I'm thinking about picking up a TH with RealSense and I'm wondering what battery will give the longest flight time? Is there a flight time difference with and without RealSense?
Recommend battery for long flight time?
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I don't have RealSense on any of my H's but I believe it does reduce the flight time to some extent since it does draw power. Even though you can turn it on or off, it's never really off. The off function simply disables it for use while flying, so it's always on.
There are several aftermarket batteries but I'm can't say for certain that they increase the flight time dramatically. I'm sure others will have an opinion on this topic.
What type of flight time are you getting with your TH and OEM battery? I know thats a loaded questions since environment and flying style plays into the number.
PatR
Premium Pilot
For really long flight time consider a long cord connected to a 16v constant power source. You can go on a perpetual quest for a battery that provides just a couple minutes more flight time or just use the stock batteries. The difference between the longest and standard is so small that for many the difference is not worth the hassle and expense of buying and trying lots of different batteries of unknown quality. Depending on how you fly and the conditions flying takes place in the standard battery provides from 8-17 minutes of flight time.
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If I had a battery that was only giving me eight minutes of flight time I would tag it as "Do Not Use". The battery is less than 50% capacity and on it's last leg.
That battery could fail in flight and cost you some serious money to repair. Cheaper to ditch the battery. I do keep a log on all of the performance factors of my batteries and they are labeled simply as "A", "B", "C" etc. When I replace a battery it becomes "A1" etc.
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PatR
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The qualifiers matter
How we fly has a tremendous impact on battery life. The guy that turns off GPS and then flies full throttle in all he does will be lucky to get 7 minutes from a new, in perfect condition, battery. Similar applies to the person that is out flying in 25mph+ winds. The system would have a high current demand placed on it and drains the battery quickly. The current levels placed on a battery are not constant, they vary throughout a flight. Throttle, maneuvering, holding position or flying against the wind, all impact how much current is being demanded from the battery. If flying in sub freezing weather battery time is again impacted significantly, with flights cut back to 5 to 8 minutes because of the way a lipo deals with cold temperatures.An older car (built before a computer was required for everything) functions the same way. Let's say the generator/alternator has failed and you elect to run the car off the battery. It can run the engine a fair amount of time all by itself but turn on the lights, radio, wipers and heater it's not going to handle that load very long. Start shedding load and the engine can run longer.
Depending on the conditions and how you fly, if you tag a battery as "Do Not Use" because it only gave you 8 minutes of flight time you could end up buying a lot of batteries because you discarded all the good ones. Cell voltage, balance, and IR is what establishes battery condition, not the amount of flight time it provides. There are numerous variables totally under the operator's control that will extend or reduce flight time with a perfectly good battery.
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I agree with Pat... I started flying my H last November... I learned to fly in 20-30° weather and cold conditions do affect time in the air. The one other factor that definitely increases power usage is whether or not you are a pilot of the "start camera before takeoff, end with landing" to record the entire flight mindset. The usage of the camera (primarily photos for an inspection job with a cursory video) type of flight will use less power than a complete video operation during the entire flight.
Want the max flight time? Easy... just replicate the conditions used by the battery manufacturers when determining the advertised "flight time up to XXX". Unmount the camera, take off and hover at 10 feet... let aircraft auto-land after 2nd warning. D-U-N, done!
Want the max flight time? Easy... just replicate the conditions used by the battery manufacturers when determining the advertised "flight time up to XXX". Unmount the camera, take off and hover at 10 feet... let aircraft auto-land after 2nd warning. D-U-N, done!
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I know what you are saying and about conditions flight time. Wind,temperature, and things like that are considered.
I would rather replace a battery than replace the H. Before I tag a battery "Do not use" I run the battery through a discharge/charge cycle and then discharge the battery at a constant current and log the time to stop discharge.(Automated charger/discharger)
If a battery is a persistent short timer time ti retire it.
I would rather replace a battery than replace the H. Before I tag a battery "Do not use" I run the battery through a discharge/charge cycle and then discharge the battery at a constant current and log the time to stop discharge.(Automated charger/discharger)
If a battery is a persistent short timer time ti retire it.
Hi Spartan, I have one GIFI 8050mAh that I have used/charged/discharged 12 times. (I wrote a thread about it 6month ago but can'r find it here now) It works great and I have tested it in similar conditions as the original batteries. I get approx between 5-6minutes more time in the air. Once a was up in the air 18minutes with cam recording, no lights on, before fist warning @14.3V. I use a EV-PEAK DY3. The 8050 has no sign of puffing so far. When spring comes to Sweden I will invest I two more.
PatR
Premium Pilot
Totally agree with that. Over time we should note changes in how a battery is performing from when they were new. It's not a bad idea for those with the equipment to make a record of battery conditions after they are first obtained to refer to as time and use cycles accumulate on them.
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
That's interesting. I use the standard batteries and with all but one of them I typically get around 16 minutes flight time flying in what I call 'normal' conditions and landing at the low end of 14.5v, and can get up to 19 minutes in the air to the first warning at 14.3v (something that I avoid doing). The one battery that doesn't perform so good (incidentally the newest battery) I expect around 14 minutes to the low side of 14.5v...I have never taken that one to the first warning so I can't comment on that.
Note, though, that these timings are not in cold conditions. I never fly if the temperature is below 3c.
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I think new batteries need to go through 3 or 4 charge discharge cycles to come up to full value.
FlushVision
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I agree. It takes a few cycles for them to 'bed in'. However, the battery I mentioned has 12 cycles on it so it ain't gonna get any better now.
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What is the voltage when the charger stops, or are you using the stock Yuneec charger?
I bought this for my charger needs. I use it for a controlled discharge to keep an eye on battery capacity. It is programmable for multiple charge/discharge cycles. Has a built in timer for capacity test. Set it for X amps and let it go. Tracks how many minutes till shut down.
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I understood (up to now) that the H batteries will be ok in the 520.
On the other hand... the other way around is not advised, why would that be? 25+ minutes sounds quite cool.....
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Ok flew today, 14 minutes 12 seconds. Fully charged battery ohm meter read 15.84 v. 3.96 v per cell
On the St16 it showed 16.4v.
flew around slowly then 1/2 rabbit mode to 390 feet. Whole flight in recording mode. landed at 14.7 volts.
St16 then showed 15v at idle before shut down.
30 minutes later checked battery with ohm meter it showed 14.24 v? 3.56 per cell
Oh, ground winds howling at 2 to 3 mph, winds aloft at 400' about 15mph.
Cloudy and wind chill at 75 degrees.
On the St16 it showed 16.4v.
flew around slowly then 1/2 rabbit mode to 390 feet. Whole flight in recording mode. landed at 14.7 volts.
St16 then showed 15v at idle before shut down.
30 minutes later checked battery with ohm meter it showed 14.24 v? 3.56 per cell
Oh, ground winds howling at 2 to 3 mph, winds aloft at 400' about 15mph.
Cloudy and wind chill at 75 degrees.
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Ohh it fine my buddy Mike flew the lihv many times with the tray i invented. He pushed them to 30 minutes.
