Mavic Pro Battery Mod

Jamie lisburn · Feb 9, 2019

Jamie lisburn said:
View attachment 62370 View attachment 62371 View attachment 62372 View attachment 62373 View attachment 62374 View attachment 62375 View attachment 62376 View attachment 62377 View attachment 62378 View attachment 62379Started off with battery clip , then decided to hardwire to main board , far better results.
Then ended up flush mounting xt60 plugs so as it’s a nicer finish , also looks better when flying without external batteries

SkyNinja · Feb 9, 2019

Jamie lisburn said:
View attachment 62370 View attachment 62371 View attachment 62372 View attachment 62373 View attachment 62374 View attachment 62375 View attachment 62376 View attachment 62377 View attachment 62378 View attachment 62379

Nice work Jamie, what batteries are you flying with?

Jamie lisburn · Feb 10, 2019

SkyNinja said:
Nice work Jamie, what batteries are you flying with?

1800mah, only been out on one long range test and got out 28084ft before Rtu with 54% battery , got back to take off point with 23% left , so pretty sure 30.000 is possible with these batteries , 60.000 total

Jamie lisburn · Feb 10, 2019

Jamie lisburn said:
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Stopped above landing point before deciding to fly on to see what total flight distance and time I could get , hovering above landing point used slot of battery , so 60k is a definite possibility

Was flying into a headwind of 10mph

BobDoLe · Feb 10, 2019

Thunder Power TP4500-3SHV 4500mAh 3-Cell/3S 11.4V High Voltage Series LiPo

just adding more data to the thread on battery experiences..
i tried the thunder power 4500mah strapped to the top of my mavic pro platinum and i was disappointed all around as compared to the proteks.

TP battery was broken in with 6 gentle 1c charge and .5c discharge cycles and watched the internal resistance/cell drop a good amount with each charge. this was just one flight in 13mph winds. TP battery was charged to 4.33v/cell, but motors weren't fired up until 4.29v as it took a while to get a GPS lock.
i must stress that this is a fine battery in general, but i found it to be way outclassed by the proteks for our specific application.

first... top mounted, the shape makes it big sail in the wind. this is especially true if flying sideways against the wind (12mph vs 35mph).
second... low flight time. 23 minute flight landing at 14%. none of this was in sport mode, but 13mph wind may have affected this a lot.
third... the worst offender.. internal resistance is garbage compared to the proteks. mavic battery was at 3.7v/cell whereas the thunder power battery was at 3.84v/cell. this is with short leads soldered into the mavic. my proteks now would have been 3.65-3.7/cell in this scenario.

maybe i got a bad battery?

dirtybum · Feb 10, 2019

There's a couple here the like the TP's. I think they're way too expensive for what they offer. The IR is the problem. I literally gave mine away[emoji41]

lolo780 · Feb 11, 2019

dirtybum said:
There's a couple here the like the TP's. I think they're way too expensive for what they offer. The IR is the problem. I literally gave mine away[emoji41]

Those are the only batteries I've used so I've never compared to anything else. I was hitting 59k ft with the M1 and landing at over 20% so never tried any others.

I have been thinking to revisit the M1 and try FC patching to fix the barometer limitation.

BobDoLe · Feb 11, 2019

lolo780 said:
Those are the only batteries I've used so I've never compared to anything else. I was hitting 59k ft with the M1 and landing at over 20% so never tried any others.

I have been thinking to revisit the M1 and try FC patching to fix the barometer limitation.

with that said... i have a feeling if you switched to the proteks you'd end up needing a battery mod for your controller.

lolo780 · Feb 11, 2019

BobDoLe said:
with that said... i have a feeling if you switched to the proteks you'd end up needing a battery mod for your controller.

I picked up a set of M2 motors and want to build a 4s powered M1 using everything that has been learned so far. ESC heat sinks, larger motor wires, shielded GPS/compass, etc.

Vaughn · Feb 13, 2019

lolo780 said:
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.

I truly doubt that would matter unless you started getting over a 120mph

lolo780 · Feb 13, 2019

Vaughn said:
I truly doubt that would matter unless you started getting over a 120mph

It makes a big difference even at 30-35mph. The front props push air over the top since they spin inwards and the rear props grab some of that air.
Csviewer graphs watt seconds per meter and I've tried every combination. Bottom mount batteries are always the most efficient.

Vako · Feb 20, 2019

Two batteries 1600mah easily 30-32 min and 9000m/18000m long distance and many cigarettes on the return lol

lolo780 · Feb 20, 2019

Vako said:
Two batteries 1600mah easily 30-32 min and 9000m/18000m long distance and many cigarettes on the return lol

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Try speeding up to around 50km/h and I think you'll gain efficiency.

Vako · Feb 20, 2019

lolo780 said:
Try speeding up to around 50km/h and I think you'll gain efficiency.

I will try it . you may be right

lolo780 · Feb 20, 2019

Vako said:
I will try it . you may be right

Exphantomflyer · Feb 24, 2019

ok so where to start, 206 pages sheez ive read about 20 of those, im looking at one of these

Turnigy High Capacity 3000mAh 3S 12C Multi-Rotor LiHV Pack w/XT60

with the MaxUAV battery adaptor to start with (may open up and add fixed cabling at some point), seems that maxuav doesnt do the battery saddle on the Uk site, just waiting for an answer on that, I may buy 2 of the above batteries and see what i get.

I also need a battery charger for the above, im clueless, so sugggestions welcome and bear in mind im new at all this

SkyNinja · Feb 24, 2019

Exphantomflyer said:
ok so where to start, 206 pages sheez ive read about 20 of those, im looking at one of these

Turnigy High Capacity 3000mAh 3S 12C Multi-Rotor LiHV Pack w/XT60

with the MaxUAV battery adaptor to start with (may open up and add fixed cabling at some point), seems that maxuav doesnt do the battery saddle on the Uk site, just waiting for an answer on that, I may buy 2 of the above batteries and see what i get.

I also need a battery charger for the above, im clueless, so sugggestions welcome and bear in mind im new at all this

Here is a list of the most common batteries used. This does not mean they are the best batteries. There are tons of batteries out there you can use, just try to get a battery that has the most power(mah) to weight ratio. My preferred battery for the MP are the Proteks.

Turnigy Nano-Tech Lipo 1300mah = 119g / x2 = 2600mah = 238g
Turnigy Nano-Tech Lipo 1800mah = 161g / x2 = 3600mah = 322g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 1400mah = 115g / x 2 = 2800mah = 230g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 1600mah = 150g / x2 = 3200mah = 300g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 2200mah = 195g / x2 = 4400mah = 400g
Turnigy Multistar Lihv 3000mah = 188g / x2 = 6000mah = 376g
Turnigy Multistar Lihv 4000mah = 265g / x2 = 8000mah = 530g
ProTek RC 100c LiHV 3600mah = 221g / x2 = 7200mah = 442g
ProTek RC 100c LiHV 4100mah = 223g / x2 = 7200mah = 446g
Thunder Power LiHV 4500mah = 245g / x2 = 9000mah = 490g
ANTIX by LRP LiHV 4600mah = 281g / x2 = 9200mah = 562g
HobbyStar 3S LiHV 8000mAh = 435g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 4000mah = 320g
Turnigy Multistar Lihv 5200mah = 318g
Thunder Power LiHV 4500mah = 245g
Thunder Power LiHV 9000mah = 506g’’]

You can use any battery charger that is capable of charging 3S LiHV batteries.

BobDoLe · Feb 24, 2019

Exphantomflyer said:
ok so where to start, 206 pages sheez ive read about 20 of those, im looking at one of these

Turnigy High Capacity 3000mAh 3S 12C Multi-Rotor LiHV Pack w/XT60

with the MaxUAV battery adaptor to start with (may open up and add fixed cabling at some point), seems that maxuav doesnt do the battery saddle on the Uk site, just waiting for an answer on that, I may buy 2 of the above batteries and see what i get.

I also need a battery charger for the above, im clueless, so sugggestions welcome and bear in mind im new at all this

that battery is too heavy compared to other options.
i hate to say it, but you really should read all 206 pages. there are plot twists and insights.
for example... on page 134 skyninja starts using the Protek 3600 LiHV battery... and more recently Protek released a new battery - the 4100mah LiHV... both of these are 220-225 grams and the internal resistance is incredibly low.
ProTek RC 3S 120C Si-Graphene + HV Shorty LiPo Battery (11.4V/4100mAh) [PTK-5116-19] | Cars & Trucks
The Proteks seem to be within 10mv of the mavic battery even after a 32+ minute flight. I've tried other beloved batteries earlier in this massive thread, but I've found them to be garbage relative to the proteks. Either too heavy and/or too high internal resistance. Thunder Power's 4500 LIHV is relatively light, but after a 24 minute flight, it was holding more than 100mv charge than the mavic battery.
With the battery adapter, that resistance is even higher which would make that scenario worse.

battery charger- you need one that supports LIHV and IMO it should have a good display on it. it should also allow you to keep an eye on internal resistance. i like my ISDT Q6 Pro... but then you need a power supply. it can take 300w so i'm using an old dell/alienware laptop adapter thats 19.5v 12.3amps for 240 watts... which is useful if i want to parallel charge a few batteries at once. i had to solder on a xt60 lead onto that laptop adapter though.
there's other LIHV chargers that come with the **** wall plug (for people who aren't hardcore RC hobbyists), but i ended up sending mine back as it seemed to be cheaply made (cooling fan died after 2 weeks) and i couldn't trust it not to burn my house down.

Exphantomflyer · Feb 24, 2019

SkyNinja said:
Here is a list of the most common batteries used. This does not mean they are the best batteries. There are tons of batteries out there you can use, just try to get a battery that has the most power(mah) to weight ratio. My preferred battery for the MP are the Proteks.

Turnigy Nano-Tech Lipo 1300mah = 119g / x2 = 2600mah = 238g
Turnigy Nano-Tech Lipo 1800mah = 161g / x2 = 3600mah = 322g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 1400mah = 115g / x 2 = 2800mah = 230g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 1600mah = 150g / x2 = 3200mah = 300g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 2200mah = 195g / x2 = 4400mah = 400g
Turnigy Multistar Lihv 3000mah = 188g / x2 = 6000mah = 376g
Turnigy Multistar Lihv 4000mah = 265g / x2 = 8000mah = 530g
ProTek RC 100c LiHV 3600mah = 221g / x2 = 7200mah = 442g
ProTek RC 100c LiHV 4100mah = 223g / x2 = 7200mah = 446g
Thunder Power LiHV 4500mah = 245g / x2 = 9000mah = 490g
ANTIX by LRP LiHV 4600mah = 281g / x2 = 9200mah = 562g
HobbyStar 3S LiHV 8000mAh = 435g
Turnigy Multistar LIPO 4000mah = 320g
Turnigy Multistar Lihv 5200mah = 318g
Thunder Power LiHV 4500mah = 245g
Thunder Power LiHV 9000mah = 506g’’]

You can use any battery charger that is capable of charging 3S LiHV batteries.

Wow what a choice, I’ll take a look at your recommendation for battery but as for chargers again remember I’m a newbie so feel free to make a suggestion and if possible a link for U.K. buyer
Thanks