New Phantom 2 battery by Venom

AmirChar · Mar 16, 2015

Has anyone read about this or intend on ordering one when they come out? On one hand, it seems like you might get a little more battery life out of them (5500 mAh vs. 5200 mAh stock), on the other hand I am worried about DJI pushing out a firmware update that will render these batteries useless? Thoughts?

https://system.netsuite.com/core/media/ ... d&_xt=.pdf

BioTeq · Mar 16, 2015

AmirChar said:
Has anyone read about this or intend on ordering one when they come out? On one hand, it seems like you might get a little more battery life out of them (5500 mAh vs. 5200 mAh stock), on the other hand I am worried about DJI pushing out a firmware update that will render these batteries useless? Thoughts?

https://system.netsuite.com/core/media/ ... d&_xt=.pdf

I like the system info display, but at 120 bucks, please... ridiculous. I'd always go for an original battery pack at that price, there is no good reason to risk bricking your 120$ with the next bird update, I might be convinced to go aftermarket if it was 80 bucks, not at 120.

rbhamilton · Mar 16, 2015

The limefuel 5400's look like a good bang for the buck. Not convinced they actually give you a lot more power but Limefuel claims a 1 year warranty and only $95. They claim to have the firmware issues sorted out but I wouldn't update your quad with one of these plugged in just to be safe. Limefuel also has a 6000 out that does give you a couple more minutes and it's about the same price as the DJI battery. I bought a pair of the 6000's and they seem to work well enough. Bit of a tight fit but otherwise no issues. Worth a look anyway.

http://www.amazon.com/Limefuel-Replacem ... B00QR10588

capodrone81 · Mar 16, 2015

i to have limefuel batteries and enjoy the price point they serve. no issues at all, i don't update the batteries i uses them and charge them that is all.

these venom batteries are nice and the lcd screen is pretty neat over oem. still a small savings over stock to...nice find...

flyNfrank · Mar 16, 2015

The Ultimate Flight app already data logs 75-80% of what you see on the venom battery. And what is not currently being logged can certainly be added. That without a doubt is a benefit to having the support of the developers we currently have.

Txfirecop · Mar 17, 2015

Currently have Dji & Limefuel running without any problems. Have wanted to try the ones with the LCD readout but wasn't comfortable with ordering from eBay and the negative post they have received. Think I will give the Venom a chance in the Big Dog camp this summer. Anyone have a more definite release date other than March of 2015 or has anyone performed pre-release Beta testing? Looking forward to trying this one out.

Mako79 · Mar 30, 2015

I have 5 DJI OEM batteries. Done about 100 sorties and owned the Vision+ for almost a year without fault. I use the 20 rule - land at 20% and deplete at the 20th cycle to 8% and full charge.
1 brand new was replaced under warranty - falsely reporting 3000 degrees.
1 sent back after 27 cycles - signs off puffiness and early auto landing - got replaced with Ver 2 battery.
Just last weekend, my other 2 started to show the same symptoms. One has 24 and the other has 37 cycles.

Mathematically... That's an 80% failure rate.
At $150 a pop and an average of 30 flights/cycle (10hrs) works out to be 5 dollars a flight. That's rather expensive. In other words these batteries cost about $15 an hour.

I have given up on DJI - and yes - they should stick to making multirotors and leave the batteries to the pros.

Long story short...
I ended up getting 2 of the Venom batteries. The Limefuel 5400 worked out to be $294 AUD inc delivery for 2 and the Venom 5500 was $304 AUD for 2 and from a shop that promised me 12mnths warranty. The battery LCD stat is convenient, no need to plug into Phantom assist to check status. Battery is sitting on charge as we speak - 'charging 85%'

I will do a low ground hover and provide some feed back.

Steeleagle · Mar 31, 2015

Lipos will last a lot longer if you don't take them below 30%. Also I don't buy into the discharge to 8% every 20 cycles. I have been flying R/C for years and to my knowledge no LIPo manufacturers recommend EVER going that low on a discharge. For the longest life discharge to only 30%, use no more than a 1 C charge, and store your batteries at approx 50% when not in use ( more than a couple of days)

Mako79 · Mar 31, 2015

Steeleagle said:
Lipos will last a lot longer if you don't take them below 30%. Also I don't buy into the discharge to 8% every 20 cycles. I have been flying R/C for years and to my knowledge no LIPo manufacturers recommend EVER going that low on a discharge. For the longest life discharge to only 30%, use no more than a 1 C charge, and store your batteries at approx 50% when not in use ( more than a couple of days)

Thanks for the advice. I'm just following DJI's Instructions on "Intelligent Batteries"

Going to do test today when the weather clears up.

Uptowndisco2 · Apr 2, 2015

The 20 cycle discharge is for the smart circuit's benefit not the battery , the smart side measures charge in Vs used out , the discharge below 8% resets the measurements as they will drift over time due to natural discharge etc that the smart meter cannot take into account when calculating what is left in your battery. at the extreme end the LED meter can show full on a half charged battery.

Mako79 · Apr 3, 2015

Test results on vision plus with h33d gopro3.

Dji PH-5200 (series 2 battery) vs the venom 5500.

Both batteries took off at 96% charge. The dji registered at 96% on the dji app. This meant that i had to drop the venom to the same percentage. The venom had 1 cycle, the dji had 5 cycles. Both were flown in similar conditions and both down to 20%

Dji was 14.34
Venom was 15.09

I wont be able to validate reliabilty until another 30 or so flights.

With a built in lcd display and 12 months warranty... i think i will start to stay clear from dji batteries for now...

Txfirecop · Apr 3, 2015

Where or what web site is selling this battery? Looks nice and want to compare with my OEM & Limefuel I already have.

Mako79 · Apr 3, 2015

Txfirecop said:
Where or what web site is selling this battery? Looks nice and want to compare with my OEM & Limefuel I already have.

I also did a Phantom 2 DJI batt version 1 vs Venom at a different location.
DJI was 13 minutes (23 cycles) and the Venom (1 cycle) was 16 minutes in similar conditions.

I got mine from my local.
http://www.justhobbies.net.au/dji-p...-11-1v-rc-lipo-battery-w-lcd-display-by-venom

I did some research and found that venom are dedicated battery manufacturers for the RC community.
http://www.atomikrc.com/products/dj...-11-1v-rc-lipo-battery-w-lcd-display-by-venom

My local repriced to match the DJI OEM because I had complained about the DJI's going puffy and going to early auto land.

http://www.atomikrc.com/pages/venom-rc

Txfirecop · Apr 3, 2015

Mako79 said:
I also did a Phantom 2 DJI version 1 vs Venom at a different location.
DJI was 13 minutes (23 cycles) and the Venom (1 cycle) was 16 minutes in similar conditions.

I got mine from my local.
http://www.justhobbies.net.au/dji-p...-11-1v-rc-lipo-battery-w-lcd-display-by-venom

I did some research and found that venom are dedicated battery manufacturers for the RC community.
http://www.atomikrc.com/products/dj...-11-1v-rc-lipo-battery-w-lcd-display-by-venom

My local repriced to match the DJI OEM because I had complained about the DJI's going puffy and going to early auto land.

http://www.atomikrc.com/pages/venom-rc

Thanks for the info Mako. Guess it's time to give this one a try.