Drone battery hack: Can a power tool 18650 battery fly a drone?
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- čas přidán 15. 04. 2017
- In this video, I will show you how to replace a lipo battery with an 18650 high discharge battery from a cordless drill. You'd get at least 3 times the run time compare to a stock lipo battery that comes with the drone. Let's see if it works!
how much run time do you really get?
I got about 10 minutes on a single 18650 (the original lipo battery that came with the drone gave me 3 minutes!). -->Edit: I just went out and played again today and it lasted for a whopping 15 minutes! The 18650 I used was only 1500mAh. There are much higher capacity ones right now up to 3000mAh. So imagine playing for half an hour straight on a single 18650 battery! I'm thinking of putting 2 cells in parallel and double the run time but this 18650 battery is heavy and it'd make the drone less efficient because it has to carry extra weight all the time. It's best to just replace a fresh 18650 when one runs out.
vuaeco I have 3.7 1200mah batteries on my syma that fit in the stock compartment and I get 15min fly times constantly. No mod required.
PalmettoMoon what's the battery brand?
dbbush777 Mine are batteries for the "Syma x5". They have a label on top that says " HobbyTiger" 3.7v 1200mah 25C.
vuaeco great video, but what is the plastic piece the battery sits in? Do you have a write up of procedures?
Dude, you might not be a great one-handed drone controller but you have found your calling with these videos. No wind in the mic just pure awesome info. Plus you knew your stuff with the output amps..I learned something. I also like your Vietnamese accent with the American phrases.."That's what she said" ...hilarious! Keep it up
LOL. Thanks Ken.
Shit, I cracked up at 0:47 "It's soo small, that's what she said..." ROFL... I almost pee.
Very ingenuous adaptation, i like it congratulations on a good solution.
was wondering using 18650 to power up drones without it turning into a ball of fire..looks pretty safe, thanks for making this video.
its safe i have done it many times and every charges a 18650 with a drone battery charger and it dident explode so its pretty safe to mod them
I cut away some of the unessential plastic subframe inside the battery compartment and inserted a higher capacity lithium battery. It dramatically increased flying time and didn't add as much weight as an 18650 cell, wires and holder does combined. The 18650 method also prevents the camera being mounted.
Thanks I did the same thing as you now my drone can last up to 17 hours man thanks so much
funny
Thank you very much for the link.
Digging the Rasta Fly'high paint job.
“Thats what she said”, your fuckin awesome lol.
This solution has been known for a long time. For the fully safe version, all you need is a BMS that will protect the battery against discharging below 2.7V and against too high current. The cost of BMS 1S is at most $1. I use 18650 batteries with a real 3200mAh instead of the factory supposedly 1800mAh ones, which have a real capacity of about 800mAh. Instead of 4 minutes of flight, I have 11 minutes. The weight of the drone has increased by about 28g.
You can get 3000 to 4000 lipo packs from amazon pretty cheap nowadays and run a lot longer without too much added weight although I do like the 18650 conversion.
I love your vids man you rock
I'm curious how much extra weight is added for that battery, and in general what the performance is like. I've found that putting heavier higher MAH batteries into smaller drones keeps them going longer but makes them slower and less agile once the battery has drained a bit, due to the extra weight
Brilliant idea going to try this ile let you know how I get on
Nice to see this video...I have thinking about it...adding mentally, with the same price and weight three times the flying time...As with all cheap drones, after landing, the motors must be run for a pair of minutes in low rpm, so the air cools them down...if motors are shut, all the heat remains and slowly burn, in the long run, the copper wire insulation.
what is the discharge current of that green battery you are using
Am wondering this too. Im not an avid drone hobbyist but my father bought a drone like 3 years ago, didnt take out the batteries in the controller, and misplaced the mx2.0 charger. Niece wanted to see the drone. But I just recently soldered click pen springs to the corroded controller battery casing and macgyvered a mx2.0 charger using wires and a 18650 charger. It worked, but it charged so long and flew and ran out quick. Was wondering what if I attached more batteries. I think a good study would be to check how much thrust the drone has, and check out how heavy the batteries are to find a best plan for my own preferences
I got 4 of those batteries w a 4 battery charger on Amazon for quiet money. Without the camera I got 7-8 min on each. With camera you're right 5-6 minutes max
😂😂😂"that's wut she said"
lol michael scott
I frickin lost it when he said that!! Lol
"Thats what she said" LoL XD XD
Where did you attach the red and black wires too
I just ordered a cheap husban drone with the intention of doing this exact thing. I use 18650 for my dashcam and other cheap camera I've bought with those cheap batteries. Nothing i buy stays original very long. Besides the battery change, i plan on modding gopro clip on the drone.
What is the C rating of your battery? Could you send a link for reference as to which kind of battery I should buy?
what's the motor on that drone?..
I got new high capacity same voltage same number of cells li-po 3.7 battery, but my drone shuts off and blinks (drained battery signal) when I try to take off. Seems that my new battery doesn't have proper discharge rate for the drone. Anything I can do?
I stepped on my mini drone and crushed the frame....i took the guts out and glued the board and attached motors to a cigarette with wire as a frame and poked through the paper...looked cool and flew but i landed on wet grass and it ruined the cig. I think i will glue the drone guts i still have to a small 18350 3.7 trustfire ecig battery and see if it can lift it.18350 means 1.8 cm diameter by 3.5 cm and weigh s 21.5 grams.. I also have your drone but i took the camera apart hot glued the naked camera board to the front and then the camera lenz and removed the legs and glued on 4 foam earplugs to replace them...noticably lighter so one 18650 should not affect performance if i swap batteries. Feel more confident now that i seen it works.
I'm gonna try that on my Carrera rc drone. Out of the box I get 40 seconds of flight on the supplied 3.7volt 1000mah. Battery.
Can't you just solder in a amp limiter or a voltage limiter...?
How does the C rating compare to the original drone battery
I've got a whole bunch of 16340's. Same voltage as my drone battery. Now I'll never have to stop flying. The mA/h is hilariously over rated on my 16340s. They say 2200mA/h lmao. Damn your drone is loud!
That's what she said. Lmao. You made my day!
Meee too
For real straight up out of the blue it so small that wut she said like it was from a memory of an experience he had I luv it so stupid so random video about a friggin drone battery hack and he drops it sooo small that's what she said in da mix and kept ridin with the video with out missing a beat f in hilarious
Yo i did the conversion and the only thing happened was the propellers kept spun lights didn't turn on wouldn't arm, I know i didnt burn out my brain with the 18650, u have the propel altitude drone..please help
Wow bro tnx for this
Which wasside you can buy this cell
*I want to put two batteries 18650 3500mAh. how should i connect them, parallel or series. What is better ?*
Thank you
what was the weight of battery?
it would be great to install 4 of 1860 with 2500 mah
can i use powerbank to fly my toy drone?
you need to recalibrate the magneto sensor, because the battery holder and the battery use iron components.❤
Have you tried this mod to syma x8???
Great tutorial! I have a question, Lipo batteries have a built in circuit, i'm not sure why but, don't we need to take that circuit off the lipos battery and add it to the irn 18650 btw the drone and the battery? Or is it not necessary? Thanks!
He doesn't understand your question, neither do I. Rephrase in a way someone could understand.
Ken Lopossa
He probably doesn't understand his own question.
@@klopossa2 you didnt understood about the question because you have idea about electronics
Not nessesary. Different battery chemistry is why one has it and one doesn't.
Could you please tell us, is the drone still "alive", I mean the electrical part?
I am not hater, just asking, because I intend to do the same.
But, I thought this:
You can increase the fly time, by installing higher capacity 18650 battery. But the battery is havier, and the motors would be forced to lift more waight, so I assume they will consume more power - the Watts will increase, so the Ampers increase too...I think this may burn tge electrical circuit.
Please tell me am I wright or wrong?
I agree, I think you're right - Just saved me destroying my son's drone so thanks :)
@@martingj6930 Hello!
I do not know if I am right.
Probably the electrical circuit and elements can stand some extra weight, but what is the maximum I do not know.
Maybe it can be calculated or found with some experiments.
That is why I asked the video autor.
@@martingj6930 The difference is in the discharge rate of the battery, called a "C" rating. The original batteries probably have a rating of 25 C or 35 C.
There are several videos on youtube that discuss the use of the 18650. As far as I can tell they discharge enough to fly, but the ability of the quadcopter is limited because it can't draw quite as much amperage.
I'm ordering parts to build a 3 or 4 inch racing quad, and intend to play around with these batteries myself. Everything on it will be minimal so I can have some room for the extra weight. If I had to guess, it will have a lower top speed, or less punch from a hover, because the 18650's won't discharge as quickly as a 2 cell lipo that is made for the quad even if the total weight is the same with a lipo.
from an electrical stand point, yes. Increase the Load, means increase the power, equals more consumption. Most quad motors come with a diagram for what type of blade to use on the motor. Those spec sheets will show how much amperage is used and what kind of lift is produced at what percent of power is being input. As No Need to Know says about the C rating, since it's relatively low, you may not burn up the circuit. If you are underpowering the motor, spin up times or maintaining high RPM's will be difficult.
there are Letters on the props and on the drone it self with my X5sw
you need to solder a good connector on the battery ...the battery holder is no good electrical contact
How long can it fly with 18650 battery ?
I have a 2200mAh LI-ION 18650 but it only lasts about 30 seconds before it drops from the sky and says my lights flash indicate low battery.
It was about 4.1v when I put it in my AKASO X5C syma clone quadcoptor.
I just used a few inches of electrical tape to tape it to my drone underneath.
Is mine too weak in discharge rate?
I have a 1300mAh 18650 cell out of a drill should I try using that one instead?
Yes, your 2200mah doesn't have enough discharge rate to provide the high current. I bet you it gets really hot after 30 seconds. A drill battery should do better.
You should take off the case and the propellers protection of the drone wich are useless and weight a lot
0:49 Hey Hey 😁!! How many minutes you get?
My drone got broken and the only thing i have is the black and red wire
Which is needed to connect the drone
Flight time?
My 3.7v vape battery also worked well 15 mins full charge
Vape batteries are good for these because they have high discharge rates.
vuaeco
Yes, likely. Some research will tell. Those batteries probably discharge more than fast enough. With other batteries... You might be able to guess by the battery's application. I took a bunch of 18650s out of an electric wheel. I think the wheel runs for up to 40 minutes, that's a lot longer/slower than a typical drone flight, so they might not work. I will be very careful during testing.
@@vuaeco sweet thanks bro i have one too al do it .
Hi, nice mod,
did You install BMS (Battery Management System)?
Or just battery without BMS?
No bms on board. Both original and 18650 need to be charge separate thus the need to replace the battery when discharged
It is truly an awesome idea. However I've never been successful with it.
Did you try High discharge?..No
I came here because I had the idea to do this but I wanted to know it it would work. I have a drone that the battery went bad in and I can’t find a battery that’ll work that fits inside my drone. I ordered one but it has smaller wires than the original battery and it doesn’t have enough amperage I guess. I thought 18650 would be the way to go but I’m still not sure even after watching this video 🤣
Can you plug 3 of this in series to make 3s cell? If my drone requires 11.1V(3s)
Sir why my drone lights is not flashing please sir help me
What about drones that have rectangular batteries with no cords or plugs?directly inserted into charger and drone
Won't work
Wow like you got lots of power now, you think you attached a GoPro camera on it .
Yes, lots of power now. This drone is too small for a GoPro camera. But if you have a bigger and more powerful drone, you can probably do that.
I made one for a shadow and battery got hot af, and only got it couple seconds flying, than the drone landed by itself, 5 or 10 seconds later it was able to fly again and all that repeated, even tho the batteries were charged
this is when drones where coming battrys have changed i n 5 years
0:47 O O F
Once you have the battery from a cordless drill, how do you charge the battery?
With a charger... That should be fairly obvious
@@3cHoStat😂
That’s what she said 🤣
Nice video bro, I have a question maybe u can halpme I try to upgrade a Battery in a little dron spider gw58 global its stock bateríe 500 mah 3.7 was dificulta to find, so I bought a 3.7 550 mah genéric, the first flight was nice 4 mins more than usual I plgged a conector to positive and negative point in fc, but after 2 flight bateríes seems fat and bigger as damage the dron dont flight again with those bats, only star lights try to run motors but nothing more but with its stock bateríes every its normal....i reconect the cables to main board but the same... Maybe those bateríes are voltaje low or what could be happen...really apreciate your advice to mod the original bats to a genéric, maybe the valtaje and mah are similar but bateríes es samller cound affect...?
@Renzo Guzzo thanks for your answer very usefull
Sir where are you Buying this PRODUCT or CELL, Charger, and Cell Case
Any of the USB cellphone battery "extender/booster" power packs will do - they are typically $1 for 1100mah and $2 for 2200mah in the dollar stores - they are 5v output, but inside there is the 3.7v battery and voltage converter
I've powered action cameras directly using the 5v output, but not sure whether the cheap 3.7v drones can take 5v directly without burning up
@@stopthemadness5477 Thanks Bro
Change battery holder with springless. The spring cause a voltage drop. Best way is solder battery directly wires.
i doubt that a little drone would pull that much power to make a difference, in a high current case yes thats best but these pull so little current that it would barely make a difference
Hey mate, i've got a question.
Can drone fly for about 15 mins with cell phone battery 3.7v 1200mah ?
No, cell phone and laptop batteries are not made for these. You need a high discharge Li-ion cell like the ones from cordless power tools or high discharge Lipo cells from RC toys.
Hmm, mine drone is like yours, is there any chance to fly about 1 hour without charging
Something like LG HD2C
This drone is not a strong drone. It can only lift one 18650 cell and that's it. If you put 2 cells in parallel, it cannot get off the ground because of the extra weight. You can run it for one hour by putting more cells in parallel but you'll need a more powerful drone.
Aaand, can i use 2200mah 18650 cell?
I have a Mavic Clone Drone from wish
As soon as I conect the 18650 🔋 it starts spinning but without turning on the power button on.. Why?
Because of wrong power terminal
after i try it, why my can't turn on, even with original battery
PILOT TENGIL - Raden Jailani same problem brother i will try this but not working my drone is not connecting to my transmitter
Its possible that you burn out your circuits...higher voltage is deadly for the circuits...
Make sure the battery you used was of the same voltage of the battery that came with the drone
did you connect it the correct way round ?
What model of drone is that?
Nice upgrade...
Thanks. It's this item: Swann XTTOY-QVDRNE-GL Quad Force Video Drone Surveillance Camera, Red. Here's the link on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Swann-XTTOY-QVDRNE-GL-Force-Surveillance-Camera/dp/B018S08N4I
Good video , thanks for taking the time to do it.
I tried with 3000mAh, 3.7A the drone starts up and shutdown by it self !! over charged ?
Check your battery. If your battery gets hot then it's being overloaded. You will need a higher discharge battery.
The drone one runs for a second ... ond off by it's self. I tried using it on a single motorize fan. it's been running for the last 24 hours !
Isn't it bad for the drone to put a 18650 that fully charged has 4.2v instead of 3.7 from the stock battery?
No , 3.7v is nominal power. check your voltage on a fully charged stock lithium polymer battery and you'll find the max voltage is 4.2v. Difference is weight. li-ion has metal casing and can have higher capacity. What you should worry about is if the motors can handle the longer running times.
JAC If I use one Samsung INR18650 25R, will I supply the engines? My Drone is Syma X5
25R can output 20 amps. They will do.
There ya go..great dialog guys..I'm learning..
Which type of company cell I use to fly it
Bro, you can use any 18650 cells available at hand. Best option tear apart a good quality power bank and get the battery out to play with.
It's so small that's what she said. did you catch that?
YES, NOT THE BEST JOKE TELLER, BUT EFFECTIVE ENOUGH TO GET A REPLY......LOL
Its funny cause he's asian 😂
jeff stehlik lmao that was great
It took me off guard but I literally laughed out loud.
U freak
Hi, I wanna ask:
I have a Parrot Jumping Night Drone:
Drone: 3.7V 2A Max
Battery Pack: Li-PO 3.7V 550mAh 2Wh 15C Cont Discharge
Battery is dropping. Usually I can play up to 20 mins, now below 5 minutes.
I want to diy using 18650 battery.
I have AWT 3500mAH 3.7V 35A High Drain and MXJO 3500mAH 3.7V 20A (both are authentics). I use for vaping device.
- Can I use my vape battery to drone? I plan to mount only 1 battery, probably using battery slot so I can easily recharge it.
I have Nitecore UM2 USB Charger.
- If can, do I have to tear down the original battery, take the BMS and put into 18650 battery or I can simply soldering cable at drone connector to the battery without BMS?
For safety reason, which is best?
- Also, there are 3 connectors on the drone, I think 1 for battery level, how to soldering it so I can see the battery level on the smartphone.
- I think with 1 single 18650 battery with 3500mAH, I can get very longer play time. I confuse with 2A Max warning on the drone and 30A or 20A on the battery.
Can you help giving me understanding about it? Waiting for your feedback. Many thanks.
"Can a 18650 fly a drone" - perhaps only specific ones. E.g. SNAPTAIN S5C did not work with Sony 18650 V5. Props start to spin, but drone does not lift from ground. Also, after couple of seconds drone starts to complain that the battery is low (which is not true. But I guess C rating of Sony 18650 is too low (
yeah thats what she said.
Yo puse ese batería y no aguanta volar por peso batería
you know a tripper battery is rechargeable
I think the heat will damage the battery
I tried to put a li-ion battery in my drone , first it's working but after on day - its swelled , and stop working , so it's battery if you using the li-po batteries
Yes, it's the discharge rate. Apparently some 18650s can handle it.
I plan to try, soon. I will fly it for a few seconds and then feel the batteries. Also, you want to keep it low while testing in case the drone shuts off because of insufficient current. And don't push it.
@@johnserling9843 18650 are high drain by design. Do you know the draw the drone is getting from the battery?
Bob Atom
Actually there is a BIG difference between one 18650/20700/whatever and the next.
Knowing the current draw would be great. There are some CZcams videos attempting to show that.
I bought a cheap $10 cellphone charger. I took it apart and it's 4000mAh. But its very heavy.
Cell phone charger power bank has very low discharge rate. It won't be able to power this.
Flight starts @5:40 for the impatient
did not work herethe drone goes out when i hit the throtel
First and foremost, your drone has to be strong enough to lift the battery. I tried it on a Syma helicopter but the copter didn't have enough power to lift the 18650 battery even though the battery is more than capable. And then the battery itself needs to have a high discharge rate to power the motor. If you pull an 18650 from a laptop battery and try on the drone, you will just have a good laugh as it only has enough power to spin the motor and that's it. What kind of battery did you try on your drone and what kind of drone is it?
different laptop has different 18650 batteries.
it takes less than an hour to CHARGE and average laptop top. 45-60 mins.. There's more resistance flowing OUT than flowing IN ????
I think it has more to do with the drone only having 7mm motors
You can swap out to 8025 coreless motor...you just need to get
motor shaft pinon gear for 7mm ( 1mm shaft...9 teeth)
or get motor and gear sets fro the 8025 motors...
which is border line dangerous with just POP ON props.
Plus motors will generate MORE HEAT from LONGER run time..
Highly recommend using metal pin gears ( cheap)
Or install 180 motors...5 - 12 V.
Highly recommend props using prop nuts
using 2-3 cells...
In most case...In the USA you'll have to resgistor ur drone
and get INSURANCE for it...if it's over 226 grams
So...8025 with Prop adaptors...So you can use different
size props and PITCH would be more appliable
to keep it under 226 grams
True NO one can give a clear answer on C ratings on these 18650
but Im leaning on 2200 mah from old lap tops has higher C ratings
than 2600 or 3000 mah
Hello! Got an issue here: I upgraded a 500mAh battery in my drone for 1500mAh one, everything seems okay, drone starts responding normally, diodes are flashing, FPV wifi working perfectly. But when I start motors, they move just a bit, then drone completely turns off. Is this some kind of protection driven by flightcontroller? I believe the new battery isnt able to deliver enough current to motors. Anyone knows anything that might be helpful?
I think that's the case. You need a high discharge battery. The mAh rating is just a capacity rating and it has nothing to do with discharge rate.
Thanks. I thought, however, low amps should cause motors to spin slower, but they should spin at least a little :D So undervoltage is definitely not the case? You know, inner resistance..
Hi, I'm thinking about holder for 2x18650 in parallel, that would provide enough power to the drone, right?
Bigger drone yes, smaller ..make it real sluggish no fun. Like Syma X8c ok but X5c just one high disch cell.
For my 8807HD it might me OK.
What's the model of this drone?
It's X5c or any small drone that runs on 4 volts. But not too small has to carry the weight. X5c very cheap and reliable.
I see, thank you!
That's what she said...😂
The cheap drones are difficult to fly, no gps and stable mode. Invest on a DJI phantom 3 or 4, you can hover hands free
Cheap drones are fun and economical. And more theft proof. And if they fly away from you.. won't have to cry as much.
Not everyone has $500 -$2500!bucks to drop on a drone.. You can hover hands free with $80 Vivitar..
it it possiable to change bigger motor on your drone
It has 4 motors. It might be possible but the cost outweighs the benefit of new motor. Might as well get a better drone all together.
thanks for quik response,i had two helicopters,i was thinking on putting these moters in,what you think
udi cheap drone
Need more than one drone. Sports drone, fast..Cam drone footage etc..
Me used high drain batt AWT imr 18650 3000mah 40A 45minute play long enough
Mohd Razali - brother really? On a medium size drone?? Answer me.
no such product exist. on a 18650 battery best you can get is 2000mah at 30 amps closer to 1900mah
Samsung 30Q and 25R are 3000mah 30A and 2500mah 25A respectively.
Mohd Razali what if tablet battery?
Mohd Razali what if tablet battery?
Ever try to cannibalize the battery from a 25,000 mAh lipo battery bank? They're light and high discharge
Most USB battery banks are low discharge. They only charge USB devices so there's no reason for them to install a high discharge cell anyway. I've cannibalized many USB battery banks and all of them have low discharge cells, including the Lipo ones.
Bro my drone is not supporting the battery
It will more heavier than Lipo and cannot lift by it
Try it for yourself before you give such conclusion. If you have a small drone, of course it won't lift it. Your drone has to be big and powerful enough to do this. The battery is more than capable.
And for small drone what should I have to do
that last flight looked like it was having problems keeping the weight in the air.
I wonder if 14500 batteries will work
The discharge rate capability of the battery is what matters.
My drone original battery is 3.7 780mAh it bought a 3.7 1000mAH battery but when I try to fly the drone using the 1000mah the drone cuts off itself . Could someone help me?
did you solve the problem ?
@@Pera-Peric yup , i switch the old battery circuit board to the new battery
u could also used a mobile battery
That can only spin the motors but won't lift the drone off the ground.
Yep, tried it no go. This guy knows his stuff..Swat she said..
I Thought 18650 Were Rechargable?
GeloPlayz MC they are
1:31
Mine last 8 min
probbably wont get as long as you would if it where a new battery
Longer if it is higher Mah
Ken Lopossa what i meant is that it looses its capacity slowly as its used so a old one wont last aywhere near as long a new one if they are the same Mah rating
0ne Shot Paddy
That's true, but I think the point of the video is more about whether 18650s are usable.
this batt like i use for vape...:) or u can get this batt from broken laptop batt cheersss :)
Go to the tobacco shop and get one samsung battery and see if it works or keep buying different ones until it works or you set your drone on fire.