Dual Battery Mod

Deleted member 27337 · Aug 16, 2016

Ed209 said:
Something isn't right... Now getting cell error. I know the polarity is right...

You're doing LIHV charge and not LIHV Balance right?

Silverwingflinx · Aug 16, 2016

Ok tried it when I turn Dji batt on its charging! Thanx

Ed209 · Aug 16, 2016

tonyt76 said:
You're doing LIHV charge and not LIHV Balance right?

Bingo Bango! I'm an idiot. Muscle memory of doing LiHV Balance got me. Thanks again.

shockwave199 · Aug 17, 2016

Very curious how this will work out for fully charging the p3 battery. I'll invest in a charger and adapter if all works out. A fully charged battery is where it's at! I bet this really helps the dji battery to not go into charge mode with externals.

CleethorpesKid · Aug 17, 2016

Hi, I want to do my first battery mod.

I've read at least 75% of this thread and am still a little unsure of the process.

I'm drawn towards attaching directly to the main board as I believe this avoids the main battery going into charging mode? I've already had the bird open, and can solder as good as DB

Apart from this, what other electrical components do i need? Plugs, etc.

Suggestions on which charger (that are available in the UK) also welcome

Thanks in advance

Silverwingflinx · Aug 17, 2016

CleethorpesKid said:
Hi, I want to do my first battery mod.

I've read at least 75% of this thread and am still a little unsure of the process.

I'm drawn towards attaching directly to the main board as I believe this avoids the batteries going into charging mode? I've already had the bird open, and can solder as good as DB

Apart from this, what other electrical components do i need? Plugs, etc.

Suggestions on which charger (that are available in the UK) also welcome

Thanks in advance

Hey do main board mod easier then doing battery mod,I used todo battery mods.(had 6 of them) now I just have main board mod.the only part I don't like is if you need to replace the shell its a lot more work! Imo to me it's a clean look no wires hanging!!

Digdat0 · Aug 17, 2016

CleethorpesKid said:
Hi, I want to do my first battery mod.

I've read at least 75% of this thread and am still a little unsure of the process.

I'm drawn towards attaching directly to the main board as I believe this avoids the main battery going into charging mode? I've already had the bird open, and can solder as good as DB

Apart from this, what other electrical components do i need? Plugs, etc.

Suggestions on which charger (that are available in the UK) also welcome

hi CleethorpesKid - welcome to the battery party

Soldering directly to the aircraft power source will not prevent the battery going into charging mode. It will help (IMO), but will not stop it. The best way to combat is timing of when you plugin the externals, as well as ensuring your DJI battery is charged at 100%. If the volts in the external are greater than stock battery, it may try and charge. If the volts are less, it won't happen. At least, this is in my experience. I found, if charging happens, just let it do its thing. It will top off the battery and then shut it off. Simply re-power it up, and you are good.

In terms of what parts, you need:

1. XT60 wired into the aircraft power source, or the battery
2. A way to attach the external batteries to your aircraft. Some "battery wings" or "battery trays", or duct tape (ala DB style)
3. External batteries
4. A charger for the external batteries. The folks here recommended this one, and its perfect. Hitec 44241 X1 mini AC Input Balance Charger / Discharger Lipo LiFe LiIon NiMH

Thats really it i think.

shockwave199 · Aug 17, 2016

CleethorpesKid said:
Hi, I want to do my first battery mod.

I've read at least 75% of this thread and am still a little unsure of the process.

I'm drawn towards attaching directly to the main board as I believe this avoids the main battery going into charging mode? I've already had the bird open, and can solder as good as DB

Apart from this, what other electrical components do i need? Plugs, etc.

Suggestions on which charger (that are available in the UK) also welcome

Thanks in advance

Easiest way

Phantom 3 Power Mod V3

Add a new battery modded by them and 5200's to the package. No muss, no fuss. Works great.

CleethorpesKid · Aug 17, 2016

Silverwingflinx said:
Hey do main board mod easier then doing battery mod,I used todo battery mods.(had 6 of them) now I just have main board mod.the only part I don't like is if you need to replace the shell its a lot more work! Imo to me it's a clean look no wires hanging!!

Thanks

CleethorpesKid · Aug 17, 2016

Digdat0 said:
hi CleethorpesKid - welcome to the battery party

Soldering directly to the aircraft power source will not prevent the battery going into charging mode. It will help (IMO), but will not stop it. The best way to combat is timing of when you plugin the externals, as well as ensuring your DJI battery is charged at 100%. If the volts in the external are greater than stock battery, it may try and charge. If the volts are less, it won't happen. At least, this is in my experience. I found, if charging happens, just let it do its thing. It will top off the battery and then shut it off. Simply re-power it up, and you are good.

In terms of what parts, you need:

1. XT60 wired into the aircraft power source, or the battery
2. A way to attach the external batteries to your aircraft. Some "battery wings" or "battery trays", or duct tape (ala DB style)
3. External batteries
4. A charger for the external batteries. The folks here recommended this one, and its perfect. Hitec 44241 X1 mini AC Input Balance Charger / Discharger Lipo LiFe LiIon NiMH

Thats really it i think.

Thanks Digdat,
1. Is the XT60 wired into the main board male or female?
2. I have a 3D printer, I'm going to print the ones somebody posted the stl for.
3. I'm going for the Multistar 5200 that I linked to in the first post
4. I can't find anyone who sells the Hitec 44241 in the UK, but I have found the Skyrc S60 which has the identical specs, what do you think? Or is there anything here:Battery Charger (LiHV) > Chargers & Accessories

Digdat0 · Aug 17, 2016

CleethorpesKid said:
Thanks Digdat,
1. Is the XT60 wired into the main board male or female?
2. I have a 3D printer, I'm going to print the ones somebody posted the stl for.
3. I'm going for the Multistar 5200 that I linked to in the first post
4. I can't find anyone who sells the Hitec 44241 in the UK, but I have found the Skyrc S60 which has the identical specs, what do you think? Or is there anything here:Battery Charger (LiHV) > Chargers & Accessories

I get male/female mixed up on these plugs, get this one (the battery will have the opposite). The Skyrc S60 should be good, it looks **** similar top the one i have.

Digdat0 · Aug 17, 2016

CleethorpesKid said:
Thanks Digdat,
2. I have a 3D printer, I'm going to print the ones somebody posted the stl for.

Mind re-linking the STL file? I'm looking at 3d printers (procharged97 is a bad influence) and looking for projects to justify haha unless you wanna print me some and ship to US

CleethorpesKid · Aug 17, 2016

shockwave199 said:
Easiest way

Phantom 3 Power Mod V3

Add a new battery modded by them and 5200's to the package. No muss, no fuss. Works great.

Thanks Shockwave, but I don't necessarily want easy. If i didn't mind a bit of soldering and disassembly, I'd probably go with that way, otherwise it seems an expensive way to do it and doesn't splitting the batteries reduce flight time?

CleethorpesKid · Aug 17, 2016

Digdat0 said:
Mind re-linking the STL file? I'm looking at 3d printers (procharged97 is a bad influence) and looking for projects to justify haha unless you wanna print me some and ship to US

Gimpster posted them here

shockwave199 · Aug 17, 2016

CleethorpesKid said:
Thanks Shockwave, but I don't necessarily want easy. If i didn't mind a bit of soldering and disassembly, I'd probably go with that way, otherwise it seems an expensive way to do it and doesn't splitting the batteries reduce flight time?

If you like to tinker rock on. I don't see the usefulness of doing the mod from the inside and all the extra work it entails for the average person looking to get into it. I guess there's money to be saved but I like having another battery that can be used by itself or part of an extended flight - whichever I need it's ready to go. I didn't have to open the bird and solder, big plus. And since even an inside mod can bring on unwanted charging of the dji battery, there's no upside there. I'm no expert on the stats of split battery and flight time. All I know is the 5200's mounted on each side of the bird makes the weight distribution even so I experience no odd flight behavior, either at takeoff or flying around. It seems the v3 power mod could get me 30 minutes in the air if I pushed it, maybe a bit more. It gives me a comfortable 25 minutes to 25% and that's fine for me. It seems to come down to whether a modded battery or a modded bird is preferred. I prefer the battery. It's working out for me.

maxwell smart · Aug 17, 2016

I just got a couple more Multisare battery's in the mail, so I hope to do some more test this weekend.

Silverwingflinx · Aug 17, 2016

Hey guys well it's a first,my p3v1 after many flites is now acting crazy!! First I thought it was a bird attack it did 3/ 360 spins on a flite home.that was not the case! Then I thought well I will replace the back 2 motors! Well the bird is still wanting to do the 360 dance in mid air it bobs it weaves and wants to flip over.it has never been crashed or gotten wet.it has about 60/65 hrs flite.batteries are hitting high temps 50/60 motors are extremely hot even after 4/5 mins.with battery mod or not.i am thinking can it be the added stress of these battery mods on th esc.my heaviest batt is the multistar 5200! Any thoughts guys? Update ordered 2 more motors so all 4 will be replaced!

maxwell smart · Aug 17, 2016

Motor may be wore out. When you over load the bird something has to give??

Digdat0 · Aug 17, 2016

i had similar issue silverwing - it ended up being a bad motor (and not the one i expected). That motor would work, but it was SUPER hot and was causing ESC errors intermittently. I replaced the motor and reset IMU and all was good. My gut feeling is that you didn't get the right motor replaced. For mine, i could look inside and see black. Now, how identified it was by touch .. it was the one at 4 thousand degree's.

Silverwingflinx · Aug 17, 2016

Digdat0 said:
i had similar issue silverwing - it ended up being a bad motor (and not the one i expected). That motor would work, but it was SUPER hot and was causing ESC errors intermittently. I replaced the motor and reset IMU and all was good. My gut feeling is that you didn't get the right motor replaced. For mine, i could look inside and see black. Now, how identified it was by touch .. it was the one at 4 thousand degree's.

Thax Dig I replaced the 2 back motors and they seem to be very hot still! I will order 2 more for the front and replace them! See how that goes! So after you replaced your motors batt temps went down as well as motor temps???