Mavic Air 2 extended battery possibility

Geekinions · Oct 15, 2020

In all honesty, I get more than enough flight time out of each battery and don't see the benefit into risking opening up a battery or altering the flight characteristics of the drone. I have four batteries total and that's an afternoon of flying. Typically I use one to two batteries at each location I go it. I keep it legal and fly within VLOS so no need for distance. Landing and replacing a battery isn't a big deal or hard to do and it doesn't bug me in the slightest to do that after 25 minutes of flight time. I'm due for a little break for a minute by then anyways.

Sully888 · Oct 15, 2020

DavidT_ NZ said:
When the Air 2 arrived people applauded the longer flight time. With the Fly More pack there were two extra batteries and a charging bank. That’s 80+ minutes in the air. Why risk a great drone and the safety of people on the ground by fiddling around with the power source that the DJI technical experts have specifically designed for the Air 2. It makes no wise sense to me.

ingenuity is what drives better products. DJI might be satisfied with their profit numbers increasing because they can build X drone with y (cheap) parts. If the current market is satisfied with a drone that can fly 34 minutes, that is what they are going to build.

If some kid can increase a DJI drone flight time by tinkering in his garage and people realize there is the possibility for better products, that can force DJI with the numerous engineers and facilities to the drawing board to be more innovative.

zeusfl · Oct 15, 2020

I bought the connector, LED light, and a new 4S battery from hobby king to test and play with the Mavic Air 2.
I know it's overkill, unnecessary, and all that, but for me is fun, interesting and I like to see the limits even if goes wrong. Is the nature of some people. Have fun !!

ilovebeermoney · Oct 15, 2020

zeusfl said:
I bought the connector, LED light, and a new 4S battery from hobby king to test and play with the Mavic Air 2.
I know it's overkill, unnecessary, and all that, but for me is fun, interesting and I like to see the limits even if goes wrong. Is the nature of some people. Have fun !!

Please report back here with your results and maybe even some links of what you exactly bought.

zeusfl · Oct 15, 2020

ilovebeermoney said:
Please report back here with your results and maybe even some links of what you exactly bought.

That is what I bought. for the Mavic 2 Pro
For DJI Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom Power Supplier Adapter+Adhesive Tape Battery Supplier | eBay

For the Mavic Air 2

https://www.ebay.com/itm/274466288470

and

Portable Ultra-lightweight Colorful LED Signal Light for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic Air 2 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Portable Ultra-lightweight Colorful LED Signal Light for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic Air 2 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

icesailr · Oct 18, 2020

zeusfl said:
That is what I bought. for the Mavic 2 Pro
For DJI Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom Power Supplier Adapter+Adhesive Tape Battery Supplier | eBay

For the Mavic Air 2

https://www.ebay.com/itm/274466288470

and

Portable Ultra-lightweight Colorful LED Signal Light for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic Air 2 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Portable Ultra-lightweight Colorful LED Signal Light for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic Air 2 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Thank you for the link. Looking forward to hearing how it flys and for how long.

ccsm · Oct 22, 2020

zeusfl said:
I bought the connector, LED light, and a new 4S battery from hobby king to test and play with the Mavic Air 2.
I know it's overkill, unnecessary, and all that, but for me is fun, interesting and I like to see the limits even if goes wrong. Is the nature of some people. Have fun !!

4S for MA2 ? no-wayyyy ....... MA2 supports 3S HV but not 4S !!! and the results of your tries?

zeusfl · Oct 22, 2020

ccsm said:
4S for MA2 ? no-wayyyy ....... MA2 supports 3S HV but not 4S !!! and the results of your tries?

You are correct. the 4S was for the M2P. The MA2 is 3S sorry for the mistake.

nencmeister · Dec 30, 2020

Just bought these, since it's not very clear what the results are, I'm happy to test

Also just got an Alientech Duo II, can't wait hehe.

Also for the guys against modding, modding/hacking is normal for anything. We put superchargers in our cars, upgrade sound systems, lift weights and eat more protein. It's human nature to push the limits.. and then some

jwishbone · Dec 30, 2020

nencmeister said:
Also for the guys against modding, modding/hacking is normal for anything. We put superchargers in our cars, upgrade sound systems, lift weights and eat more protein. It's human nature to push the limits.. and then some

amen

szakeetm · Jan 15, 2021

Dave Maine said:
Adding a battery won’t necessarily increase the flight time. The drone’s motors spend most of their energy lifting the drone and it’t battery. If you double the weight of the batteries being carried, you will only get a slight increase in flight time, as the doubled battery weight takes almost double the energy.

DJI, as part of the drone design, have optimized the battery-aircraft combination to maximize flight time performance. Amateur tinkering is unlikely to beat their engineering unless you can invent a better battery with a better power to weight ratio.

MA2 weighs 570g, doubling the battery would increase it to 760g. That's +33% weight (and energy to lift), far from "almost double" as you wrote it.
More specifically, the MA2 draws around 10 amps hovering with double battery and 7 amps with stock, more or less matching the calculation above.

You don't need to mistify DJI engineers: simply, they needed to make a popular drone that performs in many conditions even for amateur-ish pilots, and provide warranty and to some extent liability to their products. Doubling the battery admittedly reduces maneuverability, top speed and wind resistance, and maybe makes the drone sightly less stable due to the higher center of mass. For many hobbyists, this is acceptable in exchange for 40-45 minute (or 20km+) flights.

VTOLAIR2 · Nov 29, 2022

ilovebeermoney said:
I'm looking at this Startrc power out connector for the mavic air 2 and am wondering if this will actually work...

Amazon.com: Mavic Air 2 Battery Power Out-Connector Expansion Accessories with LED Light with XT60 Plug Kit for Mavic 2/Mavic Air 2 Drone: Camera & Photo

Buy Mavic Air 2 Battery Power Out-Connector Expansion Accessories with LED Light with XT60 Plug Kit for Mavic 2/Mavic Air 2 Drone: Quadcopters & Multirotors - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

They're on ebay for even less. Problem is I can't find any reviews.

What if I buy that and then grab a battery like this one:

Powerhobby 3S 11.1V 2200mAh 75C Lipo Battery Pack w Deans Plug 3-Cell | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Powerhobby 3S 11.1V 2200mAh 75C Lipo Battery Pack w Deans Plug 3-Cell at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Anyone tried this yet? The voltage is the same and it's about 60% of the capacity of our normal mavic air 2 battery...so I'm thinking if this works we'd get around 45 minutes of flight time...or maybe even better, we get our 34 minutes of flight time, then land with around 30-35% battery left in the DJI battery, extending its lifetime.

The weight of the battery is 350 grams and people are saying online this baby can carry way more than that.

Yell at me if this is a bad idea.

Don't do it