Mavic Pro Battery Mod

[MacIak]

Interested in that setup and the results of your test if possible...
Thanks in advance...

Also tried the double 2200mah lipo packs, turnigy.
Added weight 60g and same flight time as the 1800 ones. The 2200 packs were way cheaper..
Edit: Distance covered is just over 57.000' in 2 straight legs, 10-15 kt wind, no sportmode, fw sensors off.
Next in line is 5200mah lihv single battery. Same weight as the double 2200 but more capacity. Also battery length is ideal for top mount. Curious..

 

[MacIak]

Received the 5200mAh LiHv today but could not fly, the #### charger did not arrive. Using a scale the actual weight is a 20g more than indicated: 380g. This is pretty good still.

As much as I hate to provide incorrect info I have to correct my previous findings regarding the LiPo packs.
I have not ordered from hobbyking for a long time until I started this battery mod thing. Im darn sure they keep changing the specs (yesterday the weight of the above pack was 359g, today it says 318g?!?!)
Since I have used Turnigy for many years for different purposes I normally could rely on the specs and did take them for a fact but they failed me this time.
It's about the pack weight. Using a scale I came to the "schocking" conclusion, see below.

1800mAh pack>> specs: 175g, actual: 160g x2= 320g
2200mAh pack>> specs: 188g, actual: 220g x2= 440g !!!!!
(Added weight Y-plug+ battery mount= 30g)
5200mAh LiHV>>specs: 318g, actual 380g!!

So actually I have been dragging an extra 120g with an added capacity of 800mAh! Seems only logical that flight endurance was the same.
In my opinion if a " light" LiPo pack is to be used, the 1800 packs is the way to go.

 

[sprtbkrydr]

How about the Zippy packs they are light weight.

 

[digdat0]

Received the 5200mAh LiHv today but could not fly, the #### charger did not arrive. Using a scale the actual weight is a 20g more than indicated: 380g. This is pretty good still.

As much as I hate to provide incorrect info I have to correct my previous findings regarding the LiPo packs.
I have not ordered from hobbyking for a long time until I started this battery mod thing. Im darn sure they keep changing the specs (yesterday the weight of the above pack was 359g, today it says 318g?!?!)
Since I have used Turnigy for many years for different purposes I normally could rely on the specs and did take them for a fact but they failed me this time.
It's about the pack weight. Using a scale I came to the "schocking" conclusion, see below.

1800mAh pack>> specs: 175g, actual: 160g x2= 320g
2200mAh pack>> specs: 188g, actual: 220g x2= 440g !!!!!
(Added weight Y-plug+ battery mount= 30g)
5200mAh LiHV>>specs: 318g, actual 380g!!

So actually I have been dragging an extra 120g with an added capacity of 800mAh! Seems only logical that flight endurance was the same.
In my opinion if a " light" LiPo pack is to be used, the 1800 packs is the way to go.

HobbyKing shows two weights .. one is shipping weight and one is pack weight. Are you always looking at the same? When i compile my battery list, i always use "pack weight". Now, that said, i have 2 of the 3000mah LiHV 3s MS batteries and the pack weight shows 188g, but when i just weighed it, it was 194g. Interesting to know that some may have huge discrepancies. I'm gonna have to weigh my 4s batteries and see how close they are now, I never did before and always trusted it. Good info thanks Maclak!

 

[MacIak]

HobbyKing shows two weights .. one is shipping weight and one is pack weight. Are you always looking at the same? When i compile my battery list, i always use "pack weight". Now, that said, i have 2 of the 3000mah LiHV 3s MS batteries and the pack weight shows 188g, but when i just weighed it, it was 194g. Interesting to know that some may have huge discrepancies. I'm gonna have to weigh my 4s batteries and see how close they are now, I never did before and always trusted it. Good info thanks Maclak!

Yea, im absolutely sure I always use "pack Weight" . I still have to check if these discrepancies occur due to the mixed use of desktop/android/ios platform but the difference can be significant.

 

[MacIak]

How about the Zippy packs they are light weight.

When I was looking for a light mod I also took pack size into consideration. Turnigys seemed optimal. Zippy's are fine batteries too.

 

[sprtbkrydr]

When I was looking for a light mod I also took pack size into consideration. Turnigys seemed optimal. Zippy's are fine batteries too.

Are you running two batteries or one?

 

[MacIak]

Are you running two batteries or one?

2 so far. See posts above.

 

[GatorWing]

I would like to see a schematic of the battery pack pin-outs. My only concern would be the balancing of the cells.

 

[CyberNate]

I would like to see a schematic of the battery pack pin-outs. My only concern would be the balancing of the cells.

Batteries are connected in parallel. There's no schematic needed.

 

[GatorWing]

Thank You

 

[sprtbkrydr]

It only shows stats for the stock battery.

 

[MacIak]

The 5200mAh LiHv: 22.000m in 2 legs, moderate wind, p-mode. Flighttime 28 mins.
The endurance is somewhat disappointing but with a weight in between the double 1800 and 2200 LiPo and longer flighttime i will get more of these.
Recap:
2x1800 lipo>>320g>>25min
2x2200 lipo>>440g>>25min
1x5200 lihv>>380g>>28min
Note: main batteries used are getting old. Newer batteries will perform better.

 

[CyberNate]

The 5200mAh LiHv: 22.000m in 2 legs, moderate wind, p-mode. Flighttime 28 mins.
The endurance is somewhat disappointing but with a weight in between the double 1800 and 2200 LiPo and longer flighttime i will get more of these.
Recap:
2x1800 lipo>>320g>>25min
2x2200 lipo>>440g>>25min
1x5200 lihv>>380g>>28min
Note: main batteries used are getting old. Newer batteries will perform better.

You won't see great flight times in the wind with external batteries unless you are modulating the throttle to avoid high rpms into the wind. If you simply push full right stick into the wind, the motors will get pushed to an RPM which is not optimal. With 5200mah, you should see 31-32 minutes. With dual 3000s you'll see around 34-36min. With dual 4000s, around 36-39min (39min is running all the way down to 3% and optimal conditions).

Edit: I might be a little off on 5200 battery as you have LiHV. I was running lipo. LiHV should be better than Lipo. There is simply more power available and less internal resistance. Perhaps you'll see more like 32-33 minutes.

 

[CyberNate]

For those of you running direct battery mod, meaning that you have xt60 leads directly connected to Mavic main battery leads, are you guys see any compass issues? I've noticed some compass errors along with "Compass Redundancy switch set" or something like that. I'm thinking that this may be due to the internal wires I've added. Perhaps I should have twisted those wires to reduce magnetic field affect on Mavic compass. I remember @Unknown Caller mentioned that he has some compass issues after he did the mod, but we weren't sure what caused that. @digdat0, you see any compass errors after the mod?

 

[sprtbkrydr]

Talk to Paul Shaffer at FPVCustoms.com he can answer anything you need to know about battery mods with the Mavic. He's a good guy and don't mind helping you out if he can.

 

[MacIak]

You won't see great flight times in the wind with external batteries unless you are modulating the throttle to avoid high rpms into the wind. If you simply push full right stick into the wind, the motors will get pushed to an RPM which is not optimal. With 5200mah, you should see 31-32 minutes. With dual 3000s you'll see around 34-36min. With dual 4000s, around 36-39min (39min is running all the way down to 3% and optimal conditions).

Edit: I might be a little off on 5200 battery as you have LiHV. I was running lipo. LiHV should be better than Lipo. There is simply more power available and less internal resistance. Perhaps you'll see more like 32-33 minutes.

Very true. Im sure I can get much better flighttimes/distances out of the 5200 packs but over here a new can of wind is opened before the previous one's gone. Especially riding moderate crosswind is tricky. Better days will come and I will stick to LiHv packs for now.
The flighttimes indeed are slightly pessimistic. I was only able to takeoff at 96%. Better give pessimistic result, can only get better when others try

 

[digdat0]

For those of you running direct battery mod, meaning that you have xt60 leads directly connected to Mavic main battery leads, are you guys see any compass issues? I've noticed some compass errors along with "Compass Redundancy switch set" or something like that. I'm thinking that this may be due to the internal wires I've added. Perhaps I should have twisted those wires to reduce magnetic field affect on Mavic compass. I remember @Unknown Caller mentioned that he has some compass issues after he did the mod, but we weren't sure what caused that. @digdat0, you see any compass errors after the mod?

nope, no compass errors, not even once. Thats odd .. and I would have definitely noticed a compass error! How far up did you put them through the body? Same spot as mine or futher forward?

 

[CyberNate]

nope, no compass errors, not even once. Thats odd .. and I would have definitely noticed a compass error! How far up did you put them through the body? Same spot as mine or futher forward?

Same spot as you. It flies fine for the most part except yesterday where the motors turned off immediately after lift off because of compass error. No damage as it was like a couple feet off the ground only. Downloaded dat file and saw compass errors and compass redundancy switch. I see compass errors briefly during flight that say to move the aircraft.

Maybe I did get some damage from those hard landings.

 

[GatorWing]

From what I can find in the owners manual it looks like the Smart Battery is a LiPo 3S meaning it is 3 cells wired in series. It has a nominal voltage of 11.4 volts or 3.8 volts per cell. Most LiPo sites recommend not wiring them in parallel. I believe the other pins on the battery not supplying the nominal voltage are connected to each cell to send info to the Mavic's mother board. It can then be transmitted back to the battery info on the Smart Phone or tablet so the battery condition including the balance of each cell can be viewed on the app during operation.
I really don't care since I purchased 9 Smart Batteries and 3 chargers that charge 3 batteries each simultaneously.
After running them down in a day it is time to go play on my GoldWing motorcycle .