XAircraft X650 Pro w/ SuperX FC - Low Battery Warning - Newb

M

mjmurray68

Member
Greetings folks,

I'm a proud owner of a brand spanky new X650 Pro. Drew at XAircraftAmerica was incredibly helpful and patient with my newbie questions, and I picked up the X650 Pro/SuperX combo from him. I'm running fully stock with Futaba 8FGS/R6208SB.

I have a quick question for the gurus on the board, I've searched this forum/google and haven't been able to find an answer.

I finished my build on Friday and ran my configurations this AM, and aside from a few stumbles on calibrating the compass everything went well. I was running a fully charged/balanced Turnigy nano-Tech 5000mAh 4S, and wasn't really 'flying' as much as I was learning some basics; a good deal of take-offs/landings and some basic back and forth/up and down maneuvering.

After a while, the X650 started getting pretty erratic on take offs, one motor was lagging/dropping out and eventually I had my first 'flip' on a take off. After that I reset everything, and my LED was indicating everything was good to go, but the motors would not stay running. They would start, but cut out as soon as I raised the throttle. I assumed, and was correct that the battery was drained, which makes sense. I was running close 10-15 minutes with a lot of touch and goes, so I think the battery. Everything ran as good as new once I switched out to another battery.

So my question is this: My understanding is that the LED was supposed to flash red to indicate that you had < 2 minutes of flight time remaining in the battery. Is that not the case, or is there a setting that I overlooked somewhere? I will likely be picking up the XA OSD, but until I do if I didn't overlook a setting, is there a recommended way to monitor the battery?

Thanks in Advance!
 

I

iflynavy

Member
MJ

I have never used the new SuperX, I am a wookong guy at the moment. Having said that, taking the equipment out of the mix, I run a low voltage Indicator off the balance plug of my battery. In this case I have a modified x650 Pro with larger engines, and a stock x650pro.

I happen to run 6s on the modified and 4s on the stock. Either way I usually set the low voltage indicator to 3.7volts and know that I have a few minutes to land, like 2 for instance. The general thoughts you will receive from experts is to disable the warning indicators and fly this way. I have mixed opinions on that myself.

Either way until I take 2 minutes and find a more accurate low voltage indicator I set mine for 3.7 and I have OSD so I know that when I get below 22.0 total volts on my 6s Battery and it's beeping I have about 20% left. I know that because of multiple flights with the low voltage indicator, beeping from 3.8, to 3.7 and a test at 3.6 and realized that for me to make sure I had a safe amount of time those were my numbers. I would do the same for you, start at 3.7 land immediately check the capacity of your battery, if greater then 20 percent fly for a few and figure out where your beep to 20% number is in time. Then keep flying about a foot off the ground till it drops. This will give you your "oh" **** numbers.

Hope it helps.
 

M

mjmurray68

Member
Iflynavy, thanks for for the insightful response!

I've been googling and have found several configurable voltage meter/alarms. They seem pretty inexpensive considering the insurance they provide.
 

I

iflynavy

Member
I'll take a look at a few later and see if there is one that I would get. I think I paid $2 USA for the I have now. To save $6000 easy purchase.
 

X

XAircraft America

Member
Hey, its Drew From XAircraft America. Just saw your post and thought I would chime in! The SuperX does not have a low battery alarm unfortunately so you will need to get a voltage meter. Sorry for the confusion there! Also your GPS stand should be arriving any day now. The only way to see what the voltage of the system is to have the OSD installed and an FPV system. Glad to hear that your build went well and let me know if I can help you out with anything else!
 

I

iflynavy

Member
Drew

In order to help today I tried to find a voltage meter that actually alarmed on. 01 vs. 1. Any chance you know of one?

I only ask because generally it will alarm when it goes below 3.7 however on most batteries that is about 35% if it could be set at 3.67 it would be right around 20%
 


M

mjmurray68

Member
Drew, thanks the GPS Mast arrived yesterday, and I've already got everything installed, thanks again!

Thank you both for the responses!

I've ordered a pair of these. Cheap enough so if they're no good I won't feel bad.
 

X

XAircraft America

Member
Glad to hear that it got to you and everything is running well. Nice find on the V-Reg. I just ordered a pair as well. I'll post a review comparing them to the hobby king ones when I get them in and report back.
 

M

mjmurray68

Member
The meters/alarms arrived today, 3 days from CA to VT, not bad.

Before cycling my batteries today, I did a quick sanity check of these meters/alarms. The alarm did sound, although it does only have a .1 granularity in setting the voltage alarm. The meters matched the charger in both total voltage and per cell. For the time being I'll likely leave my alarm at 3.8, as my current focus is learning how to keep things "props up." Once I'm more comfortable in the air, and looking to extend my flight times I'll tweak the alarm configs.
 

I

iflynavy

Member
MJ

Sounds like a good plan. I too wish I could find a .01 vice a .1. Amazingly enough there is quite a difference in the amount of airtime regarding a .1 change, the difference for me is 3.7 means I'm still fine for a few minutes, 3.6 I fall out of the sky.


mjmurray68 said:
The meters/alarms arrived today, 3 days from CA to VT, not bad.

Before cycling my batteries today, I did a quick sanity check of these meters/alarms. The alarm did sound, although it does only have a .1 granularity in setting the voltage alarm. The meters matched the charger in both total voltage and per cell. For the time being I'll likely leave my alarm at 3.8, as my current focus is learning how to keep things "props up." Once I'm more comfortable in the air, and looking to extend my flight times I'll tweak the alarm configs.
Click to expand...
 

M

mjmurray68

Member
Update on the Meters/Alarms:

After further usage, I'm finding that this device was not as accurate as my original assessment may have sounded.
I've found the following variations to be true across three battery packs at various states of charge. While the variations are likely fine for a novice like me, I wanted to be a bit more specific regarding the accuracy of this device. At least the device is consistently lower, which can be factored into tuning at what voltage to set the alarm

Turnigy nano-tech 4S 35-70C 5000mAh (after about 10 minutes of flying).

Lipo Meter AlarmExtech Multimeter
Total Voltage15.715.85
Cell 13.953.96
Cell 23.963.96
Cell 33.953.96
Cell 43.933.95

Turnigy nano-tech 4S 35-70C 5000mAh (fresh off balanced charge).

Lipo Meter AlarmExtech Multimeter
Total Voltage16.716.81
Cell 14.174.20
Cell 24.214.21
Cell 34.194.20
Cell 44.174.20
 
Last edited by a moderator:

You must log in or register to reply here.
Top