battery cells.
If multiple attempts to wake up the DJI Mini 2 SE battery fail (if this is the reason why your drone does not turn on), I think it’s time to talk to DJI customer support.
I guess the drone and battery should still be under warranty as the drone is relatively new. So here’s that. Have a talk to them.
But if your battery is damaged, look closely at it and see if it presents any signs of swelling. That’s a dangerous sign that the battery can spontaneously catch on fire. It’s time to discard the Lipo battery safely.
» MORE: How to Safely Dispose of LiPo Drone Batteries
3. The environment could be too cold or hot
In many circumstances, the battery will fail to power on, or it does, and then it goes off by itself to avoid permanently damaging it when using it out of the temperature range.
DJI recommends that you fly the drone or use the battery in an environment between 0° and 40° C (32° to 104° F).
Anything beyond that range can impact the drone’s battery life, shorten its life span, and even damage the battery entirely.
But the safety features behind a DJI intelligent battery, including the Mini 2 SE, may kick in. So, possibly, it won’t even let you turn it on.
If that’s the reason, try to acclimate the battery to the recommended temperature range and see if this fixes the problem.
» MORE: LiPo Batteries for Drones (Everything You Need to Know)
4. You attempt to turn it on too soon after it has been charged
Like trying to fly or power on the drone in a scorching environment, you charge the battery, plug it in the drone, and try to fly it (especially if the ambient temperature is… hot).
When a drone battery is charged, it tends to get warm and even hot if you charge it in sizzling weather. In this situation, the safety features will block you from turning on the battery to avoid permanently damaging it.
A hot lipo battery is a safety risk, and when the drone is flying, a lot of amps are pulled out from the battery, causing it to warm up even more.
So, for safety reasons, do not use the battery straight after charging it. Leave it for a while to acclimate.
Note: DJI recommends charging the battery in an environment between 5° C and 40° C (41° C and 104° F). Even when charging in hot weather below 104° F, this can drastically impact the battery temperature.
» MORE: Drone Batteries (In-Depth Information)
5. The Mini 2 SE battery has been used too many times
A Lipo battery, especially a drone one, e.g., DJI Mini 2 SE, has several recommended cycles before being prompted to reduce performance or even fail.
In general, a DJI battery has an average lifespan between 300 and 500 cycles, sometimes more but sometimes much less.
I’ve heard of batteries failing even at 120 cycles. It all depends on how you use and charge the battery, store it, or how old it is.
So here could be a reason to look into if your Mini 2 SE battery is not turning on at all. Is the battery new? or secondhand? Have you flown your DJI Mini 2 SE excessively?
» MORE: Are the DJI Mini 2 and DJI Mini 3 Batteries the Same? (Explained)
6. The DJI Mini 2 SE battery is physically damaged
After a crash, even a minor one where your Mini 2 SE may look okay, maybe with a scratch or two, the battery has to be inspected closely.
If you see any marks or damage on the battery, even minor ones, it’s dangerous to keep trying to use it.
Maybe it even looks okay, but remember that there are internal circuits to protect the battery, drone, and everyone around.
So here’s that: those circuits could fail during an impact and render the battery unusable.
» MORE: Do Drone Batteries Auto-Discharge if Not Used?
7. The battery had contact with water
One of the smart safety features behind a DJI drone and its batteries, including the Mini 2 SE, is that if you submerge it in water (non-intentional crash), the drone battery will cut the power to avoid damaging the drone.
This can happen both with salty and fresh water. Usually, salt water presents more conductivity than fresh water.
The short circuit protection will prevent the battery from getting permanently damaged and could temporarily disable it; don’t attempt to power it on; ensure the battery is completely dried out and there’s no layer or coating of salt (from salty water).
» MORE: How Long Do Drone Batteries Take to Charge?
DJI Mini 2 SE drone doesn’t receive power
So you say the battery is okay or maybe you have skipped to this section because you know the battery is not the reason. The drone could be.
The battery powers on, but the drone does not receive power (or power up) at all.
This could be a bigger issue, but before we panic, let’s get through the rest of the drone troubleshooting process.
» MORE: DJI Mini 3 Won’t Turn On (Here’s What to Do)
8. Bad contacts between the battery and the DJI Mini 2 SE drone
Do you remember the above scenario where the DJI Mini 2 SE battery had contact with salt water? Those layers can interrupt circuits between the battery and the drone.
Also, foreign small objects can get on the battery contacts (or even drone ones), and there is no power connection between the battery of the drone.
In case the battery turns on but not the drone, this is the first step to troubleshoot. See if your battery or drone contacts are clean.
» MORE: Holy Stone Drone Won’t Turn or Go Forward (And How to Fix It)
9. The drone does not receive power in cold/hot environments
The drone could behave like a battery refusing to turn on.
Maybe your Mini 2 SE turned on, and you left it sitting, so the drone overheated, especially in hot weather, turned off, and now it won’t let you turn it back on.
In order to avoid burning out the drone (not only the battery), your DJI Mini 2 SE decides it’s time to cool down. Don’t expect to fly it for a while (until it cools down) for safety reasons.
10. Your drone was recently flown in the rain or had water contact
There’s no shame in telling DJI your Mini 2 SE was flown in the rain for a bit or had a crash into the water.
I have flown drones in light rain, but fortunately for me, they haven’t been damaged. However, it’s a risky approach.
If your drone had recent contact with water, as a warning note, DO NOT TURN IT ON. Let it dry for a while (a couple of days) before attempting to power it on.
If it doesn’t want to power on, it’s possible that your drone has been damaged, as long as the battery powers on just fine by itself. If so, it’s time to have a chat with DJI about your water-damaged drone.
» MORE: Is DJI Mini 2 SE Waterproof? (Here’s the Answer)
11. Your DJI Mini 2 SE had a recent crash
Even a minor crash of the DJI Mini 2 SE could shake the internal components, wires, or plugs inside the drone and disconnect something.
I’ve seen it so many times, not with the Mini 2 SE but with many other drones.
I’ve wasted many hours of my life on drone forums, Facebook groups, or chats, and here I see crashes that turn out to be bad for the drone, not in terms of breaking a drone arm or motor, but for internal parts that get disconnected.
Usually, if the drone still powers on, you could get several ERRORS on the RC DJI Fly App screen if something is disconnected inside (E.g., sensor or GPS error code).
But if the flight controller is disconnected or the battery current can’t reach the primary drone parts responsible for flying the drone anymore, it’s time to have a chat with DJI customer support if you don’t have the engineering skills to open it up yourself and see what’s wrong with it. (Don’t do it, you’ll lose warranty).
» MORE: Drone Crash? Do This (Step by Step)
12. The DJI Mini 2 SE flight controller could be damaged
Maybe you haven’t had a crash or had any contact with water. Maybe you’ve done nothing wrong. And yet, there’s nothing you can do if the main flight controller is burned out.
That’s an extremely rare case to happen with the DJI MINI 2 SE or high-quality DJI drones, but it can happen more often than you think with cheaper drones and FPV drones in general.
You probably won’t know if it’s the flight controller or if it could be something else, and there’s no way to find out by yourself (at least not that simple), but if your DJI drone still doesn’t want to turn on while your battery is good and you exhausted all the other troubleshooting approaches, then this could be the reason.
Your drone should still be under warranty. It’s time to have a chat with DJI support.
» MORE: How to Register My Drone with DJI (For Warranty Purposes)
DJI Mini 2 SE and Controller turn on, but the drone won’t fly. Why?
Through this troubleshooting process, you’re confident there’s nothing wrong with the battery, the drone, and the remote controller. They all turn on as they should.
But for some reason, you have no image, or if you have, you cannot take off.
Here are a few reasons why:
- The drone and controller are unpaired: A DJI drone should never unlink (unpair) by itself from the controller, but it can happen due to a fault in firmware or other reasons. So, if your DJI Mini 2 SE turns on, but you get no connection to your DJI RC-N1 controller and Fly App, this should be the first thing you should check. Is it still paired?
- The DJI Mini 2 SE and the controller have conflicting firmware: DJI is good at fixing bugs and incompatibilities, but at the same time, the firmware can have bugs at times, so this could be yet another reason why your drone cannot take off. Maybe you updated the drone and not the controller or battery. Remember, the DJI Mini 2 SE, battery, and controller need to run the latest firmware update to be compatible and work.
- You’re trying to take off in restricted airspace: This wouldn’t be a reason why your drone won’t turn on, but certainly a reason why you cannot take off. I thought it would be good as a reminder to check the airspace you want to take off your DJI Mini 2 SE and see if it’s restricted or not.
» MORE: Drone Won’t Take Off – How to Fix It (Step-by-Step Guide)
Conclusion
If we look further into this, the same troubleshooting process can be applied to other DJI drones and not only the DJI Mini 2 SE.
The chances that the drone would fail to turn on because of a hardware issue are slim but not out of the equation.
So, if your drone suddenly does not turn on, you are probably very unlucky in this case, as the possibility of this happening is very slim.
We like to be comprehensive and accurate at Droneblog. So that’s why we have deeply researched and looked over all possible forums seeking issues with this drone. Here’s what we have to notify you for now:
When this article was written, no significant issues were reported by DJI or other drone pilots with the DJI Mini 2 SE, and nothing related to the drone not turning on. Yours could be an abnormal case. Lucky you!
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