3 cell shoot out!

[flybywire]

I';ve been thinking about lipo';s this new year, in particular for my 250 quad, and decided to lash out on some extra';s for said quad.  I am currently flying on 1800 mAh ZC';s, but have been wondering if these are a tad heavy.
I would say here, that if I were not packing a GoPro/DYS 1080p camera, then I think the 1800';s are a pretty good choice (giving around 10 mins of useful flight) but coupled with the camera, my feeling is that it is a little bloated to be as maneuverable as I';d like.

So I ordered up 4 new lipo';s, 2 1300';s (all 3 cell) and 2 1000';s.  I figure the 1300';s will certainly give me at least 5 mins, maybe a little more, and the 1000';s, well I';ve no idea!  As they were cheap (£6 ish) it';s no biggie if they suck.
All from HKUK.


Next up, I';ll do some hovering over something soft, and fly them until they start to give.  I';ll post up the results, along with the AUW';s of quad/gopro etc.

Currently on charge.   

[DebianDave]

My battery of choice last year was the 1500mah 35c Zippy. Might keep up with ravenous setups tho

[flybywire]

My battery of choice last year was the 1500mah 35c Zippy. Might keep up with ravenous setups tho

Thanks Dave.
I did consider the 1500';s, but then thought they were a little too close to 1800, that';s when I noticed the 1300';s.  I think 1500 may be the most popular.  My experiment is to see how AUW affects time in the air, as I figure 5 mins flight time is about right, 10 is too long IMHO, especially for racing.  If I got that with a 1300 with a gopro size camera on board, then the weight saving may pay off in terms of maneuverability.
I don';t expect the 1000';s to be of massive use, but there again, if I were flying without the heavy GP cam, then I may get 5 mins of very lively performance instead.

We';ll see!   

[robshaw]

I run 3s 1300s on my spanky 5 and find it really underpowered. Really needs to be 4s I think. Means ditching all 8 lipos, escs and motors tho. :-( Grrrr. Given the choice again I would avoid 3s.

[flybywire]

I run 3s 1300s on my spanky 5 and find it really underpowered. Really needs to be 4s I think. Means ditching all 8 lipos, escs and motors tho. :-( Grrrr. Given the choice again I would avoid 3s.

I';m pretty happy with 3 cell';s myself, I can';t really see a need for 4 cell';s, mine moves as fast as I can handle.

[AlanN]

Damn, seen the subject, thought we were getting guns

[flybywire]

No guns Alan ;-), but I did managed a little ';me time'; this lunchtime, so attempted a little ';passive hovering';.  (No, I am not a card carrying member of the Natural law party).
The results are in, drum roll....and are as follows:

All 3 cell Zippy Compact';s.

1800 mAh= ??? minutes AUW=600g

1300 mAh= 6.5 minutes AUW=560g

1000 mAh= 5.5 minutes AUW=520g

All the results so far are with a DYS 1080 & full fpv kit, flown till it drops. (don';t try this at home!)

I ran out of time to do the 1800, but I know from experience I can get between 8-10 minutes out of it depending on what it';s doing.  As well as flight times, which can only really be determined ';in the field'; so to speak, I';m interested in seing what difference there might be in flight characteristics, and so far, in this very un-scientific test, I feel that the 1300 is my favourite so far.  The heavier the lipo, the more stable, but less agile it is, so it really is a case of how you fly.  THe 1000 felt skittish, with the gopro style camera on, so would be more suited to a Mobius, then it would surely get a firm 5 minutes flight time when being thrown around, but be highly maneuverable.  They';re also very cheap!








I must say, I am a little surprised that the 1000mAh gave that length of flight time, not hugely different to the 1300.

[flybywire]

Ooh! I just noticed, the 1000mAh is a 35c, the others are 25c.  That';s interesting, may confuse my results slightly tho.

I';ve been back on the website, I see they do a 1000mAh 40c for £5.50, and a 1300mAh 40c for not much more.  I think it was because I originally filtered Uk/europe, and they are not always available from those locations.

[Revs]

The trouble with going smaller is that you have to up the C rating and higher C batteries are heavier. Bit of a trade-off but it';s unavoidable.

I';m running 2200 3s 30c Overlanders at 167g. If I dropped to an 1800 3s I';d have to go to a 35-40c to get the same output. In the end it only saves 12g. Still, I';m experimenting with different sizes to see if the extra performance is worth the trade-off of shorter flight time.

[Friskle]

Im like FBW, i cant see any need for 4s, Mines fast enough on 3s, for me anyway lol.

[AlanN]

I';m running 2200 3s 30c Overlanders at 167g. If I dropped to an 1800 3s I';d have to go to a 35-40c to get the same output. In the end it only saves 12g.

OMG this multirotor malarkey is bringing my geek speak to a whole new level  I might need a translator app  ::)
Sorry Andy back to the science.....

[Revs]

It';s easy really. The ';C'; rating is a multiplication of the Ah rating, so if you want to reduce the size (Ah) of the battery but still want to draw the same current from it, you have to up the ';C'; rating to compensate.

Example; You have a 2000mAh (2.0Ah) battery you want to draw 40 amps from, you need a minimum 20C battery (2.0 x 20 = 40). If you half the battery size to 1000mAh (1.0Ah) you need to double the ';C'; rating (1.0 x 40 = 40).

Another thing I tend to do is go a bit OTT on the C rating. No only because many batteries are over-rated, but a higher C rated battery will have less voltage drop under load, resulting in better performance.

Hope that helps

[flybywire]

The trouble with going smaller is that you have to up the C rating and higher C batteries are heavier. Bit of a trade-off but it';s unavoidable.

I';m running 2200 3s 30c Overlanders at 167g. If I dropped to an 1800 3s I';d have to go to a 35-40c to get the same output. In the end it only saves 12g. Still, I';m experimenting with different sizes to see if the extra performance is worth the trade-off of shorter flight time.

I hear you Revs, in that case, it looks like the ZC 1000mAh 40c @ 94g may be my best bet.  I just wish I'd seen those when I ordered this last batch.  Oh well, seeing as they're only £3.56 each!
Ideally I suppose a 1300 40c would be king, in terms of weight/flight performance/time but HK don't appear to stock them.

The search continues...