F450 ARF Kit with E300

[jwwgold]

I am coming from a failed Phantom2 VisionPlus. 6 week old quad, no video what so ever, that's another story. I just got everything except batteries and charger for the F450. I really liked the long fly times of the P2V+ and would like to get long times on the F450. I will have the H3-3D and GoPro camera with Boscam TS353 on the quad. What battery would you suggest, size, brand, and charger?

Thanks!

 

[Pull_Up]

I'm running a 4S 3600mAh on my F450. Unloaded (i.e. no FPV gear, camera or gimbal) I'm getting about 15 minutes of flight time until first level warning on that setup - mine does not have the E300, though, which is apparently more efficient. I don't have enough experience with lipos yet to say what's a good brand, and what isn't - someone will be along with an opinion soon, though!

 

[ladykate]

There is quite a bit of discussion on this strewn throughout the 550 thread. You are asking for what seems to be a heavily discussed topic that has personal preferences.

I have had great luck with Onyx batteries. I don't have a 450 so I won't recommend the size but you could probably use up to a 8000 with 3s (the Helipal RTF version uses a 5700 Storm and the Onyx has a lot more oomph). Others will recommend 4s.

I use an iCharger... others have their favorites. http://www.progressiverc.com/icharger-208b.html - you can also use much cheaper chargers - as long as they are balance chargers. The expensive chargers are needed for the bigger (6s) batteries and for convenience/time saving.


Since you are using a heavier machine, you will need a bigger battery to even come close to the P2 flight times. However, getting the really long flight times you have enjoyed with the Vision will probably be difficult.

 

[jwwgold]

Thanks. I figured I wouldn't get the times I had on the V+ but 15 minutes without a panic would be nice. I've tried searches on batteries and the search engine always says I need to be more specific. It was difficult. It would be nice to have a date in the search would be nice since I've found that I have been reading some things that are 6 months plus old. Things change a lot in a matter of months. I'll look up the Onyx brand. I suppose I have to solder on the type of connector that I want to use on the new battery? There is another multi wire coming from the battery and I suppose that connects to a battery sensor?

 

[Pull_Up]

Yes to soldering on whatever your preferred connector is if it doesn't come in your required flavour - lots of good youtube videos out there about how to do that. Just snip and solder one wire at a time to prevent a nasty short.

The multi-wire is the balancing plug. When used with a balance charger it's this that allows each cell to be matched. In flight it just hangs out, waving in the breeze. Some accessories like lights, battery voltage buzzers, etc, use it as a power source.