Battery life

[Jay36Jay]

Hey guys was out flying yesterday it was still to cold here but not warm either. I was getting about 8 mins of flight until first warning. I would say I got 10 mins of battery life. I did read about the realsense taking away a min or 2. But does that seem pretty low? I wouldd be happy around 16 I think that's what I was getting at first. Any tips or advice thanks. It was a bit windy I'd say 5 to 6 blowing.

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[nicholas hickman]

Hey guys was out flying yesterday it was still to cold here but not warm either. I was getting about 8 mins of flight until first warning. I would say I got 10 mins of battery life. I did read about the realsense taking away a min or 2. But does that seem pretty low? I wouldd be happy around 16 I think that's what I was getting at first. Any tips or advice thanks. It was a bit windy I'd say 5 to 6 blowing.

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Hi,

I haven't monitored my battery times but intend to do so next flight as I have a feeling mine are quite short also, 8-10min sounds about what I think I'm getting. Was out yesterday and blew through 2 batteries pretty quick, it was 5'C with a gentle breeze.

Looking forward to see what others are getting.

 

[BobW55]

Cold will affect battery performance. Keep em warm until ready to use.
How long it last really depends on wind, temperature, and your flying. I do not have Real sense on mine, but your battery life sounds kind of low. I am usually always in the 15+ minute range unless I fly very aggressively. I turned the gps off one day and was trying to see how fast I could get her to go, and then I only did get about 9 minutes of flight, but the entire time was almost full throttle. I have a small styrofoam cooler I can put my batteries in to take to the flying field. Keeps them at room temp until I am ready to use them. Also if these batteries are NEW, it will take a few charge cycles until they reach full potential. If you have a Lipo charger (not the Yuneec one) you can see how much you put back into the battery.
Winter arrived here in Michigan, so I too will soon get to find out how much cold will affect flight time. I know there is a pilot up in Iceland, maybe he will comment on the cold.

 

[Jay36Jay]

See that's my concern I wonder what everyone is getting based on if there using the stock charger which I am. Vs using a aftermarket one. The batteries have around 8 or 9 flights each I run 4 total...

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[PatR]

Cold impacts battery use time, as does how you fly the aircraft. More aggressive flying reduces battery time significantly over casual flying. It's very difficult to obtain a battery flight time comparison unless those providing the data were at the same place, he same time, flying in the same way, and use the same battery voltage levels to determine when they land.

Winter temperatures can easily reduce your flight time by half or more.

 

[nicholas hickman]

Cold impacts battery use time, as does how you fly the aircraft. More aggressive flying reduces battery time significantly over casual flying. It's very difficult to obtain a battery flight time comparison unless those providing the data were at the same place, he same time, flying in the same way, and use the same battery voltage levels to determine when they land.

Winter temperatures can easily reduce your flight time by half or more.

Yeah, I run my H at mid-low speed and often appx 50m altitude. I think coming from the Autel with it's DJI like battery and flight time left metre to the Yuneec voltage display makes it harder to compare with my previous experience, plus one is a quad!

I have 4 batteries and cycle them, generally having 2 ready to use and 2 at about 14.5/14.8v, I try fly and fly most days.

 

[Jay36Jay]

Ya know i feel the exact same way between the Xstar and the Inspire 1. I just love that battery count down idk i just do lol. I dont.race around
With the H I fly around 10 to 12 MPH..

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[PatR]

On a "normal" temperature day, flying in a manner that's between aggressive and moderate, I obtain between 8-11 minutes of flight time before landing with battery voltage at 14.8v. That's my personal battery voltage low limit. Previous experience with other multirotor and model aircraft systems using lithium polymer batteries in temperatures in the teens and twenties has established battery flight time is significantly reduced proportional to the ambient temperature and flight profiles used. The colder it is the more flight time is reduced. If flown aggressively flight time is further reduced. It's a physics thing associated with the battery chemistry. Some links to learning about batteries are provided below. After reading through a few of them you will likely recognize there are numerous factors that can impact your flight time and that what you obtain will be a variable based upon conditions and operating methods experienced during any given flight. Those factors affect all lithium polymer batteries used in all product brands, regardless of how the voltage is displayed.

Discharging at High and Low Temperatures
http://www.powerstream.com/lip/GMB042035.pdf
Lipo (Lithium) Battery Safety Guide
Effect of Temperature on Voltage | TutorVista.com
Battery Voltage Information – Battery University
Lithium Battery Failures

 

[nicholas hickman]

On a "normal" temperature day, flying in a manner that's between aggressive and moderate, I obtain between 8-11 minutes of flight time before landing with battery voltage at 14.8v. That's my personal battery voltage low limit. Previous experience with other multirotor and model aircraft systems using lithium polymer batteries in temperatures in the teens and twenties has established battery flight time is significantly reduced proportional to the ambient temperature and flight profiles used. The colder it is the more flight time is reduced. If flown aggressively flight time is further reduced. It's a physics thing associated with the battery chemistry. Some links to learning about batteries are provided below. After reading through a few of them you will likely recognize there are numerous factors that can impact your flight time and that what you obtain will be a variable based upon conditions and operating methods experienced during any given flight. Those factors affect all lithium polymer batteries used in all product brands, regardless of how the voltage is displayed.

Discharging at High and Low Temperatures
http://www.powerstream.com/lip/GMB042035.pdf
Lipo (Lithium) Battery Safety Guide
Effect of Temperature on Voltage | TutorVista.com
Battery Voltage Information – Battery University
Lithium Battery Failures

Thanks for the input PatR, but I'm under no illusion when it comes to batteries, performance, temperature etc, just voicing my own thoughts on flight time from the H, without having actually timed it myself. I am well aware that how the information is displayed has no impact on the drain of the battery simply that a display that says you have apx 14min flight time, for example, perhaps leads to a better sense of battery life than the Typhoons (and traditional) voltage display if that is what you are used to (wether it's accurate or not).

Most battery tests I have seen for the H performed in 20'c+ temps with a simple hover until warning/landing is about 19min, so add in flight drain and temp variants and 8-15min seems about right. The only thing that bothers me about the H battery life is changing batteries seems to reset all my camera settings!

 

[PatR]

Mine maintains camera settings for resolution but always resets ISO and shutter to a default value. That might be viewed as a good thing because it causes the operator to check camera settings before every flight. Fewer wasted flights with bad scenes that way. After establishing what I need during the first flight it doesn't require much time to re-establish those before arming for lift off.


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[David Wilson]

I fly year round here in sunny, warm Florida. I've written several times how my flight times, with "average" flying, are between 10-14 minutes. This is my primary fault with my TH. I just can't do what I need to do with 10 minute flights.

 

[nicholas hickman]

Thought I'd time a battery today, flew at lunch time (always bring my drone to work);

Full battery 16.8v
ambient temp 10'C / 50'F

medium and full speed flying, GPS angle mode, recording

landed at 14.5v

Timed at 11min

 

[Jay36Jay]

Ok so my times are not off then. It was about 50'f last sat here. Im.gonna try the 7000 gifi battery one day.

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[David Wilson]

Unfortunately all reports show little to no improvement in flight time with the aftermarket 7000 mah battery. The stock batteries are higher capacity than advertised yet we are stuck with 11 minute flight times.

 

[BlackHawk]

Unfortunately all reports show little to no improvement in flight time with the aftermarket 7000 mah battery. The stock batteries are higher capacity than advertised yet we are stuck with 11 minute flight times.

I have had 18 and 20 minute flights starting from power on to land after first warning. This is on a stock battery after 2 cycles. Flying speed has varied and altitude has been 10-200ft
I have the realsense module but fly with obstacle avoidance turned off. In angle mode with 4k video recording I have a minimum of 17 mins 30 seconds for first low battery warning. If I do pre-flight CC I get 16 mins 48 seconds minimum. I have about 7 hrs of flight time on the H since mid november.

 

[Jom]

Today I flew a CCC route with video running which took 6 min 30 sec. After that I let the H hover around and I took a few more shots of things. First battery warning came on at 15min. Total time from power on to power off was 15min 33sec. Outside temps were about 65F/17C.

 

[Jay36Jay]

Today I flew a CCC route with video running which took 6 min 30 sec. After that I let the H hover around and I took a few more shots of things. First battery warning came on at 15min. Total time from power on to power off was 15min 33sec. Outside temps were about 65F/17C.

That's actually pretty good I would be happy with that. Also with the 65'f weather lolol..

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[PatR]

65f sounds pretty darn good about now...

Flight times will vary a lot between people. It's not so much the H or the batteries, but how they fly, the different functions in use at the time, and what people elect to use for a low voltage cut off point. I never get to an automated low voltage warning so my flight times will always be less than someone that flies to that point. What I shoot (inspections, real estate, progress, mostly stills) typically does not require using the maximum battery capacity, and I try to extensively plan the flight prior to placing the copter on the ground. Then again, earlier days with this stuff started out using copters having only about 6-8 minutes of useful flight time so people had to learn how to use what they had as effectively as possible. With my old Cinestar you broke into a sweat if you weren't on the way back by the 6 minute point when using the heavy camera.

Those shooting scenic videos would likely need more time in the air to capture the mood they seek. Those shooting action videos need whatever it takes to do a start to finish video for the activity being recorded. Many of us make our videos too long and in so doing try to get it all done in a single flight. Others prefer linking shorter scenes to form the end product. Those people won't need as much battery for each flight. In a sense it's a matter of style.

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[Rayray]

65f sounds pretty darn good about now...

It ain't cold there, is it Pat? 52 here at the ranch just now.

I typically get a maximum of 16 minutes using an RS Pro, and 18 with a Std H. That is w/o cam running, and landing at 14.3, which jumps to 14.6 or so. The GiFi may be a bit more but not much.

 

[PatR]

High today is supposed to be 36f. Colder tomorrow. I'll be staying in a warm house until the next snow fall. I always try to get a flight or three in during dry falling snow.


I just went out to test a second camera. Dry, fairly clear sky, no wind, 25*F and lots of snow. A casual flight starting at 16.6v. Flew for 00:06:57 and landed at 15.4v. Encountered what might have been a little gimbal sticking in tilt with the new camera. Pan was just fine. Focus was excellent.

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