H920 replacement battery

[OnTheRopes]

Have for Inspire, not H920 yet, I’ll rig up a not pretty solution first to run tests to see if overal worth the effort on the saddle.
Pat & I were discussing location, thinking on motor arms near fuselage. Need to play with topside or underside. A single would be topside center most likely.

I know you & Pat have been on the subject, are the Zippy’s available... low cost, good performer.

They haven't been available afaik in the UK for a while though Hobby King now lists them as in stock.
I also have been trying to avoid the need to swap connectors

 

[Dougcjohn]

They haven't been available afaik in the UK for a while though Hobby King now lists them as in stock.
I also have been trying to avoid the need to swap connectors

I hear ya on the connectors. As probably seen on previous posts several options... I elected to solder EC3 onto batteries to ease the connections. But all options are not as nice as plug & play.... but better performance.

 

[OnTheRopes]

I don't really want to use the adapters either, just another weak point.

 

[Dougcjohn]

Agree with the adapters... more of a space and ease of use issue with me... that’s why the soldering new EC3 ends to batteries.

 

[OnTheRopes]

Agree with the adapters... more of a space and ease of use issue with me... that’s why the soldering new EC3 ends to batteries.

Well unless I can source an alternative with EC3 then I shall end up buying a soldering iron I guess. There are a couple of alternatives but fairly expensive in comparison

 

[PatR]

The direct battery plug is by far the best connection method but each has to decide which plug they want to go with and take the appropriate actions afterwards. Where resistance is concerned the absolute best will require rather extensive modifications to the aircraft wiring and adapting the aircraft's battery input plugs to accept the XT plugs. Adapting an EC-3 connector to a larger battery certainly works and makes for an easy battery install but doing so limits use of the battery to the 920. For those that have a few stock Yuneec batteries still in use the quandary of which plug to use is more of a problem, but as they age they will be removed from the power supply inventory.

 

[PatR]

I just hit the 6 month mark on 7 new Yuneec batteries. The highest number of cycles on any of them is 14, the lowest 7. Of the 7 only one will now charge to 25.20V, the rest cap out from 25.17 to 25.19. The one that still charges to 25.20v is the one with the least number of cycles. 4 of the 7 have started to puff.

 

[seabee]

I just hit the 6 month mark on 7 new Yuneec batteries. The highest number of cycles on any of them is 14, the lowest 7. Of the 7 only one will now charge to 25.20V, the rest cap out from 25.17 to 25.19. The one that still charges to 25.20v is the one with the least number of cycles. 4 of the 7 have started to puff.

Analysis:
-C rating too low for the H920.
-way too expensive
-probabily very old stock. >2 years
-prone to puff

Advice: run don’t walk away from these units.

 

[Doc52]

I completely agree that redundancy is always desirable, however, for a little while it seemed there was a panic attack taking place in the EU about batteries. Someone else in that area had already tried the single graphene battery but did not provide much in the way of test data to support it aside from flight time. The lack of data is why I gave it a try bit at the same time myself and others over here were continuing our search for other alternatives. The Zippy brand provides at least three with 4000mA, 4500mA, and 5000mA capacities that are sized where two will fit the 920 battery bay. I've made reference to this at least once prior to this post, and posted the dual Zippy battery test data at the Facebook 920 owners group about a week ago.

There are other battery brands that will also fit the 920, some as singles, some as pairs. We were never without a battery or batteries that would fit and fly the 920, but we did seem to be encountering more than a few people that were under the impression they would not be able to fly their 920's because Yuneec was selling an inferior battery product. That Yuneec has some lousy 920 batteries is certainly true but there was no reason for some people to panic or report Yuneec to governmental authorities as one Australian did with a complaint to CASA. They only needed to be personally creative and take the initiative.

Once again, it's nice to see a Yuneec vendor electing to provide an alternative solution but it's interesting they are doing so after independent 920 owners validated alternative battery solutions. They should have been the first to develop those solutions, and disseminated that information to Yuneec dealers world wide.

At this point in time I'm highly supportive of Dougcjohn's efforts in contacting GensAce/Tattu to encourage them to develop and provide a higher C rated battery for the 920 to people in the U.S., as well as those in the EU and UK. It's a much better solution as it allows use of all three power connectors in the 920 and provides 2000mA more capacity than the Zippy 5000mA battery solution. It would also likely be a more stable supply situation. As I've been using the GensAce/Tattu branded batteries for at least 4 years I've come to trust them in every application where they've been used.

You can add Australia to that list guys, we have users here that are paying attention as well.
Cheers for all the work and we are here if we can do anything.
Currently I have an original 920 with ST24 and a 920+ with St16 12 original batteries all up shite creek as far as I am concerned.
Using two main cameras, CGO4 with one setup and the GB603 and Sony A7R2 on the other ....
Alongside these a H480 plus and the H520 for mapping etc ...

Cheers.

Doc

 

[Doc52]

My electrical lessons were initially learned the hard way. Junior high school started and I knew nothing about electricity. They had a Jacobs Ladder in one of my shop classes. Looked pretty neat. I had a brain fart and elected to test the conductivity of wood on my own. Unfortunately I elected to use a leaded wood pencil as the test article. As I was holding the pencil in my hand for the test, the word “stunning” is probably the least descriptive word I can come up with for what followed. I was thrown 8’ and rendered momentarily unconscious.

Much later in life I became distracted when cutting power leads for a 2S Lipo battery and accidentally cut both power wires at the same time. My best wire cutters instantly became junk. Fortunately the wires separated cleanly at the same time so an explosion did not occur but the electrical discharge flash was blinding. Elevated C ratings also elevate the amount of energy released during a short.

Work only one wire at a time. Do not start on the second wire until the first is safely installed in the new housing, and protected against accidental shorting while working with the second wire. Do not allow the wire you are working with to complete a circuit. Failure to adhere to that could prove deadly. That’s 1/3 of the reason I went with adapters instead of changing plugs.

As an ex Fitter on RAAf FA/18 Hornets, I can say I have seen others do these "Experiments" for me, thus these lessons have been learned away from my own mistakes, of which there have been many others ....
Thank you for that rundown, it was with MUCH humour I read your account and have just stopped weeping with laughter ....

:O)

 

[PatR]

Pleased to see the humorous intent behind the story telling was well received. It really did happen[emoji15]

 

[Doc52]

Pleased to see the humorous intent behind the story telling was well received. It really did happen[emoji15]

Oh I fully understand the instance and that it really happened, have had similar instances and found the humour in ... OMG Iv'e done something similar.
Nice to know we aren't alone ... and can look back and learn from these instances.
Just ordered two batteries here in Aus similar to the 5800's shown in the thread.
Will get back to all on the outcome after they get flown.
At approx $170.00 AUD That's around $124.00 USD Not bad for Australia. Still $340 for two batteries not cheap really.
Hope they come out ok for flight times, on both the 920 and the 920+
Im still pissed at the 920+ batt warnings, it should be an easy fix in firmware.

I know for a fact 3 solid original batteries with a CGO4 recording onboard did a full 26min flight before a forced landing.

I sent all the info to Yuneec.
I have also mentioned there might be a possible claim against them for not fixing the issues, IE a product sold that is not fit for purpose.
Would be seriously interested in getting as many as possible up and against them to force the issue.

No product can be sold anywhere if it it is not fit for purpose.

 

[PatR]

Will a pair of those 5800’s fit in the 920 battery well? If they do, what is the maker and part number? When I was researching the largest I found in stock were the Zippy 5000mA. There were some of higher capacity listed of a size that should fit but they were always out of stock.

As for the factory batteries, I’m sure that after they were first made they provided good flight time but they have a self degrading shelf life. My best guess is still that Yuneec did not initiate further production runs after the first batch of batteries were made. As they grossly over priced the 920 they sold few and walked away from the best design they’ve ever had, and in doing so ceased having any interest in supporting the model with continued critical parts production. So any of their batteries being sold would be from that original production run and have aged well past their useful life cycle.

I agree they should not be selling them as continued use of end of life batteries is dangerous and introduces the prospect of catastrophic failure, which could occur under load, in flight. Their dealers should have recognized that, informed Yuneec and customers of the danger, and ceased selling them as well if for no other reason than product liability. All of mine have started to swell after only a few use cycles while providing progressively less flight time with each successive charge. I have considerably more concerns over battery failure/fire/explosion during the charging process with them than any other battery I have.

 

[OnTheRopes]

Im still pissed at the 920+ batt warnings, it should be an easy fix in firmware.

.

It can be fixed, so far as battery level Yuneec UK fixed mine for me but that was done by them and they said it was a programming issue. Not possible by user (their words)
They said the in your face warning cannot be fixed. Not sure if that is true.
One thing for certain though, there aint gonna be no firmware update.

 

[PatR]

Sounds like changing the voltage alarm level is a setting while the alarm frequency is written into the code.

 

[OnTheRopes]

Finally looking at ordering some of the Zippy's. I am having difficulty sourcing XT90 - EC3 adaptors and wonder if XT90 - EC5 would fit? Overlander XT90 Male to EC5 Female Adaptor Lead #0003284 | eBay

Also wondering if the no wire version would be too bulky and long to close the battery bay door? XT90 XT-90 to EC3 No Wire adapter connector for LiPo Electric Quad | eBay

Or should I just learn to solder? I still have 3 sets of Tattu so need to stick with EC3 on the a.c for now at least.
What are your thoughts please.

 

[OnTheRopes]

Well scratch that, ordered a soldering iron and accessories the find out Hobby King won't supply the Zippis to the UK and UK don't have any stock.
So, now as far as I can make out we cannot get batteries for the 920 in the UK

 

[thoneter]

I know on FB 920 plus group they have different than the zippies that they have been ordering

 

[OnTheRopes]

I know on FB 920 plus group they have different than the zippies that they have been ordering

I just asked on there but no alternative suggested as yet

 

[PatR]

You may have to spend some time researching battery dimensions at sites that will ship to the U.K. I’ll post the battery box dimensions when I get back to my laptop.

The EC- 5 connectors won’t work. Someone tried the no wires adaptors and found they don’t work well because of how stiff they are in length after being added to the battery’s connector.