Battery Low Indication

[BallisticPhantom]

I am learning the LED indicators for low battery. I would like to know the difference between the Low Battery Stage 1 Low Battery stage 2 and the GPS below 5 satellites LED indicators.

Common sense would be to have an idea of your flight time but in the case of a new or failing battery I would like to know how to read the LED in case.

I have found that it will blink red once or twice then go back to green and repeat. Is this to be considered the first stage or do I wait for it to start blinking constantly red then land ASAP. Also it really stinks that once you land and motors enter idol the light goes green again like the bird is ready to go.

I have also experienced RED Flashing under full throttle however I read in another post this is due to momentary Voltage Drop which makes sense.

I understand each battery will be different, but how long are we talking on average prior to Stage 2 and the start of altitude drop?

I picked up this phantom and batteries used and do not "know" the batteries yet.

 

[Gizmo3000]

you'll get the hang of it over time.

the first failsafe level is merely a warning, the red light will blink when the voltage level of the battery drops to a certain level.
but as you've experienced, the voltage level of a battery will actually drop when it's under "load" - heavy flying.
so in times when you punch the throttle, it might dip into that area and will blink red., and as you get closer to that level it will be more susceptible and will blink red with only subtle stick motions,.. until it's blinking read continuously in a hover.
Now when it's in that mode, you will no longer see any green blinks at all.

whereas you would see a green blink or two if it was just a low satellite situation.

battery level stage 2 occurs when the voltage level drops even further, and you'll notice a little hit in throttle power.
it will continue to blink red, until there's no more power and it basically lands itself.

 

[tanasit]

you'll get the hang of it over time.

the first failsafe level is merely a warning, the red light will blink when the voltage level of the battery drops to a certain level.
but as you've experienced, the voltage level of a battery will actually drop when it's under "load" - heavy flying.
so in times when you punch the throttle, it might dip into that area and will blink red., and as you get closer to that level it will be more susceptible and will blink red with only subtle stick motions,.. until it's blinking read continuously in a hover.
Now when it's in that mode, you will no longer see any green blinks at all.

whereas you would see a green blink or two if it was just a low satellite situation.

battery level stage 2 occurs when the voltage level drops even further, and you'll notice a little hit in throttle power.
it will continue to blink red, until there's no more power and it basically lands itself.

Interesting but I thought it will land after the 2nd level stage occurs and the voltage drops to a pre-determined level with respect to the setup value regardless of the relative capacity left in the pack at the moment. And the reason I thought so because each Phantom carries different weights, so it is more practical to program it to land as per voltage drops rather than "gauging" if there is still enough power to hover carrying different weights and act accordingly (how??). Yes, the operator can try to move the throttle stick to over 90% to hover but there will be a weight limit when he can't do that at all.

I will have to test this once the weather is not around 35 degrees like these days.

 

[BallisticPhantom]

So how do you differentiate between the GPS and the battery indicators?

There is no change when you enter stage two on the LED correct?

 

[Gizmo3000]

It really does seem to behave differently with different weights, I found when flying a heavy gimbal and slow fly props, it would drop the moment it hit the 2nd failsafe!@#
But then I found that with 9" props, the 2nd level hover will go on, and on for quite some time wight he throttle at over 90%.

While flying my F450 this past weekend, with OSD, it was very clear that 1st level battery failsafe is just a contestant flashing red light, and nothing more.
the moment it hit 2nd level (which I was able to view on my OSD), it would exhibit a pronounced drop in throttle.

The difference between GPS and battery indicators is easy.
-if you see any green blink, it's not in battery failsafe (and it's Satellites)
solid red blink = battery failsafe

2nd level battery failsafe is the same red blinks, but a loss in power until the craft attempts to land itself.

 

[phantomflyer]

I will have to test this once the weather is not around 35 degrees like these days.

Why are you waiting for the weather to get better then 35 degrees?
I've flown mine the other day in 12 degrees and it hasn't been any warmer then 30 the past couple days! My Phantom actually seemed to fly better in the cold and I didn't notice any change in flight times as some clam they have in cold weather!! Any way if you don't know you can fly these in -10c so don't let the cold hold you back unless your worried about your health,lol..

 

[BallisticPhantom]

Health... Frost Bite... Brittle equipment... I cannot blame him however I think I might be frost bit from last week too...

 

[EMCSQUAR]

I will have to test this once the weather is not around 35 degrees like these days.

Why are you waiting for the weather to get better then 35 degrees?
I've flown mine the other day in 12 degrees and it hasn't been any warmer then 30 the past couple days! My Phantom actually seemed to fly better in the cold and I didn't notice any change in flight times as some clam they have in cold weather!! Any way if you don't know you can fly these in -10c so don't let the cold hold you back unless your worried about your health,lol..

Did this today -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZfntDpQ ... VSNdmm127A

 

[havasuphoto]

I will have to test this once the weather is not around 35 degrees like these days.

Why are you waiting for the weather to get better then 35 degrees?
I've flown mine the other day in 12 degrees and it hasn't been any warmer then 30 the past couple days! My Phantom actually seemed to fly better in the cold and I didn't notice any change in flight times as some clam they have in cold weather!! Any way if you don't know you can fly these in -10c so don't let the cold hold you back unless your worried about your health,lol..

Did this today -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZfntDpQ ... VSNdmm127A

And that's Exactly why I moved from the mid-west, to Arizona!!! I hate the cold(getting old sucks), and snow is for skiing on..that's it.
Rode my Personal Watercraft Today, just down the street from my house, on sunny Lake Havasu....and I was wearing a short-sleeve wetsuit. You see, when it drops to 60 degree's, and below-it's time for the wetsuit-even though I don't get wet(2013 Seadoo GTX Limited iS-big boat).
Posted to follow the thread

 

[tanasit]

It really does seem to behave differently with different weights, I found when flying a heavy gimbal and slow fly props, it would drop the moment it hit the 2nd failsafe!@#
But then I found that with 9" props, the 2nd level hover will go on, and on for quite some time wight he throttle at over 90%.

While flying my F450 this past weekend, with OSD, it was very clear that 1st level battery failsafe is just a contestant flashing red light, and nothing more.
the moment it hit 2nd level (which I was able to view on my OSD), it would exhibit a pronounced drop in throttle.

The difference between GPS and battery indicators is easy.
-if you see any green blink, it's not in battery failsafe (and it's Satellites)
solid red blink = battery failsafe

2nd level battery failsafe is the same red blinks, but a loss in power until the craft attempts to land itself.

Similar observation too. I believe this is because the larger 9" props draw less amp from the pack, so the voltage drop creeps in slower than the 8" ones and as the result take more time to trip the landing sequence (assuming the same weights, of course). For my heavy load, I even set the FS voltage higher because I sometime fly over water so I will test it on land until I get around 30 seconds after the 2nd level kicks in.

 

[BallisticPhantom]

So as I have gotten a few more flights I have found that I am seeing the flashes intermittently about 1-2 mins prior to the full on battery low indication of solid red. I am using the 8" props so that is not the case for my situation. It happens with all 3 of my batteries. So it is not one of them going wonky. I was concerned that I was loosing GPS. For my flight needs that would be very bad and I wanted to ensure that is not the case.

 

[OI Photography]

So as I have gotten a few more flights I have found that I am seeing the flashes intermittently about 1-2 mins prior to the full on battery low indication of solid red. I am using the 8" props so that is not the case for my situation. It happens with all 3 of my batteries. So it is not one of them going wonky. I was concerned that I was loosing GPS. For my flight needs that would be very bad and I wanted to ensure that is not the case.

Those are probably your indications that the battery is starting to drop below the initial warning level while under load (heavy throttle input, or lots of corrective action by the NAZA in GPS mode), they'll return to green immediately when the load decreases and the voltage recovers and returns to acceptable levels.

 

[tanasit]

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1396339/ ... terialId=6

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1019077/ ... erialId=62

I concur that the compass has to be installed perfectly vertical and that's why several after market landing gears provide the "off set" mount for the antenna as seen above.
Additionally the vertical distance from the NAZA has to be about the same as the stock setup.

You can even test if the GPS and the compass work correctly by performing the IOC because the CL requires the compass and the HL requires the GPS to work flawlessly.
Below is how they suppose to work:

 

[havasuphoto]

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1396339/dji-phantom-wide-landing-gear.html?li=search-results&materialId=6

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1019077/ ... erialId=62

I concur that the compass has to be installed perfectly vertical and that's why several after market landing gears provide the "off set" mount for the antenna as seen above.
Additionally the vertical distance from the NAZA has to be about the same as the stock setup.

You can even test if the GPS and the compass work correctly by performing the IOC because the CL requires the compass and the HL requires the GPS to work flawlessly.
Below is how they suppose to work:

First, thanks for your excellent post.
Also, in bold above, is what is keeping me from adding "pipe insulation" around my landing gear, to raise it off the ground slightly higher, and provide some cushion on landing.

I've seen others do this, apparently without issue. But, since I'm new-I wonder if raising the aircraft 1 or 2 inches higher than stock, will cause issues? also, if others are using the insulation without issue, what size are they getting? I've seen some that was wrapped around the legs and secured with zip ties.