How to improve battery life?

[Bencio]

Hi, i have a phantom 1 with onboard:
stock motors and propellers
orange 7 channel receiver
turningy 22000mah 25c battery
tarot T2D gimbal
gopro hero 3
video transmitter
400mah battery for gimbal and transmitter

i can get at most 6 minute with an almost stationary flight, usually 5 or 4 when is bad, I tried to power gimbal and transimitter trough the main battery to have less weight but it's the same, i never tried to change the low-voltage alarm settings so they are dafault, how can i improve my flight time?

 

[UrAwFuL]

If your Phantom uses the black/white CW/CCW self-tightening propellers, I would switch to Phantom 2 propellers as it gives a good amount of extra flight time.

 

[4wd]

Probably you are overdue changing to a different platform, you must be close to the P1 weight limit with what is on now - so an additional battery isn't going to be a good idea.
You could go to a slightly bigger single one though?
Might get an extra minute or two.
I assume that's a typo in your post and 22000 should be 2200!
I think you can fit a 2800 in the bay with no mods but it is a little bigger so will be tight to close up.

 

[Clipper707]

+1 on UrAwFuL's P2 prop recommendation.

On my P1, I switched from oem to Mad Dog 2700mah batteries. Once with P2 props and no payload, I got 20.5 minutes flight time (mostly just hovering and flying slow.)

Carrying a GoPro (no gimbal or FPV) I normally saw 14-15 minutes flight time vs 11-12 minutes with the stock batteries.

 

[Bencio]

thanks for the answers
i have the old propeller version are there something similar for that kind?, i had carbon fiber propeller but i crashed and broke them at first flight so i can't say if they were better, also seeing what they can do to people in case of crash convinced me to not buy them again.
right now i can't afford a new platform, also i think is better to wait and build an exacopter for bigger cameras when i have the money.
and what about low voltage settings? after a flight voltage is around 3.8v per cell isn't it a bit high?

 

[OI Photography]

-Get some P2 props, you'll need to determine if you have motors ready for the self-tightening version. If not there's still a version you can use.
-As mentioned, a bigger batt will help a lot. The mad dog 2700 is good, the Dinogy 2800mAh and Pulse 2700mAh are worthy options too.
-Lose the extra battery for the gimbal and tx, the extra weight is eating more flight time than it could ever save you. Your P1 should have a grey/red aux power lead you can use for both components.
-Trim weight any other way you can, that's your biggest enemy to flight time. Determining your total flight weight in grams will help you know what flight times to expect.

 

[notsojazzyjeff]

Hey guys. I am actually thinking of getting the p2 props as well. I just had some questions regarding the 'side effects' of the switch. I have an FC40 with self tightening props so I assume the go attach to the phantom just as easily as what I have, but I recall reading about some other issues that could result in a crash or something like that. That is why I have held off to get them. Anyone heard of any negative side effects from switching to p2 props?

 

[Bencio]

can you please tell me where to find the propellers?
i found these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Pair-9-Plasti ... 2c815e19fc
and these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-9443-DJI-Ph ... 8924&rt=nc

are they good? these are the only plastic non self tighten i found, the others are only carbon fiber, but i don't want them.

 

[OI Photography]

Hey guys. I am actually thinking of getting the p2 props as well. I just had some questions regarding the 'side effects' of the switch. I have an FC40 with self tightening props so I assume the go attach to the phantom just as easily as what I have, but I recall reading about some other issues that could result in a crash or something like that. That is why I have held off to get them. Anyone heard of any negative side effects from switching to p2 props?

You'll find they're not quite as smooth in flight as the stock 8" props you're used to...they'll feel jumpier or twitchier and some people find that adjusting the gains a bit is necessary to get that under control. But, some people throw them on with no adjustments and they work just fine.

can you please tell me where to find the propellers?

Stick with the DJI brand props: http://1uas.com/DJI-Propeller-9-White-P ... uts-To-Fix

At least one if not both of the ones you linked are copies that are known to cause problems on a Phantom.

 

[Bencio]

thanks, i thought dji didn't make those kind of props without self tighten nuts.
do you know other shops that sell them? this one has a 39$ shipment to italy, it's too much...

 

[notsojazzyjeff]

So things like "jumpier" and "twitchier" worry me because beyond flight time my 2nd priority would be to get as smooth video as possible. I have gimbal and while the video is very smooth there is still the occasional slight gitter in choppy wind conditions that the gimbal can't help with. I would had to magnify that. What do you think?