Quad + GoPro + FPV gear + 4S battery = How much flight time?

[Totality]

Just wondering if this sounds right or if I have something wrong with my quad? I fly with the following and get 5 minutes before cells hit 3.8v. I normally stop around 3.8v per cell.

X650v4 quad
4S 3000mah battery
GoPro hard mounted
400mw video transmitter
Sony CCD camera for FPV

Does 5 minutes sound OK for a 3000mah? Would I need larger capacity for more flight time or is that the best I can get due to larger batteries adding more weight?

Everything is cool to touch when I land so nothing is overheating.

 

[matwelli]

What does it weigh? Can give you a rough idea when I know the weight.

3.8 volts - is that under load? I fly until about 3.75 per cell unloaded, which is prob 3.4 under load (flying) sounds like you are only using 50% of the capacity, you can safely go to 70-80% or about 7-8 minutes ( without knowing your weight)

 

[Totality]

I put back in about 1400mah but I thought 3.8 was as low as it can go? 3.8v is the voltage when plugging into the charger. All up weight is about 1.8kg.

 

[Dewster]

I built a F450 while testing my WKM and parts after a crash of my Hexa. Using parts from the bigger Hexa I was able to get 9 minutes of flight time on a heavy 3s 6000 mah lipo:

Avroto 2814/11s motors
6000 mah lipo
30 amp esc
Gopro Hero hard mounted
10x4.7 APC props

My craft was heavy with the bigger motors and battery, but able to achieve a longer flight time. There are some setups on this forum that get 15 minutes of flight time.

You may want to look at the size of your props. I actually received 13 seconds more flight time using Graupner 11x5 props over the APC 10x4.7 props that I previously had on my flat hexa.

The FPV transmitters tend to run hot and suck up power from the battery. You should test your flight time without plugging in your FPV transmitter. I have a 200 mw and I could tell the difference in flight times when I had it plugged into the flight battery.

 

[matwelli]

@totality - 3.7 is about 20% capacity

So yes, if you are putting 1400 back in you haven't quite used half, so 7-8 minutes would be finr

 

[Sanderx]

I'm flying a mikrokopter hexa2 with a 1000mw fpv tx and a gopro. With a 4s 6200mah I get about 10 minutes fly time. With 2x 4s 3900mah batteries in parallel I get about 14-15 minutes. The battery is then down to about 3.7v per cell. Props are 12x4.7 apc's.

 

[Mrflytechguy]

I have a custom built frame about the same size as a x550 and I set my timer to 4 minutes on a 2200mah battery and the cells go down to 3.8V when plugging back into the charger. This is flying with my GoPro on. I have pushed the envelope out to 6-7min (depending on temperature) when the esc's have cut off, by this stage I know I am pushing the limits so keep the flying low. then I put in about 2000mA back.

I keep the flying time low to help extend the life of the batteries a bit as if you push them to the limits the whole time they will fail you.

 

[kloner]

the number matt gave above is the calculated number for that guys exact machine based on leaving 20% charge.

20% of 2200 mah is 440mah. if you put 2000 back in there is no doubt in my mind the internal resistance is rising everytime you do it and leads to an early death. if you had a charger with the feature to read it you'd see it happening as you went

 

[Mrflytechguy]

Absolutely agree, push the equipment, something will fail. on average I put back 800-1000Ma after a flight as sometimes I forget to start the timer at take off.