Very minimal flight time please help!!

[Marc]

Hello there I need some help with my home built quad copter.

The quad is run by an Apm 2.6

4 * 1400kv motors and 10*4.5 plastic props

30A ESC

Weight without battery is 950grams

When running with a 3s 3000mah 30c battery with a total quad weight of 1200grams I get about 7mins of flight time on a good day.

I want to upgrade to Carry a camera and mount so I did a test with a 500gram weight to see how it went flight time it got 4-5mins

I wired two 3000mah batteries together in Parrell to see how long a flight time I could get to see if increasing the battery mah would help. With a total weight of 1970grams with the 500gram weight I only got 7:30mins of flight time the motors were warm after this but not to hot



Can someone please help me with why I'm getting so short of a flight time even when I'm just flying around with no extra weight.

Do I have the wrong props the wrong motors ?

Thanks very much for all help provided I'm new to this but want to get better thanks again

 

[eskil23]

I think 1400 kv sounds a lot for 10" props. The fastest motor I've found capable of swinging a 10" prop is the Sunnysky X2820 at 1100kv, but that one pulls over 40 amps at full power.

The size and weight of your quad sounds like it's comparable to the Phantom. 2212 980kv motors is what most people use on such machines, but 2216 and 2812 are also popular. Allmost all of them are in the 900-1000 kv span.

And regarding the batteries, adding more batteries adds more wieght, so the net effect on flight time can be very small. The best way to get more flight time is to get larger props and motors to match.

 

[Marc]

Ok great thanks for your help I did find some motors to try on hobby king I was looking at

Donkey ST3508 730kv

Just to try something a bit cheaper to get the job done and then if that works get some good Motors

Do you think 730kv is ok for everything else I have ? Or should I try and stay around the 900kv mark?? Speed is not a big thing as I want to use it for camera work.

Finally what would be a good size battery to upgrade to in mah before it is no longer worth it???

Thanks again for your help it's much appreciated

 

[fltundra]

Ok great thanks for your help I did find some motors to try on hobby king I was looking at

Donkey ST3508 730kv

Just to try something a bit cheaper to get the job done and then if that works get some good Motors

Do you think 730kv is ok for everything else I have ? Or should I try and stay around the 900kv mark?? Speed is not a big thing as I want to use it for camera work.

Finally what would be a good size battery to upgrade to in mah before it is no longer worth it???

Thanks again for your help it's much appreciated

Have you used eCalc?
http://ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc.php?ecalc&lang=en

 

[Marc]

Yep did it a few times got a lot to think about

I'm thinking now of getting the phanton 2 motors off eBay they are 920kv because I like the self tightening aspect of those motors have you ever heard of problems with them???

 

[Old Man]

If you elect to use that type of propeller mounting you will limit yourself to only a few propeller choices, and reduce spare motor availability. There are a lot of good motors in the 800-900kV range. Choose a good brand, say Sunnysky or similar, to minimize problems later.

 

[Marc]

If you elect to use that type of propeller mounting you will limit yourself to only a few propeller choices, and reduce spare motor availability. There are a lot of good motors in the 800-900kV range. Choose a good brand, say Sunnysky or similar, to minimize problems later.

Thanks old man, The reason I was going to go those type of motor is because of the prop mounts. I have the standard ones bullet point ones at the moment and there causing a bit of vibration and come lose sometimes.

If there a good prop mount you can recommend to eliminate this? Thanks

 

[Motopreserve]

The better motors will not come with the collet style adaptor - and if they do, you want to replace with a prop mount that bolts to the top of the bell, and has a threaded post. Use nyloc nuts on the post. That should take care of it.

And can I say, the original replacement motor should not be used, if only for the sake that they are called "Donkey!"

 

[Marc]

Ok great thanks moto preserve, I'll but some motors that bold to the top thanks very much for your help I'll be in contact with how I go thanks again

 

[Motopreserve]

No sweat. As old man said - sunnysky is a great mid-level priced motor. And they will come with the bolt-on style.