Battery life / flight duration questions.

[Rusty Jones]

Well, first off, how far down can we go on the battery? I flew 4 packs the other day, each going to 15% on the app, and flight times were about 12-14 minutes. At what level is RTH iniated? 10%, yes? and at 5% it is "land here now"??

Also, how many cycles before they are "broken in", if that still applies these days? I have about 10 cycles on two packs, and about 5 on the other two.

Thanks

 

[RichWest]

Rusty - I'm getting about 15+ minutes on my batteries of 7 months. I'm flying with an additional 3 ounces beyond the gimbal/camera weight.

I've had short flight batteries due to batteries sitting fully charged for over a week. It appears the battery gauge indicates full, but when the bird is started it drops to 85% or less in the app. For these flights I'm getting around 12 minutes.

I'm sure you understand the battery percentage is not linear. Losing the 15%, in the above example, is off the peak end of the voltage of the battery, which is approx. 3 minutes in my example. Less voltage means more throttle is needed to maintain the same flight performance. At the low end of the battery voltage, 15% of battery could be depleted in a minute of use

FWIW, I run my batteries down to 25% at landing, the first alarm. RTH on my bird is at 20%.

 

[Diving Santa]

Rusty,

I has always gotten 12 to 14 minutes max with all stock parts. Much less than what is advertised. It's probably my lack of flying skills.

I had a battery that was kept full for a couple of weeks and now it only lasts 7-8 minutes depending on amount of wind. This battery has been "retired". I was flying over some water, and at the 25% warning, headed home from 800' out. The power was dropping rapidly as I went past the shoreline. When I was about to land, "auto land" took over, (I think from voltage dropping) and my Solo slammed to the ground from about 15' up, trashing the gimbal. I'm now extremely careful about storing my batteries at 40-50% and then charging the night before flying and only flying down to 20% at the lowest.

Take Rich's advice. Land at first alarm.

I also found this article to be helpful for my batteries that I use in my RC boats.
The Ultimate LiPo Drone Battery Care Guide

The most current owners manual I have shows this for percents that you asked about.



Hope this helps,
DS

 

[Rex Barlow]

I did fly my drone to 0 % I called it mayday mayday about 200 feet left to home base but it made it safety. I will not even try again!. It scared me but solo made it! I knew there about 10% RSVP in battery?

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