Air2S mod: 4200mah, 242gram SiG LiHV battery mod giving real world flight times of 35minutes.

[Interficiam Stercore]

I have tested the flight times of both an EVO2 Pro and this 4200mah Modded Air 2s. They are both getting between 27-35 minutes total flight time in regular windy conditions. Sometimes the Air2S exceeds the flight times I have been getting with the EVO2 Pro and never gets less flight time than the EVO2P. For some reason the Air2s exceeds the speeds of an evo2 when flying through headwinds.

The Air 2S mod has a 4200mah, 120c, 242gm, 3s, 11.4v, si-graphene battery attached. This gives it 7900mah compared to the 7100mah batt of an EVO2. The 120C current allows the battery to not only charge the Air2S battery in flight , but can even fly the Air2S, but only with the OEM battery still in the batt bay, while it's off. This phenomena actually allows the drone to fly an extra 2-4 minutes while the battery readout is 0%. Max Payload capacity of the Air2S is aprox 500gm.

IF YOUR CONSIDERING BUYING AN EVO 2 PRO, YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER AN AIR2S WITH THIS AFTERMARKET MOD. With the Air2s you still get a 1inch CMOS, good low light filming, and w/ batt mod, flight times and speed exceeding an Evo2. Note if you're concerned about NFZ and Altitude limits, there are mods (that work) for the air 2s that fix that too. Find those on your own.

 

[PinpointUAVS]

Neat setup. thanks for sharing!

Just a note to anybody in Canada, mods like this go against Transport Canada regulations unless you submit a safety assurance declaration and receive approval. Info regarding the process can be found here:

Submit a drone safety assurance declaration: Modified drones

Submit a drone safety assurance declaration. About the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Safety Assurance.

tc.canada.ca

Not trying to be the “drone police” just wanting to pass on the info along for anybody who may be unaware.

 

[DARKSeifer]

I'm quite happy with the stock batteries, it flies about the same time as the Mini 2. Usually when I go out on location tend to take off close to the area I want to take pictures from, so with 3 batteries I have more than enough (and a portable AC powerbank, haha).

It's only when I do long range flights from my garden when I'd like to have a little more juice, but for a quad it's not that bad.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

That is one ugly drone! ?

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

Neat setup. thanks for sharing!

Just a note to anybody in Canada, mods like this go against Transport Canada regulations unless you submit a safety assurance declaration and receive approval. Info regarding the process can be found here:

Submit a drone safety assurance declaration: Modified drones

Submit a drone safety assurance declaration. About the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Safety Assurance.

tc.canada.ca

Not trying to be the “drone police” just wanting to pass on the info along for anybody who may be unaware.

Didn't know Canada regulates drone mods. Wow!

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

That is one ugly drone! ?

But, But, But you can't really see how ugly it is from far away.

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW, IF YOU PLAN TO DO THIS AND ADD OVER 200 GRAMS OF WEIGHT. I had to reposition the battery from what you see in the attached pic. I had to turn it sideways and position it just behind the OEM batteries power button. I was getting motor errors before this fix. Why?, because the weight was unevenly distributed among the motors. Most of the weight was being lifted by the front motors. By turning it sideways and moving it back, now all 4 motors are taking the weight. Before, I did this you couldn't touch the front motors after landing, they were that hot. Now after evenly distributing the weight, you can touch all the motors, but they still are warmer than average.

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

I'm quite happy with the stock batteries, it flies about the same time as the Mini 2. Usually when I go out on location tend to take off close to the area I want to take pictures from, so with 3 batteries I have more than enough (and a portable AC powerbank, haha).

It's only when I do long range flights from my garden when I'd like to have a little more juice, but for a quad it's not that bad.

Just used 2 external LiHV batteries with 2325mah @ 185gm. It gave me more flight time than my EVO2 pro. But, of course the evo2 pro has slightly better night imaging quality, but overall, the Air 2s with this external batt mod definitely competes or can even replace an EVO2 PRO. I may have never bought the evo2pro if I knew about the 3rd party mods that can be applied to the Air2s, including nfz and altitude mods that equal or exceed an Autel's capabilities. They are practically equal now.

 

[AFAngryWarrior]

JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW, IF YOU PLAN TO DO THIS AND ADD OVER 200 GRAMS OF WEIGHT. I had to reposition the battery from what you see in the attached pic. I had to turn it sideways and position it just behind the OEM batteries power button. I was getting motor errors before this fix. Why?, because the weight was unevenly distributed among the motors. Most of the weight was being lifted by the front motors. By turning it sideways and moving it back, now all 4 motors are taking the weight. Before, I did this you couldn't touch the front motors after landing, they were that hot. Now after evenly distributing the weight, you can touch all the motors, but they still are warmer than average.

Yeah this and the looks are my biggest concern. So far I haven't seen anyone say this caused a malfunction on their drone, but if there is a malfunction I'm guessing it would be pretty easy for DJI to see the mod in the battery logs? Which I'm guessing would also void my coverage. I'll take the extra few minutes to swap batteries and continue flying for the peace of mind. Maybe once it's out of the coverage period I'll try it. I do dislike the "40 Minute" claimed battery time, when in reality I get about 20-25 mins tops depending on amount of movement.