DJI F550 Low Flight Times - Working To Improve

[PCMAerial]

Hey everyone, flying for a few weeks now around here. Thanks to this website for helping me get things together!

Now I'm wondering how to improve these flight times. I'm only averaging 5min and 30sec every flight. Hasn't changed a bit. Do I need to change things in my naza assistant for battery voltage, or need more power to the craft? I've seen other people getting double the flight time on the same setup. I run about 5min and then my red LED starts up and I know it's time to come down. Controls get sluggish, etc. Although when I charge my battery I'm never even using(or replacing) 50% of the charge..


Specs:
-DJI F550
-2212 Motors
-30a ESC's
-8" Stock Props
-3300mAh 4s LiPo
-GoPro (NO Gimbal)
-Taranis & X8R Receiver

Fairly simple setup. Only running one battery. No gimbal just gopro on suction mount until my gimbal arrives.

I've ordered new propellers (8inch carbon fill) and hoping this will improve my flight times as the DJI stock props aren't too nice

Thanks everyone! Ready to post some screengrabs soon

 

[Jareth_Atian]

It's possible that your voltage protection settings are set too high and the red-light is going off too early. What settings do you have at the moment? Also...when you re-charge your battery, how many mAh are you putting back after your 5.5 minute flights?

(You may also end up wanting to go to a larger battery to get longer flight times...I run a 6000mAh 4S LiPo on my F550.)

 

[fj_montilla]

Hey PCM,

Increasing your battery to a 4S 5000mah will get you decent flight times. I have a similar setup, but with gimbal, video tx, landing gear, and dji 1038 props.
I get 7min from a 3S 4000mah battery, and 12 min with a 4S 5000 mah.

With your battery setup, adding 1038 props will increase somewhat the flighttime, but the gain would be minimal compared to adding a battery with more capacity.
Good luck,

 

[haha49]

Ok I did some testing for my setup it's the following it's like yours

I have grabner 9.5 props.

All are 4s Lipos
I run a 6000 mah battrey weight around 620g I get 11 minutes of hovering 5:30 really fast flight
If I run a 10400 mah Lion Battrey which is 1000g I get 16 minutes in 16 km/h wind (I was very impressed with it)
If I run a 3000 Mah Battrey Which is 400g I get 4 minutes of hovering and 2-3 aggresive flight.

If you are going straight up you eat battery power or if you go out you use slightly less then going up. It comes down to the props weight and type of flying.

I just started flying with the 10400mah lipo (Lion power) I'm going to order more and do more flights with it to see what it can really do it wasn't to heavy to fly 2 6000 4s lipos with the DJI 10 inch plastic props were to much weight. It had to work hard and was slugish to fly (like flying a brick) The Grabner props made a huge difference in the way it flys and it added on average 2 minutes per flight per type of battrey.

Now if I fly just 8 inch props no landing gear a simple gopro and basic transmiter I was getting really good flight times I lost 4 minutes adding landing gear and a gimbal.

The times above are with the following

DJI F550 Frame
DJI Naza V1
Mini Osd (DJI osd)
Boscam 5.8ghz transmiter
2.4ghz radio Frsky
Afromen ESC (SimonK flash)
DJI recomended motors
Grabner 9.5 inch props (10.5 are better)

Everything runs off the 4s lipo I run it through the balance lead and my last flight with the 10400 mah lion power 4s lipo I had the cells at the following. 3.74, 3.74, 3.73, 3.73 Charging it back up right now it takes a good while to do. That was testing to see how long I could fly I got 15 minutes before the throttle down warning kicked in I set it to 14.2 volts on the naza which normally it's 14.3

 

[haha49]

here is a video of the 15 minute flight in 16 km/h winds. A storm was coming in so it was very gusty and a constant wind.

 

[PCMAerial]

It's possible that your voltage protection settings are set too high and the red-light is going off too early. What settings do you have at the moment? Also...when you re-charge your battery, how many mAh are you putting back after your 5.5 minute flights?

(You may also end up wanting to go to a larger battery to get longer flight times...I run a 6000mAh 4S LiPo on my F550.)

I'm putting about 1400 mAh back into my battery after each flight. Got a 3300mAh battery. So it's looking like I'm only depleting around half of my battery. I'm going to check my naza voltage settings. But EVERYTIME I fly, I get to about 4min30seconds and my rig starts moving sluggish, won't accelerate without new battery

 

[PCMAerial]

Hey PCM,

Increasing your battery to a 4S 5000mah will get you decent flight times. I have a similar setup, but with gimbal, video tx, landing gear, and dji 1038 props.
I get 7min from a 3S 4000mah battery, and 12 min with a 4S 5000 mah.

With your battery setup, adding 1038 props will increase somewhat the flighttime, but the gain would be minimal compared to adding a battery with more capacity.
Good luck,

Looks like I got a few of the smaller size batteries. I'm ONLY getting 4min30sec flights now on my rig. I bought some new 8" Carbon fill gemfan props. But I think they aren't all balanced because my rig tends to drift a bit now. The DJI props just seemed so flimsy

 

[PCMAerial]

Ok I did some testing for my setup it's the following it's like yours

I have grabner 9.5 props.

All are 4s Lipos
I run a 6000 mah battrey weight around 620g I get 11 minutes of hovering 5:30 really fast flight
If I run a 10400 mah Lion Battrey which is 1000g I get 16 minutes in 16 km/h wind (I was very impressed with it)
If I run a 3000 Mah Battrey Which is 400g I get 4 minutes of hovering and 2-3 aggresive flight.

If you are going straight up you eat battery power or if you go out you use slightly less then going up. It comes down to the props weight and type of flying.

I just started flying with the 10400mah lipo (Lion power) I'm going to order more and do more flights with it to see what it can really do it wasn't to heavy to fly 2 6000 4s lipos with the DJI 10 inch plastic props were to much weight. It had to work hard and was slugish to fly (like flying a brick) The Grabner props made a huge difference in the way it flys and it added on average 2 minutes per flight per type of battrey.

Now if I fly just 8 inch props no landing gear a simple gopro and basic transmiter I was getting really good flight times I lost 4 minutes adding landing gear and a gimbal.

The times above are with the following

DJI F550 Frame
DJI Naza V1
Mini Osd (DJI osd)
Boscam 5.8ghz transmiter
2.4ghz radio Frsky
Afromen ESC (SimonK flash)
DJI recomended motors
Grabner 9.5 inch props (10.5 are better)

Everything runs off the 4s lipo I run it through the balance lead and my last flight with the 10400 mah lion power 4s lipo I had the cells at the following. 3.74, 3.74, 3.73, 3.73 Charging it back up right now it takes a good while to do. That was testing to see how long I could fly I got 15 minutes before the throttle down warning kicked in I set it to 14.2 volts on the naza which normally it's 14.3

Nice video! I'd kill for 15minutes of flight time LOL. So I guess I got the 3300mAh expecting a bit better flight times. I was on the coast yesterday couldn't even squeeze 5minutes from each of my LiPo's. Guessing the wind made a difference.

I got new props 8" carbon fill gemfans. Maybe balancing will give me better flight times? Or am I pretty much limited to 5min on a 3300mAh battery

 

[Uncle Meat]

I have a stock DJI F550 frame, esc's, & motors running the stock 10-in props with the following add-ons... NAZA-M v2, GoPro Hero 3+ Black, Zenmuse H3-2D, iOSD Mini, Iris Ariel Bat Wing & landing legs, Boscam TS353 400mW Tx, Boscam RX-LCD5802. I use an Onyx 6400mAh 3S battery and consistently get 11:30 - 12:30 flight times. Total weight of my 550 with battery and all accessories is 2200 grams.

You need more battery.

U.M.

 

[Jareth_Atian]

I'm putting about 1400 mAh back into my battery after each flight. Got a 3300mAh battery. So it's looking like I'm only depleting around half of my battery. I'm going to check my naza voltage settings. But EVERYTIME I fly, I get to about 4min30seconds and my rig starts moving sluggish, won't accelerate without new battery

You should ideally use 80% of your battery (2640 mA) before you come down. Again, what are your naza voltage protection settings currently? If your lipo protection is being triggered too soon, the expected behavior might be that your craft would become sluggish and won't accelerate without a new battery...

If you get 4 minutes and 30 seconds on 1400 mA...you should be able to get almost 8 and a half minutes on 2640 mA.

 

[PCMAerial]

You should ideally use 80% of your battery (2640 mA) before you come down. Again, what are your naza voltage protection settings currently? If your lipo protection is being triggered too soon, the expected behavior might be that your craft would become sluggish and won't accelerate without a new battery...

If you get 4 minutes and 30 seconds on 1400 mA...you should be able to get almost 8 and a half minutes on 2640 mA.

Here's my naza voltage when I hook it up, maybe I have things set wrong.

View attachment 18183

 

[Jareth_Atian]

Try the following:


First level protection:
No load: 14.80V
Loss: 0.40V
Loaded: 14.40V


Second level protection:
No Load: 13.60V
Loss: 0.40V
Loaded: 13.20V

(Basically...first warning at 3.7V per cell, 2nd warning at 3.4V per cell, and assuming 0.1V per cell loss under load).

Fiddle with those numbers until you find (when you recharge) that you're using ~80% of the battery's capacity.

With modern LiPo's, it *MAY* not hurt to use a bit more than 80% of the battery's capacity...but I'm cautious by nature, so that's the number I aim for.

 

[haha49]

Try the following:


First level protection:
No load: 14.80V
Loss: 0.40V
Loaded: 14.40V


Second level protection:
No Load: 13.60V
Loss: 0.40V
Loaded: 13.20V

(Basically...first warning at 3.7V per cell, 2nd warning at 3.4V per cell, and assuming 0.1V per cell loss under load).

Fiddle with those numbers until you find (when you recharge) that you're using ~80% of the battery's capacity.

With modern LiPo's, it *MAY* not hurt to use a bit more than 80% of the battery's capacity...but I'm cautious by nature, so that's the number I aim for.

I set my warning at 14.2 that's when it throttles down. I find I fly till I hit 14.2-14.3 if I go lower bad things start to happen I could do more but my lipos are sitting at 3.74 at the lowest at that setting

 

[PCMAerial]

Try the following:


First level protection:
No load: 14.80V
Loss: 0.40V
Loaded: 14.40V


Second level protection:
No Load: 13.60V
Loss: 0.40V
Loaded: 13.20V

(Basically...first warning at 3.7V per cell, 2nd warning at 3.4V per cell, and assuming 0.1V per cell loss under load).

Fiddle with those numbers until you find (when you recharge) that you're using ~80% of the battery's capacity.

With modern LiPo's, it *MAY* not hurt to use a bit more than 80% of the battery's capacity...but I'm cautious by nature, so that's the number I aim for.

I just changed my voltage settings to those you listed above, and although I flew with NO camera attached..I still saw MUCH better flight times!! Only about 3min added, but thats huge for me!! Got about 8min on one 3300mAh lipo and I actually landed it before the voltage LED went off. Going to see how much I put back in charging and see how it works after that.

I wasn't aware my rig will move sluggish EVEN if the battery is still holding over 50%. Now I can see my NAZA voltage settings were way off. Really appreciate the help man. My next step is to check the flight times with a camera.

Does anyone out there recommend/not recommend swapping different batteries during use? Like if I have (2) 3300mAh and run them out, can I also run some 5000mAh in the same session after the other batteries are depleted, or do I have to reconfigure my settings every time I use different batteries?

Thanks guys!! Glad to see improvement and learn how to make it work

 

[haha49]

I just changed my voltage settings to those you listed above, and although I flew with NO camera attached..I still saw MUCH better flight times!! Only about 3min added, but thats huge for me!! Got about 8min on one 3300mAh lipo and I actually landed it before the voltage LED went off. Going to see how much I put back in charging and see how it works after that.

I wasn't aware my rig will move sluggish EVEN if the battery is still holding over 50%. Now I can see my NAZA voltage settings were way off. Really appreciate the help man. My next step is to check the flight times with a camera.

Does anyone out there recommend/not recommend swapping different batteries during use? Like if I have (2) 3300mAh and run them out, can I also run some 5000mAh in the same session after the other batteries are depleted, or do I have to reconfigure my settings every time I use different batteries?

Thanks guys!! Glad to see improvement and learn how to make it work

The sluggish is the naza warning you it's low to what ever you set it too.

 

[Jareth_Atian]

I'm glad to help!

As haha49 noted, the sluggishness was being imposed by the Naza flight controller as part of its voltage protection methodology...since your settings were such that you were entering voltage-protection mode too soon, you would see the sluggish behavior even on the half-full battery.

As for swapping battery sizes...as long as the 5000mAh batteries are also 4S, you won't need to make any changes to the voltage settings between flights. The difference in weight is probably not significant enough that you'd need to change the gains, either.

 

[spartan2381]

What would you suggest if using a 3S battery for first level protection?