After market batteries 20C vs 60C

boat chaser said:
the difference in battery weight is 20grams, is that enough to wear out your motors and reduce flight time?

technically ANY weight you add to the Phantom will reduce flight time and add additional stress on the motors.
20g is not much to worry about, but will in fact reduce flight time by about 15-20 seconds (that's just a guess based on the fact that when I add a 300g payload to my phantom (gimbal/fpv/gopro), I lose about 6 minutes of flight time!)
 
Gizmo3000 said:
boat chaser said:
the difference in battery weight is 20grams, is that enough to wear out your motors and reduce flight time?

technically ANY weight you add to the Phantom will reduce flight time and add additional stress on the motors.
20g is not much to worry about, but will in fact reduce flight time by about 15-20 seconds (that's just a guess based on the fact that when I add a 300g payload to my phantom (gimbal/fpv/gopro), I lose about 6 minutes of flight time!)

Also your motors and bearing will not last quite as long, the more weight also adds to a shortened bearing life, so if you gained 30 secs, then you lose that advantage due to less life of motors and bearings, heat and the long charging times, which is the reason I keep my weight down. Have had 50-60+ flights, same bearings, still smooth.

I would rather have 3 20-25C batteries than one 60C, which will give more flight time. I bet the 60C are expensive compared to the 20C and the gains per price are simply not worth the money. Go to any Helicopter forum and all tell you the same thing, a waste of money for little gain extra weight means faster wear extra cost.

I would assume more effective props would give more flight time and the gains would be better than a higher C battery, found my Carbon Fibers give more flight time with standard battery.

When I had my Blade 450 Helicopter, changed to carbon fiber, and flow much smoother. They are more efficient. I find my Phantom responds better with CF blades, so much smoother, more flight time also.
 
Turnigy 2200 mAh nano-tech A-SPEC lithium 35-130C can be charged at 8C cost = $26.
The stock Phantom charger even set at 3A can only deliver 1.8 amp.
If you have the same capacity left in the pack, say 20% or 440 mAh, so you need 1760 mAh = 1 hour charge time,
which is EXACTLY the same as the stock 20C pack! But since it can take higher than 1.8 amp, so my 10 amp charger can get this job done in 11 minutes. I only charge it at 1C rate unless I am in a hurry then I go for 6 amp charge.

Higher C rate:
Down side: higher cost and weight, plus larger pack size.
Up side: less voltage sag, can be charged faster, cooler running, lower the internal = less heat is generated = no swelling,
Longer Cycle Life, almost double that of standard lipo.

How much this will benefit our Phantom depends on many factors: your setup = total flying weight, motor types, prop types, the ambient temperature, the altitude, your flying style, etc.

For 2200 mAh 3S 20C pack, stock Phantom will hover around 8-10 amp, so when the pack is down to 20% or 440 mAh if you set the FS voltage accordingly, the red flash will come on and you are ready to land. The pack can now only deliver 20 x 440 = 8.8 amp.

For 2200 mAh 3S 60C pack (the extra 20 gram weight is not enough to change the flight characteristic but perhaps hover toward 10 amp more than 8 amp), so when the pack is down to 20% or 440 mAh if you set the FS voltage accordingly, the red flash will come BUT you don't have to land. Because the pack can still now deliver 60 x 440 = 26.4 amp. Keep on flying until the pack is down to 133.3 mAh, then the pack will deliver only 8 amp and ready to land. If the extra flying time at the end of the pack is not worth your while, the the higher C rate may be the waste of your money, not to mention the up side listed above which you don't care for.

denodan, you may find the post below supports you.
RE: The July 2010 Model Aviation magazine issued by the AMA has an article on this very same subject called "C: What is it all about?" The author suggests that he would rather use a lower C rating and a higher mAh <to get longer flight times> as long as you don't compromise the flight characteristics of the plane.

Again my flight characteristic required by me may be different from the others as well as my flying sites.
 
A Big WARNING, you say you fast charge your batteries. Do not do this under any conditions, if you want your batteries to last.

Fast chargers shortens the life of your batteries. If you want max life from your batteries you want a slow charge. Fast charging is a sure why of killing your batteries fast.

To get longer flight times, you can also drop the voltage when the warnings come on. I think the standard warning are no the high side. I get over 10 mins on standard battery, with GoPro on.
 
denodan said:
A Big WARNING, you say you fast charge your batteries. Do not do this under any conditions, if you want your batteries to last.

Fast chargers shortens the life of your batteries. If you want max life from your batteries you want a slow charge. Fast charging is a sure why of killing your batteries fast.

To get longer flight times, you can also drop the voltage when the warnings come on. I think the standard warning are no the high side. I get over 10 mins on standard battery, with GoPro on.

Then you have to define "fast charge".
I said," I only charge it at 1C rate unless I am in a hurry then I go for 6 amp charge."
Oh I forgot to mention that I always balance the packs.

However this 1C charge seems to be the old school of thought about the lipo pack on the market prior to 2008, currently we saw newer versions of cells with improved chemistry hitting the market capable of charging at 2C even up to 15C.
 
[youtube][/youtube]ElectriFly LiPo packs are still great choices for all-out 3D, competition and sport flying. They're as well built as ever. The red shrink-wrap is the same. And they still come with a Deans® connector* and a balancing connector already installed.
LiPo Batteries

But they've changed for the better in every other way: weight; size; discharge rate and price. And now, there's even a 1-cell ElectriFly LiPo battery. Look below for the battery to match your plane's performance needs. And discover the difference that a new ElectriFly battery can make.

1-3S (3.7-11.1V) packs
Discharge rates up to 30C
Capacities up to 3200mAh.
All packs are installation-ready, with multi-strand copper wire leads and an ElectriFly balancing connector.* GPMP0760 includes a 1S power connector. GPMP0820 and GPMP0821 include Deans® Micro connectors. All others include a Deans Ultra Plug® connector.
I always use this one for my rc-helicopter and feel good.
 

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