New Platinum Props Tested

[CyberNate]

I don't think the mAh indicator means much, because I just tested a brand new battery against a 20 cycle one that was showing 35xx capacity. I flew both back to back on wifi (easy and slow circuits) and both produced 25min flight times.

The Mavic smart battery cares about 2 parameters, mah and voltage. One thing that does make a huge difference is the voltage range which is in place on the battery. This range is dynamic. On older batteries, you'll see that the voltage is much lower for a given battery percentage than a new battery. You can force a new battery to use a much larger voltage range if you run the battery all the way down to zero and keep running it until the voltage reads something low like 3.4V with hovering and initiates autoland. Now when you recharge the battery, the battery statistics will be updated to take advantage of the larger voltage range and much higher mah count. I did this and now my new battery has a larger usable voltage range and mah count which is now at 3900 mah (previously was like 3600).

Doing this is really hard on the battery chemistry, but it is worth it to me to get a larger usable voltage range, especially when I'm using large externals and want to use all of the power from them. It would be nice if we had a way to do this with software so we don't have to damage the battery chemistry to update the battery statistics. I understand why DJI does the statistics this way. It's to make the battery life consistent so that a battery which has 100 recharges still performs like a newer battery with very few charges and gives you predicable flight time. Over time the voltage range is increased to maintain the same mah capacity, as batteries degrade over time.

 

[cderoche]

This might be a good idea for anyone using the new props.

Official Mavic Range Leaderboard

cool!
Can you buy a set of those motor covers (I can't find any online without buying the entire motor arm) - I'd like to keep my stock ones and mod another set.

 

[lolo780]

cool!
Can you buy a set of those motor covers (I can't find any online without buying the entire motor arm) - I'd like to keep my stock ones and mod another set.

Can't buy the antenna separately, but you could always tape over the cutout if you change your mind.

For the rear, I just leave the black cover piece off.

 

[Ron_Dog]

The Mavic smart battery cares about 2 parameters, mah and voltage. One thing that does make a huge difference is the voltage range which is in place on the battery. This range is dynamic. On older batteries, you'll see that the voltage is much lower for a given battery percentage than a new battery. You can force a new battery to use a much larger voltage range if you run the battery all the way down to zero and keep running it until the voltage reads something low like 3.4V with hovering and initiates autoland. Now when you recharge the battery, the battery statistics will be updated to take advantage of the larger voltage range and much higher mah count. I did this and now my new battery has a larger usable voltage range and mah count which is now at 3900 mah (previously was like 3600).

Doing this is really hard on the battery chemistry, but it is worth it to me to get a larger usable voltage range, especially when I'm using large externals and want to use all of the power from them. It would be nice if we had a way to do this with software so we don't have to damage the battery chemistry to update the battery statistics. I understand why DJI does the statistics this way. It's to make the battery life consistent so that a battery which has 100 recharges still performs like a newer battery with very few charges and gives you predicable flight time. Over time the voltage range is increased to maintain the same mah capacity, as batteries degrade over time.

I've noticed the same results! I have a new battery,and it dosen't give any more flight time,than the 3 older ones.

 

[cderoche]

I've noticed the same results! I have a new battery,and it dosen't give any more flight time,than the 3 older ones.

Wonder how many charges these smart batteries from DJI are supposed to be good for? Hope it is over 1000. $89 a pop aint cheap.

 

[lolo780]

I doubt any rc lipo will give 1000 cycles.

 

[Ron_Dog]

Wonder how many charges these smart batteries from DJI are supposed to be good for? Hope it is over 1000. $89 a pop aint cheap.

I've heard 2-300,but I don't know how accrurate that is? Knowing DJI,the little chip in them is prouably set to a certain number of cycles,then the chip, trashes the batterys! LOL!

 

[Mako79]

I've heard 2-300,but I don't know how accrurate that is? Knowing DJI,the little chip in them is prouably set to a certain number of cycles,then the chip, trashes the batterys! LOL!

anything over a 100-200 cycles is good.
The old phantom 2 batteries did not discharge and would puff up if left fully charged. Some were lucky to get over 40 cycles.

 

[CyberNate]

That's good news. I just converted some of my datalogs with csview and I hit a max esc temp of 103 which seems really hot.

The motor wires are 22ga, so the 16cm front wires should have a resistance of 8.3mOhm each, for a loss of 0.28% at 6 amps. I was looking at rewiring the motors with 20ga tefzel wire, but maybe not worth it yet.
Voltage Drop Calculator

Installed new arm and Mavic is up and running. The issue was not caused by ESC. in fact I've yet to hear anyone report ESC issues that were really ESC. Disconnected or bad motor will result in ESC error. Now I've got an extra ESC board laying around that I'll probably never need.

 

[cderoche]

I've heard 2-300,but I don't know how accrurate that is? Knowing DJI,the little chip in them is prouably set to a certain number of cycles,then the chip, trashes the batterys! LOL!

I wouldn't be surprised. A friend of mine had a projector he used to watch movies at home and the bulb had a hidden cut out programmed life of 500 hours, needless to say the bulb costs a lot, he read online there was a way to reset the counter and got almost 1000hrs off it.

 

[Ron_Dog]

I wouldn't be surprised. A friend of mine had a projector he used to watch movies at home and the bulb had a hidden cut out programmed life of 500 hours, needless to say the bulb costs a lot, he read online there was a way to reset the counter and got almost 1000hrs off it.

Here's a video about the batterys and how to care for them. At 18:00 he explains how to discharge them to bring them back into balance.

 

[Brojon]

i like old ones because drive birds away from my bird .

Mine seem to have the opposite effect. Had three crows pestering me the other day...

 

[CyberNate]

Flew with dual 4000 Lihv (550 grams) with the new props today. It's not looking too good. Motors were much hotter than normal and it was a cool day. I'm also see LESS efficiency with the weight and this was flying at a conservative 31.5mph. I think I may try putting old propellers on rear and new on the front with battery weight centered. The rears do more works on distance runs, so I'm hoping that the lighter load on front will favor the new propellers for efficiency.

 

[dsd317]

Flew with dual 4000 Lihv (550 grams) with the new props today. It's not looking too good. Motors were much hotter than normal and it was a cool day. I'm also see LESS efficiency with the weight and this was flying at a conservative 31.5mph. I think I may try putting old propellers on rear and new on the front with battery weight centered. The rears do more works on distance runs, so I'm hoping that the lighter load on front will favor the new propellers for efficiency.

Does the ESC affect it's performance. I notice one of the DJI Go 4 versions added support for the new props...indicating possible ESC change/update.

 

[CyberNate]

Does the ESC affect it's performance. I notice one of the DJI Go 4 versions added support for the new props...indicating possible ESC change/update.

Software/firmware are unlikely to affect the performance, but may adjust the operating ranges and limits. Now the new ESCs in the platinum will help as they are sinusoidal rather than square wave pattern which can help improve efficiency. Anyway, the new props work well on stock mavic, it's just when loaded down that the pitch is a bit too aggressive. I'm still experimenting.

 

[Brojon]

Software/firmware are unlikely to affect the performance, but may adjust the operating ranges and limits. Now the new ESCs in the platinum will help as they are sinusoidal rather than square wave pattern which can help improve efficiency. Anyway, the new props work well on stock mavic, it's just when loaded down that the pitch is a bit too aggressive. I'm still experimenting.

Sounds like a case where both props are useful in their own way for different purposes.
Someone said something a few posts back that piqued my curiosity - something to the effect there's an optimal speed for the MP.
Anyone care to expound on that? I was of the mind that the frontal mass and limited speed of the MP was too small to make air resistance much of an issue.

 

[gnirtS]

Anyone care to expound on that? I was of the mind that the frontal mass and limited speed of the MP was too small to make air resistance much of an issue.

Air resistance and lifting body are pretty much negligible for the mavic yes but motor power/lift vs RPM isn't linear. So theres a rotation speed above which a lot more power starts being used for less and less benefit.

 

[cderoche]

Flew with dual 4000 Lihv (550 grams) with the new props today. It's not looking too good. Motors were much hotter than normal and it was a cool day. I'm also see LESS efficiency with the weight and this was flying at a conservative 31.5mph. I think I may try putting old propellers on rear and new on the front with battery weight centered. The rears do more works on distance runs, so I'm hoping that the lighter load on front will favor the new propellers for efficiency.

I ordered a single 4000mah LiHV pack - wonder how it does with only one?

 

[Brojon]

Air resistance and lifting body are pretty much negligible for the mavic yes but motor power/lift vs RPM isn't linear. So theres a rotation speed above which a lot more power starts being used for less and less benefit.

Don't be a tease
So what is it?

 

[lolo780]

Flew with dual 4000 Lihv (550 grams) with the new props today. It's not looking too good. Motors were much hotter than normal and it was a cool day. I'm also see LESS efficiency with the weight and this was flying at a conservative 31.5mph. I think I may try putting old propellers on rear and new on the front with battery weight centered. The rears do more works on distance runs, so I'm hoping that the lighter load on front will favor the new propellers for efficiency.

What rpm and amp draw differences did you see vs stock props at 31.5mph?

On my last flight I saw 32mph for 11 deg aircraft pitch, and I also tried out side mounting the batteries. Top mounting should give better prop efficiency, but not as good forward aero. Will find out which is better on the next flight.