I'm wanting to get a little bit more flight time out of the Y6, and maybe a little more power. I currently have a stock 3DR Y6. What upgrades would you all recommend? I've heard that having a larger pitch prop on bottom helps a little. Would I be able to go to 11" props with the stock 850Kv motors and ESCs, or would that overwhelm them? Ecalc seems to think the current 10" prop setup would overpower the motors, but it doesn't have the coaxial set motors in the free version yet. Or would going to an 800Kv or 750Kv motor be better?
Also, which motors/ESCs would be recommended should I choose replace them?
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All,
Interesting post at "Motor and propeller test jig". I like to see this idea come to fruition as I feel there has to be a better process of testing and finding the most efficient setup for your drone. Down side is that it will cost you to buy one where eCalc only takes your inputs and isn't always spot on with it's data results. With that being said, it was helpful to me in redesigning my Y6B but it took a few trials to validate some of eCalc's results. It's not a perfect solution but it's the only one I know of at this time.
I'm contemplating buying there jig if they go to Kickstarter as I find it useful when building my drones. Not sure it's worth the money for a weekend hobbyist with limited capital but I think it would be useful for businesses developing their model drones.
I don't recall the UAW for my Y6B.
ECalc is what $5 for a year? The co-axial beta is way off for my Spy setup. It says it should draw 5.26A at hover. Actual is ~4A. Flight time is inaccurate as well.
What I do is add 5-7% weight to the total (using flat config) and then it matches darn close to actual. Coaxial may be more accurate for the Y6B, I don't know.
11" props will overheat the motors.
What I found was balancing the weight accurately helps keep the motors even. Using the trim IMO is a bandaid and causes one or more motors to work harder to hover and fly. Balancing definitely helps. A problem I have with the 3DR frame design is the motor mount plate is flat with no cooling holes on the bottom. The mfr even warns about it in their manual. I put the + mounts on and the motors cooled much faster after landing.
This pic is for the Spy, but I used scales for the Y6B too. Yes the cooling is poor for the motors on this design.
The scales are $8 on Ebay. Notice how far off center the battery is, yet the copter is perfectly balanced. It has zero trim adjustment to hover in stab mode.
A bigger battery will help of course. I used a 8000mah 35c from RMRC for the Y6B. The Multistar 10000mah 10c (use on the Spy) is about the same weight as the 8000mah. 3DR now uses the MS as the standard battery for their X8M. Just be aware they are not for much wide open throttle as the voltage drop is greater than a higher c rated battery.
Doug here has replaced his motors. His results are in the Hot ESC thread. I entertained the thought of upgrading motors to these: http://www.buddyrc.com/sunnysky-v2216-15-650kv-ii-brushless-motor.html Basically a direct replacement and I think would work pretty good, but may need 12" props (or smaller on top depending on pwm at hover), don't recall if the frame can take that size. Seems like 12" is the max before hitting the legs. I would stick with APC SF props.
I'd try the balance first, and also balance the props. The standard 850 motors aren't the highest quality so I think balancing them is a good idea too, but that's just my opinion; no data to prove anything.
Overall the 3DR Y6B is a great copter IMO. It just needs some fine tuning to get everything right.
Hey DG, very nice Y6B! I have a similar Y6B build with tritrooper/skyhero 750 frame. What did you use to mount the GPS mast to the back arm?
Don't mean to thread jack, I was looking on what prop sizes to go with for my MT2814-11 710Kv motors on my Y6B...
My Y6B was reconfigured with 690kv pancake motors and top motors setup with 1247 props and the lower motors with 1347 props. The end result is to:
1. Identify how you want your multicopter to perform ie., Speed, endurance, heavy lifting, etc...
2. Perform flight tests based on #1.
3. Look over you RCOUT logs for the motors and determine where your hover threshold is. Mine came in around 47% of PWM but that is also due to my extensive modes and increased AUW being higher than a standard 3DR Y6B configuration. Yours may show you a lower percentage.
4. Isolate the propellers that are running higher than the others. My lower props initially ran higher PWM than the upper ones. My conclusion was that the bottom props were working harder due to the dirty air being pulled from the upper motors and causing a pressure differential on the lower props. To rectify this problem, I jumped up to 13 inch props from 12 inch and reran the test with favorable results.
Bottom line, you will have to purchase a few props of different sizes to fin the sweet spot for you drone based on what you plan to use it for (remember #1).
Picture embedded in this post is my Y6B during testing of different motors and propellers.
Hi,
I am looking for more flight time too, but I am looking for other way.
check this battery.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__64436__Multistar_High_Ca...
regards.
Don't worry go with the 10000mah I use it and it works fine.
I get 18 min easy with 3.5v left