P1 with multistar 4000 battery...

[Monte55]

I finally decided to get a Multistar 4000 ma 10c battery for my P1 Phantom. I modified the battery opening to get it in. The Phantom has a Walkera G2D white plastic gimbal and Gopro white camera. Separate battery for gimbal. Still using stock props. I tested the quad with the 4000 ma battery and then a OEM 2200 ma battery. I really don't see a improvement in flight time. At least not worth the trouble as I can see. I'm sure the 10c rating may be an issue. I was flying easy. Maybe the weight is too much for a 10c battery. Maybe it would give much better performance with a bare Phantom 1. Now that was only the second charge on the 4000 ma battery. It might get better. I will test more. I will not modify my other 2 P1s just yet. Flight with 4000 battery...about 2 minute warm up and compass calibration. About 8 minute flight till red battery warning. I landed it...shut off camera...took off again and after about a minute got the red battery warning again and landed. The battery seems to come back up a bit. . Temp was about 33 degrees F. The 2200 ma battery was about the same time although the wind did pick up. Flying was in GPS. I just don't see a great gain. Others have said the 4000 battery gave much better time. Thoughts??

 

[rebelyellNC]

Hey Monte, sorry to hear about your success (or lack of it) with the Multistar 4000 on your P1. I too equipped my P1.1.1 with the Multi and got a good increase in flight time. As you can see by my sig, I'm pretty much loaded down with the FPV gear and Trackimo. The all up weight is 1204 grams and it still performs well. I noticed you're still using stock props. The most significant increase in flight time for me, came when I switched to DJI 9450 props. They increased flight time almost as much as the Multi 4000. I'm getting into manual mode flight now, and noticed that the aggressive maneuvers shorten my overall flight time, but I still wouldn't go back to the 2200 mAh batteries.

Hope you work this out and find a solution. Keep us informed if you will, as a good number of folks have expressed an interest in Multistar 4000s.

Until then, Fly Safe/Fly Happy

 

[Monte55]

Hey Monte, sorry to hear about your success (or lack of it) with the Multistar 4000 on your P1. I too equipped my P1.1.1 with the Multi and got a good increase in flight time. As you can see by my sig, I'm pretty much loaded down with the FPV gear and Trackimo. The all up weight is 1204 grams and it still performs well. I noticed you're still using stock props. The most significant increase in flight time for me, came when I switched to DJI 9450 props. They increased flight time almost as much as the Multi 4000. I'm getting into manual mode flight now, and noticed that the aggressive maneuvers shorten my overall flight time, but I still wouldn't go back to the 2200 mAh batteries.

Hope you work this out and find a solution. Keep us informed if you will, as a good number of folks have expressed an interest in Multistar 4000s.

Until then, Fly Safe/Fly Happy

what flight time are you getting with average flying

 

[rebelyellNC]

what flight time are you getting with average flying

With average FPV flying in GPS, mostly just enjoying the scenery, I was getting just under 15 minutes with all the gear in my sig. However, now that the batteries are getting a little age on them, this has dropped to around 13:40 or so before I bring her down to a lower altitude and just get the last little bit of life from the battery "walking the dog" back home. I keep reading posts about other batteries, hoping to find something better, but so far, no luck.

Just a note, before I added the FPV gear and tracker, with only the camera and 9450s, I was getting over 15 minutes. I couldn't find a thing wrong with that. Later...

 

[Monte55]

With average FPV flying in GPS, mostly just enjoying the scenery, I was getting just under 15 minutes with all the gear in my sig. However, now that the batteries are getting a little age on them, this has dropped to around 13:40 or so before I bring her down to a lower altitude and just get the last little bit of life from the battery "walking the dog" back home. I keep reading posts about other batteries, hoping to find something better, but so far, no luck.

Just a note, before I added the FPV gear and tracker, with only the camera and 9450s, I was getting over 15 minutes. I couldn't find a thing wrong with that. Later...

I was looking at props on Amazon this morning. I prefer to order from them. It's a bit confusing . I want DJI OEM props. Many say the props are for Phantom 2, vision, and P3. I know the P3 takes the composite hubs. I want metal hubs for my P1. Just because they may use the DJI name doesn't mean they are OEM Props. Many have reported receiving fakes. Do you have a part number and exact prop description of what I should get and what the price would be for all four props. Prices are all over the place on the net. Thanks
Nick

 

[rebelyellNC]

Do you have a part number and exact prop description of what I should get and what the price would be for all four props. Prices are all over the place on the net. Thanks

Sure man, here ya go:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PL7D2G6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Price is on the Amazon page. These are DJI original equipment. Don't worry about the P2 designations, they fit the P1.1.1 like a glove and work great. Have fun...

 

[Monte55]

Sure man, here ya go:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PL7D2G6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Price is on the Amazon page. These are DJI original equipment. Don't worry about the P2 designations, they fit the P1.1.1 like a glove and work great. Have fun...

Thanks man. I just ordered them from your link and I am an Amazon guy and I should have them in two days. I assume they have the metal hubs. I guess the shipping was free.
Question.....what can I expect in any difference in takeoff or flying.
Turning the larger props to me would take more power from the battery. Now the multistar 4000 is only a 10c battery. I would think voltage would drop quicker during climbs etc setting off low battery warning. Thanks for your help.
Nick

 

[Monte55]

Just weighted my P1 and with camera, gimbal, and 4000 battery....it comes in at 1134 grams. Ready to take it out again and see what time I get.

 

[syotr]

I finally decided to get a Multistar 4000 ma 10c battery for my P1 Phantom. I modified the battery opening to get it in. The Phantom has a Walkera G2D white plastic gimbal and Gopro white camera. Separate battery for gimbal. Still using stock props. I tested the quad with the 4000 ma battery and then a OEM 2200 ma battery. I really don't see a improvement in flight time. At least not worth the trouble as I can see. I'm sure the 10c rating may be an issue. I was flying easy. Maybe the weight is too much for a 10c battery. Maybe it would give much better performance with a bare Phantom 1. Now that was only the second charge on the 4000 ma battery. It might get better. I will test more. I will not modify my other 2 P1s just yet. Flight with 4000 battery...about 2 minute warm up and compass calibration. About 8 minute flight till red battery warning. I landed it...shut off camera...took off again and after about a minute got the red battery warning again and landed. The battery seems to come back up a bit. . Temp was about 33 degrees F. The 2200 ma battery was about the same time although the wind did pick up. Flying was in GPS. I just don't see a great gain. Others have said the 4000 battery gave much better time. Thoughts??

What voltage do you have set for first and second level protection in the NAZA assistant software? These Multistar batteries have a lot of sag under load so you can set these levels lower and not really hurt the battery. Try reducing the settings, fly until the red light is flashing steadily, land and immediately check the voltage. Check again after a few minutes. As long as the battery comes back up to 11.1 volts after a few minutes, you are OK.
You are going to get shorter flight times in cold weather.

 

[Monte55]

What voltage do you have set for first and second level protection in the NAZA assistant software? These Multistar batteries have a lot of sag under load so you can set these levels lower and not really hurt the battery. Try reducing the settings, fly until the red light is flashing steadily, land and immediately check the voltage. Check again after a few minutes. As long as the battery comes back up to 11.1 volts after a few minutes, you are OK.
You are going to get shorter flight times in cold weather.

I just did another flight. Gentle flying. I start timer when I powered up. It took one minute to get home and course lock. Time at landing and stop timer was 8 min and 51 sec. Not real cold out. About 40 F. Battery was warm but not hot.

 

[Monte55]

I was hoping for a bit better than that. the battery is showing about 3.8 volts per cell and about 38 -58 % on one of the cell checkers. Not sure what my voltage alarms are set at. I never changed them from stock settings. I am really concerned about the P1 carrying the camera and gimbal. The P1 bare on stock battery is fine. I have 10 batteries now. The bare P1 with stock battery is 798 grams. The P1 with camera and 4000 battery is 1134 grams.Big difference

 

[rebelyellNC]

I was hoping for a bit better than that. the battery is showing about 3.8 volts per cell and about 38 -58 % on one of the cell checkers. Not sure what my voltage alarms are set at. I never changed them from stock settings. I am really concerned about the P1 carrying the camera and gimbal. The P1 bare on stock battery is fine. I have 10 batteries now. The bare P1 with stock battery is 798 grams. The P1 with camera and 4000 battery is 1134 grams.Big difference

Monte, if your P1 is 1134g and mine is 1204g and I'm getting over thirteen minutes, something is up. First of all, I got the best advice I've ever received on this forum from J.James in NY about the voltage warning settings. He calls them "autocrash" instead of autoland and there's a good reason why. If you do a lot of FPV flying like I do, and you are over 1Km from home when the warning goes off, 1) you're not going to see it on the LED, and 2) it's coming down, ...NOW! So when I got tired of trying a bunch of lower settings on the voltage alarms, sure I got some extra flight time, but it still took control away from me when the second level was triggered. So, I completely turned off the voltage warnings, which saved me a lot of apprehension while flying, and also gave me extra flight time.

Syotr is quite right about the sag during heavy power draw with the Multistar. Just on takeoff and full power climbout alone, it drops like a rock, but then recovers quickly. Before I turned off the low battery warning, I did some research (flying that is) on when the bird would not maintain lift and begin to descend, no matter how much left stick you gave it. It appears that around 10.2 volts when steady hovering, it will not maintain altitude and begins to land. Again, this is with the low voltage alarm OFF. So now, I just fly until I'm sure I have enough juice to return home, considering things like windspeed at altitude, whether I'll be on the home leg with a tailwind or headwind (latter of course, more dangerous) and the type of flying I have been doing on the current battery. Keep in mind, I would not have turned off the low battery warning if I didn't have OSD. With some type of OSD, you'll always know how much juice is left and when it's under load, and how close you can push it to the lowest acceptable level.

Since I was experiencing a loss of altitude at 10.2 volts, I always make sure she's close to home at around 10.6 and under 50 meters at 10.4 (these are of course, hover voltages). If you're flying and maybe pushed things a little too far, like I'm prone to do when I get all caught up in FPV and the grand views, you can switch from GPS to ATTI and gain some speed without depleting voltage. Also, a slow descent in ATTI instead of GPS will cause the voltage to recover quickly. You can observe all these things on your monitor screen with OSD. They are very helpful in getting your gear back on the ground in front of you, instead of in front of some bear in the swamp.

I guess I could have saved a lot of time by asking you first if you fly FPV and have OSD, but if not, it may be something to consider. It's really not that expensive and it totally changes the enjoyment of the hobby. Please keep us up to date on your additional time with the new props. Later...

 

[Monte55]

I do have Fatshark V2 on another P1. I do not have OSD on any of my three birds. I'll check into what my voltage warnings are set at. I would rather come in early than take the chance of running out of battery. I have 3 P1s and have each one set up differently.
.

 

[rebelyellNC]

I do have Fatshark V2 on another P1. I do not have OSD on any of my three birds. I'll check into what my voltage warnings are set at. I would rather come in early than take the chance of running out of battery. I have 3 P1s and have each one set up differently.
.

10-4. Before I disabled autocrash, I think I had my first level at 10.8 and second level at 10.4 or something like that. Hope that helps...

 

[Monte55]

10-4. Before I disabled autocrash, I think I had my first level at 10.8 and second level at 10.4 or something like that. Hope that helps...

I received my 9550 props. I balanced them. They were just about perfect. These are my findings.
Bare P1 with 9550 props and multistar 4000 battery. One minute warm up.Easy flying and started getting some random red flashes at 14 minutes. Landed at 15 minutes and 25 seconds. The Phantom was not as stable in the air. It wobbled a bit. Mild breeze.
Same setup with OEM 2200 battery. One minute warm up. Landed at 12 min and 35 sec. I flew a little more aggressive here.
Phantom 1 with gimbal, camera, 4000 ma battery and 9550 props. Warm up and compass calibration done...about 2.5 minutes. At first red blinks, I lander at 11 min 51 seconds. With the added weight, the quad didn't wobble much. I had a little more wind this time. Temps around 40 degrees F and about 1000 asl.
My opinion....the quad flys better with stock props until you add weight then the larger props are helpful and so is having the larger battery. . Maybe if you are at high elevations, they may help as some have said. It's still not the gain I expected with larger battery. maybe with warmer weather and more charges on the battery, things will improve.
--.

 

[rebelyellNC]

Hey Monte, thanks for getting back to us with the results. Just a note, is it really 9550 props or 9450? I'm not trying to nitpic, I just never heard of 9550 and didn't know if there was such a thing or it was just a typo. Anyway, with the thrust boosted props and the Multistar 4000, if you're landing at the "first red blinks", which would be level one voltage warning, you've still got some good flying time left. I already mentioned that I got significantly more time by disabling any voltage warning at all, and using the OSD voltage indicator, but that's up to the individual. My time with the camera and all the FPV gear was just like yours at 15+ minutes, but no gimbal.

Here's a thought about a brand new battery. J.James in NY let me in on this and if you will run the first ten flights down to 50% and then fully recharge, it's supposed to great increase the life of the battery overall. I can't remember the links he quoted, but some folks have done extensive testing on these batteries and found out that if you'll do that right out of the box, they'll last a whole lot longer. I plan on that myself, when I replace my three current Multistar 4000s.

I can't get back to my Manual Mode training today, because of the wind, but the next four days are supposed to be in the sixties and seventies, so if nothing else, the wind will die down to zero right at dusk or a few minutes before, and I'll be airborne again. Thanks again for your information and test results...

 

[Monte55]

Hey Monte, thanks for getting back to us with the results. Just a note, is it really 9550 props or 9450? I'm not trying to nitpic, I just never heard of 9550 and didn't know if there was such a thing or it was just a typo. Anyway, with the thrust boosted props and the Multistar 4000, if you're landing at the "first red blinks", which would be level one voltage warning, you've still got some good flying time left. I already mentioned that I got significantly more time by disabling any voltage warning at all, and using the OSD voltage indicator, but that's up to the individual. My time with the camera and all the FPV gear was just like yours at 15+ minutes, but no gimbal.

Here's a thought about a brand new battery. J.James in NY let me in on this and if you will run the first ten flights down to 50% and then fully recharge, it's supposed to great increase the life of the battery overall. I can't remember the links he quoted, but some folks have done extensive testing on these batteries and found out that if you'll do that right out of the box, they'll last a whole lot longer. I plan on that myself, when I replace my three current Multistar 4000s.

I can't get back to my Manual Mode training today, because of the wind, but the next four days are supposed to be in the sixties and seventies, so if nothing else, the wind will die down to zero right at dusk or a few minutes before, and I'll be airborne again. Thanks again for your information and test results...

My mistake, I meant 9450 props. When I see first red flashes on OEM 2200ma batteries and check them after landing...on a cell checker it reads about 14 % left on battery and about 11.1 volts. Doing the same with Multistar 4000 battery, it reads about 30% or above and 11.4 volts. Not sure I want to change the settings for a minute or so more in flying time. Kind of a safety factor for me. I'll do more testing. I have never run a battery so low yet that it went to fail safe. I usually hand catch and don't need any surprises as I'm reaching for it.Thanks for your feedback.
Nick