Battery Testing
0Before I put my dual battery setup on, I decided to test my batteries today. If I had a group of similar batteries, I'll just pick one up from the group.
My control environment wasn't perfect. When I started, it was not windy, but became windy later on. One of the batteries was charged about 3 weeks ago so not all batteries recently charged.
These are the batteries I tested with my p1.1.1 with 2-axis gimbal holding a gopro hero HD and a boscam 600mw vtx.
- stock 2200 mah that came with the p111
- stock 2200 mah battery that a friend gave me
- Tenergy 2200 mah battery (fully charged 3 weeks ago)
- Zippy 2800 mah battery
- Multistar 4000mah battery
I started the timer when the quad lifted off and I waited until it landed. If it started to descend and I would force it to ascend until it landed on it's own.
With the 2800mah and 4000mah batteries, the p111 would slowly descend. It seemed too heavy for the quad and I need to set the gain. I basically just let the quad hover.
Now, with the exception of #2, all the runs lasted about 6-7.5 minutes. Very disappointing. #2 lasted 4 minutes (this battery sucks as the last time I ran it I only got 2.5 minutes of runtime). I get exact figures in my next post as I need to get the times off the video.
I believe the reason why I didn't get much runtime out of the 2800mah battery because I fully charged it 3 weeks ago. #3 and #4 pack have never been discharged or run in the phantom (today was the first day).
I've been told to get better runtimes with the higher mah battery back I have to lower my low voltage cutoff limits. On youtube, there is a guy who ran dual multistar 4.0a setup and he ran for 23 minutes running his multistar down to 10.4 volts or so. When I tested all the battery voltage after landing, the multistar had the highest voltage at 11.3 (unloaded). The rest was at 11.1.
With the 2800mah battery, the quad descended fast for no reason and bounced up after hitting the ground (I had no control of it). I have it on video and may post it.
I'll be back with the results.
- 6 comments, 14 replies
- Comment
I'm running stock props (8") and prop guards. Here are the times:
eek, was expecting more out of the multistar
@sportykev I'm a little surprised as well. I thought it might push it back to 10 minutes at least. Maybe 15 without camera and gimbal.
@sportykev I'm disappointed as well and someone else told me they got an extra minute. But people have been saying that I need to lower my LVC. I'll also put on new props. This is the 1st charge so it's only going to improve. Two people are getting over 20 mins with the MStar dual battery setup on a fully loaded p111.
You girls nee to check out my recent 9450 prop thread.
I got 19 minutes (unloaded) and 11 minutes w/gimbal+camera both very aggressive flying on the stock battery just by installing the props.
@nltownsend843 Please try out the 9443 for us girls and let me know how you do.
@garyhgaryh lol, will do
@nltownsend843 I suppose I'm lazy but can you post an Amazon link for the authentic 9450 or whatever your recommended long run prop is?
I changed the stock 8" props to knock off 9" props from xoxoxo. I also updated my stock 8" prop guards to xoxoxo prop guards. As I mentioned before the silver tipped props had issues with the thread. I fixed one, but one other prop sits 1/8-1/16th higher than the rest because I can't screw it all the way in.
Surprising results:
8:42 (6:36) - stock 2200 mah that came with the p111
6:01 (4:14) - stock 2200 mah battery from a friend
8:44 (6:53) - Tenergy 2200 mah battery (*)
7:36 (6:06) - Zippy 2800 mah battery
11:36 (7:14) - Multistar 4000mah battery (*)
I tested the batteries at a different location. It was at a park pretty much on top of the hill in the neighborhood and I was actively flying around again and with the wind. I ran out of time and I tested the last two (*) at home in the back yard in hover mode.
Note that when the phantom was about to land I tried keeping it from landing by throttling up until it could not fly anyore except when it was acting crazy (twice with the zippy 2800).
I'm surprisingly shocked at the results. The new props have better lift to handle the heavier battery. It also made a lower pitch than the stock props (as someone else said, it sounds manlier :).
The Multistar surprised me. It wanted to land at the 7-8 minute mark but the voltage drops slowly with that battery. I think it had a little more left in it but I wanted to land it because it was scooting along the grass and probably wouldn't have made a big difference if I kept it up another 5-15 secs.
I wonder how the genuine 9443 props will do...
I regret getting the 2800 zippy battery. Twice, with that battery, the phanton dropped, hit the ground and continue flying. I also had a hard time controlling it for some reason. Not sure if there was a voltage sag, but I've only ran this battery twice and the phantom did the same thing twice. I almost lost it over a fenced off area because it keep descending and would coming home....
%increase: 32%,42%,27%,25%,60%
@garyhgaryh MS improved quite a bit
@sportykev these multistar batteries do well when the LVC is set lower. I didn't change it but could have gotten better results if I did.
Still haven't tried my multistar's yet got four of them 2 sets of duals to try when I can finally fly again. Darn rain storms :(
@DJMajickMan You should be able to go over 20 minutes with dual if you set the LVC to 10.5. I realize I bent one of my knock off prop when I ran into some branches. Am trying to bend it back :). May get to the dual MS battery setup this week. Let me know what you find.
@garyhgaryh
On the low voltage setting, my p1 came stock with 1st warning at 10.7 and auto land at 10.6, is that normal? Seems low for stock if people are setting them to 10.5
@nltownsend843 let me check mine after my bike ride today. I'll let you know.
I wanted to share some battery times for my p1.1.1 bought from meh. Just tested these over the weekend, however since I was piloting and didn't shoot video, I was not able to precisely stop the timer, so the times are +/- 10 seconds. Also, it was not just hovering, but there was at least one or two aggressive climbs and a fair amount of back and forth tooling around. I will try again to get hover only times, and compare the Floureon 2200mah batteries I have.
11 min stock DJI 2200mah (used about 10 cycles)
15.5 mins 4000mah Floureon from Amazon (first time charge and use)
I do not have a mount, camera, or gimbal installed right now. It is using the stock props that it came with, the nut-less self tightening with silver (2) and black (2) centers that have hit several tree branches. It has the DJI original prop guards installed, along with landing gear extensions I made from plastic tube.
For the 4000mah battery, it is huge, so I had to tape it under the original battery compartment for the test. I believe you could cut away some plastic and get the battery to fit inside width wise, however it would still stick out the end of the battery door and inch or more, and I am concerned it would be out of balance if I did this. If I wanted to center it perfectly, I would have to relocate the indicator LED and have the battery exit the main body on both ends. It could be worth it, I'm undecided at this point. The flight behavior was certainly different with the 4000mah battery. Although it was still fast and agile enough, it wanted to descend over time and was constantly fluttering about trying to stay in position, probably because the battery weight was off center. Due to twice the battery weight giving only a 50% runtime improvement, sticking with the stock battery may be better, especially if you want to use a camera.
It can be bought from Amazon
I am not recommending the Floureon 4000mah until further testing. Let me know if anyone wants dimensions, weight or other info, I have not taken any of that data yet but I will if there is interest. I am also concerned the values listed on Amazon might not be accurate.
@mehdaf nevermind! just saw your modification.
Well I tested the batteries again. This time, stationary hovering 5 feet off the ground until it lost altitude. Then I increased the stick to maintain the height until it landed itself. It's a stock p1.1.1 with prop guards and landing gear extensions.
1) 8:02 = Floureon 2200mah
2) 10:10 = Stock 2200mah DJI
3) 14:37 = Floureon 4000mah
Based on these numbers, I would stick with the stock battery for the money. I would like to test again after lowering the low voltage level. Any recommendations what to set it to?
@mehdaf hey man. any more updates on battery times? Floureon 2200mah can be had for $30 for 2 @ AMZ. I'm looking to run a dual setup, but based on your numbers, stock looks way better. What a discrepancy.