Mavic Pro Battery Mod

[SkyNinja]

ok i finally did this... in my garage between cars with dji prop guards (they arrived today).
it was far from lab conditions, but here are the details...

this is on a mavic pro platinum with dji low noise propellers. i use a uavmods battery adapter, but instead of the mavic pro one with the 2 t60 connectors, i'm using one i had for my mavic air with a single t60 connector because it is lighter and the pins leading out to the battery are longer which lets me place the battery pack further forward and well clear of the gps/compass. i hacked the pins up a little to fit and threw some heat shrink on the exposed pins. it works great and the proteks are always end up .01-.03v/cell higher than the dji battery.
protek is strapped on with an Apex RC "20mm x 400mm HD Rubberized Non-Slip Battery Strap"

the proteks were both charged to 4.31v/cell and had several break-in cycles to 50% as well as one flight down to under 20% on both.
without the additional battery, rpm was right around 5350rpm and with either 3600 or 4100, rpm was about 6060rpm.
i let it hover at about 3-5ft over the same spot and just let it go until it initiated RTH autoland.

i'm not sure why on the last test it waited until 10% to land. on that flight i was noticing that the displayed battery % was lower at a given voltage/cell than the previous one (10% 3.63v vs 10% 3.51v) so maybe the percentage isn't a proper indicator here.
i did the 4100mah test twice as the first time i started at 98% 4.26v and i knew i was leaving too much there.
i also noticed that there was an optimal height that seemed to cause a 5%-10% deviation in power consumed to hover. i confirmed this by switching to sport mode to get the power meter to show up. i tried to keep the drone in the same spot, but the first 4100mah test kept drifting

it went like this...

• DJI battery alone (for the testing baseline) 100% 4.32v (lowest cell) auto landed at 16% 3.59v used average 40% power to hover for 19 minutes 51 seconds
• 3600mah protek with DJI battery starting at 100% 4.33v (lowest cell) auto landed at 16% 3.66v used average 53% power to hover for 27 minutes 39 seconds
• 4100mah protek with DJI battery starting at 98% 4.26v (lowest cell) auto landed at 16% 3.69v used average 55% power to hover for 29 minutes 28 seconds (i felt like it was leaving a minute on the table with that low starting voltage, so i tried it again)
• 4100mah protek with DJI battery starting at 100% 4.32v (lowest cell) auto landed at 10% 3.63v used average 53% power to hover for 30 minutes 30 seconds
  

Thank you for doing the testing. I am definitely going to have to pick up a couple[emoji106]

 

[Vako]

Hi ! With 2 lipo batteries 1600mah, i test it 29.30 min , landed at 3% ,not hover ,18300m

 

[SkyNinja]

Hi ! With 2 lipo batteries 1600mah, i test it 29.30 min , landed at 3% ,not hover ,18300m

Which 1600 batteries were you testing?

 

[Vako]

Which 1600 batteries were you testing?

Overlander

 

[BobDoLe]

Overlander

1600mAh 3S 11.1v 35C LiPo Battery - Overlander Supersport Pro
11.1v 127g per 1600

 

[SkyNinja]

1600mAh 3S 11.1v 35C LiPo Battery - Overlander Supersport Pro
11.1v 127g per 1600

Yes, I looked it up. It will be much better to fly with a single protek 3600 or 4100. The weight would be less and the mAh would be greater.

 

[Vako]

Mavic 1 pro ,dual batteries, 2nd bat overlander 1600 mah 120gr. 8km total 16km,

battery remaining 12%

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[Titansfan2104]

I'm sure it's in here some where and I have read through 50+ pages trying to find something. I bought 2 of the protec 4100mah 3s batteries. Can someone tell me what Voltage the cells need to be charged to (I think I've read 4.2 somewhere but ...i'm not sure) ? And will I be safe to run both of those batteries simultaneously on a mavic pro with platinum low noise propellers? Weve just had this since christmas and ive alreasy added the titan switch to my RC a d now I need a little extra juice. Thanks in advance

 

[BobDoLe]

I'm sure it's in here some where and I have read through 50+ pages trying to find something. I bought 2 of the protec 4100mah 3s batteries. Can someone tell me what Voltage the cells need to be charged to (I think I've read 4.2 somewhere but ...i'm not sure) ? And will I be safe to run both of those batteries simultaneously on a mavic pro with platinum low noise propellers? Weve just had this since christmas and ive alreasy added the titan switch to my RC a d now I need a little extra juice. Thanks in advance

4.2 should be OK
you have to make sure its charged less than the dji battery. using an aftermarket multicharger my dji batteries charge to 4.33-4.35/cell typically and so i'll charge my additional battery to 12.93v 4.31/cell.

 

[SkyNinja]

I'm sure it's in here some where and I have read through 50+ pages trying to find something. I bought 2 of the protec 4100mah 3s batteries. Can someone tell me what Voltage the cells need to be charged to (I think I've read 4.2 somewhere but ...i'm not sure) ? And will I be safe to run both of those batteries simultaneously on a mavic pro with platinum low noise propellers? Weve just had this since christmas and ive alreasy added the titan switch to my RC a d now I need a little extra juice. Thanks in advance

The Protek 4100 battery is a 3S LiHV (High Voltage Lithium Polymer). It’s a similar to LiPo battery but allows you charge it up to 4.35V per cell safely. It can be charged with a regular LiPo battery charger but will only charge 3.20V. But to get the full advantage of the power you want a charger that charges LiHV Batteries and set it to 3S.

 

[Titansfan2104]

4.2 should be OK
you have to make sure its charged less than the dji battery. using an aftermarket multicharger my dji batteries charge to 4.33-4.35/cell typically and so i'll charge my additional battery to 4.32/cell.

Is an aftermarket charger the only way to check the dji factory batteries voltage?

 

[Titansfan2104]

The Protek 4100 battery is a 3S LiHV (High Voltage Lithium Polymer). It’s a similar to LiPo battery but allows you charge it up to 4.35V per cell safely. It can be charged with a regular LiPo battery charger but will only charge 3.20V. But to get the full advantage of the power you want a charger that charges LiHV Batteries and set it to 3S.

I have an IMAX b6 charger which I charged them to 4.2 v per cell but I wasnt sure what the voltage needed to be in conjunction with the dji factory battery. I guess now i'm wondering if someone can tell me the pin out on the batteries and I could check each cell of the dji battery with my fluke

 

[BobDoLe]

I have an IMAX b6 charger which I charged them to 4.2 v per cell but I wasnt sure what the voltage needed to be in conjunction with the dji factory battery. I guess now i'm wondering if someone can tell me the pin out on the batteries and I could check each cell of the dji battery with my fluke

i just look at the battery voltage screen on the app as soon as it connects, but before the motors spin up. i was charging to 4.25/cell at first, but then noticed it was always over 4.33.

 

[BobDoLe]

my first protek 4100mah LIHV battery has puffed during charging. i noticed during charging that a cell was lagging behind the rest. not sure why this happened.
i'm now logging IR on all of my proteks.

 

[Vako]

I have a question. When i finish my flight ,the extra battery is on 3,7v per cell ,never less. i dont take all the power from second battery. Its normal?

 

[Aumoe]

I have a question. When i finish my flight ,the extra battery is on 3,7v per cell ,never less. i dont take all the power from second battery. Its normal?

If you're using a battery clip it is

 

[BobDoLe]

couldn't sleep last night and so of course i started hacking up and soldering into my mavic pro platinum (that has dji care).
i cut into the top shell because i didn't want to cut into the bottom. top shells are $10 on ebay and i was able to cleanly remove the serial sticker for ...future use.
liquid electrical tape and a silicone o-ring where the xt60 connector comes out... and a silicone hat for when the extra battery isn't needed.

internally it is wired up like Digdat0's youtube dual battery video, but has no cuts to the lower shell. the wires are shorter as they don't go further out to the side and down.

i'm pleased with it so i submit it here for anyone else looking for wire placement options.

 

[lolo780]

This is still my favorite way to battery mod the M1s. Anything on the top shell hurts flight efficiency and the outward turning front props push a lot of air across the upper surface.

 

[BobDoLe]

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This is still my favorite way to battery mod the M1s. Anything on the top shell hurts flight efficiency and the outward turning front props push a lot of air across the upper surface.

does a top mounted battery hurt flight efficiency also?
i want to run one battery only and i don't want to lose sensors during flight. what do you recommend?

 

[lolo780]

does a top mounted battery hurt flight efficiency also?
i want to run one battery only and i don't want to lose sensors during flight. what do you recommend?

The ideal top mount battery position is roughly flush with the back of the AC so your GPS count may go down. I've flown with single side mount packs before and it works fine.

For top mounting, try to minimize the brick shape of the pack. Foam & tape works well.