battery flight time

[justin00]

So I have 2 batteries and usualy get ~20 flight time according to DJI app.. only had the Phantom 3 weeks now.
Im using the prop guards aswell.
Oh yeah im using fpv booster app to up the camera power to 17dbm.. I guess this will use more battery powery..

I usually run natteries down to 2 mins then fully charge.. recemtly started running down to 10% occasionlly.

Took her out tonight fully charged and it reported 12 mims flight time at the begining... fly her to the end and plugged in other battery after 10 min "cool down" period.

Other battery reported 20ish mims...
Is there ppssibly a problem with the 1 battery? Os it anythimg i can diagnose or atleast see better if I plug into RC Assistant??
Running more camera TX power still doesnt explain why 1 nattery starts at 20min and other at 12min...

If battery has gome bad after 3 weeks I will return battery for a new one from place I got it from.. twas a local hobby shop so they will just swap it over..so not to concerned..

But yeah what can I do yo troubleshoot before I return it???

Thanks

 

[justin00]

Bloody hell.. that battery.. fully charged is still at 12% !!!!!

Unless anyone has any ideas I am gonna RMA it back to the hobby shop and get another one.... that sucks it can go bad after maybe umm 5 hours of flying.. probs not even 5.. seems I have 2 batteries...

 

[Dirty Bird]

Unfortunately you get a lemon now and then. You should contact your dealer and request a replacement. Shouldn't be a problem as you are well within warranty. I would NOT use it to fly if it is only showing 12% when fully charged!

 

[Panamon Creel]

What does the battery in question show when you put it in your phantom and connect with the assistant software, look especially for large differences in voltage between cells.

 

[justin00]

Nah its not showing 12% when fully charged.. its showing 12 minutes instead of 20..

Now the other battery is to!!!

I called up the dealer.. they said motor might be dead.. it should be tight.. don't think so though.. they are all loose.

It just said 12 minutes now.. plugged it back into charger, wont charge as its full..
in Assistant it says

Voltage 12283mv Current -1006ma
current capacity: 4685mah

Percentage charge 90%
Percentage of life 94%
Discharged 18 times

Temp: 29.80

Cell 1 4096
Cell 2 4102
Cell 3 4093

 

[justin00]

Under battery of the main page it says.
Current capaciity: 89%
Low batter 20%
Critical 15%

 

[Panamon Creel]

I wouldn't worry too much if it's just flight time that's showing lower. BTW switch the battery first ON for charging if you want to charge a above 75% charged P2 battery

 

[justin00]

Why do you say not to worry?? I'm losing 8 mins ???

 

[justin00]

One thing I've just tried... previously charger was plugged into surge protector... now its plugged directly into wall socket... Its the only thing different I've done.. We shall see results..

 

[DBS]

Why do you say not to worry?? I'm losing 8 mins ???

don't listen to that guy... he knows nothing about batteries... he made a comment back there...

BTW switch the battery first ON for charging if you want to charge a above 75% charged P2 battery

Don't do that... Always plug in the charger to the battery first and power it up... THEN turn the battery on if it's not charging because it's over 75%

 

[justin00]

After plugging into wall socket as i used to.. upto 14 mins now.
Might do a flight and actually time it
. I notice sometimes time goes up.

way to gusty atm. Im a novice pilot on Phamtom but have PPL on piper warrior.. familiar with the havoc gusts can play. Toom it out b4 stupidly.. gust had it drop 10 feet.. dropped from 15 to 5... the air pockets and what not from gusts to danerous...

Light gust/constand wind wouls been alrite but this just dangerous. Tis a shame.. blue skies and hot out.

 

[justin00]

So annoyed now...
Charged on wall... 12 mins it says... timed it with stop watch.. 12 mins.. now ive goto take it to place i got it from for them to look into... little bit pissed off $1700 has to go back.. kinda wana play with it... if thry say thry need to send back to Dji im going to remind them they said any problems they will give me a new one no questions asked... ya ya im being childish but 3 weeks ive had it!!

 

[justin00]

Grrr what can cause 2 batteries to go from 20 flight to both 12 min......pretty sure motors are fine... no noising/stifness/wierd on any 4 motors


Grrrr!!!

 

[DownunderPhantom]

The first thing I would do is take the bird out and fly to see how long it will actually stays in the air for.

Use a stop watch because the time displayed on the app sometimes varies depending on the conditions.

This email I received from DJI may be of interest.

Dear Donald
The flight time really varies.
A fully charged new battery could last up to 25 minutes in an ideal conditions. However, 15 minute may be guaranteed.
Thank you

Best Regards,

So if you are getting less than 15 minutes flight times, there is either a problem with the batteries or the bird itself. Contact the hobby shop and talk to them, they may even replace everything, who knows.

 

[Jstic]

Over discharging and heat are the number one killers of lipo batteries. I use the 80% rule as described here: http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-lipo-batteries.html

If you want some confirmation of this theory, take two batteries out and fly them starting with a full charge. Fly one down to less than 15%, the other down to 50%. The one you flew to 15% will be MUCH warmer than the 50% battery.

Not sure if this is OP's problem, but I thought it is worth mentioning. Seems that there are lots of battery opinions on sites like this. I am not an expert or battery engineer.

I now have over 100 charges on both my batteries that I bought new with my P2V+. I almost never go below 25% on either battery. Both are still running strong, give me a full 15 minutes+ in the air depending on how I fly, and neither is showing any sign of bloating or expansion. I believe that DJI's recommendation of discharging to 8% or less has more to do with balancing than conditioning.

 

[justin00]

Ive only disgarged 18 times it says.

went out just before... 1 battery said 18 min so I was pleased.... then it changed to 14 a second later. Wasnt moving it abput.. it was just hovering..

Is it possible turning off "fpv" mode cpuld have an affect? I spose it needs to move gimbal motors and what not???

Just trying to think of everything nefore i take it to shop and they keep it for god knows how long...... they will no doubt say my 2grams of aluminium tape for gps is doing it... luckily they said its fine if case gas been removed...

 

[Panamon Creel]

Why do you say not to worry?? I'm losing 8 mins ???

don't listen to that guy... he knows nothing about batteries... he made a comment back there...

BTW switch the battery first ON for charging if you want to charge a above 75% charged P2 battery

Don't do that... Always plug in the charger to the battery first and power it up... THEN turn the battery on if it's not charging because it's over 75%

oh look my fan who is stalking me since I called BS on stories he made up on what is written in the manual.

Anyways back to you Justin. I said don't worry because the shown flight time is an estimate on the remaining capacity and not an exact time. Fly it and track the actual time also check the individual cell voltages after the flight/use and like before see if there are larger differences between cells. Start to worry if you get large cell voltage differences after use and even worse if you get low battery alarms while the capacity indicator is still showing a high remaining percentage.
And yes you should connect the charger leads to the battery first but that's standard procedure for normally charging the battery anyways just that you now manually power the battery on to commence charging since it won't self power on if the charge is above 75%.

 

[chrish]

Hi
I found this video about battery charging on Youtube it might help with your problem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI_tYJY3GEc
Regards
Chris

 

[Panamon Creel]

Ive only disgarged 18 times it says.

went out just before... 1 battery said 18 min so I was pleased.... then it changed to 14 a second later. Wasnt moving it abput.. it was just hovering..

Is it possible turning off "fpv" mode cpuld have an affect? I spose it needs to move gimbal motors and what not???

Just trying to think of everything nefore i take it to shop and they keep it for god knows how long...... they will no doubt say my 2grams of aluminium tape for gps is doing it... luckily they said its fine if case gas been removed...

I doubt that FPV mode on/off will impact the current draw since it just reduces the servo response a bit and if then it should be a little less current draw with insignificant change to overall fly time since the servos are not high current draw items.
The big current draw items are the 4 motors so issues there can have a big impact on flight time.
Btw just to make sure, you are using the OEM charger, props, motors,... etc. right?

 

[justin00]

Ya using stock everything.

Anyways took it yo the shop I got it. They can test it out and diagnose properly... should hear back tomorrow. Miss the ol girl but atleast didnt fly away

Thanks for everyones help