Solo flight time

alx · Jul 4, 2016

I bought my Solo package about a month ago ( 2 batts, props, gimbal, solo backpack sold seperately)
'flew it a good number of times without any incident.

I've noticed that I only get around 10 to 12 mins max per battery.
Gimbal's not even attached yet (still waiting for it to be released by customs here in Manila which really scares me because they aren't exactly the most honest people in the world, but that is another story)

Is there something wrong with them?
Factory defect perhaps?

TNX...

Jubalr · Jul 4, 2016

It depends. What battery % are you landing at?

alx · Jul 4, 2016

Jubalr said:
It depends. What battery % are you landing at?

20. Don't wanna go past that, bad experience. But landed safely...

Vegasrobbi · Jul 4, 2016

With new batteries I get about 18 minutes without a gimbal. With gimbal installed I get 12-15 minutes depending on age of battery and flying conditions - altitude, temperature, wind, etc.

What battery percent is indicated on the app when booting up?

Maddog · Jul 4, 2016

Vegasrobbi said:
With new batteries I get about 18 minutes without a gimbal. With gimbal installed I get 12-15 minutes depending on age of battery and flying conditions - altitude, temperature, wind, etc.

What battery percent is indicated on the app when booting up?

Ditto!

Pedals2Paddles · Jul 4, 2016

Landing at 20% is a waste of perfectly good flight time. I am glad you're taking the cautious approach and not flying beyond what you're comfortable with though. If you tell us what happened, we might be able to give you some insight, and you'll be more comfortable (and safer) flying it longer.

Toiletbowl · Jul 4, 2016

base on solo specification 25 minutes without payload and 20 minutes with payload im gonna test mine hows the max flightime with gimbal.

Pedals2Paddles · Jul 4, 2016

Toiletbowl said:
base on solo specification 25 minutes without payload and 20 minutes with payload im gonna test mine hows the max flightime with gimbal.

Reality is with gimbal and GoPro, 14-16 minutes depending on how you're flying, wind, weather, temperature, etc. I don't know where you saw 20 minutes with payload (literally, I've never gone looking for some official document on the matter). But it's not happening.

Toiletbowl · Jul 4, 2016

Pedals2Paddles said:
Reality is with gimbal and GoPro, 14-16 minutes depending on how you're flying, wind, weather, temperature, etc. I don't know where you saw 20 minutes with payload (literally, I've never gone looking for some official document on the matter). But it's not happening.

ped check this link im not sure if this is true Solo Specs: Just the facts — 3DR News

Jubalr · Jul 4, 2016

Toiletbowl said:
ped check this link im not sure if this is true Solo Specs: Just the facts — 3DR News

Like any products specs, it's based on lab type conditions. For the Solo, it was likely tested on a cool day with no wind at sea level, flown at a constant speed considered best cruise. They started with a 'hot' battery (a battery that is in optimum condition right off the charger) and flew it to 0. Very doable. Considering my recent flight was with a camera on board and 91deg outside and still got 21. It is certainly conceivable to get another 4 min without the camera on a cool day and hot battery.
Just my opinion. YMMV

Pedals2Paddles · Jul 4, 2016

Note, in the 3DR specs, not only do they not list what the flight conditions were, but they also don't say what the payload was. They probably assume the customer assumes it means a gimbal and GoPro. But who knows, they could mean a banana peed on top of the battery. This kind of thing is always very creatively written to not technically be lie, but rarely reflects reality. Kind of like all the annoying pharmacutical commercials on TV. They talk about all the wonderful things it does, but the illegible fine print at the bottom of the screen tells you "results not typical" or maybe "only worked once on a lab rat in China"

Vegasrobbi · Jul 5, 2016

Pedals2Paddles said:
Reality is with gimbal and GoPro, 14-16 minutes depending on how you're flying, wind, weather, temperature, etc. I don't know where you saw 20 minutes with payload (literally, I've never gone looking for some official document on the matter). But it's not happening.

While I agree be careful flying too low. Today I wanted to fly down to 15% and I was using an old battery, I know this battery has seen better days. I got down to 17% and was about to touch down when Solo activated RTH. Solo rose up and the battery level dropped quickly, it was descending and at about 10 feet off the ground the battery level hit 0%. Solo was descending very slowly and the controller was freaking out so I just hand caught it. After powering down the motors the battery level rose to 9%. My new batteries do not discharge this fast but when they get below 25% the discharge rate increases so just be aware of that and do not get too far away.

BTW Zipline is awesome

alx · Jul 6, 2016

Pedals2Paddles said:
Reality is with gimbal and GoPro, 14-16 minutes depending on how you're flying, wind, weather, temperature, etc. I don't know where you saw 20 minutes with payload (literally, I've never gone looking for some official document on the matter). But it's not happening.

That's it then. This does make alot of sense. I do attach the GP but no gimbal. i get 10 to 12 mins. If I push it to the max I am certain to get around 15 to 16 mins. As soon as my gimbal gets here, if ever it does, will let you gents know

alx · Jul 6, 2016

Thanks for all the help

alx · Jul 6, 2016

Vegasrobbi said:
With new batteries I get about 18 minutes without a gimbal. With gimbal installed I get 12-15 minutes depending on age of battery and flying conditions - altitude, temperature, wind, etc.

What battery percent is indicated on the app when booting up?

Good question...

I fully charge them the night before, next day when I fly , they're down to 95%. It's not like it sits around waiting for sats.
I get 7 to 8 sats within 40 secs. I take off in a minutes' time.

It's like they start draining after they've stopped charging

Roy Jones · Jul 8, 2016

I just got 16 minutes on a new battery with the gimble and GPH4S. It was a night flight that consisted of just hovering at 200' while filming the fireworks. I pushed it as much as I could and landed with the battery showing 0%. That wasn't my plan but I wanted to get the finale in (didn't manage it as the fireworks went on for 25 minutes)

alx · Jul 8, 2016

Roy Jones said:
I just got 16 minutes on a new battery with the gimble and GPH4S. It was a night flight that consisted of just hovering at 200' while filming the fireworks. I pushed it as much as I could and landed with the battery showing 0%. That wasn't my plan but I wanted to get the finale in (didn't manage it as the fireworks went on for 25 minutes)

Oh wow, that was gutsy. glad you landed safely.

Mr GruntHunter · Jul 8, 2016

Pedals2Paddles said:
Note, in the 3DR specs, not only do they not list what the flight conditions were, but they also don't say what the payload was. They probably assume the customer assumes it means a gimbal and GoPro. But who knows, they could mean a banana peed on top of the battery. This kind of thing is always very creatively written to not technically be lie, but rarely reflects reality. Kind of like all the annoying pharmacutical commercials on TV. They talk about all the wonderful things it does, but the illegible fine print at the bottom of the screen tells you "results not typical" or maybe "only worked once on a lab rat in China"

Just like ALL of the great gas mileage claims we're expected to believe !!! :-(

Jammey Dodger · Jul 9, 2016

Vegasrobbi said:
While I agree be careful flying too low. Today I wanted to fly down to 15% and I was using an old battery, I know this battery has seen better days. I got down to 17% and was about to touch down when Solo activated RTH. Solo rose up and the battery level dropped quickly, it was descending and at about 10 feet off the ground the battery level hit 0%. Solo was descending very slowly and the controller was freaking out so I just hand caught it. After powering down the motors the battery level rose to 9%. My new batteries do not discharge this fast but when they get below 25% the discharge rate increases so just be aware of that and do not get too far away.

BTW Zipline is awesome

I had something similar happen to me yesterday, took off and everything was fine. After flying for a bit, Battery check 50%, what felt like 2 minutes later the battery indicated 15%......at this point I am trying to land (solo about 10m away). Then as I was clicking land, the battery went 15% to 3% and the controller was going nuts. I have noticed a few little glitches over the last week where the solo appears to have developed a brain of its own: randomly shot off away from me at altitude, the hovering seems to drift and move about a lot more now than originally..... My question after reading this post is "Would this have anything to do with the recent update? "

RAHAlpha · Oct 5, 2016

I've been testing the flight time on a new (warranty replacement) Solo. New Solo, new batt, 3 axis gimbal, GP4B running 270K/60 and/or shooting some stills. I'm flying at about 5500 ft in 10-15 mph wind. I only get about 9-10 min and I'm down to 15% on batt. It seems that, when trying to fly below 20% batt, the % suddenly starts to drop like a rock so I don't like to go below 20% unless I'm already back close to my landing site. That seems consistent across 3 batts.

It seems that's about average time for my equipment and conditions. Right? If I could just get 15 min/batt in my conditions it would help but I guess that's not going to happen. Other than moving to sea level or not doing video/stills, any thoughts on extending batt life?