low battery after only 16 minutes

[Corey Tucker]

Now that i have a p4, i'm sending my p3 on missions with that litchi app. but i just scheduled a 16 minute mission, no prob right, but when it got back it was all beeping cuz low battery. i thought this thing did like 25 minutes on a charge?? it wwasn't windy or anything so why is it only lasting that long? its only a couple of months old btw so its not supposed to be used up

 

[FantomFlier]

Now that i have a p4, i'm sending my p3 on missions with that litchi app. but i just scheduled a 16 minute mission, no prob right, but when it got back it was all beeping cuz low battery. i thought this thing did like 25 minutes on a charge?? it wwasn't windy or anything so why is it only lasting that long? its only a couple of months old btw so its not supposed to be used up

The P3 lasting 16 minutes is not unusual. 25 Minutes would certainly be unusual!
What is your warning limit set to?

 

[alokbhargava]

Now that i have a p4, i'm sending my p3 on missions with that litchi app. but i just scheduled a 16 minute mission, no prob right, but when it got back it was all beeping cuz low battery. i thought this thing did like 25 minutes on a charge?? it wwasn't windy or anything so why is it only lasting that long? its only a couple of months old btw so its not supposed to be used up

How much battery was left when P3 completed its mission? Low voltage alert doesn't mean battery is drained out.

As a precaution, don't plan missions for 16 min or longer. I'm a safe flier, my missions are usually 12 minutes long.

 

[Corey Tucker]

23% is what it says. i guess i need to just lower my warning thing. i hadn't messed with it, but i dont' want it rth early. thanks

 

[BigAl07]

23% is getting fairly low for "Safe and Careful" flight. You don't want to routinely push your battery much deeper than that. By scheduling your flight to return near this amount you've leaving very little room for error.

Just my 2 cents worth

 

[happydays]

What did you start with?

 

[Cacc]

16-18 minutes is a pretty standard flight time for the P3, bringing the battery to 20-25%. It is rated for 22 minutes I believe, but that is if you were to push it right from 100% to 0% -- obviously not recommended. Rarely do I bring the battery below 25% but I have noticed that that last 25% drains a lot faster than the first 25%, so be careful when dropping below that.

 

[MapMaker53]

You definitely should not set the warning lower than 25%. It is basically to just give you a heads up to start thinking about where your bird is and how far it has to fly back on the remaining battery. It's up to you to then take into account distance and wind direction and decide when to head back. There will come a time when you will be out too far to make it back if you set that warning any lower. Then again, I personally am not a big risk taker when it comes to $1000 item. Up to you.

 

[Corey Tucker]

but it comes back anyway if it gets to low, right? so does it matter what the warning is?

 

[MapMaker53]

It will TRY to return once the battery hits the RTH level, but if you have sent it out too far or it is hitting into a head wind on the way back it will not make it back and will auto land in a tree, a pond, on a roof, highway.... who knows where, before it gets to you. For example.. it can hit a strong enough head wind when headed back that (1) it won't be able to overcome the force of the wind or (2) the battery will deplete at a faster rate due to the motors fighting the wind and not make it back home.

If you are just flying in your backyard or a small park.. no problem. But if you are sending it out to a point where you can barely still see it in the sky, keep the warning at 25%.

 

[alokbhargava]

but it comes back anyway if it gets to low, right? so does it matter what the warning is?

It initiates RTH based on your settings and you should have enough juice left in the batteries to get her back safely on the day of flying.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

but it comes back anyway if it gets to low, right? so does it matter what the warning is?

If it gets to low it will land before it gets back to you. It's not the best idea to push the limits on these birds.

 

[Trackman1]

According to Healthy drones.
Yesterday mine flew 15m 29seconds air time. Took off at 100% battery and landed at 31%.
Battery charged 29 times at 100% life. (some how there are 6 charges not showing)

 

[Erroll]

According to Healthy drones.
Yesterday mine flew 15m 29seconds air time. Took off at 100% battery and landed at 31%.
Battery charged 29 times at 100% life. (some how there are 6 charges not showing)

The charges aren't recorded as a charge each time you connect a battery to a charger, but rather a charge cycle to 100%. In your example the charge was only 69%.

 

[Shammyh]

Also, as bonus fun, when the battery gets to critical it will start to land on its own. Aka, altitude will drop, and while you're thinking "okay, that there looks like a safe place to ditch" the P3 will drop so far you'll lose your control/video signal. Then you're now auto-landing blind.

As with any aircraft, it's worth practicing some "worst case" maneuvers so you know what to expect when it happens in real life.

Also, if you haven't already, practice in ATTI mode too. It might save your bacon in some emergency landing or very low battery scenarios.

 

[Trackman1]

The charges aren't recorded as a charge each time you connect a battery to a charger, but rather a charge cycle to 100%. In your example the charge was only 69%.

Not meaning to hi-jack thread. I always charge until it stops charging. I have had a few short flights where I landed at say 70% then recharged fully before next flight.It seems to be those ones that do not register.

 

[kennedye]

I got 18 minutes 45 seconds out of one battery because I wanted to get a feel for what it's like when it gets dangerously low (launched at 95%, landed at 11%). Granted that was in a field and fairly close by by the time it hit the warning.

 

[FantomFlier]

Not meaning to hi-jack thread. I always charge until it stops charging. I have had a few short flights where I landed at say 70% then recharged fully before next flight.It seems to be those ones that do not register.

Exactly. With those you are charging only 30%. It will register as a cycle when you have combined 4 of those to take it over 100%.

 

[Steve Ward]

Battery care and maintenance is a must !!!
You Tube has some great tutorials.
Briefly: touch the battery level indicator with your drone powered on
Set the warning to 25%
Set critical to 10%
Set days to discharge to no more than 3 days
Store your batteries at 80%
Every 20 charges drain your batteries to 8% and then recharge
Store batteries in cool dry place, not foam lined carrying case
Batteries will last for years.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[rockydog]

80% is too high for battery storage.....DJI recommend between 40-65%. The auto discharge function will take it down to around 65%.