Average battery life

[mjbok]

How long are people getting (on average) per battery? I am getting somewhere between 12-14 minutes, usually on the lower end of that. My friend also has an Air and he said he gets around 20. My 12 minutes is putting it in Spark territory, which isn't good.

 

[0.33l]

Battery depends allot of fly conditions. Especially wind and speed used. Are you two flying parallel routes or you're just comparing times from different locations ? Also temperature have great impact on battery life.

 

[mjbok]

Battery depends allot of fly conditions. Especially wind and speed used. Are you two flying parallel routes or you're just comparing times from different locations ? Also temperature have great impact on battery life.

Completely different locations, but from this last weekend I flew three batteries and all were around 12 to warning. This was not "hard" flying. No sport mode, not a huge distance (did got to max altitude on two, though). 50 degrees. Little to no wind.

 

[swooshdave]

What percentage are you going down to? 0%?

 

[dannybgoode]

On my MA I get 16 mins or so and that is down to around 20%.

20 mins does sound quite a long time and if your friend is taking the batteries down to single digits each flight he may well be doing them long term damage.

 

[mjbok]

What percentage are you going down to? 0%?

I'd have to check, but I think 20%. I've read you shouldn't go much further below 20% for the health of the battery.

 

[Aerial-Pixel]

In my hover test I got 15:55 with 13% left. You can see the comparison between the other current DJI Drones here:

 

[CanadaDrone]

You shouldn't be flying below 30%, 20% at the absolute bare minimum. In light of this, flight time is usually around 16 minutes.

If anyone is getting 20 minutes, they are flying with dangerously low battery.

There are so many factors that affect total battery time - flight style, sport mode or not, wind, time spent hovering, temperature, etc. etc.

 

[Shuggins]

I realize it's taboo, but I set my warning at 15% on my MA. I fly VLOS so I can usually have it on the ground by 11-12%. In nice conditions (65 degrees, no wind, easy flying) I get about 16 minutes.

 

[vanderzyde0]

Two reasons to set warning at 20%-

1. To ensure you have enough battery to get home
2. To get maximum life out of the batteries - running down to less than 15% and you are reducing the life of the battery significantly

Also - when the batteries are new you will get slightly less time out of them. Go through 5-6 cycles and you will get a couple more minutes.

I got 12-13 minutes on new batteries and now get about 14-16 minutes on an average flight. Much less when using Sport Mode and when it's windy.

 

[kidroc]

On my MA I get 16 mins or so and that is down to around 20%.

20 mins does sound quite a long time and if your friend is taking the batteries down to single digits each flight he may well be doing them long term damage.

He is doing them damage 20% is the min i would fly till. 30%
is what i have always done and i have mavic pro batts with 180 charges on them and they are getting old but are in great flying condition..

 

[DanMan32]

The intelligent batteries already have a safety margin so benefit of not going into the teens should be insignificant when compared to the enjoyment.

If you want the longest life out of them, keep them charged at 60% and never fly with them.

 

[CanadaDrone]

The intelligent batteries already have a safety margin so benefit of not going into the teens should be insignificant when compared to the enjoyment.

If you want the longest life out of them, keep them charged at 60% and never fly with them.

Almost every single thread I have read of people's drones falling out of the sky, they let the battery get below the safe zone of 20-30%. Not worth it in my opinion.

Also it's not just about safety margins, if you are running your batteries down into low teens or single digits, you are dramatically reducing their lifespan.

The batteries are smart enough to discharge themselves down from 100% for long term storage, but they can only do so much.

 

[BenAir]

He is doing them damage 20% is the min i would fly till. 30%
is what i have always done and i have mavic pro batts with 180 charges on them and they are getting old but are in great flying condition..

I would be numbering and flying each old battery in turn with some sport mode use in the mix. Then uploading the dat files for each battery to examine the battery cell (x3) voltages and performance. Dont be surprised if there is a degraded battery which is struggling. One you will be glad to retire befor it fails unexpectedly

 

[old man mavic]

@mjboc no disrespect to your friend but has he actually timed his flights to show he is getting 20 mins per flight ,every one flies differently, their batteries are different, and even their drones are different,,maybe your friend ,when he flies, feels that the drone has flown for 20 mins who knows