Battery Fit

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Hey guys, just got the Phantom from B&H with the Zenmuse already installed. Everything is looking good except the battery isn't fitting in the compartment. All the videos I've watched, it fits pretty fast and easily. Mine is *very* crowded and it's not possible to shut the battery door with the cables in the way. Is it normal to reeeeeally need to squash the door closed?

Anyone experienced this or know of a way to fix? To be honest...seems like it's just not going to fit. The battery is the standard Phantom default battery.
 
It's a knack you'll pick up. Basically you connect the battery to the flying lead and back the cable ino the Phantom through the raised section of the door frame (top left). Chase the cable through with the battery connector which will pretty much go all the way in. That will remove most of the cable from the door area...
After you connect the battery wait for about 10 seconds for the IMU to initialize before messing around with the cables though.
 
Nice, thanks a bunch. Just finagled it inside and I think it worked well. My only concerns were:

- Cables seem to get pretty tweaked this way, that kind of wear and tear OK?

- Battery was very warm to the touch after flight, normal?
 
It is a tight fit, and it is very important you make sure the door is secure when closed. I have some after market batteries that are slightly larger and have longer cables, I had one of these stuffed in there and there was enough tension against the door that it popped open during and the battery fell out at about 100 ft altitude. My Phantom crashed like a rock, broke my new carbon fiber props and an arm of the body was broken. I was able to buy a new shell/body and have since replaced the battery door with a larger one from Shapeways.

Some people have added velcro to their battery doors to ensure they stay closed.
 
Its easy to slide the pin out on the battery door and replace it with a Velcro flap. Lighter, roomier for non stock battery. I use bigger Turnigy nano tech batteries that have longer cables which are a pain with the regular door. Works great. And I add a voltage drop alarm to the balance plug as an extra safety measure since its easy with the extra room.
 
I agree with Roadkilt, and went with a variation on his solution and notched out a large enough areas of the battery door to close the door with the battery leads connecting outside. It's ugly, but all my struggles with oversize batteries went away. My major concern, besides the battery door popping open, was cramming/crimping the leads when the battery was a tight fit. I even stopped using a couple of the larger batteries because they were somehow impinging on something inside and causing the Naza to recycle. That was too scary.
 
I made two adjustments for this problem. I cut a notch out of the edge of the door like some others have done. This allows the battery wires to be on the outside. I also cut a hole into the side of the Phantom to allow the power cable that is soldered to the Phantom to stick out the side. This cuts down the number of wires coming out from the door. And all power connections are on the outside.
 
With my non-Stock batteries that have longer wires, I took the route of shortening them to make life easier.

After a full flight the batteries will be warm but certainly not Hot.
 
mikrob said:
I made two adjustments for this problem. I cut a notch out of the edge of the door like some others have done. This allows the battery wires to be on the outside. I also cut a hole into the side of the Phantom to allow the power cable that is soldered to the Phantom to stick out the side. This cuts down the number of wires coming out from the door. And all power connections are on the outside.


A photo of this mod would be great. Thanks!
 
Before I replaced the battery door with Velcro I also widened the opening to allow the wires to connect outside. The sharp edges and vibration wore a hole in the battery leads and it short circuited! Fortunately I caught it on the ground and reinforced the wires with tape, no problem. Just letting you know.
 
I use 2 rubber bands passed through the arms and the door latch, just like in the picture. I have 2 Gens Ace batteries that are a little bigger than the stock ones so it's more difficult to store all the cables inside and then close the door than using this process.
 
cczx14r said:
This video looks to be a solution!? Anyone try it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB3J1fDI8-c

Jim

That is not a safe solution. Batteries pulls deep circuit and many had reported loosened conections to LEDs adn as said Naza reboots. Better way is out the cables through a hole in shell and cut the door sides.
 

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