5400mAh Phantom batteries

brunofcampos · Jun 18, 2014

Has anyone used or tested these batteries?
Are they certified? I bought some items from Hobbywow and they seem like a serious company.
I am asking them some questions about this battery, but it seems like a good deal.

http://www.hobbywow.com/en-11-1v-5400ma ... 237106.htm

Cheers

brunofcampos · Jun 18, 2014

DJI warning.

http://www.dji.com/info/news/dji-unoffi ... es-warning

DJI issues a warning about these batteries, but you never know... DJI may just trying to scare us away from other alternatives.

From DJI Website:

Some issues found with these batteries are as follows:
- Low quality, non-fireproof shell casing
- Weak plastics that bend and snap easily
- Battery shell does not indicate factory of manufacture
- Uncertified, possibly low cost internal and external components despite note claiming that batteries are certified
- Low quality connectors and construction
- Manufacturing faults and shortcuts that can at best cause breakage and at worst lead to an explosion

Not too sure....

Dirty Bird · Jun 18, 2014

I have purchased a lot of aftermarket batteries for things like cell phones, laptops, Roombas, etc.. When comparing the price of an aftermarket battery to a factory original, the price difference is often quite substantial. i.e. A Dell original replacement battery for Dell Mini-9 is $149. I can purchase them for $18 on ebay. A factory battery for an HTC Amaze is about $50. I can purchase a (claimed) higher-capacity aftermarket replacement for $5 on ebay. Great savings indeed!

Now for the caveat. The aftermarket batteries are much cheaper but, in my experience, they also do not last nearly as long as the factory batteries. Manufacturers & sellers of aftermarket batteries are also famous for making frivolous claims as to the capacity of their batteries. When it comes to a cell phone or a laptop, I find that to be an acceptable tradeoff. If I am paying only a fraction of the price, I don't mind purchasing a fresh battery every six months. When the battery begins to fail, the phone or laptop just shuts down sooner. Unlike a Phantom, they aren't going to drop from the sky and destroy themselves when the battery fails.

Even factory batteries fail, and we have no way of knowing the quality of cells DJI uses in their batteries. $159 a pop is, without question, a lot of money for a 5200 MAh lipo. I could buy a comparable pack (just the bare cells), with a higher discharge rate, for <$30. The 5400's you mention are half the price. Perhaps order one and cycle it with your DJI factory batteries, and see how they compare over time? But I would be hesitant, and extra cautious, in using them in your Phantom.

JMHO...

Mal_PV2_Ireland · Jun 18, 2014

Yeah in my opinion batteries and props are what keeps these birds in the air, I wont use third party versions of either.

dannytroy · Jun 18, 2014

I took the plunge for the battery from Nukerc.com. It's on it's way, with tracking that doesn't work. I'm not too worried, because I have ordered many times from China directly and have had bad tracking. Sometimes it doesn't show any tracking until it's in the US.

Anyway, I plan on cautiously testing this battery and will try to keep it nearby for the first few flights. Being in the r/c hobby for over 30 years, I'm well familiar with the differences in the quality of different batteries, but I'm not convinced DJI is using the very best available. It it drops out of the sky with the Nukerc battery, it will likely land on water, since most of my flying is over water. Hopefully it will survive the crash, should the battery fail.

Dirty Bird · Jun 18, 2014

Please keep us appraised of your experience with the battery. Thanks!

Mori55 · Jun 19, 2014

dannytroy said:
I took the plunge for the battery from Nukerc.com. It's on it's way, with tracking that doesn't work. I'm not too worried, because I have ordered many times from China directly and have had bad tracking. Sometimes it doesn't show any tracking until it's in the US.

Anyway, I plan on cautiously testing this battery and will try to keep it nearby for the first few flights. Being in the r/c hobby for over 30 years, I'm well familiar with the differences in the quality of different batteries, but I'm not convinced DJI is using the very best available. It it drops out of the sky with the Nukerc battery, it will likely land on water, since most of my flying is over water. Hopefully it will survive the crash, should the battery fail.

Well I've been in Rc probally longer than you and have been using lipos since they came out . I've had all different makes , used power station 8 to charge etc.. IMHO the dji batteries are top of the line , I wouldn't take a chance , seen other post were people used those clones and had problems. Bangood had a recall on the because they were shutting off in air.

Tails_Up · Jun 19, 2014

Wonder if the battery percentage display would be correct with a different battery pack? It would be a bummer to discover that 50% isn't really 50%. We're counting on an accurate display of juice left, and while I don't like the DJI price, I'm counting on a certain discharge rate.

Mako79 · Jun 19, 2014

Mal_PV2_Ireland said:
Yeah in my opinion batteries and props are what keeps these birds in the air, I wont use third party versions of either.

+10000000
In a mobile phone, worst thing can happen is that you might miss a few calls.
Different scenario with an expensive-sensitive flying batteried-unmanned movie maker lawn mower..

Zartimus · Sep 15, 2014

Has http://nukerc.com/ ever uhh, been re-stocked since their initial shipment? ;-) I've read a lot about their cloned batteries and would love to try a pair, but there's been no stock for a few months now it seems.

dannytroy · Sep 15, 2014

Although my experience with the NukeRC battery (I only bought one) has been positive, I probably wouldn't re-order. Their shipping takes forever and they just don't seem to have their act together, and as a new company, should be trying harder to build a good reputation. Now that the DJI batteries have come down in price, and with free shipping from most sites, the DJI battery seems to be a better choice.

Zartimus · Sep 16, 2014

There's that.. Not much good if you save cash but wait for months instead of flying on a known good battery from DJI.

Thanks!

Ozziebattler · Sep 17, 2014

Been using 2 of these batteries for probably around 15 cycles each now and they havent missed a beat. I use a little bit of deoxit gold on contacts every 10 or so cycles.....good as gold!!!