Dual Battery Mod

[Silverwingflinx]

More test results if people are interested. This serves to test the comparison between different dual batteries.

This time my test was not as clinical (my wife got pissed off with me flying in the dining room!). All tests were performed back to back on the same day. Temperature didn't change much throughout the day but the wind did get stronger later in the day (4400's & 5200's). I hovered at 100m height and ran the battery from 100% to 15%. DJI battery was fitted in all of these tests (I've stopped progressing the DJI battery-less version because the battery manager is being a pain in the ***)

FLIGHT TIMES

Split DJI Battery - 27:50
2 x Hyperion 1800 - 29:15
2 x Hyperion 2800 - 32:51
2 x Hyperion 3650 - 34:12
2 x Hyperion 4400 - 36:51 (strong winds)
2 x MultiStar 5200 - 37:47 (strong winds)

I reckon that on a good day the 5200's could get 40mins.

I also have 2 x MultiStar 6600's but I think that I'm already pushing bird hard thanx for the testing and the post i was just thinking about the multistar 6000 and 6600 doing my own split mod.


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[Silverwingflinx]

So is anyone contemplating splitting the 6600 mAh into two externals for better balance, over adding it as a single brick below the VPS? It would add 1000 more mAh than my two 2800 mAh MaxAmps for only 34g more!

yes i want to try this soon

 

[Ed209]

37minutes with one 5.2? Maybe under very different conditions to my test.

There are so many variables, it's difficult to get a 'normal' flight time for a specific battery size. Iv tried to show this as a like for like (ish) comparison. I don't want to split one of my 5.2's to try it but I suspect that it would be similar to the 2 x 2800's (similar weight and mah). Perhaps someone with both could to a couple of tests for a like for like comparison.


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More test results if people are interested. This serves to test the comparison between different dual batteries.

This time my test was not as clinical (my wife got pissed off with me flying in the dining room!). All tests were performed back to back on the same day. Temperature didn't change much throughout the day but the wind did get stronger later in the day (4400's & 5200's). I hovered at 100m height and ran the battery from 100% to 15%. DJI battery was fitted in all of these tests (I've stopped progressing the DJI battery-less version because the battery manager is being a pain in the ***)

FLIGHT TIMES

Split DJI Battery - 27:50
2 x Hyperion 1800 - 29:15
2 x Hyperion 2800 - 32:51
2 x Hyperion 3650 - 34:12
2 x Hyperion 4400 - 36:51 (strong winds)
2 x MultiStar 5200 - 37:47 (strong winds)

I reckon that on a good day the 5200's could get 40mins.

I also have 2 x MultiStar 6600's but I think that I'm already pushing bird hard.


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Thanks for the testing. Any input is good input. There's a few things we have found in testing:

#1 40 mins is possible with 5200s in good conditions 9.23mi 40min Flight - Midnight Skunk Works!

#2 The discharge rate with a split 4S (2x2S) is somehow greater and our results have consistently shown this

 

[BeauS]

I'm not sure if I'm following you? You mean charge the DJI battery on the D100? I always charge the DJI battery with the DJI charger and charge my external batteries with the D100.

Oh gotcha, just the external on the D100.

 

[Silverwingflinx]

So is anyone contemplating splitting the 6600 mAh into two externals for better balance, over adding it as a single brick below the VPS? It would add 1000 more mAh than my two 2800 mAh MaxAmps for only 34g more!

THERE IS A MULTISTAR lite 6000 364 GR WHICH IS 100GR LIGHTER THAN THE 5.2 SPLIT MOD.THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO TRY NEXT.

 

[Ed209]

THERE IS A MULTISTAR lite 6000 364 GR WHICH IS 100GR LIGHTER THAN THE 5.2 SPLIT MOD.THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO TRY NEXT.

Those are 14.8v not 15.2v. By all means give it a shot. I tried the 4000 and 5200 and wasn't really impressed.

 

[Silverwingflinx]

Those are 14.8v not 15.2v. By all means give it a shot. I tried the 4000 and 5200 and wasn't really impressed.

yes thats right its just so hard to to wrap your head around all the different batt mods.i have 4 nanotech 1600 mah 14.8 and have had a 29 min flite down to 8% if i went to 1% could have been 32 mins..

 

[Ed209]

Yup I feel ya. It's a weight vs voltage trade off. Worth a shot! Let us know what you find!

 

[FredzMaxxUAV]

THERE IS A MULTISTAR lite 6000 364 GR WHICH IS 100GR LIGHTER THAN THE 5.2 SPLIT MOD.THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO TRY NEXT.

You mean this one? Multistar High Capacity Lightweight 4S 6000mAh 2C Multi-Rotor Lipo Pack
It only has a 2-3C discharge. The weight is amazing, but you would need at least a 10C constant discharge (with peaks to 15 or 20C at the least). I wouldn't even try these!

 

[Fanti]

THERE IS A MULTISTAR lite 6000 364 GR WHICH IS 100GR LIGHTER THAN THE 5.2 SPLIT MOD.THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO TRY NEXT.

They are useless. tried them. 17 mins flight time. Dont deliver the amps. Dji batt down to 10%. Multistar still 60%.

 

[Gizmoh]

FLIGHT TIMES

Split DJI Battery - 27:50
2 x Hyperion 1800 - 29:15
2 x Hyperion 2800 - 32:51
2 x Hyperion 3650 - 34:12
2 x Hyperion 4400 - 36:51 (strong winds)
2 x MultiStar 5200 - 37:47 (strong winds)

I reckon that on a good day the 5200's could get 40mins.

I also have 2 x MultiStar 6600's but I think that I'm already pushing bird hard.


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Whaaatt , 2 Multistar 5200 at 433g each or its a typo ? that's 866g of additional load!!

 

[Silverwingflinx]

You mean this one? Multistar High Capacity Lightweight 4S 6000mAh 2C Multi-Rotor Lipo Pack
It only has a 2-3C discharge. The weight is amazing, but you would need at least a 10C constant discharge (with peaks to 15 or 20C at the least). I wouldn't even try these!

thax fredz your right will not work...back to the drawing board.....

 

[FredzMaxxUAV]

thax fredz your right will not work...back to the drawing board.....

Actually, you need about 15-20A. A 6000mAh 2C battery will offer 6*2=12A with peaks to 18A. That's not enough, constant should be at least 15A with peaks to 20A, at the very least. Fanti has tried it, and it was bad, so I wouldn't try it.

 

[Silverwingflinx]

They are useless. tried them. 17 mins flight time. Dont deliver the amps. Dji batt down to 10%. Multistar still 60%.

thax fanti for the info you saved me time and money...

 

[dirtybum]

Whaaatt , 2 Multistar 5200 at 433g each or its a typo ? that's 866g of additional load!!

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160416/0dd15246eef344905ef2281a9bb000b0.jpg
He wasnt using the smartbat w/ those flights, he modded the smartcap.

 

[hebs]

No, I've given up on the smart cap for a while - it keeps locking out. My flights were with DJI battery AND 2 x additional batteries - yes, an additional 850g (ish) load. I don't plan on doing that often because it must put a lot of extra strain on the motors and shell. I'm sure the MTBF will be reduced. I'd be interested to know if anyone has got near 40mins with fewer batteries.

The 2800's and 3650's are more sustainable in my mind, based on my initial load testing.


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[Ed209]

No, I've given up on the smart cap for a while - it keeps locking out. My flights were with DJI battery AND 2 x additional batteries - yes, an additional 850g (ish) load. I don't plan on doing that often because it must put a lot of extra strain on the motors and shell. I'm sure the MTBF will be reduced. I'd be interested to know if anyone has got near 40mins with fewer batteries.

The 2800's and 3650's are more sustainable in my mind, based on my initial load testing.


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What's causing it to lock out? What happens? I have a DJI board in tact with plugs etc that I was thinking of wiring up to experiment with. You tapped into the balance plug? Does DJI Go or the board recognize battery capacities different from the standard 4480mAh?

I got 39m45s with the DJI bat + 5200.

 

[dirtybum]

No, I've given up on the smart cap for a while - it keeps locking out. My flights were with DJI battery AND 2 x additional batteries - yes, an additional 850g (ish) load. I don't plan on doing that often because it must put a lot of extra strain on the motors and shell. I'm sure the MTBF will be reduced. I'd be interested to know if anyone has got near 40mins with fewer batteries.

The 2800's and 3650's are more sustainable in my mind, based on my initial load testing.


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That's interesting I didn't know you still had the additional weight of the smart battery, pretty gutsy and obviously I can try the same thing myself but I'd be interested if you had a video of some of the heavier stuff to see how it handled for you! Thanks for testing

 

[hebs]

It doesn't recognise the extra capacity but it does seem to limit the amount of mah going through it e.g. With 2 x 5200's (no DJI battery in this instance) both wired to the unswitched side, it only let through 4480ish mah (the same as the standard battery). When I moved one of the 5200's to the switched side then it fully utilised that battery and not as much from the battery on the unswitched side (I'm guessing that the board limits it).

The main issue that I had was that the board kept going into different states. I found that sometimes it would work fine then when it locked out, the 5 second reset would sometimes get it to work again, then when that didn't work, 5 second press followed by a few seconds of charging to trigger a reset..... then when that didn't work I had to actually charge a battery through the board and convince it that it was fully charged again (it wouldn't always reset the charge % unless I could trick it into thinking that it had actually charged its battery again).

The battery manager doesn't like being disconnected and reconnected to batteries all of the time, particularly when they are at different charge states.
I considered using a small mah Lipo permanently connected to the battery manager in order to keep it alive (a 1200mah would fit neatly into the battery compartment) and connect 2 bigger batteries to do most of the work. This way, although I would have to charge the 1200mah (through the battery manager) it is a small battery and would charge quickly).

Anyway, it has proved to be a pain in the *** so I just have put that plan on ice and just hard-wired some XT60 connectors straight into the bird and use unmodified batteries plus the extra LiHV's


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[hebs]

You tapped into the balance plug?
.

At first I tapped into the balance plug, but there isn't really any need unless you are charging (I have only modded one of my 4 DJI batteries).


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