Lipo batteries and Multicopters, is there some that work better than others? Best?

[helloman1976]

What are the best Lipo batteries to use for heavier multirotors? I am on 5S and I'm using Zippy Compact 25C 3700mah in parallel which SHOULD be 7400mah but I'm only getting 4700mah before the pack hits 16.5V under load or about 3.3V per cell under load.

Questions to make it simple...
1. Is the 25C rating too low, meaning that the quality of the pack isn't good enough to produce under constant and heavier amperage?
2. Are these just cheap packs that don't produce?
3. Is there a lipo out there that does give you full mah even under heavier loads?
4. Should I just go up in C rating and that will solve it? It's my understanding that C rating is also a measure of quality in some regards as the pack has to be a higher performer and therefore better materials. (is this wrong?)

This is a hexa, sunnysky 700KV 28 size motors spinning 13"x4 carbon fiber blades, total weight is about 8lbs flying weight. Thanks!

 

[Acill]

I dont think its the C rate of your packs, I think its more of the crap limit setting the Dji systems use. I fly with a WooKong-M and 4S 10C 6600mah packs and have no problems. I turn off my limit and use a timer and volt meter on a new pack to see what my flight times are. I hover for 10 minutes and check the pack, charge and see how much I put back and repeat until I am at 80% returned and adjust. I have all my packs marked and know how long I can fly.

I fly an F550 thats about 5lbs loaded and get 15 minutes off these packs. I set my timer to return home and land at 9-10 and have done well doing that.

 

[helloman1976]

I dont think its the C rate of your packs, I think its more of the crap limit setting the Dji systems use. I fly with a WooKong-M and 4S 10C 6600mah packs and have no problems. I turn off my limit and use a timer and volt meter on a new pack to see what my flight times are. I hover for 10 minutes and check the pack, charge and see how much I put back and repeat until I am at 80% returned and adjust. I have all my packs marked and know how long I can fly.

I fly an F550 thats about 5lbs loaded and get 15 minutes off these packs. I set my timer to return home and land at 9-10 and have done well doing that.

Batteries of similar formulas work just about the same way. The higher the C rating, the lower the internal resistance of each cell generally and that generally means, or should mean, better materials and or build quality. The DJI settings have nothing to do with battery (current) draw but they can limit how much you can draw based on voltage but not mah used, I don't use them so it's not applicable to this situation.

3. Is there a lipo out there that does give you full mah even under heavier loads?

 

[kuau]

I dont think its the C rate of your packs, I think its more of the crap limit setting the Dji systems use. I fly with a WooKong-M and 4S 10C 6600mah packs and have no problems. I turn off my limit and use a timer and volt meter on a new pack to see what my flight times are. I hover for 10 minutes and check the pack, charge and see how much I put back and repeat until I am at 80% returned and adjust. I have all my packs marked and know how long I can fly.

I fly an F550 thats about 5lbs loaded and get 15 minutes off these packs. I set my timer to return home and land at 9-10 and have done well doing that.

Which LIPOS are you running and where did you purchase them from.
I am running a similar F550 an running 4S 6200 MAH Lipos and getting 10 minute flight time yet I am running them down to about 10% remaining.

 

[helloman1976]

I was using Zippy compacts on my F550 when I was getting 15 minutes of flight time. Try Turnigy nanotech, according to all the reviews I've seen they will last longer and perform much, much better. I think I'm going to pick up a few to test them out. Nobody really had much to say on here so.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

I highly recommend GensAce lipos. Great quality and longevity.

I personally go for a higher C rating. I use 40C ones.

I would also recommend using the DJI battery warnings, why wouldn't you? You just set the low voltage you want, simple.

And don't forget the 20% rule (20% of mah).

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

Hi!

Im running an F800 (F550 frame plates with s800 conversion arms). My weight is roughly 15lbs with battery.... no gimbal or camera yet. Using Pulse 6s 10,000mah at 25c.....i easily get about 22min of flight time and thats not just hovering around in one spot. I've flown around gusty days and all through canyons and always average between 20-22min. The battery itself barely gets warm and i got about 1500mah left on the pack when i land. I still use the dji battery warnings along with the warning buzzers attached to the balance cord and timers on my remote. I have my 17min timer that trickles down on my remote which allows me to do hard flying, once that time runs out...i know to take it easy. my second timer continues to show my overall flight time which i can gauge from there. Usually when my 17min timer runs out, my red led kicks in on the naza led unit so i know i got about 5min left which is plenty of time for me to land.....then at worst case, my buzzers are set to 3.50 so if something gets sucked up below that and the buzzer is going off, i know to land immediately.

25c isn't bad at all in my case so i'll continue to use them. Pulse are a bit pricey but they seemed to be holding up just fine. I would recommend them.

 

[helloman1976]

Yes!

I highly recommend GensAce lipos. Great quality and longevity.

I personally go for a higher C rating. I use 40C ones.

I would also recommend using the DJI battery warnings, why wouldn't you? You just set the low voltage you want, simple.

And don't forget the 20% rule (20% of mah).

Excellent, I totally forgot about GenAce. Yes, they are fantastic and I have a few. I'll check them out. I don't think they are too expensive if I remember right and the ones I have have lasted a long, long time.

I don't use the DJI warnings because of several reasons. I dont want my copter to automatically land as soon as it hits the red zone, you can lose your copter like that. The other is because I fly through an OSD and I dont care what the DJI stuff thinks or says, I use my OSD which tells me everything I need to know.

 

[helloman1976]

Thanks! Good looking copter there, looks like you have retracts. I like that you use triple-bladed props however 2 blades are more efficient. You should really only go to more blades after you have run out of room to increase the 2 blades size. 3 blades are good for lifting but not as efficient as 2 blades, something to think about.

I'll check them out, thanks. 6S huh...that's the top I can go to. May have to do that...

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Excellent, I totally forgot about GenAce. Yes, they are fantastic and I have a few. I'll check them out. I don't think they are too expensive if I remember right and the ones I have have lasted a long, long time.

I don't use the DJI warnings because of several reasons. I dont want my copter to automatically land as soon as it hits the red zone, you can lose your copter like that. The other is because I fly through an OSD and I dont care what the DJI stuff thinks or says, I use my OSD which tells me everything I need to know.

That is ridiculous. Why would you even hit the red zone on a normal flight? You set the voltage, not DJI! I have mine set ridiculously low for a super emergency. The yellow flashing light is quite helpful to remind you if you decide to 'fly a bit longer.' It is just a voltage monitor, nothing fancy. The warnings also pop up on the iOSD and the voltage reading flashes, which draws the eye to it.

I use all three methods, timer, OSD and low voltage warning. You're bound to notice one of them. :nevreness:

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

Thanks! Good looking copter there, looks like you have retracts. I like that you use triple-bladed props however 2 blades are more efficient. You should really only go to more blades after you have run out of room to increase the 2 blades size. 3 blades are good for lifting but not as efficient as 2 blades, something to think about.

I'll check them out, thanks. 6S huh...that's the top I can go to. May have to do that...

Thanks! I'm limited to 15inch props. I just picked up the second battery last weekend. haven't ran them in parallel yet but that is the goal. Will eventually have a 3 axis gimbal with a nex 5r on board. Once complete, i'll see how the triple props hold up. i'm curious though how single props will do cause the only thing i don't like about these 1552 blades is that they're pretty soft. Upside, they are super smooth/quite and no balancing needed .

I forgot to add, i too ditched the settings on the dji voltage warning so yes, i get the red led regardless but no loss in power if it drops pass the threshold lol. I didn't like when it started coming down on its own and i had plenty of power left in the pack. IOSD to come soon though. Best of luck choosing the right battery. 6s is a massive battery for a 550 but who knows, it might just hold up! Cheers

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

If it flashes red and you still have plenty of power left in the pack then you have set it up wrong, lower your settings. Many people seem to make this mistake and for some reason blame the equipment. I have the horrible feeling people just press the 'default' button without actually following the instructions.

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

If it flashes red and you still have plenty of power left in the pack then you have set it up wrong, lower your settings. Many people seem to make this mistake and for some reason blame the equipment. I have the horrible feeling people just press the 'default' button without actually following the instructions.

Its setup where I need it to be. Depending on how hard im flying...the red led comes on right when the 17min mark is up or shortly after and that's the time when im usually making my decent/returning to home so not sure how its wrong. If my buzzers go off and im at 400ft, that means im now running at 3.50 or lower yet still need to make my way down which would of course hurt my batteries in the long run. I don't want the red led to come on as soon as my batteries hit the low voltage point. Not sure if you read my earlier post but after a 22min flight, i still got about 1500-1000mah left on the battery which is safe point for me. My naza m v2 seems to be holding up just fine so no need for further adjustments until i run parallel, add the gimbal, and camera.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

I did read your previous post. You are damaging your lipos every flight. Why on earth is 1000-1500mah a safe point? That is way less than the 20% rule. You should be putting back 8000mah (2000mah left) for a 10,000mah lipo.

I have my second level protection set at 20v (3.3v per cell). If I run it down that low then there is something seriously wrong with the lipo or I have flown way too long and the lipo is about to die (after 3.2v per cell your lipo is likely to be severely damaged). Second level protection is set to 21.9v (3.65v per cell). This is a good time to land.

Treat your lipos well and they will last a long time.

How long have you been flying your lipos down to 3.5V?

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

I know what you mean

I've honestly never taken it to 3.50. That is my last warning which the buzzer are set to. When I land, I'm reading at 3.75-3.65 on all cells across. The most I've put back on the pack is 8200. I've got about 10 flights of them I'm usually putting back about between 7800mah and 8000mah. Will keep that 20% in mind though

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

That's cool then. But it slightly contradicts your other posts. :nevreness:

3.8v per cell is said to be ideal. Great for your lipos longevity. I always aim for 3.8v but alas every minute counts when you're being paid for it and want to get just 'one more shot!'

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

haha! yes, i was bit off with that 1000-1500 "safe point". I'm just speaking from the very low point if it ever gets down to it. But yes, i always land with 3.75-3.65 cell readings comfortably.

 

[helloman1976]

That is ridiculous. Why would you even hit the red zone on a normal flight? You set the voltage, not DJI! I have mine set ridiculously low for a super emergency. The yellow flashing light is quite helpful to remind you if you decide to 'fly a bit longer.' It is just a voltage monitor, nothing fancy. The warnings also pop up on the iOSD and the voltage reading flashes, which draws the eye to it.

I use all three methods, timer, OSD and low voltage warning. You're bound to notice one of them. :nevreness:

There's nothing ridiculous about it. I don't use the DJI programming to force me to auto-land, that's my preference. I'd rather trash a battery pack then lose my copter any day of the week. Maybe you like it that way but it all comes down to personal preference and I prefer my OSD over everything as it has all the same information times 10.

 

[helloman1976]

Thanks! I'm limited to 15inch props. I just picked up the second battery last weekend. haven't ran them in parallel yet but that is the goal. Will eventually have a 3 axis gimbal with a nex 5r on board. Once complete, i'll see how the triple props hold up. i'm curious though how single props will do cause the only thing i don't like about these 1552 blades is that they're pretty soft. Upside, they are super smooth/quite and no balancing needed .

I forgot to add, i too ditched the settings on the dji voltage warning so yes, i get the red led regardless but no loss in power if it drops pass the threshold lol. I didn't like when it started coming down on its own and i had plenty of power left in the pack. IOSD to come soon though. Best of luck choosing the right battery. 6s is a massive battery for a 550 but who knows, it might just hold up! Cheers

Yeah the DJI settings are fine if you are flying line-of-sight and you can see that flashing light but I don't want that anywhere in my view since I use an OSD regardless. IOSD is ok, I use Eagle Tree everything and they rule as far as I'm concerned.

I don't fly an F550 anymore, I've had several since then but right now I'm flying basically what you have. I have a 30" hexa with Sunnsky 700kv 28 size motors running on 5S, total weight with batteries is around 8lbs. I can squeeze about 15 minutes out of these crappy Zippy Compact packs but I should get 20 minutes. I'm only getting about 4700mah out of 7400mah advertised on the packs. I'm probably going to go for the Turnigy Nanos as they seem to have good reivews across the board. The GenAce are expensive.

I like carbon fiber blades for 2 reasons, they are stiff and they are light. You don't want any flex in your blades or you are losing efficiency. If you can't go any bigger for sure go to multiple blades. The fewer the blades the better though but there's only so much room also. The P-51 used to have 2 blades, when they got the big monster 1500hp motors they went to 4 blades because otherwise they'd need 15 foot blades for a 2 blade setup to get the same thrust ...soometimes you just run out of space.

 

[Acill]

I've also set my limits in the Wookong super low after having it go off early more than I care to think about. Its not very accurate at all. I stare at my voltage the entire flight in my OSD and have my time on the DX8 set to buzz me at 9 minutes. I can easily get 15 and know its time to start heading home with time to spare at that point.