alternate cheaper p2v/p2 batteries/power source..

theSelf · Feb 1, 2014

There must be a way of converting regular 3S lipos of similar capacity to connect to the p2v or p2 connector somehow- for someone who's been into the RC hobby for sometime, already having balance chargers and lipos in my stock this would be a great way of getting alternate batteries a lot more affordably that the stock batteries which are currently priced at around $160+..

here are some much cheaper alternate lipos-

Turnigy nano-tech 5000mah 3S 45~90C Lipo Pack (only $50.95) http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... _Pack.html

Turnigy 5000mAh 3S 20C Lipo Pack (only $25.02!)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... _Pack.html

Turnigy nano-tech 4500mah 3S 35~70C Lipo Pack ($36.35)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... _Pack.html

yes- these are slightly less capacity than the stock p2v and p2 batteries, slightly longer and slightly heavier- but at that price and with some kind of adapter to the plug inside the p2v/p2 and some creativity it may be a much more cost effective solution for adding batteries to the collection....

what kind of plug is that in the quad (pictured) and if unique to DJI any ideas for creating an adapter plug?
Anyone want to chime in on this with any ideas for adapter plugs/conversions?

Pull_Up · Feb 1, 2014

The smart batteries, as well as containing balance and telemetry circuitry, also contain circuitry that lets the Phantom know it's a genuine battery. If you cover the spring-loaded data pins with a piece of paper or something and insert your genuine battery you'll see you get the invalid battery error, and it won't allow you to take off. This is what will happen if you connect a standard lipo.

You will need to hack the circuit and somehow spoof whatever they've encoded in there - it's not just a question of bodging a power connector to work with the proprietary DJI spade connectors...

rmklaw · Feb 1, 2014

Messing with the OEM battery or trying to replace with generic, is going to be the quickest way to a flyaway or uncontrolled descend into the ground. Don't try it.

theSelf · Feb 1, 2014

Pull_Up said:
The smart batteries, as well as containing balance and telemetry circuitry, also contain circuitry that lets the Phantom know it's a genuine battery. If you cover the spring-loaded data pins with a piece of paper or something and insert your genuine battery you'll see you get the invalid battery error, and it won't allow you to take off. This is what will happen if you connect a standard lipo.

You will need to hack the circuit and somehow spoof whatever they've encoded in there - it's not just a question of bodging a power connector to work with the proprietary DJI spade connectors...

oh wow- that sucks- DJI have really thought this through to keep us buying their monopolized product market

- not a cool move for them in my opinion if they want continued loyalty as people will think twice about purchasing their products in future if you're forced to purchase only their products- which is why I'm a pc/android guy and a not apple guy as pc/android products are much more customizable..come to think of it- the dji products coming in 'all in white' seem to be following the design aspects of apple too..

Pull_Up · Feb 1, 2014

Yep, but we all went in with open eyes... and 20-25 minutes flying before having to land is quite addictive

theSelf · Feb 1, 2014

Pull_Up said:
Yep, but we all went in with open eyes... and 20-25 minutes flying before having to land is quite addictive

true but it would be even more addictive if we could fly more often by charging multiple (up to 5 similar capacity lipos for the price of one dji stock battery) that are affordable & close in flight time each charging at the same time on a multi balance charger (to save time)- but maybe being 'addicted' isn't what I really want anyway

w0by · Feb 6, 2014

I agree, being able to fly this long on a single battery is great.

Pull_Up said:
The smart batteries, as well as containing balance and telemetry circuitry, also contain circuitry that lets the Phantom know it's a genuine battery. If you cover the spring-loaded data pins with a piece of paper or something and insert your genuine battery you'll see you get the invalid battery error, and it won't allow you to take off. This is what will happen if you connect a standard lipo.

You will need to hack the circuit and somehow spoof whatever they've encoded in there - it's not just a question of bodging a power connector to work with the proprietary DJI spade connectors...

theSelf · Feb 6, 2014

there is a multi battery charger available now at least for the p2v smart batteries-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phantom-2-V ... 1c3c44744b

ResevorDG · Feb 7, 2014

theSelf said:
there is a multi battery charger available now at least for the p2v smart batteries-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phantom-2-V ... 1c3c44744b

Eh looking at how that's made and knowing that a real DJI charger is only $35 I think I would rather just buy more genuine chargers.

But if a good one ever comes on the market, one that looks like this, but for P2V batteries. Then I'll buy it.

Noël · Feb 7, 2014

On RCgroups some people are trying to hack the battery.
See: http://e2b.org/8Z

Fatbloke-Dim · Feb 7, 2014

At the end of the day, you would only be replacing the lipo cells. One poz, one neg lead and whatever balance connectors there are . Don't think even dji have invented cells that report their "genuine" status! As long as these requirements can be met it ought to work. The next issue will then be physical size of the replacement cells.The dji ones are expensive but rather convenient.

Pull_Up · Feb 7, 2014

Noël said:
On RCgroups some people are trying to hack the battery.
See: http://e2b.org/8Z

Thanks for the link, that was fascinating reading. Interesting to see they've confirmed that it's the Vision's version of the NAZA that looks for the handshake with the smart battery to allow the motors to spin up, rather than anything on the main board...