Walkera 5200mah (Pro-Z-14) test on Phantom 1

OI Photography said:
Howzit said:
1) Which batteries fit in parallel in the 1.5? I guess the Mad Dog 2700's won't w/o carving, right?

Correct. Two stock DJI 2200mAh batts will fit in perfectly side by side without any modification to the bay, but that's it. Getting 2 maddog 2700's in there would require this:
45zE20Dl.jpg


(I overdid it a little bit on some of the ribs to the left)

Oh, how that breaks the heart...

Carving up a Phantom P2 Battery Compartment is mutilation...
You can never use a Phantom 2 battery again... (even after any kind of price break ;) )
 
PJA said:
Oh, how that breaks the heart...

Carving up a Phantom P2 Battery Compartment is mutilation...
You can never use a Phantom 2 battery again... (even after any kind of price break ;) )

Yeah it broke my heart to slice up my beautiful new shell before even flying it once.

If I ever want to use a P2 batt I should be able to do it just by finding a way to re-brace the right side of the channel it fits in...everything on the right side (including the posts for the P2 power connector) is still in place.
 
Connecting the spades should be easy--can't you just treat them like an XT60? Just have them hanging in the shell; when you want to use a P2 battery, plug it in like you'd plug it into the charger and lock the battery in place.

It might be a bit more of a problem keeping the battery in tightly if you cut the locking tabs off the bottom rail, right?
 
ElGuano said:
Connecting the spades should be easy--can't you just treat them like an XT60? Just have them hanging in the shell; when you want to use a P2 battery, plug it in like you'd plug it into the charger and lock the battery in place.

It might be a bit more of a problem keeping the battery in tightly if you cut the locking tabs off the bottom rail, right?

That would be the problem. Once you cut the rails and the back tab, the P2 battery won't click in solidly... I guess you can secure it in another way so it stays in... We're all pretty creative on these P2 Conversion and Battery threads... One of us will figure it out...

I have the ability to use both lipos and P2 Battery. Just waiting for your intense battery testing of larger batts to include 5200's and 5400's that won't need surgery or carving of the P2 Battery Compartment... ;) Then I'll be good to go... :D
 
Tested the new (second) Walkera Pro-Z-14. It's just like the first. High line loss, quick drop from full down to 10.9 or so, and sits around 2.5 to 3 minutes at 10.6, 10.5 and 10.4v. I let it autoland at 10.4v cause I was sick of babying these things, they spring back to tremendously anyways.

Flight time: 18:29
Immediate unloaded voltage: 11.0v
5 minute recovery voltage 11.1v

I neglected to mention before that both this and the other Pro-Z-19 are warmer than any of my other batteries after flight. They're not hot to the touch or even notable in temperature, but they're definitely warmer than the 4400s and 5400s. I think these batteries may be better suited for a <1kg quad.

Time to see if paralleling makes a difference.
 
I thought I'd try the new batteries in parallel on the F450. With 2 batteries and a parallel cable, it was 1620g (similar to strapping an extra battery onto a 1300g Phantom). Total flight time of 28 minutes 3 seconds. That's a lot better than I expected. Ran down to 10.4v but I landed before auto-descend triggered. The batteries still had that weird "beaker" profile where most of the charge sat at the last 0.3 volts (it took 6 minutes to drop from 10.7v to 10.6v). Despite the extreme depth of the discharge, both batteries popped back up to 11.0v immediately and 11.1v after 5 minutes. Seems this is just the way they roll.
 
Wow, 28 minutes!

Care to share your f450 build? As mentioned in the rcgroups thread (Expat), I'm thinking of going to the f450 vs. the 1.5
 
Just finished the first flight test w/the ThunderPower 5400mAh 3S. Data is very rough since it was an initial flight, and I managed to forget to put my batt checker in my pocket before walking outside, so I don't have an exact landing voltage.

Phantom 1.5
AUW 1096g
55F, no wind
1st level final: 10.7
2nd level final 10.6

Total flight time: 27.15
1st level warning@ 26.15

Landing voltage: N/A
Voltage 45 seconds after landing: 10.65v (3.56/3.53/3.56)
Voltage 10 min later: 10.7v (3.57/3.56/3.57)

Battery was a bit warm after flight, but not quite as warm as as my maddog 2700 usually got.

Note: I did fight the autoland at 2nd level for about 10-15 sec before I let it land and shut it off.

I also don't have an OSD or any telemetry installed other than the voltage reading at the Rx (which is 5.5v fed from the NAZA), so I can't map the discharge curve yet. I plan to throw on a lightweight voltage meter for my FrSky setup for subsequent test flights. This one was sort of an "airworthiness & rough batt life estimate" test, I'll nail down some more specific numbers asap.

The flight was delayed a bit, because I was putting the battery in at first, one of the pins in the JSX-HT balance tap broke off, and I had to end up shortening and re-crimping them all. Twice, because the same lead did it a 2nd time :roll: I also learned that when crimping 18ga wire in the larger hole in the crimper (the largest gauge for that hole), I need to not squeeze quite as tight, so I now stop one ratchet before the last one. Doing so keeps the 18ga wire from getting over-crimped and breaking off easily. Protip.
 
OI Photography said:
Just finished the first flight test w/the ThunderPower 5400mAh 3S. Data is very rough since it was an initial flight, and I managed to forget to put my batt checker in my pocket before walking outside, so I don't have an exact landing voltage.

Phantom 1.5
AUW 1096g
55F, no wind
1st level final: 10.7
2nd level final 10.6

Total flight time: 27.15
1st level warning@ 26.15

Landing voltage: N/A
Voltage 45 seconds after landing: 10.65v (3.56/3.53/3.56)
Voltage 10 min later: 10.7v (3.57/3.56/3.57)

Battery was a bit warm after flight, but not quite as warm as as my maddog 2700 usually got.

Note: I did fight the autoland at 2nd level for about 10-15 sec before I let it land and shut it off.

I also don't have an OSD or any telemetry installed other than the voltage reading at the Rx (which is 5.5v fed from the NAZA), so I can't map the discharge curve yet. I plan to throw on a lightweight voltage meter for my FrSky setup for subsequent test flights. This one was sort of an "airworthiness & rough batt life estimate" test, I'll nail down some more specific numbers asap.

The flight was delayed a bit, because I was putting the battery in at first, one of the pins in the JSX-HT balance tap broke off, and I had to end up shortening and re-crimping them all. Twice, because the same lead did it a 2nd time :roll: I also learned that when crimping 18ga wire in the larger hole in the crimper (the largest gauge for that hole), I need to not squeeze quite as tight, so I now stop one ratchet before the last one. Doing so keeps the 18ga wire from getting over-crimped and breaking off easily. Protip.

Wow, I'm flabbergasted in that you can not only get 27 minutes from an 1100g Phantom, but also that your landing and recovery voltages are both so low. Assuming you recovery voltage is unloaded, you're landing precipitously close to 3.3v/cell which is really aggressive! I normally land 10-15 seconds after the 10.6 alarm (my level 1) and that has rarely ever resulted in an immediate resting voltage under 11.0. :shock:
 
ElGuano said:
Wow, I'm flabbergasted in that you can not only get 27 minutes from an 1100g Phantom, but also that your landing and recovery voltages are both so low. Assuming you recovery voltage is unloaded, you're landing precipitously close to 3.3v/cell which is really aggressive! I normally land 10-15 seconds after the 10.6 alarm (my level 1) and that has rarely ever resulted in an immediate resting voltage under 11.0. :shock:

Si Senor, it freaked me the heck out too when I first read it :? I was hoping they might bounce back more but that was not the case as you can see. Hopefully once I can watch the voltage in real-time while flying I can tune the warning/landing levels a little better. I'll also let it land right when the 10.6 autoland hits next time, instead of trying to milk it any more.

I was a little surprised that my weight without batt was 720g...I seem to remember that my P1 was 690g, and it had a lot more junk and clutter under the shell..??

Just as a teaser, I saw tonight that rangevideo.com is now selling a 6100mAh 3S1P, just a tiny bit too big for a 1.5 it seems (25mmx44mmx135mm), but is listed as weighing.....get this...255g. Misprint or miracle? The funny thing is they list the same dimensions for the 4S1P version, but a weight of 340g, which is equally as amazing. If that's true, I'll be getting those for my 550, I could easily carry 2 of them. Both models claim "Ultra high energy density 260Wh/kg"
 
I don't see any specs or dimensions on that 5000mah so it's impossible to say. But I've always said that by summer of this year, we're going to see mainstream high-rate lipos, so I'm not surprised at all to see some start to trickle into the premium market now.

I don't mind spending money to buy, test and use new batteries, but I'm holding off on overhauling the fleet until we see a definitive winner :)
 
Poop, nevermind, disregard my amazement at the rangevideo.com batteries. Closer examination reveal that they have a max discharge of 2C-3C. Not 20-30C, just 2C-3C. Who the heck needs a 2C 4S or even 3S...??
 
OI Photography said:
Poop, nevermind, disregard my amazement at the rangevideo.com batteries. Closer examination reveal that they have a max discharge of 2C-3C. Not 20-30C, just 2C-3C. Who the heck needs a 2C 4S or even 3S...??

Those discharge rates sound like li-ions and not lipos. Most are hybrids anyways so it's hard to say. Bummer though :) The numbers do check out. 85g/cell makes 255g for a 3S and 340g for a 4S, but the height would also need to be increased by 1/3 going to 4S.
 
I think those may be a bit too long, but will let those with p2 shells say for sure.

Also, those are really expensive batteries, and are a very standard size. If you're looking for a generic 130mm 4400 or 5400mah, HK has a lot of options that are way cheaper. Just my opinion, butI wouldn't pay $90 for a 4400mah. At that price I'd buy a p2 and just get p2 batteries.
 
I ran a single Walkera on the y6 the other day. 1280g, 18 minutes and 5 seconds, landing at 10.49v. Immediate resting voltage 11.0, 5 minute recovery 11.1v. This is nearly the same time I get on the maddog @ 1401g (I've lightened it up a bit) an also the same as on the phantom @ 1282g. The y6 is efficient when unloaded!

Of course, I am not as shy about running these batteries into the ground. Normally, 10.8v means I need to head home. With these batteries it means the flight is at halfway point.
 
ElGuano

You have allot of experience in batteries for the Phantom I my self have carved out a Phantom V1 but unsure what battery to go with due to weight and mAh. I was going to run the Walkera 5200mah it seemed to be the perfect solution to longer flights for a price range of 60.00, but your results have proven otherwise. Does any one know of a tutorial on how to pair two LIPO Batteries together :?: I have many pulse 2250mah batteries I would like to combine as you did to save weight while doubling mAh. These two batteries paired weigh in at 400g which just seams way to heavy and would love to learn how to combine them. :ugeek:

Thank you
 

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