I've been performing some flight tests using two batteries and I'm just not getting what i was expecting. I am hoping other Y6 users can chime in with their battery/flight times, and see if i'm really off.. or if this is what is expected. Lastly, most importantly.. what can I do to increase flight time? It would be a goal of mine to achieve 20minutes.
Battery 1: Turnigy nano-tech 5000mah 3S 25~50C Lipo Pack
Approx 8minutes.
Batttery 2: ZIPPY Flightmax 5800mAh 3S1P 30C
Approx 10 minutes.
Using 850kv 3DR blue motors. Long Range Telemetry module. Dragonlink for Radio. Carrying Tarot 2D gimbal (+200g) no camera for these tests.
Attached images of flight times and VCC/volt data.
Replies
just a quick update on my battery trials. re-post from a thread in the Y6 users group, in case some over look that area:
So i ended up getting a zippy 3S 8000mah to testhttp://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__16225__zippy_flightmax_8...
With the gimbal + camera, it maxes out the recommended weight for the 3DR Y6 of 2500g. I plan to remove my bullet connectors and shave off some weight. Someone mentioned about 100G savings with this.
-I got about 13 minutes of hover only, and 9.5 minutes of mixed flight under low wind conditions. Mixed flight meaning, flying about 1 mile away and back (10000 feet traveled)
-40amp draw for hover @ 65% throttle.
-Once the voltage reaches below 10v, you begin to feel the weight. Fast descents are very hard to recover from.
-Only been able to charge 7000mah into this battery. This is from stopping at 9.6v under load, and 15% battery shown left on my OSD.
I really can't say I recommend this battery unless you fly with no gimbal or go pro. If you are just flying around and don't have the FPV weight (or just are using a small camera to FPV), it would fare quite well. Otherwise, flying around at 2500g does feel sluggish.
now waiting for a nanotech 3S 6400mah. let's see how that does!
The first was a 4s 6000mAh 20-30C battery. Flew to 20% remaining which was about 6 mins.
The next was a 3s 4500mAh 65-130C Nano "A-Spec" battery. It flew for 4 mins and whilst it had plenty in reserve, it couldn't get the frame off of the ground. Just working on how many mA were used in each test.
The weight of the frame (no camera yet) is 1.5Kg (almost on the nose).
Is there something I'm doing wrong? I'm using the 880kV motors and the props that came with the kit.
I was looking into this battery 3S 8400mah 40C Constant / 80C Burst - anyone tried it or use anything close?
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=21945
I get about the same with my quadcopter
One quick comment on Raph's original post.. I noticed he said "Turnigy nano-tech 5000mAh 3S 25-50C" pack.
I have this exact battery and found it to be a terrible disappointment.. worse in performance than the zippy 5000 packs that cost less. I have discharge plots from the battery analyzer I can post later, but really underwhelming. I was expecting more 'tech'.
You ever think of going hydrogen power system for the copter? Check this out: http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/#!advanced-technical-kits/c720
I think maybe boosting your C level may be easier on your batteries. You mention 25-50c. I think these are more for planes and TRI'ss.. Pulling so many amps (6 motors), you may want to go for higher C ratings.. I use the same 5000 mah but I have 45-90 c batteries. The do not get hot, just a little warm and give me about 10 min in my Y6. I've burned out two 6000 3s 25-50c turnigy's.. Use Higher C ratings should always be mentioned in anything above quads. In my opinion.
Y6
Has the worst efficiency of all the configurations the reason pilots fly Y6 is redundancy a skilled pilot can recovery from a single motor or prop loss. why use a Y6 then?
if you are flying high dollar camera like 3000-10000 dollar range.
Example would be FLIR Tau 640 thermal camera its $10,000+ tax and USA customs controlled item so only USA citizens can have it in the USA
http://www.flir.com/uploadedFiles/CVS_Americas/Media_Kits/Tabs/Tau_...
If you want 20 mins I dont recommend a Y6, I run TBS discovery with 5000mah 3s 11.1v and get 14m using 9x5
with 10x5 or 11x5 I could get longer
I posted this in the Y6 Users Group but here it is again, for those who are not part of the group.
Just did some rough calcs. These are open to correction.
The Y6 consumes 400mA per minute on 3S, and 500mA per minute on 4S.
So your calcs will go something like this:
Battery 5300mA 3S.
You want to leave a minimum of 20% in the battery, so 5300 *80% = 4240mA
4240 / 400 = 10.6 minutes of expected flight time. Hope this helps.
My totally stock 3DR Y6 (with 880kv motors and telemetry) has been flying 7 minutes with a 4500mah 3S and a NEX6 camera strapped to the bottom, no gimbal. Not bad for the weight. That's getting the battery down to around 10.2v.
For reference, my Y6 weighs 1480g. The camera is 467g with battery, lens, SD card, and mount. The 4500 mah Turnigy nano-tech battery is 347g. AUW is 2294g.
Payload is a little more than 814g (telemetry and AR8000 receiver are included in Y6 weight above, but are considered payload by 3DR.) This leaves about 350g before reaching the payload max, which is an entire second 4500mah.
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