Dual Battery Mod

[Pluto88888]

The placement of the battery seems best when it is in the middle of the phantom. I have yet to fully test out the battery mod since my booster ran into some problems, so here's a short video of my first attempt at a dual mod. Feels like it's not even carrying any extra weight with this setup.

Your not worried about blocking your GPS signals

 

[tml4191]

Your not worried about blocking your GPS signals

Not worried at all.....The idea was actually received here from many members. The difference is that the battery is positioned a little more towards the middle and reinforced with a strap. That video shot is the phantom in GPS mode.

 

[mandalay]

The placement of the battery seems best when it is in the middle of the phantom. I have yet to fully test out the battery mod since my booster ran into some problems, so here's a short video of my first attempt at a dual mod. Feels like it's not even carrying any extra weight with this setup.

Is it normal that the main battery can't be turned off when the external battery is hooked up to the power clip, which I made over the weekend? This is happening to me. The main battery is being charged and its LED lights are flashing just like when it's charged from the AC charger. In addition, the voltage increases from 3.87 to 4.15v in each cell. However I don't see any battery error messages. I'm using a Multistar LIHV 4S 5200mAh. Does yours do that?

 

[Procharged97]

Did anyone of you guys ever try splittin a battery? I'm thinkin about doin one...

I just split a MS 6600. Not to bad to do, just be careful and take your time

Sent from my SM-G900V using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[tml4191]

Is it normal that the main battery can't be turned off when the external battery is hooked up to the power clip, which I made over the weekend? This is happening to me. The main battery is being charged and its LED lights are flashing just like when it's charged from the AC charger. In addition, the voltage increases from 3.87 to 4.15v in each cell. However I don't see any battery error messages. I'm using a Multistar LIHV 4S 5200mAh. Does yours do that?

I did this (check video) before flying it since some other phantom pilot here had that problem. That's digdat0's video.

 

[mandalay]

I did this (check video) before flying it since some other phantom pilot here had that problem. That's digdat0's video.

Are you saying I need to top off the main battery so it's not going to charging mode when hooked up to external battery?

 

[tml4191]

Are you saying I need to top off the main battery so it's not going to charging mode when hooked up to external battery?

I did what you had a problem with, and it seemed like the mod that I bought didn't have that problem. I was able to turn it on/off with the mod on without a problem, and it didn't charge my phantom like you said. This mod is legit. Some say it's overpriced, but it worked straight from the get go. If you can figure it out, then by all means go for it. I'll post a video once I figure out how to unlock my little bro's ipad(soon)

 

[Atlantic Surfer]

I have the " original " mod and have the same problem ( the external charging the main battery). Honestly don't remember exactly how I deal with that : let's charging a little, disconnect the aux, turn off the main and try again ...one time launched the motors and that stopped charging, but at the end i've always took off !
To turn off the main battery, I have to disconnect the Aux before. Not a big deal

 

[tml4191]

Are you saying I need to top off the main battery so it's not going to charging mode when hooked up to external battery?

Here is a video of the Mod today:

 

[Digdat0]

Is it normal that the main battery can't be turned off when the external battery is hooked up to the power clip, which I made over the weekend? This is happening to me. The main battery is being charged and its LED lights are flashing just like when it's charged from the AC charger. In addition, the voltage increases from 3.87 to 4.15v in each cell. However I don't see any battery error messages. I'm using a Multistar LIHV 4S 5200mAh. Does yours do that?

first off, those clips look legit, good work on them, they look quality man.

i dont have a clip, i have 2 birds with direct power mod. If external is plugged in, I can turn off the battery. When i do, the battery powers off, but the aircraft stays powered. In DJI Go, it says communications / battery error, but it stays powered. It should turn off irrespective of how its plugged in. It sounds like its charging your battery, rather than allowing it turned off. Does this happen if the external has less volts than the stock DJI battery?

 

[Digdat0]

I have the " original " mod and have the same problem ( the external charging the main battery). Honestly don't remember exactly how I deal with that : let's charging a little, disconnect the aux, turn off the main and try again ...one time launched the motors and that stopped charging, but at the end i've always took off !
To turn off the main battery, I have to disconnect the Aux before. Not a big deal

you cant stop the charging entirely. as batteries get older, this will get worse. best you can do is top the stock DJI battery off. if charging happens, just let it finish. When done, it will turn off the DJI battery, just turn back on and good to go. The other option is to charge your externals to less voltage than your stock DJI battery, say 4.30 rather than 4.35.

 

[mandalay]

I did what you had a problem with, and it seemed like the mod that I bought didn't have that problem. I was able to turn it on/off with the mod on without a problem, and it didn't charge my phantom like you said. This mod is legit. Some say it's overpriced, but it worked straight from the get go. If you can figure it out, then by all means go for it. I'll post a video once I figure out how to unlock my little bro's ipad(soon)

I found out that the main battery has to be charged fully. After that it works as expected; I was able to turn off the main battery and the voltage did not jump when external is plugged in. The mod is definitely legit.

 

[Alan Russel]

Hi there Digdat0..I have not flown for a few days very windy lately where I live grrr..saw a couple of your vids on your youtube channel, that spot where fly out towards those hills looks very good and the range you get with that windsurfer is awesome!

 

[mandalay]

first off, those clips look legit, good work on them, they look quality man.

i dont have a clip, i have 2 birds with direct power mod. If external is plugged in, I can turn off the battery. When i do, the battery powers off, but the aircraft stays powered. In DJI Go, it says communications / battery error, but it stays powered. It should turn off irrespective of how its plugged in. It sounds like its charging your battery, rather than allowing it turned off. Does this happen if the external has less volts than the stock DJI battery?

Thanks, Dig. As mentioned in a previous reply to tml4191 just a few posts above this one, as long as the main battery is fully charged the issue is gone. I was able to turn off the main battery just fine. Is it because the main battery has a lot less voltage than the external and therefore the juice flows that way and charges main?

So I took the bird out for a test with the power clip mod after main batteries were fully charged. Below are the results with 2 Multistar LIHV 4S 5200 mAh batteries. I took easy on the 1st one flying around 20mph with very little wind; 2nd battery around 27-30mph.

Btw, that 3M 250 dual lock is awesome. Highly recommend it [emoji2]

 

[Atlantic Surfer]

Thanks Digdat, I think it's the best thing to do, topping the main batt and let's charging .... I want to fly for long distance with my 2 batteries at 100% !
Just finish to change my shell, receive my antennas and clean install cable.Hope the weather let me try all this new stuff to set new PR

 

[Digdat0]

Thanks Digdat, I think it's the best thing to do, topping the main batt and let's charging .... I want to fly for long distance with my 2 batteries at 100% !
Just finish to change my shell, receive my antennas and clean install cable.Hope the weather let me try all this new stuff to set new PR

good luck man! Im almost back in the air .. need new compasses. As it turns out, crashing can kill a compass! I'm just excited to get back in the air!

 

[Strat]

Thinking about splitting a MS LiHV 4000mAh.. how hard of a job is it.. never split a pack before but looking into it.. is it just splitting the 4 cells into 2 and joining the 2 tabs removed via some good wire and aluminium paste/solder ??

are the MS cells glued/taped or easy to pull apart?

 

[Paul A Byers]

Excellent initiative! That FAQ answers most or all of my questions regarding extra battery mods. Speaking for myself, I would really appreciate such FAQs and condenced info on other topics as well. It is almost impossible to sort out the good info from the not so good / useless info in a thread of 30-50-100+ pages.

Like yesterday and this morning, when I was flying in chilly Norway, 8 degC and 3DegC (46/37F), I got a warning about malfunction of the ultrasonic system a few minutes into the flight. I could continue the flight as usual. My first thought was the low temperature. I am sure I will find the answer once I search the forum. Btw, I was filming the same mountain as in this movie

That is awesome! Great song playing to the video as well.

 

[Atlantic Surfer]

Thinking about splitting a MS LiHV 4000mAh.. how hard of a job is it.. never split a pack before but looking into it.. is it just splitting the 4 cells into 2 and joining the 2 tabs removed via some good wire and aluminium paste/solder ??

are the MS cells glued/taped or easy to pull apart?

Not sure it's worth the risk ! Splitting a battery doesn't work very well ( at least for what I have read about the P3 4850 mah and Ms 6600)
On the other hand,lot of people here fly with a Ms 4000 /5200 under the VPS without any problem
Up to you !

 

[Blitz]

Splitting the batteries is simple.

You just cut with a sharpknife the outer foil and you will find four seperate cells. The are not glued together. You cut the solderjoint which holds together the two pairs. Now you solder a wire of 7-8 inch onto the solder joint, so that the original connection is back. Take good electronic isolation tape and tape both batteries. Thats it. I have not even changed a thing on the powerplug of the battery.