Max battery life.

imagesmad · Apr 28, 2015

Has anyone done an endurance test with their batteries ? The suggested 18 minutes for the standard battery, in my limited experience is a little optimistic, the best I have achieved so far is 15....

The Editor · Apr 28, 2015

imagesmad said:
Has anyone done an endurance test with their batteries ? The suggested 18 minutes for the standard battery, in my limited experience is a little optimistic, the best I have achieved so far is 15....

You do not say what level you are taking them down to?

Please see this thread as this has been talked about before.
http://www.inspirepilots.com/threads/flight-time.2380/#post-25647

imagesmad · Apr 29, 2015

I am taking them down to the recommended 30% mainly on the assumption that the indication on the App was the actual percentage and following the recommendations I had found on line.
Subsequent to your post on another thread it seems safe ( from a battery health point of view ) to land by 0% ?

The Editor · Apr 29, 2015

imagesmad said:
I am taking them down to the recommended 30% mainly on the assumption that the indication on the App was the actual percentage and following the recommendations I had found on line.
Subsequent to your post on another thread it seems safe ( from a battery health point of view ) to land by 0% ?

NO! - This level should only be used to calibrate the batteries. Flying anything below 20% you are getting into the rapid discharge part of the curve for lipos and the pack can drop voltage quite abruptly. The lowest I 'Fly' down to is 18%.

Kilrah · Apr 29, 2015

imagesmad said:
Subsequent to your post on another thread it seems safe ( from a battery health point of view ) to land by 0% ?

From a battery health point of view yes, BUT from an aircraft health point of view NO. 0% won't damage the battery as it will shut off to protect itself, which means that if you're still in the air you've now got a heavy and expensive brick falling down.

imagesmad · Apr 29, 2015

The Editor said:
NO! - This level should only be used to calibrate the batteries. Flying anything below 20% you are getting into the rapid discharge part of the curve for lipos and the pack can drop voltage quite abruptly. The lowest I 'Fly' down to is 18%.

`Thanks for that, I shall heed your warning - and continue to land soon after the 30% warning.

huppe · Apr 29, 2015

I Always make sure I have eye contact when I reach 30%.But I have done over 21 minutes and was at 18%.Normally I land at 25%.Also it depends on the speed and wind how long you can fly

Sky High Photography · Apr 29, 2015

Oh god, I always fly my batteries down to 8%.
30% come in, fly around to 15% then hover and land at 8%.
Is this NOT a good idea?
I remember replying in another post, god help me to find it, that this is exactly the proper process.
I have never had any dramatic battery % drops, flight times are consistently 17-18 minutes and full charge times are around 80 minutes (all tb47 batteries).

damoncooper · Apr 29, 2015

The Editor said:
NO! - This level should only be used to calibrate the batteries. Flying anything below 20% you are getting into the rapid discharge part of the curve for lipos and the pack can drop voltage quite abruptly. The lowest I 'Fly' down to is 18%.

You cats are Wild and Cra-azy guys

I'm within eyeshot of home at 35% and landing before 30%.

Am I needlessly leaving happy minutes of airtime on the table?

Kilrah · Apr 29, 2015

Sky High Photography said:
Oh god, I always fly my batteries down to 8%.
30% come in, fly around to 15% then hover and land at 8%.
Is this NOT a good idea?

It's pretty OK, if you are hovering in front of you and you get a sudden drop you can just land. A bit of a waste of time IMO, but each to his own

The Editor · Apr 30, 2015

damoncooper said:
You cats are Wild and Cra-azy guys
View attachment 1431
I'm within eyeshot of home at 35% and landing before 30%.

Am I needlessly leaving happy minutes of airtime on the table?

I believe you are sir!
I have my low battery alarm set at 28%, this gives me around 2 minutes until I get down to 19-20% where I land.
If you are landing before 30% I would guesstamate you are short changing yourself out of around 3 or 4 minutes of 'safe' airtime.

Sky High Photography · Apr 30, 2015

Good thread.
I am thinking that flying my batteries down to 8% might be "stressing" them so I am going to follow the norm of the experienced pilots and fly no lower than 18%.

sirnikolas · Jun 27, 2015

I'm a tad concerned with the readings from my batteries (please see attached)
Battery 1 I received with the bird and the other 2 I bought together at a later date.
Should I be worried?

Thanks.

Chad johnson · Jun 27, 2015

Don't forget that many times the batteries can drop from 25% to 7% to 3% within 10 seconds, especially if you haven't deep cycled the battery after 10 flights. It just happened to me. I was expecting it though and was hovering low. But that has happened to people over water who were still far out at 25%. I think it's safer to just try to get your shots before 30% and keep it safe. Get more batteries if you need more time. A crash isn't wort it. 2 months minimum is a looooong time to wait for DJI to fix your bird just because you wanted an extra minute or two.

Max battery life.

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