HELP! Battery drain in seconds after takeoff

[RobPhantom1]

Yeah, I think they're to high, try with some value (non 0.0) in the loss field:

Sample:
first 11.3 0.5 10.7
second 10.6 0.3 10.3

Thanks. I tried those settings. The result was that instead of the warning leds coming on instantly, I got about 2 minutes hover time. When I landed and plugged into the Naza M assistant it said voltage was 11.6. So still kicking in early... and I went from 12.5V to 11.6V in two minutes of low hovering.

Would you say this all still points towards a dodgy cell / generally written-off battery?

 

[SteveMann]

I use the HiTec X1 charger, also around $60. I picked it because I can plug it into the wall or a 12V auto battery. With this charger, I can do a balanced discharge that brings all cells down to a safe level, then you can do a balanced charge. If the cell isn't dead this should recover the battery for you.
BTW, the HiTek manual really sucks. I suspect that it was translated from Chinese to French to Zulu then finally to english. Find a tutorial on YouTube.

 

[RobPhantom1]

Thanks Steve. The only charger I could find that would be shipped in a reasonable time (I'm in the UK) was the iMax B6. I also ordered a lipo voltage tester and two new batteries just in case. There's a question mark over whether any of these will arrive before Friday, when I really need them, so wish me luck!

 

[harmudge]

Rob, hopefully sorted now but it may be worth noting what balance socket you are using on your charger. I had a similar problem a while back only to discover that I was most likely inserting the battery's balance lead into the wrong socket.

 

[RobPhantom1]

Thanks harmudge. I'm pretty sure I've been using the right balance socket as I don't thing the plug would fit in the others anyway.

So anyway, I've received new batteries and a voltage tester, but I haven't yet received my new charger. Using the voltage tester I can see that I do indeed have one cell slightly lower than the other two in my original batteries. It was by a much smaller margin than I was expecting though - just a couple of decimal (sorry, don't have the numbers right now but will post later if anyone's interested). I'm going to wait for my new iMax B6 charger and see if I can fix them by doing a balanced discharge then re-charge. I don't dare charge my new batteries on my old charger in case it was what caused the problem.

I'll report back and let you all know what happens...

 

[Tim Flood]

I have the same problem. After one flight, each of my two spare batteries are kaputt. I need to get a voltage checker.