Long Range FPV Battery Testing DJI | 30+ Minute Flight Time | 18650 vs. 21700 Li-Ion Packs 6s2p DIY
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- čas přidán 26. 07. 2024
- This video is a test between 18650 & 21700 Li-Ion Battery packs for Long-range FPV flights. We also do some DJI O3 range testing, but more on that in a future video.
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Anyway happy to answer questions cheers!
Here’s a video summary for quick reference:
----- Video Summary ---------
0:00 - What are we covering?
0:15 - Setup
1:50 - Long-Range DJI Test
2:30 - 18650 vs. 21700
2:20 - What about 1 Watt?! (Issues)
3:00 - Long Range Testing
3:40 - Freestyle! Can we do this?
4:40 - Thoughts, Issues & Tips
--------- VTX / VRX Antennas & Quad Setup --------------------------------------
- Frame: Chimera 7
- VTX: DJI O3
- VTX Antenna: Twin iFlight Albatross Long Antennas
- DJI V2 Goggles with iFlight Crystal patch and TrueRC Omnis
- VRX: Fatshark WalkSnail VRX on HDZero Goggles
- VRX Antennas: Quad 7-Turn Helical Antennas
- FPV Camera: WalkSnail Micro
- Flight Controller: Mamba F722 MKIII
- ESC: Mamba F50 4-in-1
- Motors: Xing 2306 2450kv motors
- Props: HQ Props 5"
- GPS Module: TBS M8-2
- Control Link RX: ELRS Matek Diversity with RadioMaster T-Style antennas
- Buzzer: ViFly Finder 2
_____ Other Quad Setups _________________________________________
- iFlight Chimera 7", with Emax ECOII 2807 1500kv/1300kv motors, HDZero Freestyle VTX
- iFlight Megabee v1 3" with WalkSnail Avatar 1s VTX
- FlyWoo Firefly Baby Nano with HDZero Whoop Lite 1s VTX
- DemonRC 5" Freestyle Quad with Xing 2306 2450kv motors
- ELRS on all quads now, previously CrossFire
- FRSky Taranis X9D Plus TX with BetaFPV ELRS 500mW TX Module
- RadioMaster Zorro with ELRS
- DIY Helicals, search my channel about how great those are!
- TrueRC X2-Air Antennas, Singularity, TBS Triumph Pro, VAS antenna Tests Soon!
- DIY Li-Ion packs using Molicel Batteries, also amazing, check out my video for reference!
#elrs #newtechnology #Walksnail #HDzero #DJI #fpv #fpvdrone #dronevideo #gopro #dvr #norway #longrange #DIY #Testing - Jak na to + styl
"The Stag" -- masterfully played. I'm sure none of us would dare fly BVLOS but "The Stag" can do it with impunity. My hat is off to you sir!
Those Molicel cells are great -- I use them on all my "extended endurance" (wink wink) quads.
Yes, nice guy (or girl? Honestly not sure…) been working with him for a few years now. He’s supposed to be finishing some DJI range testing soon but hasn’t come down from the forest recently. Idk.
I heard he likes Molicels as well, eats them like mozzarella sticks! Cheers!
He's like the guy on Top Gear called The Stig ;) haha that guy was an awesome driver
@@chrisalexthomas cousins from the same planet. 👍🏼
P45B cells are a game changer! I’ve been pushing a 6S2P (90A continuous) DIY pack hard the last couple of weeks and really enjoying being able to fly fast and push the amps without even getting the battery pack warm. Awesome video! Cheers!
Yea, I’ve had a hard time finding P45b cells that’ll ship to Norway… but these trusty P42a cells still work well.
Did you solder you packs? I’ve argued in the past that nickel strips have too much resistance and cause “hot packs”.
Thanks for watching, appreciate the comment!
@@GiantAntCowboy yeah I soldered the cells together using 12awg wire. And I agree with you, don’t have real data on this, but by just looking at it, I would think the strips would have more resistance than 12 or even 14 awg wire. Cheers!
@J-MADFPV Copper has much lower resistance than nickel. In fact the reason you can “spot weld” nickel and not copper is because nickel gets hot enough to melt when current is applied.
That fact alone explains why so many people complain about Li-Ion packs having voltage sag and getting really hot while flying.
I’ll stick with soldering for all my packs, always had great results.
Omg, the long awaited, you finally did it! 😃
Yea the packs I tested a couple years ago needed to be replaced. These new packs are great!
Great video man. Love this. You still need to make a How not to loose your drone #longrange video since a lot of guys do not know the basics of antenna and line of sight :P
I do 100% need to make that video… I think about it constantly. Thanks for watching, and for making all your great content as well!
I need to add WTFOS to my V2 goggles for OSD recording. I was just watching your videos the other day about this and related topics.
Exactly the video I was looking for - thanks!
Nice, glad you found it. Figured it’d be a useful resource.
Previously I’d always made two 6s packs and run them in parallel, but really liking this proper 6s2p packs.
The shot diving through the low clouds was really cool, I fly analog freestyle but I still built a helical for the lol and looking forward to your testing :)
Thanks, helicals work great with analog. A few years ago I did this video of some flights out 7km, great signal until I made a horrible mistake…
czcams.com/video/KSt4SiZ9-KI/video.htmlsi=VsxQEnbuT_97FwzB
My other testing with HDZero is representative of how Analog will perform as well. Definitely recommend!
@@GiantAntCowboy I built mine using one of the models you linked after seeing your videos, I generally use it instead of a patch now
@@SwainixFPV yea, I’ve been using them for years. Have tried other antennas, but just keep coming back to them for pure performance. Plus they are cheap to make! Antennas with comparable performance are pretty expensive…
Awesome video, enjoyed the flight footage and narration. Makes me want to start building my own li-ion packs...
I started building them a few years ago because there wasn’t any pre-made packs. I continue to build them because it’s cheaper and I have more options.
Also I personally believe that soldered packs are better than spot welded. (But that’s a Huge debate…).
Thanks for watching, appreciate the comment!
Great content! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, appreciate the comment! Time to start the next project/video! Cheers!
Cant wait for antenna vid!
Thanks, gonna try to knock it out quick; but gotta find some free time. So stay tuned!
Great build.
Thanks bud!
You are amazing bro!!!
Huge thanks, appreciate the support!
I'm loving the Molicel 21700 P45B 9000mah 6S2P.
I just built and have 3 flights on Molicel 18650 P30B 6000mah 6S2P and returns with 3.6 volts 8 mile mountain climb round trip with full size gopro 11 on AOS 7 frame. The 21700 returns 3.7-3.8.
Not sure which i like more yet. I like how light the 18650 is.
Nice those are the cells I’m always after, but delivery to Norway is always tricky. The 18650 pack usually has enough range for most flights, it’s lighter, and fits better, so it’s my most used packs for sure.
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@GiantAntCowboy Do you do a full charge to 4.2? Just curious.
@@kkeil9449 yes. All modern Li-Ion are rated to 4.20v; many years ago it was only 4.10v which is why there confusion.
I just use normal LiPo Balance Charge at 4A.
@GiantAntCowboy Cool. As far as antennas, I could definitely recommend VAS crosshair extreme. I know a guy who can sit inside his or her car and easily get 4+ miles of range.
@@kkeil9449 yea, always want to try the Crosshair Extreme, at one point VAS was going to send me some to test but haven’t heard from them recently. Idk.
Right now my current setup is working excellent, I’ll share those results soon.
Can't wait to see the difference with better antennas !
Yea, just waiting on the STAG to finish his testing. I recently asked him how the helical I made worked and he gave a real solid nod… so that’s gotta be good. Stay tuned, cheers!
@@GiantAntCowboy For my part, i did some penetration test in o3 w/ goggles integra and the result was pretty the same, i think the big difference will be in long range fly, i havent test :/
@@Cornusse I’ll post some Range & Penetration tests. Results have been impressive for both.
I’d like to hear more on the helical antenna’s performance on the goggles.
Good news, My next video will be DJI O3 Range & Penetration testing with various antenna setups. So stay tuned!
What was the total flight distance of each pack?
I run 8s2p 21700 on my 8 inch and get around 30 min and 30 km.
When you fly slower, flight time increases.
But from my testing the flight distance is always similar with the same battery packs.
Im running 2812 motors with gemfan 8060. You can hardly feel the weihgt of the packs.
With my smaller 7 inch 2807 motor running 6s2p 18650 it already starts to feel heavy.
Total distance for both packs was right around 20km, so I was flying a bit faster with my 18650 pack.
Yea, I don’t mind the weight, quad flys fine, especially in windy mountains, but when zooming around the 18650 handles noticeably better.
The Stag 😂
A really valuable team member!
Do you have a video making the 6s2p setup? Or any recommended video. I have followed FalconRads video to make single packs but I’d like to make a 2p also so I can have no huge pack instead of having to parallel them.
@@JuicySmullietFPV yea, proper 6s2p packs are great. I don’t have a build video, but if you re-watch @0:54 I show a couple build pictures of my 2p pack.
You can see I made the wire a square for connecting the inner cells which works great and should ensure current flows evenly through all cells.
I used solid copper for fun (curiosity) but regular stranded copper is probably a better choice, and it’s insulated.
Anyway hope that’s helpful, happy to answer questions, cheers!
@@GiantAntCowboy I’ve got to figure out the configuration. 1p is easy, negative to positive… but 2p, I don’t quite get that one yet.
@@JuicySmullietFPV it’s really the same as a 1p build but each cell is now two cells. So start by taping cells together in pairs, then pretend they are a single cell.
Contact me on Facebook GiantAntCowboy, and I can share some pictures.
Hey man, you should know Stag is on his Twitch channel dogging the sh*t outta you bro!
Oh boy, STAG is on Twitch..? I told him to avoid all forms of social media… it brings out the worst in people.
Tell him to send me those DJI Antenna tests so I can finish the next video!
My 21700 3s give me 45 minit hovering time . ( Using 900kv ,10 inch props )
Yea, that sounds about right. I did another video years ago comparing different packs 4s-6s in 1p & 2P configurations and found the 4s to be more efficient.
With “flying things” lower weight is almost always better.
at 1:07 your 18650 pack soldered with copper tube? that the one for building helical right? is it better than 14awg? which one has lower IR?
Yes, good catch. It’s 14AWG solid copper I had leftover from my Helical antenna builds. Theoretically it handles current better than stranded copper, (lower resistance) and it makes the pack more rigid, but it’s more likely to break a solder joint if the pack gets twisted in a crash.
Not sure it’s worth using, just trying something different.
@@GiantAntCowboy solid copper tends to break at solder joint? ill take that as a note.. i actually want to build one, and luckily you did one..
@DNLKRNWN Solid copper doesn’t flex as easily as stranded copper. So if the pack was to get twisted enough a solder joint might crack, or rip off the battery.
In most cases it’s probably fine, but this was the only potential negative I could come up with when choosing to try this wire.
You’re planned to build a li-ion pack?
@@GiantAntCowboy yep, rigid means solder jointwill suffer. Yeah, i need more packs.
@@TERBANGFPV yea, I just built these, my other ones were a few years old and worn out. Previously I ran two 6s packs in parallel, but decided to build these proper 6s2p packs this time. Much nicer for mounting and charging.
Unless you often use 1p packs of course; I highly recommend the 18650 pack, really great battery to have.
Is The Stag single?🤔
Honestly not sure if he (or she?) is single… but I’m positive you’d be their type!! 😉
What if you go with something like the Samsung 50S 5000mAh batteries. I've got one 6s1p pack in front of me and it's weighing 422g raw batteries and 465g all soldered up and wrapped. I'm thinking of strapping two together with a custom parallel cable to get 10,000mAh capacity and wondering how my Apex LR 7inch can handle it.
Yup, that’s configuration will work. I’ve known people that ran that setup on a Chimera 7.
It’ll fly heavy of course at almost 1kg of weight, but will be solid in the wind!
@@GiantAntCowboy that’s what I’ve gained from watching your videos. You have given me a lot of confidence about long range hdzero, but I’ve still not gone more than 1km away because I’ve just had no working gps rescue yet. It keeps failing in some way, quad acting weird or just not being available etc etc
@@chrisalexthomas glad to hear these videos are helpful. Regarding GPS, I switched to M10 modules this year and they work much better than the M8 ones I’ve always used.
Specifically HLGRC M100; not the mini version though, that one doesn’t work great for me.
But yea, anything under 5km is pretty easy with decent antennas. Are you using the VRX or HDZ Goggles?
@@GiantAntCowboy I’ve got one of those gps modules too. Other quad has one of those flywoo goku compass modules. I suspect the problem is more to do with betaflight though. One thing I added was one of those Vifly gpsmate devices so I can power the gps before I turn on the quad. And I’m running the hdzero freestyle v2 with the goggles. Not the vtx. One thing I realized though is that when I started to change around my antennas gave me amazing, or terrible reception. I had one antenna which would suffer to send video at 200mw a distance of
@@chrisalexthomas exactly, I like when people share full DVR footage so you can see how their performance compares to your own. I even review my own tests to see if my setup is perform better or worse than it used to.
Antennas/Coax/Connectors/Pigtails get damaged/worn pretty easily, and often cause poor signal performance. Always nice to have some spares to test.
Too much for HDZero?
Nah, my Hdzero setup can do the same run. I just recently got a good deal on some used DJI gear, so I’m finally testing the system.
Only took me 5 years to get DJI stuff... lol