Dual Battery Mod

Silverwingflinx · Feb 14, 2016

phantom13flyer said:
There was a screen shot of a flight that was over 34 minutes and I can't seem to find it now. I'm going to email them and see I can get them to send me proof of the results .

Well if horizon fpv claims 34 mins with there battery mod post the video.....I would say it's possible..consider stock battery fly time x2 ...

KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

Id say this mod will get 30 approx. which is still great !! 34 .. I have a hard time seeing but looking forward to seeing some proof from more than one source !!

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droneshop · Feb 14, 2016

MVodhanel said:
Not directed at anyone in particular..., but has a smart battery been gutted yet and set up so the power and cell connections are available externally? So we get to loose the DJ battery (and the weight) entirely, and select our own desired size. Or, leave the center empty and carry two tandem 2s HV. Well, you get the idea. This P3P is extremely weight sensitive. Sometimes I think we are stuck in a rut with this smart battery since all of our solutions seem to include it. I would like to loose it and just keep what is necessary. I think this might be interesting.

None of mine are old enough to retire, but I will do it anyway I'm just curious if anyone has done this yet.

Why does no one just drop the smart battery altogether and power the p3 with their choice of 4s battery that fits in the battery bay, surely theres a 6000mah that would fit. add an xt connector where the dji connector is and let er rip.

KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

Another thing I noticed, the cells seem to be quite a difference between cell voltages even once charged. I'm not super familiar with lipos so hopefully an expert can chime in.
Another thing is once fully charged the cell voltage isn't balanced again.

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maxwell smart · Feb 14, 2016

Fredz said:
What battery is this?

Amazon.com: DJI P3 4500mAh Intelligent Battery for Phantom 3 Drones Uav(white)- For Phantom3 Standard/Professional/Advanced: Toys & Games

phantom13flyer · Feb 14, 2016

Here is the screen shot.

KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

Running a battery like that with that much of deviation in cell 4 seems like a quick way to destroy the battery ?? Or is that just me ?? This looks like 28-30 real world flying minutes ?? Anyone else thing different ?

Could you send the link where you found this !!

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Socal Rich · Feb 14, 2016

phantom13flyer said:
I saw on horizonfpv ' s website that they are selling the p3 smart battery split and modified . It requires sending them 2 p3 smart batteries for the modification plus about 100 dollars plus shipping . Which is kind of expensive but for guys like me that do not have the know how to do the modification, it is a nice option. The results is over 34 minutes of flight time which is amazing !!

I was just over at the site the other day checking out the dual battery mod and air side antenna mod they offer. I did notice they charge $90 for shipping and I still would have to pay shipping to them which kinda gets expensive lol. Do you know if their airside antenna mods work good? I'm running the DBS anntenna and have some boosters on the way and should be here this week to try. The battery mod and air side antenna though has me thinking going next.

MVodhanel · Feb 14, 2016

P3P Canada said:
They did it with the p2 .. Don't see why it wouldn't work with a p3

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Exactly, but for the P3. I need to do this. You get to handle the batteries more proffessionally, IE: use a charger that is actually balancing the cells. and keep LogView stats, etc... Couldn't hurt - right? I'll bet this is key to getting the best form factor.... Thanks for the Pic

KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

MVodhanel said:
Exactly, but for the P3. I need to do this. You get to handle the batteries more proffessionally, IE: use a charger that is actually balancing the cells. and keep LogView stats, etc... Couldn't hurt - right? I'll bet this is key to getting the best form factor.... Thanks for the Pic

I don't know you will be able to balance them any better than the p3 charger ? The p3 batteries have the balance circuit built into the cap of the battery and it handles the balancing.

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KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

P3P Canada said:
I don't know you will be able to balance them any better than the p3 charger ? The p3 batteries have the balance circuit built into the cap of the battery and it handles the balancing.

Edit: I can see this being an option to use generic rc batteries though. The only thing is that I think DJI has a good balance of flight time to weight at current setup. I think the best option may be the dual battery mode using another DJI smart battery split apart as FPV is doing now. It takes a little work (bringing leads for the balance port out ) but that seems to be better than the dual battery mod using generic RC batteries if there is any truth to their testing info.
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MVodhanel · Feb 14, 2016

P3P Canada said:
I don't know you will be able to balance them any better than the p3 charger ? The p3 batteries have the balance circuit built into the cap of the battery and it handles the balancing.

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You may be right about that but at least my LogView stats would't look so lame since I have to
use my iCharger in stupid, unbalance mode and rely completly on the battery intel, which gives
me no stats.

But, yeah the smart batteries really are neat in some ways. The way they balance, as you point out.
But if you want to do things like fast charge, and complicated cycles with discharges intended to
improve battery time it is hard to beat a standard power lead with the seperate lead for the cells.
required by advanced chargers.

Noble 1 · Feb 14, 2016

About when would you decide to retire a genuine stock DJI battery and use it for the mod? I've got 3 and each have around 30 charges. I'm confident I can do the mod myself easy. I have the connectors. But how do I charge it once I'm done? How do I make sure it's working correctly? Scary.

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MVodhanel · Feb 14, 2016

Noble 1 said:
About when would you decide to retire a genuine stock DJI battery and use it for the mod? I've got 3 and each have around 30 charges. I'm confident I can do the mod myself easy. I have the connectors. But how do I charge it once I'm done? How do I make sure it's working correctly? Scary.

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Ha! yeah I don't know how difficult it is really going to be. I have seen a lot of reports - most seem encouraging.

But no worries, I am the right person to do it. This gets no fear out of me. None of my batteries are ready, but I have decided I need this, so I will go through my logs and pick my worst and have at it.

The last time I researched this specific subject, dismantling a P3 battery, all I could find was a YouTube of some Non English speaking Asian boys really having a hard time taking one apart. They ended up taking blow torches to it. I am beginning to think it was a DJI plant designed to discourage folks.

I will probably do it within a week. This firmware crap by DJI has kind of undermined much of what I have been working on. I find myself totally distracted by it. We really need to beat this thing somehow.

KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

Noble 1 said:
About when would you decide to retire a genuine stock DJI battery and use it for the mod? I've got 3 and each have around 30 charges. I'm confident I can do the mod myself easy. I have the connectors. But how do I charge it once I'm done? How do I make sure it's working correctly? Scary.

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Personally I would only do this mod with a new battery, that way you aren't adding weak cells / damaged cells into the mix. What I would do myself is actually buy one of the clone batteries (since they are more than likely the EXACT same cells DJI uses .. And canabalize that battery rather than an OEM DJI one, since the cells are probably all the same and the only special thing DJI has done is out the "smart" brains in the battery cap.
Just my 2cents !

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MVodhanel · Feb 14, 2016

P3P Canada said:
Personally I would only do this mod with a new battery, that way you aren't adding weak cells / damaged cells into the mix. What I would do myself is actually buy one of the clone batteries (since they are more than likely the EXACT same cells DJI uses .. And canabalize that battery rather than an OEM DJI one, since the cells are probably all the same and the only special thing DJI has done is out the "smart" brains in the battery cap.
Just my 2cents !

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I guess my plan does follow that advice since I am using a genuine DJ battery, and it is a good one. A couple of unknowns, I guess is what happens to the existing battery history. Does it get in the way. Can it be cleared? I am hoping that it will reset itself - I have a feeling that it will. Oh Christ, am I going to find a jtag in there, or something and have to reverse a brand new system? Maybe I will wait a little longer before I open that battery up......

Like we haven't got enough to do?

KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

MVodhanel said:
I guess my plan does follow that advice since I am using a genuine DJ battery, and it is a good one. A couple of unknowns, I guess is what happens to the existing battery history. Does it get in the way. Can it be cleared? I am hoping that it will reset itself - I have a feeling that it will. Oh Christ, am I going to find a jtag in there, or something and have to reverse a brand new system? Maybe I will wait a little longer before I open that battery up...... Like we haven't got enough to do?

Ha ha ha ha !!!! I vaguely remember reading somewhere that there is no way to clear the cycles on battery (but I think that was in the p2 days) I think if I remember right someone was trying to reuse an old battery cap and the charge count didn't reset, I don't know if that would matter any how though lol !!

Hoping for no jtag [emoji6]

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KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

MVodhanel said:
I guess my plan does follow that advice since I am using a genuine DJ battery, and it is a good one. A couple of unknowns, I guess is what happens to the existing battery history. Does it get in the way. Can it be cleared? I am hoping that it will reset itself - I have a feeling that it will. Oh Christ, am I going to find a jtag in there, or something and have to reverse a brand new system? Maybe I will wait a little longer before I open that battery up...... Like we haven't got enough to do?

This is for the p2 battery but I'm assuming that most of it will carry over to the p3 battery. If what I found in the screenshot below I was wrong, you can reset the "smart cap". And the video shows how to disassemble!!

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Noble 1 · Feb 14, 2016

P3P Canada said:
Personally I would only do this mod with a new battery, that way you aren't adding weak cells / damaged cells into the mix. What I would do myself is actually buy one of the clone batteries (since they are more than likely the EXACT same cells DJI uses .. And canabalize that battery rather than an OEM DJI one, since the cells are probably all the same and the only special thing DJI has done is out the "smart" brains in the battery cap.
Just my 2cents !

So if I go by this logic then you recommend us buying 2 clones. One for splitting in half and the other for adding the soldered xt60 adapter mod?

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KyleMaxxUAV · Feb 14, 2016

Noble 1 said:
So if I go by this logic then you recommend us buying 2 clones. One for splitting in half and the other for adding the soldered xt60 adapter mod?

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The battery you are canabalizing is the one I recommend to be a clone since the "DJI" part of the battery won't be used (for anyone scared to buy a clone). I have ordered a clone to test as a regular battery but it is not here yet so for the main battery I cannot recommend using a clone yet.

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