Battery Mod Info

[Phatzo]

FYI
i did a video explaining the process. a few posts back
how to strip and where to solder.
cheers


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[emtea]

Emtea, I completely forgot to take a picture of my soldered connections. Don't know why I didn't do that. Took me awhile to get it to that point so I was probably happy to start rebuilding the quad. I did find a couple of pictures that should help my explanation.
image
image

Notice how the two main battery tabs make a rounded 90 degree turn into the circuit board. That is the point I chose to solder. Secondly, you want to follow the direction of the black motor wires. What I mean by this is that you want to solder the wires in way that the wires are coming "towards" you instead of laying the wires flat. You'll be standing the wires up on their ends. Basically, the same way the motor wires are. In addition, try to angle the wires downward a bit so they are in a straighter line going towards the exit cutout used by the motor wires. I used 14 gauge wire and it was a tight fit but I was able to snap all the pieces back together without having to grind down anything. If I were to do it now, I would use 16 gauge to make it fit easier. Takes some time and effort to dot this, but I prefer to do it this way much more than modding the batteries. The wires are far out of the way of the props, my batteries fit in my case much better since there aren't wires going everywhere and any new battery I buy is already to go with no need for modification.


I did not install a switch. I do not see any need for one. If anything, I would prefer not having a switch as I could see myself forgetting to turn it on then carrying around a heavy battery without even using it!

Thanks!! This is really helpful. Do you get any sparking or arcing when connecting the battery? I assume you turn on the main DJI battery and then connect the aux battery. I've asked this before but, do you think the solder point is strong enough to hold? I don't know how I feel about soldering onto the flat and smooth 90 degree turn part, seems like you'd just press the wire to it and then solder it and hope it sticks forever?

FYI
i did a video explaining the process. a few posts back
how to strip and where to solder.
cheers


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I know Phatzo I just wanted to see if people were doing it differently or not. I have watched your video and it is great!

 

[Nick H.]

Emtea, I've been into R/c for 20+ years, mostly in cars. I can count on one hand how many solder joints I've done that have come apart, and of those that did fail, I knew going in they probably weren't going to hold because it was a rush job right before a race. Again, that is with cars where the possibility of impact and vibrations is far greater than what we do with drones. I would be overly shocked if my solder job comes apart on my Inspire. I've flown 5 flights now like this. If it hasn't come apart already, it isn't going to.

Scuff up the area you intend to solder to.

Use good solder with a flux core or get some flux.

Use a hot iron. No cheaply 25 watt deal from Wally World. I use 80 watts. The iron is on then off quickly. Nice and shiny joint. No cold solder joints.

 

[emtea]

Emtea, I've been into R/c for 20+ years, mostly in cars. I can count on one hand how many solder joints I've done that have come apart, and of those that did fail, I knew going in they probably weren't going to hold because it was a rush job right before a race. Again, that is with cars where the possibility of impact and vibrations is far greater than what we do with drones. I would be overly shocked if my solder job comes apart on my Inspire. I've flown 5 flights now like this. If it hasn't come apart already, it isn't going to.

Scuff up the area you intend to solder to.

Use good solder with a flux core or get some flux.

Use a hot iron. No cheaply 25 watt deal from Wally World. I use 80 watts. The iron is on then off quickly. Nice and shiny joint. No cold solder joints.

Thanks, that's good to know. I can solder a wire to a wire pretty nicely (automotive background) but I've never soldered circuit boards or onto a tab like this...we'll see what happens!

 

[Phatzo]

make

Thanks, that's good to know. I can solder a wire to a wire pretty nicely (automotive background) but I've never soldered circuit boards or onto a tab like this...we'll see what happens!

sure you do not go over 300 degrees celcius with the solder iron and do not stay to long on the spot to solder it. make sure to fully cover the cable and surrounding area with "zinn" the thing you use to be able to solder.
it is not that difficult.
just my 2c

 

[Phatzo]

Thanks!! This is really helpful. Do you get any sparking or arcing when connecting the battery? I assume you turn on the main DJI battery and then connect the aux battery. I've asked this before but, do you think the solder point is strong enough to hold? I don't know how I feel about soldering onto the flat and smooth 90 degree turn part, seems like you'd just press the wire to it and then solder it and hope it sticks forever?



I know Phatzo I just wanted to see if people were doing it differently or not. I have watched your video and it is great!

i did not mean to be offending or having my nose up just wanted to point to it. can't know if you saw it can i
cheers. glad you did though and double glad it is useful to this comunity

 

[Nick H.]

Ok, just to give perspective (as a HUGE UNFORTUNATE situation), I just crashed about an hour ago. Pretty much banging my head against the wall totally pissed with myself as I just got my Inspire back after crashing it last time about a month ago. I'm a **** good pilot and I can't believe the ridiculous, horribly stupid mistake I made..... but such is life. Probably a good enough crash that it isn't worth fixing my Inspire. I'll sell off the good parts, get a new one, and send in my X5 to get fixed.

One thing I noticed: my solder job is still holding perfectly. This was a free fall from 100ft up. No problem on the solder. None. Hot iron. Quick on and off. Everything will be fine.

Now excuse me, I have to return to beating the crap out of myself for making a terrible pilot mistake and crashing my Inspire.

 

[Phatzo]

Ok, just to give perspective (as a HUGE UNFORTUNATE situation), I just crashed about an hour ago. Pretty much banging my head against the wall totally pissed with myself as I just got my Inspire back after crashing it last time about a month ago. I'm a **** good pilot and I can't believe the ridiculous, horribly stupid mistake I made..... but such is life. Probably a good enough crash that it isn't worth fixing my Inspire. I'll sell off the good parts, get a new one, and send in my X5 to get fixed.

One thing I noticed: my solder job is still holding perfectly. This was a free fall from 100ft up. No problem on the solder. None. Hot iron. Quick on and off. Everything will be fine.

Now excuse me, I have to return to beating the crap out of myself for making a terrible pilot mistake and crashing my Inspire.

if i may ask, what happened?


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[damoncooper]

On vacation this next two weeks and didn't bring any non-DJI lipos so will be jury rigging to use a single TB47 external while here in Mexico on vacation with the Pro X5R for some redundancy.

I don't expect to break any flight time records with a TB48 + TB47 external (this combo performed poorly on my I1 x3 with only about 22min of flight time), but it'll give me some peace of mind flying almost extensively over ocean for the next two weeks.

 

[Raphael Dahan]

On vacation this next two weeks and didn't bring any non-DJI lipos so will be jury rigging to use a single TB47 external while here in Mexico on vacation with the Pro X5R for some redundancy.

I don't expect to break any flight time records with a TB48 + TB47 external (this combo performed poorly on my I1 x3 with only about 22min of flight time), but it'll give me some peace of mind flying almost extensively over ocean for the next two weeks.

Have a good time and fly safe Damon.

 

[damoncooper]

Have a good time and fly safe Damon.

On vacation and wanted battery redundancy (flying over the ocean mostly) without dragging along extra regular lipos and chargers in addition to my DJI batteries and chargers so got creative.

 

[Nick H.]

Ok, so I completely tore down my Inspire 1 to assess my crash damage and was able to get away with about $550 worth of parts to fix it and then I get to see what DJI charges to fix my X5 camera (that I shipped out to them today). With any luck, that'll be $300 or less. We'll see. Wish DJI would sell all the little parts for this quad as opposed to trying to find people parting out their quads online. Such a pain in the neck, but I digress.

Since I didn't take any pictures last time, I figure I might as well help others that I are wondering how to solder onto the circuit board for the aircraft mod.

These are the holes I spoke of that are used by the motor wires. There is enough room for the mod battery wires to go through here as well. Make sure the plastic cover over the circuit board snaps back into place. If it doesn't, then the new wires are not in a good enough position and you'll have a very difficult time squeezing the Inspire battery into place.



Here is the solder job. Make sure the solder is nice and shiny. No cold solder joints. Looks like I didn't angle them upwards as much as I originally thought that I did, but I know for sure they wouldn't fit if I extended the wires outwards.

I rebuilt the entire quad and threaded the wires through the bottom prior to soldering on a connector. Hope this helps.

 

[KyleMaxxUav]

Hey guys!! So I'm messing around with an old tb48 ... Doing some experiments. Now I think I have something messed up here, hoping you can help.

I soldered the balance leads and power leads but it's showing two flat cells. Did I run the balance leads wrong ?
Any help is greatly appreciated !!

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[damoncooper]

On vacation and wanted battery redundancy (flying over the ocean mostly) without dragging along extra regular lipos and chargers in addition to my DJI batteries and chargers so got creative.

Update: Wild bucking bronco. No amount of gains reduction would calm it.

Verdict: unusable.

Hypothesis: the aircraft has built in assumptions about its center of gravity and VPS may still be used even when it's technically turned "off" in the app. Flying above the VPS altitude range produced slightly more stability but it was still frighteningly unstable.

Result: I'm going to have to run single battery over the ocean and in the wind and risk being stranded at sea due to the DJI "battery nanny" who will limit propulsion output when battery temps here in the tropics jump > 43C and I'm fighting tropical offshore winds to get home.

Wish me luck.

 

[FlyHighUSA]

May the battery Gods be with you.

 

[KyleMaxxUav]

Anyone able to help me with my two cells showing 0 ? Did I hook something up wrong ?


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[John Boylan]

Update: Wild bucking bronco. No amount of gains reduction would calm it.

Verdict: unusable.

Hypothesis: the aircraft has built in assumptions about its center of gravity and VPS may still be used even when it's technically turned "off" in the app. Flying above the VPS altitude range produced slightly more stability but it was still frighteningly unstable.

Result: I'm going to have to run single battery over the ocean and in the wind and risk being stranded at sea due to the DJI "battery nanny" who will limit propulsion output when battery temps here in the tropics jump > 43C and I'm fighting tropical offshore winds to get home.

Wish me luck.

Good luck Damon hope all flying goes smooth without any hiccups.


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[droneshop]

After a bunch of experimentation, here's my current mounting solution. Weights almost nothing but I can pick up the entire aircraft by the external LiPo it's so strong. But it HAS to be 3M Dual Lock. It's rated at 1.5LB's per square inch for 10,000 hours at 200F. Do NOT try this with velcro. Your batteries could detach, hit the props, and puncture, resulting in a fire or mid air explosion. That would be bad.

Can you let us know which version you got? like how many stems per inch is was? I would like to order some up but want to make sure to get the right stuff. They have rubber adhesive, acryllic adhesive, and low profile version.

 

[emtea]

Anyone have a recommendation for a portable LiHV capable battery charger, preferably with a built-in power supply? I don't really care how fast it charges, it just has to be easy to take with me on trips.

 

[damoncooper]

Can you let us know which version you got? like how many stems per inch is was? I would like to order some up but want to make sure to get the right stuff. They have rubber adhesive, acryllic adhesive, and low profile version.

This stuff. 250 stems per square inch.

3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener TB3550 250/250 Black, 1 in x 10 ft (1 Mated Strip/Bag) Amazon.com: 3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener TB3550 250/250 Black, 1 in x 10 ft (1 Mated Strip/Bag): Industrial & Scientific