Best way to take good care of the batteries

Marcius1979 · Aug 24, 2018

Hi Folks,

I have 3 batteries for my Q500 4k... I fly my drone 2 or 3x per month only. I noticed after using all 3 batteries and charging before storage for the next flight maybe is not the best option. Because I guess the battery loses juice and I am not able to fly more than 12 minutes... (I get around 17-19 mins most of the time if I charge max 1 day before any flight).

So my question... It's better to leave the batteries dead and charge those 1 day before any flight? That's bad or good for the batteries?

Also, how is the best way to read the battery indicator on my remote? Yuneec did a terrible work in the indicator. I never fly till the good limit of my battery because I don't trust the indicator 100%.

Thanks for any help

Eagle's Eye Video · Aug 24, 2018

Your battery education should start here:

LiPo Battery Care

Riktar · Aug 25, 2018

Eagle Eye's link is a good way to have proper (and safe) understanding of the batteries used in drone flying. But to answer your question specifically:

It is not a good idea to fully charge batteries unless you are going to use them in a short (couple of days MAX) period of time. Best practice is to do a "storage" charge so the (individual) battery cells are at 3.8 volts and then do a full charge before your next flight.

If you are using the stock charger that comes with the Q500 you do not have the capability to do a "storage" charge. So your choices are:

1. Try to land your Q500 with 11.4V showing on the ST10. This is NOT the best way to get to the optimum storage voltage but it is preferable to running down the batteries or giving them a full charge and them sitting them on the shelf until who knows when.

2. Get an aftermarket charger that has a "storage" setting so you can get the cells balanced and sitting at the 3.8/3.85 optimum voltage for extended storage.

Marcius1979 · Aug 27, 2018

Eagle's Eye Video said:
Your battery education should start here:

LiPo Battery Care

Thank you so much!

Marcius1979 · Aug 27, 2018

Riktar said:
Eagle Eye's link is a good way to have proper (and safe) understanding of the batteries used in drone flying. But to answer your question specifically:

It is not a good idea to fully charge batteries unless you are going to use them in a short (couple of days MAX) period of time. Best practice is to do a "storage" charge so the (individual) battery cells are at 3.8 volts and then do a full charge before your next flight.

If you are using the stock charger that comes with the Q500 you do not have the capability to do a "storage" charge. So your choices are:

1. Try to land your Q500 with 11.4V showing on the ST10. This is NOT the best way to get to the optimum storage voltage but it is preferable to running down the batteries or giving them a full charge and them sitting them on the shelf until who knows when.

2. Get an aftermarket charger that has a "storage" setting so you can get the cells balanced and sitting at the 3.8/3.85 optimum voltage for extended storage.

Thank you so much! But when is the best time to land my q500? I noticed the battery bar goes to orange after the blue normal color. I wish they had the % like my little breeze have it.

Thanks again!

Riktar · Aug 27, 2018

Marcius1979 said:
Thank you so much! But when is the best time to land my q500? I noticed the battery bar goes to orange after the blue normal color. I wish they had the % like my little breeze have it.

Thanks again!

Ask 5 people that question and you will get 5 (pretty much) different answers.

For myself, I NEVER let the battery voltage go below 10.5 on the 3s so I am talking about never going below 3.5v per cell. A lipo can go a tiny bit lower than that but why tempt fate? and since the ST10 only shows the total voltage of my 3s batteries, why take a chance that one of the cells is below that 3.5v mark I set for myself?

Now if you try the "land at 11.4" which again, is NOT the best way to do this, understand that if you land at 11.4 and then turn off the motors, you will see a rise on the voltage display since there is no longer a load on the battery. I could try and give you the magic number to land at so your pack is sitting at the 11.4v mark once the motors are turned off but I have never played around with that.

And frankly, the reason I offered that method was to (possibly) prevent damaging your battery pack until you got a better charger than the stock Yuneec charger. I would still suggest reading reviews on aftermarket chargers and picking one up that at least has the "storage" mode as an option. If you can find one that also measures internal resistance of the battery, even better.

Another benefit you will get from an aftermarket charger is faster (within reason) charge times.

Considering the amount of money people invest in drones, I am always amazed that they are willing to gamble destroying (in the case of the Q500) a $100 battery(from Yuneec) for the sake of not buying an aftermarket charger

Marcius1979 · Aug 28, 2018

Riktar said:
Ask 5 people that question and you will get 5 (pretty much) different answers.

For myself, I NEVER let the battery voltage go below 10.5 on the 3s so I am talking about never going below 3.5v per cell. A lipo can go a tiny bit lower than that but why tempt fate? and since the ST10 only shows the total voltage of my 3s batteries, why take a chance that one of the cells is below that 3.5v mark I set for myself?

Now if you try the "land at 11.4" which again, is NOT the best way to do this, understand that if you land at 11.4 and then turn off the motors, you will see a rise on the voltage display since there is no longer a load on the battery. I could try and give you the magic number to land at so your pack is sitting at the 11.4v mark once the motors are turned off but I have never played around with that.

And frankly, the reason I offered that method was to (possibly) prevent damaging your battery pack until you got a better charger than the stock Yuneec charger. I would still suggest reading reviews on aftermarket chargers and picking one up that at least has the "storage" mode as an option. If you can find one that also measures internal resistance of the battery, even better.

Another benefit you will get from an aftermarket charger is faster (within reason) charge times.

Considering the amount of money people invest in drones, I am always amazed that they are willing to gamble destroying (in the case of the Q500) a $100 battery(from Yuneec) for the sake of not buying an aftermarket charger

Good to know, do you recommend any charger? Which one do you use? I believe the charger is a great investment. I love my drone. I believe my little Breeze need to get one too. Because I don't fly a lot anymore. I have 4 breeze batteries and 3 for my q500 4k.

Thanks

Riktar · Aug 28, 2018

The particular one I use has been discontinued. I would do a search on Amazon for "lipo charger" and read the reviews from people who have purchased them as well as do a Google/Bing/whatever search for the particular charger you find interesting and see what reviews you can dig up.

There are many different makes (and prices) of chargers that you will need to some research to see what looks good to you.

I did not realize the breeze has such a special/unique configuration in regards to it's battery. WTH was Yuneec thinking of??? You will need to do some research on what kind of adapter it will take to attach that battery to an aftermarket charger.....

Marcius1979 · Aug 28, 2018

Riktar said:
The particular one I use has been discontinued. I would do a search on Amazon for "lipo charger" and read the reviews from people who have purchased them as well as do a Google/Bing/whatever search for the particular charger you find interesting and see what reviews you can dig up.

There are many different makes (and prices) of chargers that you will need to some research to see what looks good to you.

I did not realize the breeze has such a special/unique configuration in regards to it's battery. WTH was Yuneec thinking of??? You will need to do some research on what kind of adapter it will take to attach that battery to an aftermarket charger.....

I found this for the q500,

Link: EV-PEAK DY1 Intelligent Balance Battery Charger For Yuneec Typhoon Q500 RC Drone 717850226008 | eBay

But nothing about storage mode, the breeze is very different for sure... heheh... My issue is just about the time and I don't want to lose my batteries. If I don't charge the batteries for 3-4 weeks can cause any damage to it?

Riktar · Aug 28, 2018

That particular model does not have a storage mode. All that means is you will have keep an eye on the charger while it's charging. Which you should do anyway since leaving a lipo unattended while it's charging is DANGEROUS.

Now hers's the additional thing to consider: What you lose by not having a dedicated "storage" mode is the ability for the charger to drain the battery down to 3.80/3.85v if the battery capacity is above that. Chances are you will be charging the battery after a flight that places the battery level below that level. So, pop in the battery, watch the LCD readout and when you see the cell voltage reach 3.80 - 3.85v simply remove the battery from the charger and you should be good to go.

So while it is an extra step, you would have the convenience of "slide-in/slide-out" battery charging.

All this being said, you could get a charger with more features for the same money although it would require some additional steps in hooking up the battery.

3-4 weeks is longer than I would wait on a battery. But that's me.

I would post the question about the breeze batteries in the breeze forum. I have no experience with that particular model so seek the help of fellow Breeze owners.

Marcius1979 · Aug 29, 2018

Riktar said:
That particular model does not have a storage mode. All that means is you will have keep an eye on the charger while it's charging. Which you should do anyway since leaving a lipo unattended while it's charging is DANGEROUS.

Now hers's the additional thing to consider: What you lose by not having a dedicated "storage" mode is the ability for the charger to drain the battery down to 3.80/3.85v if the battery capacity is above that. Chances are you will be charging the battery after a flight that places the battery level below that level. So, pop in the battery, watch the LCD readout and when you see the cell voltage reach 3.80 - 3.85v simply remove the battery from the charger and you should be good to go.

So while it is an extra step, you would have the convenience of "slide-in/slide-out" battery charging.

All this being said, you could get a charger with more features for the same money although it would require some additional steps in hooking up the battery.

3-4 weeks is longer than I would wait on a battery. But that's me.

I would post the question about the breeze batteries in the breeze forum. I have no experience with that particular model so seek the help of fellow Breeze owners.