Battery Mod Info

[emtea]

Thats not really friction though is it if it is sandwiched between two areas. Its more held by a plastic clamping system. Granted its potentially not as secure as a good solder joint but it doesn't have to be and its offers fantastic versatility around swapping batts.

Your batt mounting brackets are the most important load bearing item.

I guess I don't see the versatility argument given that the leads are soldered to the aircraft but I take your point that the adapter is simpler. My point on friction was regarding the adapter, but I do understand it is a tight fit.

My battery is mounted using 3M Dual Lock tape and I haven't had any issues thus far, I guess my concern is more that my inspire batteries are pretty loose fitting after so many uses but I also did the mod before the adapters were on the market. To each his own obviously, I am just not a huge fan of the adapter, that's all.

 

[giumick]

I guess I don't see the versatility argument given that the leads are soldered to the aircraft but I take your point that the adapter is simpler. My point on friction was regarding the adapter, but I do understand it is a tight fit.

My battery is mounted using 3M Dual Lock tape and I haven't had any issues thus far, I guess my concern is more that my inspire batteries are pretty loose fitting after so many uses but I also did the mod before the adapters were on the market. To each his own obviously, I am just not a huge fan of the adapter, that's all.

With how flakey Dji batteries are i think its a bonus that you can use it on more than one pack without any hard wiring. It nice and easy at the end of the day and i bet it goes it our favor when we have to write the specs up for our ops manual. Plug and play raises less eyebrows than soldering

 

[emtea]

With how flakey Dji batteries are i think its a bonus that you can use it on more than one pack without any hard wiring. It nice and easy at the end of the day and i bet it goes it our favor when we have to write the specs up for our ops manual. Plug and play raises less eyebrows than soldering

I'm not sure why I couldn't use my set-up with more than one battery pack, as I do all the time. Hell, I've had my DJI battery dislodge mid-flight and still flew it home. I would definitely argue that a little adapter that sandwiches in the battery slot would raise way more eyebrows a simple connector that comes out of the aircraft body and right to the auxiliary battery. That way, I don't get get a wire having to go up to the top of the aircraft--that looks amateur as all.

You might be confusing my suggestion with soldering the leads to the DJI batteries. I prefer to solder directly to the aircraft, thus you can use whatever unmodified DJI battery you want.

 

[giumick]

I'm not sure why I couldn't use my set-up with more than one battery pack, as I do all the time. Hell, I've had my DJI battery dislodge mid-flight and still flew it home. I would definitely argue that a little adapter that sandwiches in the battery slot would raise way more eyebrows a simple connector that comes out of the aircraft body and right to the auxiliary battery. That way, I don't get get a wire having to go up to the top of the aircraft--that looks amateur as all.

You might be confusing my suggestion with soldering the leads to the DJI batteries. I prefer to solder directly to the aircraft, thus you can use whatever unmodified DJI battery you want.

Yes i was, Directly onto the craft is not a bad option at all. Do you have any pictures of the set up?

 

[kingkong]

Hi there, what 6s 5200mah did you used along with TB48? weight of auxillary battery? Can you show the pictures of your setup. Thank you.

I'm not sure I would recommend you soldering the batteries if you're not comfortable doing it on the aircraft. The way I see it, soldering the batteries is much more dangerous since it is live where as the aircraft is not (when there's no battery). If redundancy is important, consider the inability for the aux battery to power the craft if for some reason your main battery comes loose. Anyway, to each his own, I just think soldering to the aircraft is the no brainer here (especially since you won't have to do it for each battery.

You'll need to wire the 3S batteries in series, so you'll effectively have 3600mah but you're misunderstanding how this is going to work. If you want a "reserve" power for emergency landings, it just depends on when that happens. Both your main and aux batteries will deplete simultaneously. Let's pretend they both drain at the same rate (they won't but close enough), so if you are flying with 30% batteries left, you might have plenty of juice to fly around a bit, fly home, and land. But if your main battery craps out there, you'll only have theoretically 30% of your aux batteries, which might not be enough to get home then. Weight-wise, you can look at what everyone else is using but I am around the 600-700g mark with one battery. I don't understand why people insist on using two 3S batteries when the mAH-to-weight ratio is more favorable for running a single 6S rather than two 3S batteries. Not to mention less wiring and less things to charge individually.

I run a 5200mAH 6S with a TB48. I get 30 mins easily.

 

[The Dronz Dr]

IMG-1336

• The Dronz Dr
• Mar 29, 2018

Test flight

IMG-1329

• The Dronz Dr
• Mar 29, 2018

Done some test flying with 2 x 4000 mah batteries. Also used 2 x 3600 mah Batteries too.

 

[dougcjohn]

1) BENEFITS

- 100% protection against DJI main battery shutdown (for any reason) in flight, cell failures, voltage sags, weather induced problems etc. Even if the TB4X main battery SHUTS OFF, the Inspire will keep flying on auxiliary battery power to get you home safely.

- Longer flight time. This thread documents flights on the Inspire v1 with an X3 camera of over 30 mins to 10%. Your rig and battery config will vary but you can definitely stay up longer.

- Less strain on main DJI TB4X batteries. Because DJI batteries are 10C, and with X5 and X5R putting more strain in these low C batteries, connecting up higher C external batteries significantly lessens the strain on the main battery as all batteries discharge together, providing power to the aircraft.

2) HOW TO

- For do-it-yourselfers:

Dropbox - Battery Mod DJI inspire.pdf

Credit to Michael Head for putting together the how to PDF.

- If you don't feel like doing the modification yourself, there are companies out there now that will do it for you for a fee, usually in the $75/battery range. I am aware of these two, ping me if you know of others and I can add them here:

In the US:

- Inspire 1 Power Mod - Midwest Horizon FPV Antennas

- FlyHighUSA - includes new white TB48, mount, mod, etc: DJI Inspire Battery Mod TB48

- FlyHighUSA - includes new black TB48, mount, mod, etc: DJI Inspire Battery Mod TB48

In the UK:

- FlyHighUSA will ship worldwide, see link above.

- Inspire 1 3 Power Mod V2

3) HOW TO ATTACH EXTERNAL BATTERIES

Methods can vary but are a lightweight but strong battery holder plate for folks with the X3, X5 or X5R camera I helped design with Neil Watts. (I get no remuneration from this, just glad to help others who want to do the mod get going quickly):

DJI Inspire 1 X3/X5 Dual Battery Plate - Aero3D

4) ADDITIONAL TIPS:

- if you are connecting one 6S or two 3S's (via series harness), you only need one set of wires coming out of the battery.

- If connecting two 6S's (my personal preference due to the Inspire's unique design and the ability to more easily mount and balance them), you can plug one in on either side of the modified battery OR connect the 2 X 6S external batteries via parallel harness first, then plug into one side of the modified battery.

This is an Outstanding Thread, Great Discussion on the Battery Modification, extensive testing & development by so many. Very useful and thank you to all the initial testers and designers.

Although as with any long running post, it's ran several cycles of best modification method, batteries, etc.
I came to the party late, so I began reading from the start... and around page 24-28 realized it was over 100 pages / 2000 posts long... and the methodology like with any development process had a change several times.
To those not familiar with the thread, it's a bit overwhelming to decipher the full content.

In many long threads on various sites, when they reach 1/2 the length of this thread they throw in a "jump link" and summation page for the newbies to come up to speed and to possible contribute without repeating needless cycles.

Could someone with the historical knowledge of this thread put together a summation "catch up" page with the most current info, links and suggestions. Then on the first page, give reference to the summation page with a jump link.

 

[cruzroy]

ok ..................dont want to piss anyone off, but im working n battery mods to on the inspire 1, im trying clips, battery board direct solder, and battery mod, i hear alot of hocus pocus and i didnt see any proof that people are getting anywhere near 25-30 minute, i would really like to see a hover video at least, im going to pst my when i have them ready, but i would love to see 30 minutes, i do think the the teardown of the battery and direct solder (most dangerous method) is better than the clip, even though mine stayed cool, and never skipped a beat, i did not see any improvement, but ive only tested 2 3500 mah 18650 series battery, and with the clip, i still had 46% n batteries, when tb47 said 10%, so im ether missing something, or its all XXXX ?? ive been thru the whole thread, so i dont need anymore words, i would like to see proof,
i would not go out and spend big $$$$$ and it dont work, but i will keep testing, i might be wrong, but please video it, caz i can take pictures to and show weird stats to

like i said, do not want to piss off anyone, but with Intelligent batteries, they seem to get to a point where they take over and dropout auxiliary cells
but ill be posting my vids......................so i dare you to do it too

oh and dont just fly for 5 minutes and post stats, like here is my first test with 7000 mah extra aux batteries
30 minutes and 9:47 minute left.......................ha. took 3 seconds to edit this photo

1) BENEFITS

- 100% protection against DJI main battery shutdown (for any reason) in flight, cell failures, voltage sags, weather induced problems etc. Even if the TB4X main battery SHUTS OFF, the Inspire will keep flying on auxiliary battery power to get you home safely.

- Longer flight time. This thread documents flights on the Inspire v1 with an X3 camera of over 30 mins to 10%. Your rig and battery config will vary but you can definitely stay up longer.

- Less strain on main DJI TB4X batteries. Because DJI batteries are 10C, and with X5 and X5R putting more strain in these low C batteries, connecting up higher C external batteries significantly lessens the strain on the main battery as all batteries discharge together, providing power to the aircraft.

2) HOW TO

- For do-it-yourselfers:

Dropbox - Battery Mod DJI inspire.pdf

Credit to Michael Head for putting together the how to PDF.

- If you don't feel like doing the modification yourself, there are companies out there now that will do it for you for a fee, usually in the $75/battery range. I am aware of these two, ping me if you know of others and I can add them here:

In the US:

- Inspire 1 Power Mod - Midwest Horizon FPV Antennas

- FlyHighUSA - includes new white TB48, mount, mod, etc: DJI Inspire Battery Mod TB48

- FlyHighUSA - includes new black TB48, mount, mod, etc: DJI Inspire Battery Mod TB48

In the UK:

- FlyHighUSA will ship worldwide, see link above.

- Inspire 1 3 Power Mod V2

3) HOW TO ATTACH EXTERNAL BATTERIES

Methods can vary but are a lightweight but strong battery holder plate for folks with the X3, X5 or X5R camera I helped design with Neil Watts. (I get no remuneration from this, just glad to help others who want to do the mod get going quickly):

DJI Inspire 1 X3/X5 Dual Battery Plate - Aero3D

4) ADDITIONAL TIPS:

- if you are connecting one 6S or two 3S's (via series harness), you only need one set of wires coming out of the battery.

- If connecting two 6S's (my personal preference due to the Inspire's unique design and the ability to more easily mount and balance them), you can plug one in on either side of the modified battery OR connect the 2 X 6S external batteries via parallel harness first, then plug into one side of the modified battery.

 

[cruzroy]

DJI inspire 1 after repairs and mods

Dji inspire test 2 with battery mod

 

[ACDS]

Great test and video.
Let me point out some of your mistakes.
The DJI batteries are high voltage 6S / 6 Cell / 22.8V and are different from the standard Li-Po batteries 6S / 6 Cell / 22.2V . Probably for this reason the native battery processor does not recognize the total capacity.
If you use a battery High voltage with high current feedback, the DJI battery processor can see and add up the total capacity of its and additional batteries. Try to put similarly to this and make an additional test.-

You can take 2 3S batteries with the correct capacity and make parallel / parallel with the main battery. For example, such -

Or make an adapter for one 6S High voltage of greater capacity - up to 2000-3000 ..and more..
I'm sorry if I'm telling you what you already know.
I will wait for other tests.

 

[dougcjohn]

Great test and video.
Let me point out some of your mistakes.
The DJI batteries are high voltage 6S / 6 Cell / 22.8V and are different from the standard Li-Po batteries 6S / 6 Cell / 22.2V .

You can take 2 3S batteries with the correct capacity and make parallel / parallel with the main battery. For example, such -

Or make an adapter for one 6S High voltage of greater capacity - up to 2000-3000 ..and more..
I'm sorry if I'm telling you what you already know.
I will wait for other tests.

I believe you meant 2 3S in series to obtain 6S voltage with mAH capacity unchanged. Parallel would double mAH, not voltage. The 2 3S in series would be connected parallel with main.

 

[ACDS]

I believe you meant 2 3S in series to obtain 6S voltage with mAH capacity unchanged. Parallel would double mAH, not voltage. The 2 3S in series would be connected parallel with main.

yes, that's right, a bit confused, 3S sequentially, to get 6S and then parallel to the main battery ...

Therefore, you need to choose the right battery capacity / weight ratio to find the optimal balance for the flight duration / flight efficiency.
Unfortunately, my funds do not allow me to freely engage in experiments, but the past experience of RC Avia models and UAV help me ..

 

[dougcjohn]

I’d agree on limited purchases... luckily, we can use the data of this extensive thread discussion and all the various battery testing. I’m not certain of the final results in the findings of which was the best or most productive for time duration. I was able to understand the OEM batteries had only a 10C / 20C peek rating. To best utilize equal discharge, the C rating should be close to the main OEM battery and mAh capacity should be about equal to prevent a side load charge or balancing equalization behavior... given resistance in connections are close to equal and the IR of batteries desired to be similar too.

After reading the tests with high C rating for saddle pak, greater / less capacity, weight-capacity to energy; didn’t appear high C, high cost batteries produced a higher marginal gain to time/cost. I plan on testing a saddle pak as close to equal to main as available... at a low cost. The price & weight of LiHV 3S seemed more beneficial in cost & weight than equal capacity for 6S. The Multistar LiHV 3S 5200mAH, 318g x 2 producing 636 g weight with 5200mAh, 10C/20perk @ $31 each, $62 total isn’t a bad cost to gains factore.
Multistar LiHV High Capacity 5200mAh 3S 10C Multi-Rotor Lipo Pack

I’ll be curious how this pak performs.

 

[ACDS]

I’d agree on limited purchases... luckily, we can use the data of this extensive thread discussion and all the various battery testing. I’m not certain of the final results in the findings of which was the best or most productive for time duration. I was able to understand the OEM batteries had only a 10C / 20C peek rating. To best utilize equal discharge, the C rating should be close to the main OEM battery and mAh capacity should be about equal to prevent a side load charge or balancing equalization behavior... given resistance in connections are close to equal and the IR of batteries desired to be similar too.

After reading the tests with high C rating for saddle pak, greater / less capacity, weight-capacity to energy; didn’t appear high C, high cost batteries produced a higher marginal gain to time/cost. I plan on testing a saddle pak as close to equal to main as available... at a low cost. The price & weight of LiHV 3S seemed more beneficial in cost & weight than equal capacity for 6S. The Multistar LiHV 3S 5200mAH, 318g x 2 producing 636 g weight with 5200mAh, 10C/20perk @ $31 each, $62 total isn’t a bad cost to gains factore.
Multistar LiHV High Capacity 5200mAh 3S 10C Multi-Rotor Lipo Pack

I’ll be curious how this pak performs.

The total capacity is about 10,000 - this should inspire hope.
I will wait for the test results.
Wish you good luck!

 

[cruzroy]

So far the best is TB48 + 2 x 2200mah 6S nano-techs.

It was about 55F during the test.

those are 22.2 volt, i dont think good, i was told HV lipos would work better......22.8 volt???

 

[cruzroy]

New personal record today: flight time 27:36.

View attachment 4767
View attachment 4768

what is the setup ???????????? for 27 min, i would love that

 

[ACDS]

those are 22.2 volt, i dont think good, i was told HV lipos would work better......22.8 volt???

It's not that it's better, the fact is that the battery processor will see and determine the additional capacity and output the totalized number.
I think so.
Well .. probably better ..

 

[engelo]

ok ..................dont want to piss anyone off, but im working n battery mods to on the inspire 1, im trying clips, battery board direct solder, and battery mod, i hear alot of hocus pocus and i didnt see any proof that people are getting anywhere near 25-30 minute, i would really like to see a hover video at least, im going to pst my when i have them ready, but i would love to see 30 minutes, i do think the the teardown of the battery and direct solder (most dangerous method) is better than the clip, even though mine stayed cool, and never skipped a beat, i did not see any improvement, but ive only tested 2 3500 mah 18650 series battery, and with the clip, i still had 46% n batteries, when tb47 said 10%, so im ether missing something, or its all XXXX ?? ive been thru the whole thread, so i dont need anymore words, i would like to see proof,
i would not go out and spend big $$$$$ and it dont work, but i will keep testing, i might be wrong, but please video it, caz i can take pictures to and show weird stats to

like i said, do not want to piss off anyone, but with Intelligent batteries, they seem to get to a point where they take over and dropout auxiliary cells
but ill be posting my vids......................so i dare you to do it too

oh and dont just fly for 5 minutes and post stats, like here is my first test with 7000 mah extra aux batteries
30 minutes and 9:47 minute left.......................ha. took 3 seconds to edit this photo

View attachment 19344

Hi i am Evan from Greece (EUROPE) and i had the same
doubt...

So i bought ONE battery TATTU from Germany (1.8A) 22.2 6S and the clip from the UK Store.
Like you, i had 15-16 minutes of flight. And now with ONE extra battery at the rear site i have 22' !!!
Here is my video !!!
I could believe that it would go so far so i started to record at the RTH !!!!

 

[engelo]

Here is one photo with 1 bat and the 2 bats mod (with 3d printed mounts)

This is the link for the 3d printing :

DJI Inspire 25mm Boom mount. by Blade_Strike

 

[engelo]

Inspire 1 flight path - Google My Maps