confused elderly

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Hello all from western australia,
I am a 75 yr old rc model aircraft enthusiast for 60 odd years and have just bought my first drone, being a pensioner I would love to have a phantom 4 but afraid thats a bit out of my price range so I bought a used phantom 2 with go-pro hero 3 and a H3-3D gimbal also a diversity screen monitor, one battery was included, but therein lies my problem. I fully charged the battery then I checked out the voltage etc on the phantom 2 assistant PC program.. it read 98% full.. I went to our flying field and off it went, great!! hovered, flew around the field, then after about 5-6 minutes the drone came back and landed b y itself, I checked the battery and there was only one green bar showing, I packed up and went home then I let the battery cool for and hour or two and connected it to the PC, there were 3 and a half bars showing on the battery now, what gives?? the PC prog said the battery had 79% left, is this a self charging battery or what? at the field it wouldnt arm but at home later it armed OK and had plenty of power for liftoff. what would cause this behaviour? anyone who has any ideas would be much appreciated, (I just ordered another battery as just having the one battery seemed a bit pointless..)
thanks
Ozkiwi
 
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How many charges are on ths battery? It's just getting old like the rest of us. We think we are up to it, but we lose our charge fast. Your new battery should do much better.

Agreed, sounds like you have a bad battery. Luckily your drone returned and landed itself before the battery gave up the ghost...

Have fun!!!
 
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How many charges are on ths battery? It's just getting old like the rest of us. We think we are up to it, but we lose our charge fast. Your new battery should do much better.
the battery has only had 20 charges, but I think it sat for quite a while before I bought it..
 
Improper storage is a major battery killer. A new batt can be badly compromised if not stored correctly.
 
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Improper storage is a major battery killer. A new batt can be badly compromised if not stored correctly.


Beat me to it. Yes agreed, improper storage can be a battery killer.
 
Well, since none of these other guys said it,
WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!!
I'm no help with your P2, but I'd agree with everyone on the battery issue. I recently purchased a "New, in box, OEM" battery for my P4. It arrived and I threw it on the charger immediately. Not one light. 24 hours later? Nothing. It had sat for a loooong time. Nothing is forever, and poor storage/maintenance will kill the best of us!

Brad
 
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Well, since none of these other guys said it,
WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!!
I'm no help with your P2, but I'd agree with everyone on the battery issue. I recently purchased a "New, in box, OEM" battery for my P4. It arrived and I threw it on the charger immediately. Not one light. 24 hours later? Nothing. It had sat for a loooong time. Nothing is forever, and poor storage/maintenance will kill the best of us!

Brad

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post, I wonder if there is any way to use the case of the old battery and add a couple of 3 cell lipo's, I think I read somewhere that the "smart" part of the case would be a peoblem.. has anyone done this??
Ozkiwi
 
Thanks to everyone who responded to my post, I wonder if there is any way to use the case of the old battery and add a couple of 3 cell lipo's, I think I read somewhere that the "smart" part of the case would be a peoblem.. has anyone done this??
Ozkiwi

It might be worth trying to replace your own battery pack if the device was something like a model car that couldn't get into much trouble.

But if it doesn't work out for a drone, you risk never seeing the drone again.
 
I have a P2 that I don't fly much, as I have a P4p. The battery needs to be stored at a 50% charge, when the 3rd charge light starts to blink. Improper storage can trash a battery. New OEM batteries are expensive if you can find one. You might try some 3rd party batteries, but look for a battery that gets good reviews. Most on this forum are not willing to risk their $1000-$1500 investment on a 3rd party battery, but your P2 is not worth nearly that, so I would suggest a 3rd party, others may chime in. If you do get a 3rd party battery, test it with a flight over soft ground around 10' and see how long it lasts. While your current battery charges fully, when you put it under load you only got 5-6 minutes before it auto landed because of low battery. I wouldn't rely on that battery. General rule of thumb with batteries,
Always take off with a fresh 100% charged battery
Bring your drone home when battery level reaches 30%

As far as replacing the Lipos, the battery has a circuit board in it that you"ll have to preserve as it communicates with the P2. You will have to cut the battery to get it apart, I have seen a video of it being done, not easy and there is the danger of nicking the battery which could cause a fire. I have also seen a warning, Not OEM battery, with my P2 although I was using an OEM batt, so who knows what it will see if you replace the Lipos. If you decide to continue on with this hobby, the newer drones use an App on your phone or tablet that makes flying more interesting.

Good Luck!
 
It might be worth trying to replace your own battery pack if the device was something like a model car that couldn't get into much trouble.

But if it doesn't work out for a drone, you risk never seeing the drone again.
I'm gonna agree with his statement 137%. If it were something that never left the ground, or maybe you didnt like it too much, maybe. Otherwise I personally think it's a bad idea. You're an adult, and you can do as you please, but you're asking for advice and we're trying to help. If you're an electrical engineer and you feel you can pull it off, more power (pun intended) to ya. I'm not that confident in my electronics skills, and my wife would absolutely kill me GYD (grave yard ded) if I lost or destroyed a $1000 drone doing something like this. That's my advice, worth exactly what ya paid for it! ? Good luck, whichever direction you take on it.

Brad
 

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