dirkclod
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Maxx UAV - Secret Battery Mod!
- Thread starter JakeMaxxUAV
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Not to be a wet blanket... BUT....
It is always unintended consequences that get us in trouble. Laws of physics tell us that you cannot get something for free. Something will suffer. For example: What about excessive ampere draw from raising a load exceeding design specifications? Will motors overheat? Will motors fail? Have you considered that an ESC can become overloaded and fail (causing crash)? I would be very interested in seeing flight test results of this configuration.
That's why we call RC a hobby, and I mean that with all the respect in the world. Some people mod our crafts and others don't.
Hmmm! If you would have bothered to read his first post instead of jumping to conclusions too hastily you would have known he polled for the interest at different price brackets. But you must too smart for the rest of us....
Would be nice if you could take a XT60 connector and solder on your own connections for this mod. Total price in parts .....about $1 .
There is a lot of Pied Piper talk going on in the DJI community and I agree with Gadgetguy saying the 50 min flight time is a bit much and sounds like a broken promise that DJI fed everyone with the 28 min flight time. That being said , I think if you havent flown/built your own drone prior to getting a Phantom , your going to need to take a lot of things into consideration . What brand lipo battery is best ? What amperage works best ? What size MAH is the max that can be used ? What battery charger will charge the fastest ? Then people will put out there findings and results and you start chasing . Yes chasing .Hope you have the wallet for it , because before you know it the P5 will be out and the whole process starts again.
I think Maxx is a great guy and I love my antenna mod I got from him. Well worth it . But adding all this extra weight to a $1400 machine 400 feet up and going beyond your video limitations just to say you did it ? Bragging rights is about all you get .
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This thread is the perfect example why correct marketing is so crucial.
What Jake is developing is an alternative solution to people that want to use extra batteries.
All the talk about overloading is irrelevant. If you are not concerned about overloading the motors with a moded phantom, you won't be concerned with overloaded motors with a battery module. Similarly, if you are getting a total of x minutes with a moded phantom, the plugin module is (almost) not going to change that.
So again, this device Jake is offering is for people that WANT to use extra batteries but don't want to mod their phantom. That's it!
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What Jake is developing is an alternative solution to people that want to use extra batteries.
All the talk about overloading is irrelevant. If you are not concerned about overloading the motors with a moded phantom, you won't be concerned with overloaded motors with a battery module. Similarly, if you are getting a total of x minutes with a moded phantom, the plugin module is (almost) not going to change that.
So again, this device Jake is offering is for people that WANT to use extra batteries but don't want to mod their phantom. That's it!
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GadgetGuy
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Fortunately, speculation about what is possible is not necessary. All those with a birdside P4 battery mod have already done all the testing necessary over the last 4 months, which is fully transferable to Jake's P4 mod, after adjustments are made for the additional weight his mod adds, over the birdside battery mod. As Jake points out, best results with standard LiPo's are obtained with MaxAmp Lipo's with the 2800 mAh being the largest usable, at 245g each. I have been using them since May, and I get 27 minutes instead of 18 minutes by using them, flying the same way in P mode with OA off at 31-33 mph. The dual D100 charger at $120 is the standard for simultaneously charging both external batteries at once, in under an hour, roughly the same time as charging the internal P4 battery. When a 50% increase is the best possible, even using DJI's ridiculously unobtainable 28 minute P4 flight time, a 50% increase is only 42 minutes, not 50 minutes. YMMV.
GadgetGuy
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P3 "versions" have already been available for over a year. Modifying a P3 battery to accept XT-60 connectors is easy, by comparison to the P4. You can buy a brand new modified P3 battery (new P3 battery alone retails at $149) with XT-60 connectors already installed for $259 including two 1600 mAh batteries and the necessary mounting plates. Add a charger and you are good to go. DJI PHANTOM 3 SMART BATTERY MOD AND KIT WITH INCLUDES 2-3 DAY SHIPPING
I have over 200 flights of 25-27 minutes using two such modified P3 batteries on my P3P's, using two MaxAmp 2800 mAh as the externals on each flight. No issues!
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Fortunately, speculation about what is possible is not necessary. All those with a birdside P4 battery mod have already done all the testing necessary over the last 4 months, which is fully transferable to Jake's P4 mod, after adjustments are made for the additional weight his mod adds, over the birdside battery mod. As Jake points out, best results with standard LiPo's are obtained with MaxAmp Lipo's with the 2800 mAh being the largest usable, at 245g each. I have been using them since May, and I get 27 minutes instead of 18 minutes by using them, flying the same way in P mode with OA off at 31-33 mph. The dual D100 charger at $120 is the standard for simultaneously charging both external batteries at once, in under an hour, roughly the same time as charging the internal P4 battery. When a 50% increase is the best possible, even using DJI's ridiculously unobtainable 28 minute P4 flight time, a 50% increase is only 42 minutes, not 50 minutes. YMMV.
I looked up a guy that did get 49 minutes on that FB site Jake gave us. The guy doesn't have a lot of details but seems like a pretty serious drone participant so I'm sure it's legit.
He posted a screen shot of a 49 minute flight going in a tight circle.
It's possible... I think he was using Venom 4000mah battery or batteries to do it. It wasn't super clear.
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Actually he does say "2x 4000mah" batteries to achieve the 49 minute flight?
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GadgetGuy
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Thanks for looking it up. I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of 50 minutes on the P3, but the methodology, since the P3 extreme flyers have been at it longer, and can turn off the VPS, and then strap giant brick batteries underneath the VPS, or actually remove the VPS unit to save weight. If he is using two external Venom 4000 mAh batteries flying in a tight circle, it is a credence to the P3 motors that it can support such weight. Lift tests with the P4 indicate that it cannot lift as much as a P3. Flying in a relatively tight circle is how I achieved my own only 25 minute flight time on my P4 stock battery. Several others have used Venom 5600 mAh bricks under P3's for 40 minute flight times, and the extra weight makes the aircraft very unstable and likely to tip over on launch or landing, and flip over in the air in tight maneuvers. Flying in a tight circle for a record flight time sounds like the best way to avoid instability with excessive weight, while using that extra weight to maximize flight time. Regardless, these are extreme measures to achieve extreme results, and not realistic expectations for normal flying, of which my own flights are more representative. My 18 minute P4 flights are now 27 minutes with externals, which, with the faster speed of the P4, works great, to cover 12+ miles with ease in a single flight!
