S800 WKM Configuration

gtranquilla

RadioActive
Nathasm also asked about volt protection settings in his original question but everyone so far responded only on the gain settings. I believe the volt listing he wrote were the defaults that WKM Assistant loads...... not the best choice for real world flying..... Anyone care to share there new 6S settings for all here?
 

r44heli

Member
We do not use the WKM voltage protection. We use telemetry on our DX8 and a Spektrum STI on our iPad to monitor in real time the pack voltage. We use 3.3v per cell (19.8v on 6S - which we round up to 20v) as the TX alarm threshold and then land as soon as possible.
 

Korky

Member
We do not use the WKM voltage protection. We use telemetry on our DX8 and a Spektrum STI on our iPad to monitor in real time the pack voltage. We use 3.3v per cell (19.8v on 6S - which we round up to 20v) as the TX alarm threshold and then land as soon as possible.

why do you not use the wkm voltage protection- why do people use something else to monitor the voltage? Please don't say it's personal preference.

The reason I ask is because I'm trying to investigate why my s800 keeps going into failsafe go-home. As soon as I increase the speed of the motors the led light starts flashing, and I have to land. My 6s 10000mah battery shows 23.14v current voltage with motors off, and I can take off again with the same battery without having a problem with red flashing light until I start taxing the motors again. I think it's something to do with the voltage draw from the motors and my setting in wkm. I have no payload other than weight of the battery itself.

so my first question is what should my voltage protection setting be for a 6s 10000mah and a 6s 150000mah? The 15000mah is 1.7kg? Also what should be my gains for 1.7kg battery payload?

first level protection:
No load =
Loss = (how do I work this value out?)
Loaded =
Safegard = Gh & Landing or LED Waring?
Shouldn't the go home feature only trigger after the second level protection is reached, and not the first level?


...and same for Secound level:

No load =Loss =
Loaded =



Also what flight time can I expect with a 6s 15000mah, with only battery as payload? I'm getting less than 15min and I remember the sales pitch was 30min flight time with no gimbel!

i don't want to turn off the voltage go home feature because I'm not quite sure if its the battery or the transmitter. I have lost control the machine twice today, each time it going back to home location and landing safely. I have a feeling its more likely the voltage setting that are triggering it to failsafe as the battery has been charged fully and still got the same problem after 5min of flight.

thanks in advance!
 

gtranquilla

RadioActive
Monitoring MR battery voltage level via FPV is the preferred method over a flashing level 1 LED on the MR. The DJI volt protection provision is a crude method subject to error for a variety of reasons. An iOSD onboard can also record individual motor performance volt/current data to analyse more thoroughly after a flight. Heavy current draw during rapid motor acceleration can in some cases cause a momentary voltage dip which can then result in an unexpected RTH or much worse. Are you batteries at least 35C? Do you have real data on their internal resistance? How many cycles on those batteries?
 

r44heli

Member
As gtraguilla mentions, the WKM voltage protection is not too reliable, coupled with the rather confusing LED indications I like to keep things simple. Once my S800 is in flight the only LED indication I am interested in seeing is the blue flashing GPS lock. I have iOSD active so my camera operator has the pack voltage on screen, I have Telemetry to the flight transmitter that gives me pack voltage, and I use Spectrum STI telemetry to an iPad for backup. I fly with 10,000 6S packs and monitor the voltage during the flight aiming to touch down at 20 volts. The reason for this is that I do not allow my packs to go below 3.3 volts per cell (19.8v for 6S). Charlie Wang, who owns ThunderPower told me that if you use these numbers you can expect significantly more cycles out of a pack. He mentioned that on no account allow lipos to discharge to less that 3.0v per cell. This has proved worthwhile advice as I get very good duration and life out of my packs, and they stay in balance with good consistency. Flight times vary with load, temperature, wind and how much hovering you are doing. I reliably get 9 minutes from a 10,000 30C pack with Z15 and Sony NEX5R, so probably would get around 12/13 minutes with a 15,000 pack. Not sure where you read 30 minutes, I cannot see any combination of current packs that would give you 30 minutes. May I suggest you inhibit the WKM voltage protection and go home and try hovering the machine for 5 minutes with fully charged packs, then recharge the packs and note what capacity goes back in. This will give you some idea of what a 5 minute flight takes out of the packs and you can calculate what fight time you are likely to get.
 
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Korky

Member
Battery voltage

Monitoring MR battery voltage level via FPV is the preferred method over a flashing level 1 LED on the MR. The DJI volt protection provision is a crude method subject to error for a variety of reasons. An iOSD onboard can also record individual motor performance volt/current data to analyse more thoroughly after a flight. Heavy current draw during rapid motor acceleration can in some cases cause a momentary voltage dip which can then result in an unexpected RTH or much worse. Are you batteries at least 35C? Do you have real data on their internal resistance? How many cycles on those batteries?


I have two 6s 15000mah 15c packs. Here is the link to the batteries I got from aliexpress china. The description said "original dji s800" batteries so i just bought them thinking they would be the right voltage a c rating. i assumed they would be sufficient, without paying too much attention to the C rating.
http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/251826992.html

These are brand new so They have only had a few charges.


i also have a 6s 10000mah (25c I believe ?) white label battery (link to spec below):
http://www.heliguy.com/Extras/LiPo-Batteries/Heliguy-Whitelabel-Rechargeable-6S-10000mAh-22.2V/

I get less problems with the whitelabel battery then the other two.

What battery combination do others use for the s800. Is there any recommendations you can give me?p

thanks again.
 


Korky

Member
As gtraguilla mentions, the WKM voltage protection is not too reliable, coupled with the rather confusing LED indications I like to keep things simple. Once my S800 is in flight the only LED indication I am interested in seeing is the blue flashing GPS lock. I have iOSD active so my camera operator has the pack voltage on screen, I have Telemetry to the flight transmitter that gives me pack voltage, and I use Spectrum STI telemetry to an iPad for backup. I fly with 10,000 6S packs and monitor the voltage during the flight aiming to touch down at 20 volts. The reason for this is that I do not allow my packs to go below 3.3 volts per cell (19.8v for 6S). Charlie Wang, who owns ThunderPower told me that if you use these numbers you can expect significantly more cycles out of a pack. He mentioned that on no account allow lipos to discharge to less that 3.0v per cell. This has proved worthwhile advice as I get very good duration and life out of my packs, and they stay in balance with good consistency. Flight times vary with load, temperature, wind and how much hovering you are doing. I reliably get 9 minutes from a 10,000 30C pack with Z15 and Sony NEX5R, so probably would get around 12/13 minutes with a 15,000 pack. Not sure where you read 30 minutes, I cannot see any combination of current packs that would give you 30 minutes. May I suggest you inhibit the WKM voltage protection and go home and try hovering the machine for 5 minutes with fully charged packs, then recharge the packs and note what capacity goes back in. This will give you some idea of what a 5 minute flight takes out of the packs and you can calculate what fight time you are likely to get.


Thank you. I will try out your suggestion.
Note I don't have a z15 or nex5r, so I was expecting with zero equipemnt on the s800, i could get better flight times then the 12/13 min (a 15,000 pack) ? Maybe not the 30min but at least 20 min of flying time? I understand that this would also depend on how I fly the s800.
i do have the iOSD but I don't currently have a lcd screen to to display the information, nor do I have video download link yet so I decided not to put it on the s800. I wonder if I could get live data to my laptop without the need for the LCD and video down link. I think I should be able to obtain the data once the aircraft lands by downloading a file via USB from the iOSD and analyse the file offline. I might try this tomorrow just to get to the bottom of the go home problem.

what make / model batteries do you have. Is there a link you could point me so I can compare spec and price?

Your help is much appreciated!
 


Korky

Member
Monitoring MR battery voltage level via FPV is the preferred method over a flashing level 1 LED on the MR. The DJI volt protection provision is a crude method subject to error for a variety of reasons. An iOSD onboard can also record individual motor performance volt/current data to analyse more thoroughly after a flight. Heavy current draw during rapid motor acceleration can in some cases cause a momentary voltage dip which can then result in an unexpected RTH or much worse. Are you batteries at least 35C? Do you have real data on their internal resistance? How many cycles on those batteries?

So gtranquilla, is 15C not good?
 

Korky

Member
So i fully charged my 6s 10000mah today and took the s800 out and got 20 min flight time. I changed my voltage protection on the Wookong to 20.00v first level and 19.8 Secound level. The go-home did not cick in this time so no drama there...
When I landed I tested the battery voltage with a pocket voltage tester. It showed 22.19v (4 cells were 3.7v and the remaining 2 were 3.69v). When I took the tray battery tray off I noticed the battery was a little more warmer then usual. When I returned home I put the battery on charge and my charger told me I had 19% battery life remaining. It's still on charge now at 67% and I have put back approx 4700mah. Does this sound about right ? Have I got my voltage protection setup correctly? Should I be worried about the battery warming up?
ow...I forgot to mention 70% of the time I was hovering 2/3m above ground and there was no wind.
 
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gtranquilla

RadioActive
You need a minimum of 35C IMHO...... Electrochemistry in your battery must keep up with MR torque requirements or the voltage will suddenly drop leading the controller to respond according to your RTH and low voltage settings. In some cases, where the voltage drops into the controller processor brownout condition, the controller will reboot in the air...... if you are lucky and/or will simply crash......a reboot means that the takeoff GPS position will be lost and then RTH will no longer work.....
So gtranquilla, is 15C not good?
 

schwett

Member
I'm curious that nobody has any z values for the IMU. On my s800, the CG in the Z axis is quite a bit below the bottom plate. The batteries are mounted on two of the standard mounts and there's a heavy camera below that. Total max weight (both batteries, heavy camera, camera wifi control) is about 6600g, and my settings are about minus 7 in the z axis for the imu and then minus 19 for the gps.


With this weight does anyone think I need the v2 IMU?
 

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