Battery Life

[dentedk]

Greetings! I am new to the Phantom 2 and loving it so far! I have flown it a dozen or so times and have a question on battery life. I am only getting about 11 min per flight (half of what it is supposed to get!!!) The only add ons are the zenmuse and gopro and the transmitter. ANy ideas on how to make the battery last longer?

Thanks!

 

[C-Mac13]

Monday I did my first timed flight and got 14 min loaded with gimbal, camera, OSD mini and AVL58. I think depending on your style of flying you might not be far off.

 

[ianwood]

11 is pretty short. I almost always get the first battery warning right at 15 minutes. Then I can go for another 2 - 3 minutes, bring it in to hover for a while and shut down at around 18% battery. This is with the Futaba receiver, Zenmuse, GoPro, Fatshark 250mW and iOSD.

Cop a feel on your motors when you shut down. If any of them are significantly warmer than the others, you may have a motor issue.

 

[dentedk]

Just flew again. 11:44 from take off until I shot the camera off. Took about 4 min to acquire satellites. All the motors were barely warm when I shut it down. Regardless of the flight time, this thing is FUN!

 

[goldfishrock]

I'm getting about the same as Ian. 14-15 mins before I get the warning LEDs. I'm carrying Futaba R2008SB Receiver, Zenmuse, GoPro, IOSD Mini, ImmersionRC vTX and Flytrex Core. It's up to it's max all up weight a few grams under 1300.

It could be flying style. If you fly everywhere full stick it will use more juice.

 

[dentedk]

I rarely fly full stick. When I can afford a new battery I am going to see if that is the issue.

 

[Jax Quad]

I get between 12-14 minutes and I usually fly pretty fast and hard, full fpv setup with GoPro.

My Vision used to get a solid 23-25 minutes, that's the only thing I miss about it.

I have 4 batteries and they all get the same time. I don't fly past 25% though as I've noticed with the extra weight it can lose power at any second.

 

[ianwood]

I get between 12-14 minutes and I usually fly pretty fast and hard, full fpv setup with GoPro.

My Vision used to get a solid 23-25 minutes, that's the only thing I miss about it.

I have 4 batteries and they all get the same time. I don't fly past 25% though as I've noticed with the extra weight it can lose power at any second.

That's a big difference. What is the weight of a P2V?

 

[chopperflyer]

Greetings! I am new to the Phantom 2 and loving it so far! I have flown it a dozen or so times and have a question on battery life. I am only getting about 11 min per flight (half of what it is supposed to get!!!) The only add ons are the zenmuse and gopro and the transmitter. ANy ideas on how to make the battery last longer?

Thanks!

With new battery's sometimes it can take a couple of full charge's to get full power, have you fully charged the battery, and what amp's is all the equipment drawing, what setting's are set in the firmware, a lot of things can diminish your battery fast, go through every thing and see where you can boost thing's

 

[poostik]

Then I can go for another 2 - 3 minutes, bring it in to hover for a while and shut down at around 18% battery.

Is that a good percentage to leave the batteries at?

 

[ianwood]

Then I can go for another 2 - 3 minutes, bring it in to hover for a while and shut down at around 18% battery.

Is that a good percentage to leave the batteries at?

I am not the most experienced on RC batteries, but from what I understand of LiPo batteries, you want to use only 80% of the available capacity to get maximum life out of it. And then every 20 cycles, run it down to 8%.

 

[poostik]

Then I can go for another 2 - 3 minutes, bring it in to hover for a while and shut down at around 18% battery.

Is that a good percentage to leave the batteries at?

I am not the most experienced on RC batteries, but from what I understand of LiPo batteries, you want to use only 80% of the available capacity to get maximum life out of it. And then every 20 cycles, run it down to 8%.

Thanks. I'll have to keep a flight log.

 

[ianwood]

Thanks. I'll have to keep a flight log.

When you plug in the assistant software, it will tell you how many cycles the battery has done.

 

[dentedk]

Being a noob is lame sometimes! LOL I plugged it in after I flew (11 min flight time with some easy flying) and the battery was still at 30%. I was bringing it back and landing it when the green light started to flash red. Looks like I can get a bit longer flight time. I am not sure about the voltage of everything.....but all that I am using is the Zenmuse gimble, GoPro, and the DJI 5.8 transmitter. I sm going to try to fly it until the lights quick flash red tomorrow to see how long I can get! Thanks all!

 

[C-Mac13]

Good news.

 

[goldfishrock]

I sm going to try to fly it until the lights quick flash red tomorrow to see how long I can get! Thanks all!

Keep it close by once you get down to 25% or less. It seems that the power can fade quickly and you'll find your P2 will descend uncontrolled by you! I've learnt to quit at 30% while it's still 'safe'

 

[dentedk]

Will do! What kind of flight times are you getting when you are shutting down at 30%?

 

[Almmohd]

I hope it's making at least the 20 mins. I will get my p2 and gopro monday, hopefully.

I heard the gopro is charged through the gimbal, is there anyway to stop that?

 

[ianwood]

I hope it's making at least the 20 mins. I will get my p2 and gopro monday, hopefully.

I heard the gopro is charged through the gimbal, is there anyway to stop that?

Charge your GoPro before flight.

 

[AlTiTuDe06]

Will do! What kind of flight times are you getting when you are shutting down at 30%?

Just flew mine 16min to 30% 16+\- wind...
Phantom 2,zenmuse,gopro,immersion 600mw, iosd mini,and tk102b tracker... 1343grams