Mavic Pro Battery Mod

Aerial Gopher · Apr 11, 2017

Ahh, how precious flight time can be...

I get why people want to do this, but I have to ask a question... Why has no one used higher capacity cells with the existing charge controller in the OEM battery? I mean, 3d print a mavic battery case with very large cells that protrude above the top of the mavic, to whatever size you want. Allow the circuitry to charge the cells, and report proper voltage back. I guess this would be because no one wanted to tear apart a new working drone battery to get the electronics?

I did this with a netbook battery. and it worked. The reported percent of battery takes a few full cycles to start reporting properly in windows. The mAh that was reported to be used was accurate, but some other values were not.. Like mAh By Design and mAh charged.. see the link for what it shows.

How to generate a Battery Report in Windows 10 | Windows Central

Aerial Gopher · Apr 11, 2017

How many do you think she will lift?
1?
2?
3?
4?
950 Grams Each. 45000mAh each ( At 3.6Volt but has output at 12, 16 and 19 volts)

I could remove the aluminum cases and save some weight.

I think I will stick to just using these Battery Banks to charge the Mavic Battery

Easier and safer.

MacIak · Apr 11, 2017

Natedoggz said:
Cool, me and another buddy of mine (who also has a mavic and a few rc cars) are looking for a nice 3d printer but so many out there and materials being used and size temps, any suggestions?

I was looking for a printer myself, made my head spin! I think decent quality printer start from $3000 up..
@cruzroy, great job man! Keep em coming.

cruzroy · Apr 11, 2017

mine was only 400. but yes high end prints aare about 3000 plus....shapeways is about 15000

cruzroy · Apr 11, 2017

someone needs to figure a mod for controller.......they say 3 -4 good flight before charge.......that stinks unless get good car charger for all

FireFlyer451 · Apr 11, 2017

Cruzroy, have you posted your battery holder STLs somewhere? I'd like to try printing them, if thats ok. Thanks

cruzroy · Apr 11, 2017

yeah there is a zip file somewhere....i will hunt it down

anyone know how to find my zip file on site......most forums have an area where all your stuff is stored

FireFlyer451 · Apr 11, 2017

Aha! I was looking on thingaverse. Did a search here and found it, thank you.

cruzroy · Apr 11, 2017

FireFlyer451 said:
Cruzroy, have you posted your battery holder STLs somewhere? I'd like to try printing them, if thats ok. Thanks

dmyers7 · Apr 11, 2017

So a quick thought for this team to investigate: Without upgrading the props, motors, and ESCs the power system is only capable of delivering a certain amount of thrust (lifting capacity). Approach that number by adding a bunch of weight to the quad (drone) and it starts to have extremely poor flight performance in everything but hover (thrust vectors and all that good stuff). Exceed it and it doesn't depart the earth. What does this mean? You can draw a bell curve of efficiency where as you add more weight in the form of energy storage you will reach the top of the bell curve of maximum efficiency (longest flight) to weight being carried and then in theory everything else is downhill with no additional benefit because your using extra energy (higher rpm) just to lift the extra weight. The op has found that DJI did not hit the top of the bell curve as he got a longer flight. But per his flight report he is also close to the handling limits (thrust capacity). I dare say if you go lighter and find batteries with the lightest power to weight rating you may get an even longer flight with better handling. The answer is not even larger capacity batteries at this time.

cruzroy · Apr 12, 2017

ok guys do you know that 1 lipo is lighter than the dual...................... so i had an idea, why not
parallel the mavic lipos..?????? like i said a idea..........we could get a cheap $12 car charger for a END doner, and solder it to the brass connectors instead of XT-60...

dmyers7 · Apr 12, 2017

cruzroy said:
ok guys do you know that 1 lipo is lighter than the dual...................... so i had an idea, why not
parallel the mavic lipos..?????? like i said a idea..........we could get a cheap $12 car charger for a END doner, and solder it to the brass connectors instead of XT-60...

So you could and that would be convenient, but your carrying all that extra weight for the case and circuits which reduces your power to weight. Also keep in mind that two separate lipos of say 1100mA capacity are heavier than one lipo at 2200mA capacity. So a single 3s HV battery mounted on top in a nicely printed 3d bracket should give the best endurance / distance run.

Natedoggz · Apr 12, 2017

I like the ideas, I'm playing with Sony 3.7 lipos 3000mah laptop batteries, I saw a post on here of a guy with 3 or 6 of them wired up! I'll try and find the video

Natedoggz · Apr 12, 2017

dmyers7 · Apr 13, 2017

Natedoggz said:
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Just for reference, those are Li-ion, different chemistry so different starting voltage and the discharge rates may not be high enough so be careful. The HV lipos we are talking about are from the RC Quad and Fixed wing plane area of the hobby.

cruzroy · Apr 13, 2017

Natedoggz said:
Really that's what your talking about! I know, called testing

got you favorite color........but i forgot your lipo dimensions, could you repeat please.......ill check prototype i think i have to remove strap marks.......i cracked one holding to tite.......res abs strong but brittle when make small lines

Kestrel · Apr 13, 2017

cruzroy said:
someone needs to figure a mod for controller.......they say 3 -4 good flight before charge.......that stinks unless get good car charger for all

Portable power bank, for cellphones.

Natedoggz · Apr 13, 2017

cruzroy said:
got you favorite color........but i forgot your lipo dimensions, could you repeat please.......ill check prototype i think i have to remove strap marks.......i cracked one holding to tite.......res abs strong but brittle when make small linesView attachment 10560 View attachment 10561

That looks good I doubt like that as well! A question, how are you designing these, do you have a laser scanner or a engineer, you are good and I don't want to spend $3000 on a printer and not no how to work it, lol?!