Mavic Pro Factory Battery Controller Mod

[beanbubba]

IF YOU ARE A NEWBIE AND LOVE TO MODIFY AND PUSH THE LIMITS, TAKE A COUPLE HOURS AND READ THESE THREADS START TO FINISH. IT WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON AND SAVE EVERYONE A TON OF REPETITIVE QUESTIONS.

Mavic Pro Battery Mod
Mavic pro battery & antenna mod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Official Mavic Range Leaderboard
Aircraft Antenna Mod
Mavic Pro Factory Battery Controller Mod
Mavic Weight Reduction Methods
Mavic Radio Mods Primer

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Hey experts. I started a new battery thread because the old one was too long and this is actually a new topic of modifying the factory battery (actually removing the battery cells and keeping the battery controller).

I am new to battery modification, but I think I might be on to something here. Please let me know if this might have some value.

BTW - there is no need to permanently detach the battery cap as depicted below. I was in exploratory surgery and didn't know what I was doing at the time.

 

[beanbubba]

Here is the mavic factory battery cells removed from its case:

 

[chazz]

I'm no expert but I think it awesome you're doing this...I did something similar to the phantom 3 but i had to run the power leads through the control board or it would come up unofficial battery or something like that...Keep me posted please...

 

[beanbubba]

There is a sensor that falls out when you remove the battery. I confirmed this is a temperature probe. I tucked it back and taped it down for this mod. You could cut the wires and extend it anywhere you like I suppose...

 

[beanbubba]

The evacuated battery pack housing could fit a couple radio amp's. They are probably too close to the main motherboard and cause near field interference, but is a cool thought experiment for discussion.

 

[chazz]

Yeah i taped it inside the front plate and it only gave me an issue once when it was pretty cold out...

 

[chazz]

The other issue i had was the mah would count down as normal from 4480 (p3 batt MAH) even though i was runnin a 5200 mah battery so the batt would end up with MAH left in the tank while the bird thought it was at 0%...if that makes sense...

 

[beanbubba]

The other issue i had was the mah would count down as normal from 4480 (p3 batt MAH) even though i was runnin a 5200 mah battery so the batt would end up with MAH left in the tank while the bird thought it was at 0%...if that makes sense...

That makes perfect sense, hence my post here for feedback because I am in uncharted waters of my knowledge on this topic.

 

[beanbubba]

The other issue i had was the mah would count down as normal from 4480 (p3 batt MAH) even though i was runnin a 5200 mah battery so the batt would end up with MAH left in the tank while the bird thought it was at 0%...if that makes sense...

Chazz, are you a new mavic owner? Seems that there are a wave of phantom pilots making the switch and I see many posts that prior phantom owners haven't flown their birds since getting a mavic. Just curious of your position...

 

[chazz]

Chazz, are you a new mavic owner? Seems that there are a wave of phantom pilots making the switch and I see many posts that prior phantom owners haven't flown their birds since getting a mavic. Just curious of your position...

Yeah just got it this weekend and haven't had time to fly it. i ordered some 5200's and waiting for them to come in to mod it...

 

[chazz]

But yeah ill be flyin the phantom again...im flyin it until i either break the distance record or lose it tryin

 

[chazz]

If you have the mah problem post about it we may be able to work it out...The benefit i see on what your doin is you'll be able to charge the battery to 4.35V per cell if you get it working...I see the mavs battery only charges to 4.32. .03V per cell is a lot to gain when your trying for distance...

 

[beanbubba]

Yeah just got it this weekend and haven't had time to fly it. i ordered some 5200's and waiting for them to come in to mod it...

If you are into breaking records, LiHv's are the only ones for the mavic.

If you have the mah problem post about it we may be able to work it out...The benefit i see on what your doin is you'll be able to charge the battery to 4.35V per cell if you get it working...I see the mavs battery only charges to 4.32. .03V per cell is a lot to gain when your trying for distance...

So help me out here... if I can externally charge the batteries to what ever level I like, what is ideal if the battery controller is expecting a specific value??

 

[chazz]

Heres what I did to the phantom battery...Power leads going into the board and jumpers (14awg) around the chips to the leads goin to the phantom...most of the current goes through the jumpers and some goes through the board (enough to make the phantom happy) ...your percentage on the go app will be messed up and you have to get used to judging your batt percentage by looking at the voltage display on the app...I think 3.5V is 0% on the mav No?

 

[beanbubba]

I was able to determine that the mavic battery controller does not need connection to the main +/- power feed. It only needs connection to the 4 wire 3S connection + the multipin connector to the body frame (it has a data channel to the bird to feed battery info).

 

[beanbubba]

Here is the battery controller shell + adapter total weight:

 

[Tazjet]

Is the spark controller the same part number as the mavic?

 

[tibook]

Is the spark controller the same part number as the mavic?

It doesn't have the LCD screen so it shouldn't be

 

[beanbubba]

Heres what I did to the phantom battery...Power leads going into the board and jumpers (14awg) around the chips to the leads goin to the phantom...most of the current goes through the jumpers and some goes through the board (enough to make the phantom happy) ...your percentage on the go app will be messed up and you have to get used to judging your batt percentage by looking at the voltage display on the app...I think 3.5V is 0% on the mav No?

Hey Chazz, I was continuing testing and wiring the +/- direct to the battery controller. During testing the battery freaked out and gave an error on the Go4 app. I have not be able to get the error to clear (solid green LED on the middle 2 lights) and there must be a factory reset procedure for the battery controller. Any suggestions?

 

[chazz]

Yeah did you test it the way you originally had it with just the balance lead plugged in and the power leads to the clip? If that worked i think that would be better...

I had the same thing with the phantom battery before i did the jumper thing and even then it was a little glitchy. Working with this thing requires a lot of patience..The way i finally got it to work was i would hold in the power button while plugging in the balance lead without the power lead plugged in to the battery and if it didn't work the first time i would keep pushing the power button in and out like your turning the battery on at the same time plugging in the balance lead. somethings it would take 15 times doing this.. It's really important to plug in the balance lead before the power lead. Also if you get it to work i personally wouldn't run 3 power leads off of it and only do one and run the other two externals the normal way but of course it always good to test different ways.. Do me a favor and if you get pissed off at this thing to the point you feel like smashing it off the ground please don't because id take it off your hands..