Two 5,000 6S or one 10,000?

[mediaguru]

Okay so my hexacopter is built and flying well. To date I've only had one set of dual 5000mAh 6S batteries. I'm getting about 10 minutes of flight time and landing very conservatively at 3.75 volts per cell or more.

That's great, but after 10 minutes I'm done until I can go charge my two batteries again. I hope to do some battery shopping soon. One issue with the two batteries is that my telemetry on my Taranis tells me my voltage, but only for one of the two batteries. The other battery is usually right with the one I'm measuring though.

Since the bird currently is setup for two 5000mAh batteries and is balancing well, is that better or do you prefer one 10,000? I'll have to change my frame a bit if I go with 10,000+'s at this point.

Suggestions?

 

[kloner]

with multi batteries inline or parralel it is measuring both batteries voltages, just not current if it has that. it would be half....

the biggest hurdle is being able to carry just one pack and maintain cg.... if the rig does it, you will benefit from the weight lost

 

[mediaguru]

with multi batteries inline or parralel it is measuring both batteries voltages, just not current if it has that. it would be half....

the biggest hurdle is being able to carry just one pack and maintain cg.... if the rig does it, you will benefit from the weight lost

Thanks kloner.

My voltage meter which reads individual cells attaches to the balance port, so thus one battery. I do have an FrSky voltage monitor I can put inline, but it would give me overall voltage, not per-cell.

So yeah, weight. Just did some checking on that. The 10,000mAh version of my battery (Pulse) is 1400g. Each 5000 is 788g. By going with the 10,000 I could save 172 grams. But my FC is mounted on top of the center plate with each 5000 on either side. To mount the 10,000 above the FC I think would put far too much weight too high.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

IMO, I wouldn't fly any serious machine on a single battery. This gives you some redundancy against your one and only battery failing open circuit, which is the most common failure (they almost never short out in flight, which would take down even a dual battery setup, in flames).

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

I'm also a fan of dual lipos. A little more redundancy at the expense of a little bit more weight.

 

[fltundra]

My voltage meter which reads individual cells attaches to the balance port, so thus one battery. .

You can now run 2 lipo sensors with the latest versions of OpenTX firmware. Picked up that bit of info it about a month ago over in the taranis thread.

 

[fpmurphy]

You can also use a small parallel balance lead to connect your lipo sensor to both batteries. It will give you the average across matching cells, but this should be close enough to know when to land.

 

[dazzab]

Aren't you running a SuperX on your bird? If so, and with most other FCs, you can get a voltage warning across the OSD if you have one. Even though I have OSD I still fly with a lipo low voltage buzzer connected to one of the two batteries. Like you my two batteries have never been any different in values when checked after landing or during charging.

 

[mediaguru]

IMO, I wouldn't fly any serious machine on a single battery. This gives you some redundancy against your one and only battery failing open circuit, which is the most common failure (they almost never short out in flight, which would take down even a dual battery setup, in flames).

Well, I consider my machine a serious machine. I know the amount of cash and time I've spent on it is serious. Thanks kloner.

Also thanks to benjamin Kenobi. Sounds like I'm going with duals.

dazzb I do have a SuperX on board, but don't have the OSD. I DO have voltage telemetry going from a 6S FrSky sensor to my taranis. It calls out my voltages, both total and per cell. As soon as I hear 3.7 per cell I land.

fltundra, that's cool about the dual sensors. Guess I'm about to buy another one. Love the light show!

 

[Ronan]

This is for your T960? I'm interested to know what it's packing for only 10 mins of flying... i get nearly 17 mins on a loaded T810 with 12,000mah.

 

[mediaguru]

This is for your T960? I'm interested to know what it's packing for only 10 mins of flying... i get nearly 17 mins on a loaded T810 with 12,000mah.

I've got a Zhaoyun Gimbal and NEX5 with the bigger 16-50mm lens. I may be landing a bit early. As soon as I hear 3.7 volts on a cell I land. In actuality it is up at 3.75 and when at rest goes back up to 3.8. Motors are Tarot 5008/340kv.