At what voltage to stop flying?

[borgqueenx]

At what voltage under load(flying) is it wise to stop flying and you have like ~3 minutes left to land?
Ofcource a general question....Because i understand it depends on all kinds of factors.

 

[Nannerz]

I'm very conservative. I land my P2 at 30%. I have 6 batteries so I'm not trying to squeeze every last bit of life out of it. Just pop in a new one.

 

[ElGuano]

People run anywhere from 3.3v to 3.7v loaded. The former is very aggressive, the latter very aggressive. I run my 3S packs to 10.6v normally, which is 3.53v per cell. On most of my batteries if I land at 10.6v loaded, it recovers to 11.1v and works out to 80% drain.

 

[AndysAdventures]

I'm very conservative. I land my P2 at 30%. I have 6 batteries so I'm not trying to squeeze every last bit of life out of it. Just pop in a new one.

I think the lowest I've gone is down to 67% battery life.

I've got 3 batteries, so I just fly a few minutes on each one.

I'm still being really cautious.

 

[Gator113]

I am a noob, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I like to be on the ground at 30%. I have logged 14 flights with no crashes, just one unplanned landing on a juniper bush, without penalty. ;>)

Only once did I land with less, 24%, and the red lights were flashing as I was coming in for the landing. I was upset with myself, but I guess that is what noobs occasionally do. I can tell you that after 30%, the charge seems to fall off quite quickly.

Again, my goal is to have her landed by 30%. I consider myself to be a very conservative pilot.

For Fathers Day my bride bought me a Blade Nano QX. That little guy is crazy hard for me to fly. BUT, you can fly it for 6 minutes, and if you run her dry... she crashes well. LOL I like it because I can still fly on windy rainy days, be as reckless and irresponsible as I want and all without penalty. At worst, I'll be out less than $100.

Good fortune and fly safe......

 

[Gizmo3000]

Better safe than sorry.
If you can fly, get the shot, and land without having to put more than 80% back into the battery (or in other words, never use more than 80%), you're doing just fine.

I too, try to land well before my loaded voltages comes to 3.55-ish. no sense in pushing a battery to the limits if you don't have to, and always good to play it safer than,. not so safe!

 

[lvzx14]

I like to live life on the edge so I land at 5%

 

[wkf94025]

People run anywhere from 3.3v to 3.7v loaded. The former is very aggressive, the latter very aggressive. I run my 3S packs to 10.6v normally, which is 3.53v per cell. On most of my batteries if I land at 10.6v loaded, it recovers to 11.1v and works out to 80% drain.

By 10.6v loaded I assume you mean the voltage displayed in the iOSD while still in flight?

Kelly

 

[ElGuano]

People run anywhere from 3.3v to 3.7v loaded. The former is very aggressive, the latter very aggressive. I run my 3S packs to 10.6v normally, which is 3.53v per cell. On most of my batteries if I land at 10.6v loaded, it recovers to 11.1v and works out to 80% drain.

By 10.6v loaded I assume you mean the voltage displayed in the iOSD while still in flight?

Kelly

Yep, that's correct. 10.6v loaded is what you'll see in the iOSD in flight, and as well as the value being read by the NAZA that you set in the low voltage alarm screen in Assistant.

Note that the P2 uses a low-C rate battery, and they may push the voltages lower. IIRC you set your alarms for the P2 by "battery capacity percentage" from the current counter, and not directly from voltage. I'm not sure but I would think 15-20% on the P2 battery might be running it down lower than 10.6v (possibly down to 10.4 or lower) but I don't have a lot of visibility into that.

 

[wkf94025]

Thanks ElGuano.

I have never modified my 30%/15% levels. If I am experiencing the premature auto-landing when battery % is in the mid 40's, do you have any sense whether dropping the 30%/15% levels in the Assistant will delay the onset of auto-landing?

Kelly

 

[ElGuano]

Thanks ElGuano.

I have never modified my 30%/15% levels. If I am experiencing the premature auto-landing when battery % is in the mid 40's, do you have any sense whether dropping the 30%/15% levels in the Assistant will delay the onset of auto-landing?

Kelly

Not sure! I think if anything would help, it would be the second level warning. Assistant has some minimum level it won't let you go below, right? A common theory is that you may hit auto-descend prematurely if something causes the voltage to spike and sag, and voltage is still taken into account in the auto-descend. I also know that some people who have experienced this at 40-60% only have it happen on certain batteries, and some have had those replaced by their dealer...

I wish I had more information on why and when this happens, but there's not a lot of consensus ATM.

 

[wkf94025]

My next flight op will be to time each battery (1 new, 3 older) and time each battery's total flight time down to ~10% left (battling auto-land on the older batteries), and noting time in flight when tail lights start flashing and auto-land first kicks in. Will DVR all flights, and use consistent flight pattern: some basic climbing and descending, staying nearby and working on ATTI and GPS maneuvering, with frequent checks for "will it maintain altitude with no left stick input?"

Kelly