Anyone using dual batteries?

rilot said:
My Phantom is getting a little short on the flight times what with the added weight of a gimbal, FPV tx, GoPro, AR8000 etc.
Has anyone tried a dual battery setup such as this?: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dji-Phantom-Q ... 338485a389

Are the stock motors up to the task?

I run dual batts from time to time with my shapeways setup but I don't (yet) have a gimbal. Max I've run at is 1250grams (50grams over DJI's max weight). For FPV and gentle flight it works fine with 12mins safe flight before first red light. Its no good for fast pace 'yanking and banking' but as long as you avoid that and rapid descending it is stable (you will have less upward thrust so it will fall A LOT faster than usual).

I would get your current setup on the scales and see what it is at first. If your predicted dual batt weight is much more than say 1.35kg then I'd suggest you are pushing it. Don't get me wrong I am sure it will get airbourne but it will descend VERY fast so landing will need to be done extremeley carefully (you don't want to bounce land 1.35kg on your gimbal!).
The thing that concerns me is the ESCs and props. The f450 comes with fundamentally the same motors as the phantom and can carry up to a total weight of 1600kg takeoff weight so the motors 'shouldn't' be the issue. The f450 however has 30amp escs compared to the 18amp Phantom ones. IMO you will also want more rigid props (carbon) as they will flex less.
Conclusion... all I can suggest is try it, fly it, film it and report back so others can see the results! :D
 
I will give it a try and see.
Sticking the numbers in to eCalc seems to result in the Phantom being under-propped for the weight. I re-calculated for 3-blade 9x5 props and the calculator seemed to think that the ESCs could take it. That was calculating for a 1.2kg AUW.

I've ordered some GWS 3-blade 9x5 props and I'll give it a go and report back.
 
rilot said:
I will give it a try and see.
Sticking the numbers in to eCalc seems to result in the Phantom being under-propped for the weight. I re-calculated for 3-blade 9x5 props and the calculator seemed to think that the ESCs could take it. That was calculating for a 1.2kg AUW.

I've ordered some GWS 3-blade 9x5 props and I'll give it a go and report back.

I'd be very interested to know how that goes with that setup. I was looking at 3 blades the other day and wondered why you don't see many Phantoms (or other quads) runnning them. Anyone else tried a 3 blade at all on here? I can't see them doing any favours for improved flight times but for lift/stability I'd imagine they could help.
 
I have just fitted two batteries to mine , with stock go pro mount an go pro an fat shark FPV plus standard props .

So I was getting 6-8mins constant flying , with dual batteries I'm getting 10 mins so not much in it an will lose a bit once i install the tarot gimbal
 
Get yourself a NanoTech 2250 mate. Just about squeezes into the battery compartment and then sling a stocko under the body in the cage. Will gain a minute or two (not much i know but every second counts!).

I'd love to know how many people chase the 15 min dream with a Phantom and end up owning/upgrading the Phantom to a f450 or f550 within a year :lol:

With my T8J arriving in the morning I will have most of the pieces needed!!
 
DeweyAXD said:
I'd love to know how many people chase the 15 min dream with a Phantom and end up owning/upgrading the Phantom to a f450 or f550 within a year :lol:

Already got an F550. Not a chance of 15 min flight times on that either. I'm running 2.5kg with gimbal, FPV tx, OSD, etc etc.
 
DeweyAXD said:
Get yourself a NanoTech 2250 mate. Just about squeezes into the battery compartment and then sling a stocko under the body in the cage. Will gain a minute or two (not much i know but every second counts!).

I'd love to know how many people chase the 15 min dream with a Phantom and end up owning/upgrading the Phantom to a f450 or f550 within a year :lol:

With my T8J arriving in the morning I will have most of the pieces needed!!
only had mine a month now and already looking f450 or f550 .

Not weighed mine yet still waiting for the tarot gimbal , but just adding dual batteries made it feel heavy .
 
Just tried the dual batter setup with carbon fiber skid mounts. I'm running stock 2200 mAh batteries, attached Fatshark FPV, Tarot Gimbal, GoPro 3 (using camera battery). A single battery flight time was around 5 minutes, added dual battery and flight time stayed the same. Any idea's what I'm doing wrong? I would think the flight time would increase by a couple minutes at least.
 
Just modified my setup to take dual batteries. AUW is 1347g. I am running 2 x 2750 mah bats with combined weight of 404g. I have AeroXcraft gimbal and immersion FPV Vtx. I fit the two bats internally, which is very snug. Oh also have fitted the Vision props. Get a flight time of 16 mins before red light starts flashing indicating battery getting low. I get a further 3 minutes before forced landing takes place. Still quite responsive in flight, which surprised me considering weight, and hovers fine without the need to adjust any gains. Very pleased!
 
djidan said:
Just modified my setup to take dual batteries. AUW is 1347g. I am running 2 x 2750 mah bats with combined weight of 404g. I have AeroXcraft gimbal and immersion FPV Vtx. I fit the two bats internally, which is very snug. Oh also have fitted the Vision props. Get a flight time of 16 mins before red light starts flashing indicating battery getting low. I get a further 3 minutes before forced landing takes place. Still quite responsive in flight, which surprised me considering weight, and hovers fine without the need to adjust any gains. Very pleased!


how do you fit 2 of those batteries internally? Have you modified the battery compartment?
 
Yes, I have increased the size of the battery opening and also lifted the internal controller board. It's a tight fit!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 
I am using dual batteries and an all-up flight weight of 1296 grams. Currently using stock props at this weight. Tri-blades are a bit better, but are a pain to constantly have to take them off to get my P1 in it's case. I have some P2 style blades on order and suspect flight times will improve. At present, I am getting 9 minutes to first red. Handling is fair but rapid descent is harder to stop as is expected.
 
just recieved my dual xt60 connector and took my battery door off in anticipation today and started looking at ways to mount 2 batteries but think i'll just give up now lol, not really much point when you have gopro, gimbal, fpv gear etc... looks like i'll be needing a bigger quad :shock:
 
When you run duals, it's probably because you have enough gear for your flight times to be negatively impacted. And adding another battery increases weight even more. The takeaway is you have to be pretty darned conscious about how you spec out your payload and your dual setup in order to get the most benefit from them. You also have to take into account the difference in battery characteristics so you can get the most of out the low voltage alarm settings. 9 minutes on a 1296g quad with 4400mah suggests you have some inefficiencies + low voltage settings to deal with. You should be able to hit 11-12 minutes with that.
 

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