Hot swap battery

ZdroneZ · Jan 21, 2016

Any thoughts out there of some way to externally plug in an extra battery in parallel in order to swap out a low flight battery for a fresh one without having to shut down and reboot Solo? This would save time and keep you in the air with less interruptions.
Your thoughts.

Acroduster · Jan 21, 2016

Boy, if somebody could come up with an aftermarket hack for this, I would be game. It would save lots of hassle in the field...

czrlaker · Jan 21, 2016

Good idea. Pitch it.

JJ48Car · Jan 21, 2016

Hell yes this is a good idea. This is my #1 annoyance with the solo platform.

RolandS888 · Jan 21, 2016

Sounds do-able, you would only need to keep the 5 volts systems alive, a few super capacitors and a protection board mounted internally would keep them alive for the 10 seconds it would take to swap a battery.
Might cause grief with mAhr countdown and battery level records tho.

ZdroneZ · Jan 22, 2016

I pitched the idea over to 3dr. Let's see if they catch it.

Samphoto · Jan 23, 2016

I don't understand this. I hot swap the batteries all the time. I just don't turn off the one that is low and pop in a new one and everything comes right back up, including the GP in seconds. It is usually ready by the time I step back and am ready to take off. If you turn the battery on before you attach it the Solo comes to life without even pressing the power button.

If you are talking about he 30 seconds it needs to boot back up and connect to the controller, I can live with that.

What am I missing here?

mAd mOrdigan · Jan 23, 2016

Samphoto said:
I don't understand this. I hot swap the batteries all the time. I just don't turn off the one that is low and pop in a new one and everything comes right back up, including the GP in seconds. It is usually ready by the time I step back and am ready to take off. If you turn the battery on before you attach it the Solo comes to life without even pressing the power button.

If you are talking about he 30 seconds it needs to boot back up and connect to the controller, I can live with that.

What am I missing here?

crap this I didn't not know. I'll have to try it

J R · Jan 23, 2016

Sam,

I had no idea this could be done either. Anyone else ever do this?

Jerry

Del · Jan 23, 2016

Damn...please someone els try this!!! I'm to scared too..lol

Cheers

J R · Jan 23, 2016

Del said:
Damn...please someone els try this!!! I'm to scared too..lol

Reminded me of this classic!

Del · Jan 23, 2016

J R said:
Reminded me of this classic!

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Lmao Jerry !!!! I sure remember growing up to that commercial ...it's a Classic !!!! Lol

Cheers

Samphoto · Jan 23, 2016

I'm telling you guys, I did it with 4 batteries yesterday (and the day before). I landed, didn't turn the solo off (this leaves the GP on), popped in a new battery and pressed the power button and it was back up in seconds. I have in the past accidentally turned the battery on when pulling it out of the bag before plugging it into the Solo and the Solo powered right up on it's own. I don't normally do that last part but it has happened to me with no ill effects.

The best part is you don't have to reach back down and turn the GP back on.

Samphoto · Jan 23, 2016

Also, I didn't just make this up myself, I read about it somewhere, maybe the 3DR Solo owners page on FB, not sure though, I've been doing it for a long while.

Marich · Jan 23, 2016

Yup, been doing it too. Never even thought about it!

J R · Jan 23, 2016

Samphoto said:
Also, I didn't just make this up, I read about it somewhere, maybe the 3DR Solo owners page on FB, not sure though, I've been doing it for a long while.

Sam,

I don't think you made it up. I'm not doubting it either, just never heard about it before. I'd be concerned if there is a possibility of damage but I don't have a clue if there is any reason to be concerned. I'm really just looking to see if anyone else is doing it this way before I try it. There are a lot of folks around here that are much wiser than me. I appreciate you sharing your experience!

Jerry

J R · Jan 23, 2016

Marich said:
Yup, been doing it too. Never even thought about it!

Marich,

So, you're pulling the discharged battery out without turning anything off and inserting the new battery after you have powered the new battery on but before you've inserted it in the bird?

Do I have this right?

Jerry

Samphoto · Jan 23, 2016

J R said:
Marich,

So, you're pulling the discharged battery out without turning anything off and inserting the new battery after you have powered the new battery on but before you've inserted it in the bird?

Do I have this right?

Jerry

I don't normally power the battery on before I plug it back in but I have done it on accident and there were no issues. In truth there was no real difference between pushing the power button on the battery before I plug it in, and plugging it in and then turning things on. Either way the GP stays powered up during the hot swap and the Solo comes to life very quickly. GPS lock in 30 seconds or less and everything is ready to fly about as fast as I am.

Samphoto · Jan 23, 2016

J R said:
Sam,

I don't think you made it up. I'm not doubting it either, just never heard about it before. I'd be concerned if there is a possibility of damage but I don't have a clue if there is any reason to be concerned. I'm really just looking to see if anyone else is doing it this way before I try it. There are a lot of folks around here that are much wiser than me. I appreciate you sharing your experience!

Jerry

Ha, sorry, my tone didn't represent very well. I was just reading all the posts about no one wanting to be the first to test it out and wanted to assure people that I didn't just try it randomly myself, that I had read about it somewhere.

It's all good, happy to help.

Del · Jan 23, 2016

Samphoto said:
Also, I didn't just make this up, I read about it somewhere, maybe the 3DR Solo owners page on FB, not sure though, I've been doing it for a long while.

Marich said:
Yup, been doing it too. Never even thought about it!

This is the first Iv ever heard of it..but it sounds pretty wild...I'm learning something new everyday..

it seems like you guys have been doing this Hot Battery change for a while? Or have you guys just started doing this?
With no knowledge of long-term testing .?
I would just worry about any long term repercussion of damaging something down the road? It would nice to know Forsure that it is safe to do this?
Mabe someone in the Tec department with more experience could shed some light on this ..

Cheers