OK, so my experience with lipo batteries has been with scale 4x4 trucks. The ESCs have a low voltage cutoff and you pretty much drive until the cutoff kicks in and change batteries. Never tracked voltages or worried about having reserve left in the battery. I run a 5100 mAh and can drive for almost 5 hours.
So now I have a 1.1.1 that came with a stock DJI 2200 battery, and I just bought two Multistar 4000 batteries. Here is what I've observed. The 1.1.1 has a GoPro and prop guards on it.
DJI 2200:
Flying until the led starts blinking red has given flight times of just over 6 minutes. I got one flight to almost 8 minutes with super easy flying. These flights bring the at-rest voltage a few minutes after flight to 11.2. Recharging puts 1466-1522 mAh back into it. So it's not quite hitting the 80% limit yet.
Multistar 4000:
First off, I've only got three cycles on these so far.
First cycle I set the low voltage alarm at 3.7V and flew until the red led flashed. This gave 7:00 and 7:30. The alarm never sounded. Upon landing the pack voltage read 11.3 and 11.5. Recharge was 1654 and 1545 mAh.
Second cycle I set the low voltage alarm at 3.6V and flew until the red led flashed. Flights were 7:20 and 7:22. Pack voltage right after landing was 11.4. Alarm never sounded. Recharge was 1452 and 1492 mAh.
Third cycle on one battery I set the alarm at 3.4V and flew until the red led was flashing steady, not just under heavy load. Flight was 8:07 and no alarm. Pack voltage after landing was 11.1. Recharge was 1885 mAh.
Third cycle on other battery I set alarm at 3.6V and flew until the alarm sounded. Flight was 7:15, and the auto land function kicked in right as I was starting to land. Pack voltage after landing was 11.1. Recharge was 1694 mAh.
So, it would seem that based on the charge going back into them, I'm not getting 80% of 4000 mAh out of them. Are they seriously overrated? Or just not broke in yet?
So now I have a 1.1.1 that came with a stock DJI 2200 battery, and I just bought two Multistar 4000 batteries. Here is what I've observed. The 1.1.1 has a GoPro and prop guards on it.
DJI 2200:
Flying until the led starts blinking red has given flight times of just over 6 minutes. I got one flight to almost 8 minutes with super easy flying. These flights bring the at-rest voltage a few minutes after flight to 11.2. Recharging puts 1466-1522 mAh back into it. So it's not quite hitting the 80% limit yet.
Multistar 4000:
First off, I've only got three cycles on these so far.
First cycle I set the low voltage alarm at 3.7V and flew until the red led flashed. This gave 7:00 and 7:30. The alarm never sounded. Upon landing the pack voltage read 11.3 and 11.5. Recharge was 1654 and 1545 mAh.
Second cycle I set the low voltage alarm at 3.6V and flew until the red led flashed. Flights were 7:20 and 7:22. Pack voltage right after landing was 11.4. Alarm never sounded. Recharge was 1452 and 1492 mAh.
Third cycle on one battery I set the alarm at 3.4V and flew until the red led was flashing steady, not just under heavy load. Flight was 8:07 and no alarm. Pack voltage after landing was 11.1. Recharge was 1885 mAh.
Third cycle on other battery I set alarm at 3.6V and flew until the alarm sounded. Flight was 7:15, and the auto land function kicked in right as I was starting to land. Pack voltage after landing was 11.1. Recharge was 1694 mAh.
So, it would seem that based on the charge going back into them, I'm not getting 80% of 4000 mAh out of them. Are they seriously overrated? Or just not broke in yet?