A BIG battery question--- also, Lightbridge....

[Douggieboy]

I’m setting up an x8+, wondering about weight constraints for the flight battery. Looking at Multi-Star LiHV 16,000 mah, 14.8 volts, at 1,181 grams. The factory battery weighs 808, but is only 10,000 mah.

First question, how much more flight time/performance capacity am I going to get with the extra 16,000-- and trading off 373 grams of weight, which is over ¾ of a pound. The high voltage battery charges faster, but do I get more out of it than that? Will this bird fly with the extra weight, or will its performance be compromised to such an extent that the bigger battery is defeating its own purpose?

This drone came with a 915mhz FPV system, but I also have a Phantom 3 Pro Lightbridge transmitter and the air module, which I’d really much rather use than the 915 or an alternative 5.8ghz FPV system.
I have alot of options available, including a devo f12e FPV transmitter, Walkera and DJI 3-axis gimbals and both 1080p and 4k GoPro cameras. The summer is rapidly ending, I’ve spent thousands of dollars on all this equipment, and haven’t flown anything.... also a Tali H500, which has had so many firmware problems I don’t dare take to the air with it, never flown, this one is going up on Ebay.....
H500 w/4 lipo packs, tons of extras, $500, or $700 with devo tx w/charger and new tx lipo pack. No gimbal. Add $100 for ilook+ 1080p w/32 gig card. Shipping on me..... Paypal welcome..... Will deliver in Boston Ma. or Providence RI areas, $25 off if you pick up from me. Antique dealer, reasonable trades considered...
[email protected], or call anytime, 617-794-5782.

 

[Mike Evers]

Here's what I would do, you add 373 gr to your vehicle and measure the time you can fly using your current 10,000 mah battery. Once you have that you can calculate the difference with and without the 373 gr and the extra flight time you would get with the 16,000 mah battery. Make sure you always discharge to the same percentage e.g. 25% or so.
I hope this helps making a decision.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

^ What he said. add some weight, time the flight. 10,000mah / Flight Minutes = MAH per minute with an extra 373 grams. Now do 16,000 / MAH per minute to see what your new flight time will be.

 

[Douggieboy]

Thanks--- that does makes perfect sense. I’ll have to buy the 16,000 battery and pray it works out. If not, I can send it back.

The gimbal will probably be 3-axis dji or tarot, and the camera either ilook+ or GoPro 4k. The lightbridge air pack is heavier than a 915mhz FPV transceiver, and those ditzy little leggy thingies on the x8+ they call landing gear also have to go. Another $100 for retracts OK, but that’s more weight~~ I feel like the perennial dieter--**..

From what I can tell, 3DR built this drone around a Tarot frame. All accessories and measurements I’ve encountered as I try to get the thing off the ground are of a Tarot flavor. The motors aren’t marked as to manufacturer or specifications. Money keeps draining out, and I’m planning to buy a house before the nasty New England winter weather sets in. 3 drones taking up more space and sucking up even more money than they’re worth, and I’m going nowhere--

 

[Douggieboy]

I finally bought two 12,000 mah batteries, at just under 1.1 kg each. I like dji Lightbridge so much, I bought a phantom 3 pro, and the air module so I'll be able fly both drones with one transmitter, Lightbridge all the way. iPad or windows tablet for fpv, and $23 app called Lichti is getting rave reviews.
I really love the x8+ octocopter platform, with 8 motors on a compact quad tarot frame. I'm going to remove the 915 mhz units-/ hoping I won't encounter more weight problems. This is why I've chosen the x8+. The phantom has a 4K camera-- a 1080p ilook+ is reserved for this drone, which will likely also get a smaller 3-axis gimbal, of a $49 eBay flavor. It would be nice to be able to switch the better setup back and forth, but dji hardware configuration makes this implausible. I may upgrade to 4K on the x8+ should I find that its performance is remarkably better than the Phantom 3.
The Tali is still for sale, at a very reasonable price. Please email or call if interested....
Thanks

 

[pyrate]

And you just made the case why DJI for a developing platform is 0
fly it like they built it, or use something else

 

[Glen Larsen]

Our experience with Venom's 13000mAh battery on the X8+:

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[Mike Evers]

Hi Glen,

Sorry to see what happened. Do you use the telemetry link when you fly it? I am asking since I am curious how many Amps this will draw when hovering. the .tlogs should give you some information about the amp draw during flight.
Where was the smoke coming from? Can you still access your APM/PIXHAWK when you connect it directly to your laptop using a USB cable?

 

[Glen Larsen]

Hi Mike,
Yes, we do fly with telemetry link. I have the tlog file and, well now I guess I will try to decipher it. The pixhawk seems fine. The "fire" seems to have been isolated to the electronic speed controllers (A person, Pyrate, on another post here identified the thing for me) . One of the ESCs was burnt to ashes, while another just started melting its shrink wrap. Broken props and gps mast etc, but, gees, I think we might be able to repair this thing. I would post the tlog file, but that is being prevented by the blog parameters.

 

[Glen Larsen]

Mike, screen shot from mission planner tlog of failed mission. A lot of time was spent with A over 30. Is this normal, or a fail?

 

[Glen Larsen]

Now that I've reviewed our log files, it is starting to look like our barometer failed. Originally we thought the new battery fried our ESC, but it now looks like barometer failed, crash landing, burnt ESC because motor unable to rotate.
Now I need to determine what Err: BARO-2 means. From MissionPlanner log analysis:

 

[Glen Larsen]

Apologies to Venom battery. Turns out that, coincidentally, while flying the new 13000mAh battery from Venom, our 3Drobotics X8+ had an ESC short out and burn up. It's been two weeks, however we have rebuilt the thing, which involved replacing all ESC's and, well, launching. I am going to document the rebuild at some point because, whew, a ton of stuff was learned along the way. The latest successful flight occurred with the Venom battery powering the whole thing.

 

[pyrate]

that does suck kudos on correcting the record.
it is normal with these flying wonders.
My original x8 crashed 3rd flight. Had a bad Pixhawk.
I bought it as is, at a screaming deal so could not complain much.
Was going to just replace the pixhawk but ended up just doing a rebirth x8 on a lighter frame

 

[Douggieboy]

Question about the 12,000 mah Venom flight packs. Are these safe to use? I don't want to find out the hard way if they're not right for this drone. Any idea as to why you had that engine/esc fire in the first place?

Also, has anybody flown a Pixhawk with DJI Lightbridge? If so, I need a wiring diagram to know what cables to use to get this thing into the air. Please help-- Thanks
Douggieboy in Providence RI