Very short flight time with new batteries

[360Degreez]

I purchaced my Q500 4K before the summer holidays.

I've played around with it and gave it some really quick test flights in my backyard. After gaining confidence with the simulator i decided to do my first real flight in an open area a week ago. Sadly both stock batteries died after just 5 minutes. I got battery warnings and even a forced landing!

It was a second hand drone and after inspecting the batteries i saw they both have a slight bulge that could indicate a broken battery. ****!

I've been invited to make some shots from the air at an outdoor event tomorrow (09-02) so i ordered a new GiFi 7500Mah battery to solve the issue. After receiving the battery yesterday, i topped it up on the charger and went-off for another flight to see if everything was OK.

After around 7 minutes at very low altitude (like a few meters) and no fierce accellerations i got the first battery warnings and again a forced landing in high grass causing the drone to tip over and blocking two rotors.

I reset the drone (off-on) and tried to take off again but the whole thing seemed wobbly. When taking off it bounced around in the air (up and down) before hovering. I packed up and headed back home to recharge the battery.

After a few hours i went to bed and took off the battery from the charger. This morning i wanted to continue charging and so i did for a few hours. At the end of the charge it did a few balancing cycled and the red error light on the charger went on.

Today I will do the re calibration of the gyroscope and compass and make sure all batteries are full. But i have no time to do another test flight before heading off to the event tomorrow.

Am i doing something wrong? Is there a way to check if there's something wrong with the drone that causes the abnormal battery drain? Where to go from here?

 

[Jafo]

No doubt... your description of your original set of batteries is what we would expect from worn out batteries. They're shot.
Your new Gifi battery... sorry to hear your having issues with that battery. Gifi is a decent brand IMO.
Do you have a lipo tester? Does your charger give you any details about charging or cell condition ?
Is this the factory charger we're talking about ?
The only way to know whats happening with your battery is with a cell checker/tester. Cheap ones to get you by can be found on Ebay. Move up when you can.
If you have nothing that tells you about cell condition, take note of the voltage the transmitter tells you the drone is at before take off. You need to be at 12.6v or 12.5v for a full battery.

 

[360Degreez]

Hi Jafo, i ordered the voltage testers and the voltages seem ok. 12.4V for a full battery. Gladly, the GiFi battery performed well at the beach today. Got some pretty nice footage too. I think the GiFi just needed a discharge/charge cycle to wake up.

I now discharge it for 50% and recharge it for the first 5 cycles to get the most out of it.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Jafo]

If you don't already have them, some polarized lenses for your 4k camera can make a huge difference in your shots at the beach. Best Buy had the best price the last time I looked.
Good luck and happy flying,
Jafo

 

[360Degreez]

If you don't already have them, some polarized lenses for your 4k camera can make a huge difference in your shots at the beach. Best Buy had the best price the last time I looked.
Good luck and happy flying,
Jafo

Thanks i thought about getting them before but the weather forecast said it would be cloudy ;-) Will purchace them after i got a nice launchpad. I had to launch it from the flightcase on the beach and land it on the wet sand to prevent sand in the motors and gimbal.

This is quite a good deal:
Yuneec Professional Filter Pack [FREEWELL] – Peau Productions