Lucky?

[Peter b]

I have had no problems getting a good 20 minutes of flight time from both batteries without the warning display. I have flown in angle mode to the max and up down inside out and the only time the warning came on was because I didn't have time to do a full charge. Still got 10 minutes. I'll come back and whine when the thing blows up. Happy holiday to all in the military.

 

[AeroJ]

Yep. Very lucky I'd say. 20 mins is ambitious for the battery packs on an H, even when new... Very surprised you're not seeing warnings way before that. Could you upload some telemetry from a flight where you got 20 mins + ? I'd be interested to see what your final pack voltage is...

 

[Peter b]

I would love to if I can find them. Right now I'm trying to deal with yet another q which always had terrible amount of battery problems but I'll get back to you.

 

[Santa]

Got a related question regarding my Yuneec OEM batteries. My H has been in storage for some time due to other obligations that prevented me from taking it out to fly for quite a while. What are the chances that my batteries will recover and charge up reliably when I take the H out to play again? I have the standard Yuneec charger that came with the bird. Is there a charger out there that will recondition my batteries or should I simply invest in new ones? Your advice is always appreciated.

 

[AeroJ]

Got a related question regarding my Yuneec OEM batteries. My H has been in storage for some time due to other obligations that prevented me from taking it out to fly for quite a while.

We are missing both the vital pieces of information here. How long were they in storage, and did you store them fully charged, or at storage voltage, or empty ?

If you have looked after the batteries properly while they were in storage - that is to say stored them at around 15.2v and got them out, and done a full charge / discharge cycle every month, then they will be in tip-top condition, and should continue working as they always have done. But if you have just left them in a box at full charge, then the chances are you have seriously limited their lifespan, and they might even not take a charge now, depending on what the voltage is doing. So - how long were they in storage and what is the voltage on those packs ?

 

[Santa]

Thanks for the reply AeroJ. Guess my batteries are going to be toast... I think they were at full charge and have been in storage for several months without any intervention. Bummer!!!
Guess I will take them out and see what they do. When you say "seriously limited their lifespan" do you mean that they will not be suitable to fly with at all or that they will likely be unsuitable after some time period of several flights?

Guess that I need to adopt a new maintenance protocol with my batteries if these are still useful or not make the same mistake with the new ones I will need to buy. Any recommendation for a charger (system) that will properly maintain my batteries while in storage?

 

[AeroJ]

Oh, that's not so bad - I thought you were going to say a few YEARS !! if it's only a few months you might have got away with it to some degree. Pop each battery on the charger, and see what its voltage is doing now at the start of a balance charge. The charger will let you know and complain at you if the voltage has dropped too low to work with (anything under 13v) or if there is serious cell imbalance, but if they charge normally then you have probably got away with it Even so I would conduct my first flight session in an empty field, and mainly just hover whilst timing the pack as it goes back down to your safe minimum, which is 14.7v under load.

I don't think there are any chargers for the H that will automatically cycle the charge every month and indeed this would be impractical and or dangerous because you should never leave a LiPo on a charger when it is not charging or discharging. And unlike DJI etc, our batteries are not 'smart' so won't discharge themselves after a certain period like theirs would. So you need to do that yourself. When my system was out of action for 5 months recently I put a note in my diary to charge and discharge the packs on payday, and that way I remembered every time...

 

[AeroJ]

Popped back to mention something else very important when a system is out of commission for a while.

Oxidisation of the pots for the control sticks on the St-16 is a thing that happens a lot to us, and happens a lot more when stuff has been stored undisturbed and not used for a while..
So we need to check for that BEFORE the craft is in the air, which we can do in the hardware monitor of the St-16.

Before your first flight session, power up the St-16, go into hardware monitor and wiggle the sticks in all directions. In fact push ALL the buttons at least once or twice.
Whilst wiggling the sticks, check that the meters for each control return to exactly 0 when you take your hands off them, and make sure they are reporting full deflection in both directions every time. If there is ANY lag or delay in returning to 0, or any bouncy or jumpy behaviour of those meters then the chances are your sticks (or rather the pots they connect to) need cleaning, with plastic-safe electrical contact cleaner. I can't stress enough how important to your flight safety it is that those controls are working properly !

 

[Photo]

I have had no problems getting a good 20 minutes of flight time from both batteries without the warning display. I have flown in angle mode to the max and up down inside out and the only time the warning came on was because I didn't have time to do a full charge. Still got 10 minutes. I'll come back and whine when the thing blows up. Happy holiday to all in the military.

Peter, I strongly doubt you information and love to see AeroJ's comment on your telemetry... and if you "can't find it" makes me even more suspicious....
At what voltage did you start when you got 10minutes.....?

 

[AeroJ]

and if you "can't find it" makes me even more suspicious....

No need for suspicion - we can tell him exactly where to find it ! All telemetry for every flight made is stored in the St-16, so just a matter of going in there and getting the information...
If @Santa needs help with this, a quick search of the TH sections for the term 'telemetry' will find him detailed instructions on how to get it uploaded here.

 

[Photo]

We are missing both the vital pieces of information here. How long were they in storage, and did you store them fully charged, or at storage voltage, or empty ?

If you have looked after the batteries properly while they were in storage - that is to say stored them at around 15.2v and got them out, and done a full charge / discharge cycle every month, then they will be in tip-top condition, and should continue working as they always have done. But if you have just left them in a box at full charge, then the chances are you have seriously limited their lifespan, and they might even not take a charge now, depending on what the voltage is doing. So - how long were they in storage and what is the voltage on those packs ?

AeroJ... you wrote: "and done a full charge / discharge cycle every month".... Is that what you and others here on the forum strongly recommend... "charge / discharge cycle every month"?

 

[AeroJ]

AeroJ... you wrote: "and done a full charge / discharge cycle every month".... Is that what you and others here on the forum strongly recommend... "charge / discharge cycle every month"?

Can't speak for everyone else, but IME, yes.

 

[FlushVision]

Peter, I strongly doubt you information and love to see AeroJ's comment on your telemetry... and if you "can't find it" makes me even more suspicious....
At what voltage did you start when you got 10minutes.....?

The best ever flight time I've had was 19 minutes going down to 14.3v first warning. Flight was on the 24th May 2017, Air temp was 25c and wind was 5 MPH (data from my logbook)...pretty ideal flying conditions. Never been able to achieve this since and actually unlikely these days because I never take any of my batteries that low anymore.

So, I too, am skeptical about the OP's claim of 20 minutes from his batteries without seeing a warning. Not saying he didn't but I too would love to see some telemetry. What I will say is that if he does truly get 20 minutes without seeing a warning, then he is indeed lucky.

 

[Mrgs1]

Can't speak for everyone else, but IME, yes.

Do you have a link or any info where it says charge and discharge every month? Very little change is going to occur over a month in storage voltage. Remember you are wasting cycles as the batteries are only good for a certain amount of charges.

 

[AeroJ]

Actually, chemistry starts changing the very second you charge a battery, and has cumulative effects over time. You're right - a month at storage isn't going to damage things irreparably, but over the course of 2-3 months, or heading towards a year you will begin see the effects, which mainly manifest as the top voltage dropping such that you can never reach 4.2v a cell anymore, and your charger will spend 3 or 4 hours trying and never getting there before it cuts off or you change the target voltage.

I don't have links to prove this any more - it was over a year ago I did the full research on these things, but I must have read it somewhere, and found a general consensus that agreed or I wouldn't be doing it. And now I am doing it, having just not flown for 5 months, I do notice that after nearly 200 flights I still get 15 mins per pack, and all my packs continue to hit 16.8v on charge, which I count as some practical evidence it's not a bad thing...

 

[Mrgs1]

Actually, chemistry starts changing the very second you charge a battery, and has cumulative effects over time. You're right - a month at storage isn't going to damage things irreparably, but over the course of 2-3 months, or heading towards a year you will begin see the effects, which mainly manifest as the top voltage dropping such that you can never reach 4.2v a cell anymore, and your charger will spend 3 or 4 hours trying and never getting there before it cuts off or you change the target voltage.

I don't have links to prove this any more - it was over a year ago I did the full research on these things, but I must have read it somewhere, and found a general consensus that agreed or I wouldn't be doing it. And now I am doing it, having just not flown for 5 months, I do notice that after nearly 200 flights I still get 15 mins per pack, and all my packs continue to hit 16.8v on charge, which I count as some practical evidence it's not a bad thing...

The clock starts as soon as the battery is manufactured. Fortunately I keep cycling/ swapping the batteries so they never lie idle for months, luckily only ever had a very small drop down to 48% so all quickly recovered to storage.

 

[Peter b]

I think I forgot the original point of this thread. Hm.

 

[Photo]

I think I forgot the original point of this thread. Hm.

No problem Peter b, here's a reminder: You claim that "You have no problems getting a good 20 minutes of flight time from both batteries without the warning display" and we are very doubtful and like to see your telemetry file. Easy, isnt't it? You can also go back to the beginning of your thread.

 

[Peter b]

Please, I just want to believe in possibly something that might possibly be the tooth fairy. I got lucky and you guys are pros. Btw I saw one of my favorite flying places near st Louis on CNN and it really was ground zero for take off. The last time there was with the h. And nobody anywhere could possiibly find the place except from the kooks like me.

 

[Fred Garvin]

People are just a bit sensitive right now.....some recent outrageous claims have been made regarding performance capability and when asked to “put up or shut up” a lot of smoke was blown destroying credibility of the poster.
If you claim 20+ minute flights, people are going to ask for proof.