Battery life + IOSD level

[sjespers]

This is a bit of a n00b question but I had a question about battery life and when the red light should start blinking.

I just installed FPV with IOSD and noticed that the red light starts blinking when my battery level hits ~10.5v. The battery indicator on the IOSD however still shows a full battery. So... I'm not sure what is supposed to happen. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Dave Pitman]

This is a bit of a n00b question but I had a question about battery life and when the red light should start blinking.

I just installed FPV with IOSD and noticed that the red light starts blinking when my battery level hits ~10.5v. The battery indicator on the IOSD however still shows a full battery. So... I'm not sure what is supposed to happen. Any thoughts? Thanks!

There is a known problem with the iOSD and the battery icon. The voltage should show correctly though.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2030312
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... 64&page=48

 

[sjespers]

Good to know. So how far can I take the battery? 10.5v still seems like a lot of juice.

 

[Dave Pitman]

Good to know. So how far can I take the battery? 10.5v still seems like a lot of juice.

Here is your weekend reading, lol.
http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-lipo-batteries.html

 

[sjespers]

It sounds like this is a known issue with the IOSD Mini. One user suggests that this update (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost ... stcount=28) fixed it for him but it doesn't seem to change anything for me.

 

[Gizmo3000]

Good to know. So how far can I take the battery? 10.5v still seems like a lot of juice.

10.5 is about right, tho I've seen some people post that they go down to 10.2 or lower. But that can really be pushing it if you fly past that. Better safe than sorry.
If you're flying with the iOSD, the first failsafe level is pretty much meaningless, as you won't see the red lights and the craft will appear to fly normally.

Keep your eye on the volts,. and try to end the flight with the voltage showing around 10.5 (under load). which is right about where I have my 2nd level battery failsafe set at.

Every craft and battery can be different, so it's rather ideal, if you haven't already, is have a good battery charger that can tell you how many Mah you're putting back into the battery, as well as a good cell checker (or even the little cheap ones with the digital readouts), so you can check the battery levels immediately after flying and after it's cooled down.

I'm only now finally grasping what works and what doesn't, but I'd say it's better to err towards safety than risk battery failure or depletion in the air.