Powering low current ~4v devices off one cell of a 3S Li-po on Phantom 2?

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If I have some accessories that typically run off their own single cell li-po, (3.7v nominal voltage) could I just make an adapter with a male balance connector in order to power such devices with only 1 cell of the 5200 mAh 3S lipo powering the quadcopter? I intend to use non-stock batteries in a Phantom 2, like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/11-1V-5200m...633?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae788bf29

PS: Phantom 2 newbie here, so does the phantom 2 main board already have some sort of accessory port for this kind of stuff?
 
No.

The Phantom has some pre-fitted ports for Gimbals, Cab-bus, and OSD equipment but not for generic purposes.

There is no access to the individual LiPo battery cells.
The best advice would be to tap the battery distribution terminals at the main PCB. From there you can regulate down to what you need and not worry about excessive drain through components or circuits that were not intended to supply current to accessories.
 
No.

The Phantom has some pre-fitted ports for Gimbals, Cab-bus, and OSD equipment but not for generic purposes.

There is no access to the individual LiPo battery cells.
The best advice would be to tap the battery distribution terminals at the main PCB. From there you can regulate down to what you need and not worry about excessive drain through components or circuits that were not intended to supply current to accessories.
I see, thanks. If I'm using non-stock 3s lipid for powering my phantom, I could just connect to one of the cells to get ~4v, yes? Is there any reason that wouldn't work for low current devices? (Under .5A)

I'm trying to avoid needing a buck step down converter to save on weight and have less things to potentially go wrong.
 
Phantom 2s use a proprietary type battery that a couple of vendors have copied.
You can't use a typical 3S LiPo. It must have the 'intelligent' portion of the battery for operation.

You must consider another solution besides tapping into the battery pack.
 
Sound like he has phantom and not P2.
 
Phantom 2s use a proprietary type battery that a couple of vendors have copied.
You can't use a typical 3S LiPo. It must have the 'intelligent' portion of the battery for operation.

You must consider another solution besides tapping into the battery pack.
I have a phantom 2 v2.0 (i got it used - kind of a fixer-upper) but I intend to use 3rd cells like this mod talks about:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2085480
I'm getting a DJI battery that no longer holds a charge but the "smart" circuit is still fine, which I'll extract.
 
I have a phantom 2 v2.0 (i got it used - kind of a fixer-upper) but I intend to use 3rd cells like this mod talks about:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2085480
I'm getting a DJI battery that no longer holds a charge but the "smart" circuit is still fine, which I'll extract.

DJI is not the only battery manufacture out there supplying batteries for the phantom 2's but limefuel seems to be the best. Limefuels prices are competitive with DJI and carry a 1 year warranty where DJI warranty is only 90 days.

Unfortunately DJI pulled the v2.6 battery update so those with batteries that were auto landing with 50% or more were having to replace those. That update saved two of mine which are over a year old and under 35 cycles which I still use to this day. The reason I believe they pulled that update was due to the fact it was bricking after market batteries. Of course those who had after market batteries were not forced to update their batteries as they had a choice and made the wrong one.

If your basing your decision on the BS in that rcgroup thread go ahead. But this information in that article is not correct. "Battery validation occurs on P2/P2V - DJI has put special effort in to make sure that the craft will not function unless their battery is detected. Early P2V will literally drop out of the sky if battery validation fails in mid flight, an update fixed this and will only prevent start-up."
 
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If your basing your decision on the BS in that rcgroup thread go ahead. But this information in that article is not correct. "Battery validation occurs on P2/P2V - DJI has put special effort in to make sure that the craft will not function unless their battery is detected. Early P2V will literally drop out of the sky if battery validation fails in mid flight, an update fixed this and will only prevent start-up."

Which part is not correct? Will the craft function even if their battery isn't detected?
 
Which part is not correct? Will the craft function even if their battery isn't detected?

There is no problem with using after market batteries but the only one I would trust is limefuel. Right now the price for their L60P (6000mAh) is $125 and DJI 5200mAh is 110.49 from B&H in NY. Limefuel also has L54P (5400 mAh) for $99. There are members here using limefuel batteries.
 

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