Battery flight (20-25 minutes)

[wytnyt]

Also have 2 batteries and rarely use the second one. But in my case it is because the wife telling me "I want to go, are you done yet?"

i keep the perfect item in my tool chest for the noisy wife,a roll of ducktape,guaranteed to quieten the noisiest wife

 

[HighlandsVideo]

I find that three batteries is the ideal # for me. I can recharge one within the life of the other two and spend as much as 80 minutes in the air before needing any down time. 80 minutes has proven to be way more than enough time for any one location. I fly more for the sake of the aerial images than for the flying itself, however.

I have a DC-AC converter and carry a second car battery to run it as the car charger that came with my MP will only work if the engine is running. Can't really figure that one.

 

[HiKen51]

There seems to be a few out there. I've always seen the "Blue" models. Titan has one that I've considered. I've been using a 40 dollar Thor Charger Station but they kind of all look the same and I don't know if any are better in quality the other.

Have you checked the health of your batteries? I've thought of getting one of those units that charges more than 1 at a time, but wondered if it might cause issues with the smart batteries.

 

[dronerdave]

Well I'm flying with a couple other guys that have newer equipment and our flight times are fairly close. I'm the only one using the Thor. While flying I set my warning alarm to 30% but keep an eye on the level vs distance out. When the first battery is depleted, it gets put on the DJI single charger as soon as it's cool enough. I use the multi-battery charger on the way home charging the last 3. There aren't a lot of places I fly at where I burn all four batteries and one or more that have been charged in the field, but if I get there early and stay to sunset I could use a 5th battery. I just don't know if all these battery chargers are all the same or if one is better than the other. If the DJI chargers are better suited to keeping the batteries life longer I'll just purchase a couple more DJI chargers.

 

[BillyBoot]

i keep the perfect item in my tool chest for the noisy wife,a roll of ducktape,guaranteed to quieten the noisiest wife

LOL, you guys crack me up..

 

[geekgirl87]

Ok... I am a newbie and have a question..
20-25 minutes of having fun flying your drone must go quick.

Lets say you drive to a nice place an hour away to fly your drone 20-25 minutes then its time to go home. Is it really worth it?
Is there any other way ya can get more air time off a battery? or do you guys buy multiple batteries.
20-25 minutes seems like a very short time having fun with flying your drones.

Multiple batteries is an essential, particularly if you pre-plan your flights. If your flight is not going as you had initially planned and need to re-do it, you need to return home and you don't want to restart the mission on a half depleted battery.

A couple of points you should remember as well, you need to allow for the recharge of your remote controller if you're going to do multiple flights in one session. You'll get about 4 - 5 20 min + missions on one battery charge of your remote, however, it can be recharged from any USB power supply. A small portable battery pack (solar powered is good) can be used to charge your remote and you'll get at least 2 full charges out of it and you can recharge your phone too if you're using it with the remote.

An important point also, is that you cannot recharge your drone battery if it's too hot. A long flight will cause the battery temperature to increase significantly and it will take at least 30 minutes in a shaded and ventilated area to cool down to a temperature where recharging is possible.

I find that 3 batteries is satisfactory in most situations. If you're going to places with good views with friends and family members, there's more things you can do than simply fly the drone for the entire time.

 

[BillyBoot]

People ask what drones fly the longest.......Its not what drone fly's the longest , its what battery lasts the longest.

 

[tictag]

I have a DC-AC converter and carry a second car battery to run it as the car charger that came with my MP will only work if the engine is running. Can't really figure that one.

The DJI car adapter has a 'convenience feature' that cuts off charging below 12.3V, check the manual, it says it's there to avoid depleting a car battery beyond a point where the car won't start. I fell into this trap when I bought a battery pack outputting exactly 12V into a cigar adapter - didn't work because the DJI car adapter needs at least 12.3V. Grrrrr.

 

[kakao]

The DJI car adapter has a 'convenience feature' that cuts off charging below 12.3V, check the manual, it says it's there to avoid depleting a car battery beyond a point where the car won't start. I fell into this trap when I bought a battery pack outputting exactly 12V into a cigar adapter - didn't work because the DJI car adapter needs at least 12.3V. Grrrrr.

Maybe if the engine is running it would charge . ...

 

[nutsnbolts]

4 batteries seems to be a magical number. 5 even better but the 5th I consider for really more of a backup in the "just in case scenario".

Multiple batteries allows you multiple locations of shooting. Maybe its me but 2 batteries in one location seems to be a lot of time. Of course mileage can vary but I think it's more of a rare occasion for me.

I guess for commercial use it's different.

 

[PolarBZ]

LOL, you guys crack me up..

In fact, she'll be SO quiet, you won't even know she's there! Because she probably won't be, for long.

 

[bvsolutions]

Can you tell me which charger you have for your truck?

 

[bvsolutions]

Can you tell me which charger you have for your truck?

I use the blue 5 port charger like DronerDave below.
I find it works ok when plugged in to the 500w inverter built into my dodge, although it struggles with 3 batteries at once.

 

[Turn11]

inverter built into my dodge

For those without the luxury (very nice feature) of having a builtin inverter I use this clamp-to-battery inverter. It has more capability than needed BUT like they say in racing, you can never have too much horse power.
I don't trust any car manufacturer to put in heavy enough wiring to the cigarette lighter OR whatever you call the accessory plugs we charge our cell phones from today.

 

[kejoal11]

I use the Energen dronemax a20. I normally take out my mavic and p4p for shots and it charges both style batteries. I have the car adapter as a backup as well

 

[HighlandsVideo]

I use this clamp-to-battery inverter

I use one of these too and it works great. I also have a second car battery in the back to run it so I don't have to tap into the car's power to charge the copter batteries.

It's nice to always be able to fly and still know the car will start to get home.

 

[Turn11]

know the car will start

picky, picky but a good point

 

[HighlandsVideo]

picky, picky

Thanks, Turn11 for noticing. I'm kinda glad to be picky. I tends to come with advanced age & I find it can be handy as an avoidance technique.

 

[Turn11]

advanced age

I agree, I didn't get to be this age by doing anything stupid, well not TOO stupid, Ehhh well maybe a LITTLE stupid BUT I was extremely lucky most of the time. (see profile picture)