Mavic should be a 4s Quad.

[amstar]

A rapid ascent into the clouds among moderate to heavy gusts upto 40mph. Fun to see the Mavic zoom through the crosswind.
And then almost got caught in the vortex ring state.

Here's the YT link:

Below is some analysis of the drain on the battery with full on sport mode in the first minute (against a stiff wind though).

 

[amstar]

Usually for small motors maximum power is at 50% of stall torque (approximately 50% of no load speed). Maximum efficiency may be 10-30% of motor stall torque (70-90% of no load speed). But as it appears from above, at max load, we are approaching motor stall.
I think the Mavic needs a 4 cell battery. The voltage drop across the motors does not seem to be sufficiently addressed at max load for even a small length of time.

 

[JRSanta]

What app were you using on that flight? Never saw a screem like that before...

 

[amstar]

The constant warnings of current drain etc are true. It won't be long before we have a crash due to engine stall. if not already. So, I firmly believe, given the kV of the motors and what they are capable of (see the video), Mavic should be upgraded to a 4 cell battery. The same as the Phantom line was before. Sparks and the likes are the ones that run on a three cell.

 

[Jeff7577]

Hi, did you know this is an aerial camera platform and not a racing quad? You are quite dumb to both advertise yourself as an AMA member and also break its rules.

 

[amstar]

Jeff7577, you are missing the point BIGLY.

 

[BerndM]

Hi, did you know this is an aerial camera platform and not a racing quad? You are quite dumb to both advertise yourself as an AMA member and also break its rules.

I gotta say you sort of jumped the gun a bit here Jef7577.
If you'd notice on his video, even though he may be an AMA member, he was filming in NEW DELI, INDIA.
Unless I'm mistaken, the AMA guidelines don't apply to that corner of the world.
I'm sure he follows the rules if the flies here in the good old US of A

 

[Jeff7577]

I gotta say you sort of jumped the gun a bit here Jef7577.
If you'd notice on his video, even though he may be an AMA member, he was filming in NEW DELI, INDIA.
Unless I'm mistaken, the AMA guidelines don't apply to that corner of the world.
I'm sure he follows the rules if the flies here in the good old US of A

I never saw where he was flying. Either way he needs to do more research as his claims are very basic and unfounded. No mention of blade aerodynamics which has a huge impact on stall speed.

http://dgca.nic.in/public_notice/PN_UAS.pdf
Your guide to flying drones in India without landing in jail

 

[charliesRig]

I totally agree mavic should have a 4Cell battery or at least an optoin to purchase a 4Cell for Mavic pro Battery
It is way easy in sports mode with wind to hit the severe Voltage drain Warning

 

[mpa]

one cannot simply put on a 4 s cell and expect it to work
not sure if the motors can actually handle 16.8V 4s cells
usually the insulating materials used for the motor winding limit the number of cells. the esc are probably designed for 3s only, anything more will let the smoke out of the electronics.

my guess is the C rating on the lipos could be massively improved, although we pay a premium on these batteries they seem to be cheap grade lipos. a more modern lipo can easily hold the voltage up with the correctly rated C lipo. and not get as hot as 60degress C when its in sports mode.
once my OEM batteries are shot ill replace them with turnigy batteries, which are about $30 each and wont overheat!!

 

[Hauptmann]

one cannot simply put on a 4 s cell and expect it to work

once my OEM batteries are shot ill replace them with turnigy batteries, which are about $30 each and wont overheat!!

Which Turnigy battery would you prefer?

 

[mpa]

Which Turnigy battery would you prefer?

anything more than 25 C will be suffice, any of the cheap turnigy batteries exceed this.

 

[rydfree]

My car needs a V8 engine but the v6 gets it around quite well in its intended use The Mavic as it is seems well capable in its intended use .

 

[Kilrah]

No point having a 4-cell battery at all, you'd just burn your motors up. They're already operating at max power as it is, guess you've never touched them after a flight like this.

You could also change the motors, but then you could also redesign the whole aircraft. Or take another one designed for what you want.

 

[Hauptmann]

anything more than 25 C will be suffice, any of the cheap turnigy batteries exceed this.

How could it be adapted to the Mavic? Any worries about heat?

 

[Hauptmann]

No point having a 4-cell battery at all, you'd just burn your motors up. They're already operating at max power as it is, guess you've never touched them after a flight like this.

You could also change the motors, but then you could also redesign the whole aircraft. Or take another one designed for what you want.

I have no need for more speed. I could limit my max speed to, say, 30 MPH (maybe 43 in Sport Mode) and be happy. What I'd like out of this is more flight time.

 

[petivel]

one cannot simply put on a 4 s cell and expect it to work
not sure if the motors can actually handle 16.8V 4s cells
usually the insulating materials used for the motor winding limit the number of cells. the esc are probably designed for 3s only, anything more will let the smoke out of the electronics.

my guess is the C rating on the lipos could be massively improved, although we pay a premium on these batteries they seem to be cheap grade lipos. a more modern lipo can easily hold the voltage up with the correctly rated C lipo. and not get as hot as 60degress C when its in sports mode.
once my OEM batteries are shot ill replace them with turnigy batteries, which are about $30 each and wont overheat!!

any news? how are your oem batts, and modded ones? flighttimes after a couple years?

 

[jaysrmc]

Hi, did you know this is an aerial camera platform and not a racing quad? You are quite dumb to both advertise yourself as an AMA member and also break its rules.

It's nice to see the international drone police have arrived. The international drone police like to jump to conclusions and tell someone in another country they are breaking US rules.. In addition to being a proud drone police officer, you are quite rude. To call the guy "dumb" for posting something like this is pretty simple of you. I would actually say you are the dumb one for telling someone in another country they are breaking the rules of the USA. Regardless if you saw it or not, it is your fault for not doing your research. If you are going to insult someone for breaking the rules, you should follow your own advice and do some research as well.

I bid you good day.

 

[Jeff7577]

It's nice to see the international drone police have arrived. The international drone police like to jump to conclusions and tell someone in another country they are breaking US rules.. In addition to being a proud drone police officer, you are quite rude. To call the guy "dumb" for posting something like this is pretty simple of you. I would actually say you are the dumb one for telling someone in another country they are breaking the rules of the USA. Regardless if you saw it or not, it is your fault for not doing your research. If you are going to insult someone for breaking the rules, you should follow your own advice and do some research as well.

I bid you good day.

Thanks for the input, Sally. I don’t give a crap where it was filmed (it says it nowhere) and believe it or not India does have rules! Bye, Felicia.

 

[Afremont]

one cannot simply put on a 4 s cell and expect it to work
not sure if the motors can actually handle 16.8V 4s cells
usually the insulating materials used for the motor winding limit the number of cells. the esc are probably designed for 3s only, anything more will let the smoke out of the electronics.

my guess is the C rating on the lipos could be massively improved, although we pay a premium on these batteries they seem to be cheap grade lipos. a more modern lipo can easily hold the voltage up with the correctly rated C lipo. and not get as hot as 60degress C when its in sports mode.
once my OEM batteries are shot ill replace them with turnigy batteries, which are about $30 each and wont overheat!!

This. More volt is more current flow and power dissipation to handle. The onboard voltage regulator, ESC and even the wiring would most likely need an upgrade. For the same totsl weight of battery pack, you'd likely lose as much as a third of the flight time. Then there's the added strain on the props and arms, not to mention the motors. This is a system and every bit of it is a trade-off.