Greetings from the English Lake District!

[rbm109]

Hello!

I'm Robert and I'm lucky enough to live in the English Lakes.

Having had a life long penchant for building flying toys, I now find myself immersed in the world of drones. In my particular case a self assembled and rapidly evolving F450 which I have affectionately dubbed: "ToyOne".

Just today, I've been out playing with everything set up how I want it for the first time: airframe, gimbal, camera, telemetry and PC ground station.

The video I took is grinding its way noisily through my home office computer as I type.

Now to my first question as a forum member!

It's all super....except for the flight times. I get about a minute, maybe two, before alarms start going off. She's currently flying on a 3 cell 2200mAh Turnigy. Do I simply buy a larger capacity battery? This will make an already heavy airframe heavier again. I'm already aware that she spends a lot of time fighting to not be blown off course with no power for anything else. Should I go for a larger capacity 4 cell battery? I understand that the higher power to the motors will give them more ability to handle the weight.

Or, have I simply reached the point of diminishing returns on this airframe? There's a little voice in my head telling me that I need an F550; "ToyTwo"!?

Any hints or suggestions are welcomed.

Robert.

 

[T.C.]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Jackson]

I get about a minute, maybe two, before alarms start going off. She's currently flying on a 3 cell 2200mAh Turnigy. Do I simply buy a larger capacity battery?

That don't sound right. What percent throttle does it take to simply hover? At what voltage do the alarms go off? Have you metered the battery after a flight?

That said you do need a larger mAh battery. As far as 4S, those motors and ESCs look like what I have, they are not rated for 4S.

 

[rbm109]

That don't sound right. What percent throttle does it take to simply hover? At what voltage do the alarms go off? Have you metered the battery after a flight?
That said you do need a larger mAh battery. As far as 4S, those motors and ESCs look like what I have, they are not rated for 4S.

I've been flying in "loiter" as a precursor to some autopilot testing so I've no idea how much throttle it's using to hover. I guess I could find out.

The battery monitor settings are to trigger below 10.5v. The capacity threshold is zero. Having just measured the batteries with a volt meter, I'm getting 11.1v from one and 11.3v from the other (I've got and was using two identical ones).

All up flying weight is 1,434g. DJI (this is a clone) give a flying weight of up to 1,600g so I'm within that as yet. However, I'm running 10x4.5 props simply because they're what came with the motor ESC combo. DJI suggest 10x3.8 or 8x4.5.

My gut feeling is that she's on the power starved side for flying. Yesterday you could see her hesitate in gusts; stop proceeding as programmed and concentrate on not blowing away. I think this might indicate low power to weight.

Motors are 2212 1000kv.

Having just looked up those prop suggestions I'm wondering if I should try the smaller props.....or the lower pitch. Either would spin faster.

 

[rbm109]

ESCs are 30A SimonKs

 

[holtneil]

Hi I run a 450 frame on a 2200 mah 3cell 1000 kv motors (no camera ) and was getting 15 mins flight most of my quads run a 10x4.7 prop with a good amount of lift
If running a camera gimble ,GPS etc this can suck a battery
Your battery alarm is going off at 3.5volt a cell you can go as low as 3.2 volt a cell
Is the alarm going off under load of at a hover ?
The ESC should be ok on a 4 cell you may find the motors will get a little warm but as long as they don't get hot your be ok
Use ecalc.com to test set ups it's a good tool once you get used to using it

 

[rbm109]

Hi I run a 450 frame on a 2200 mah 3cell 1000 kv motors (no camera ) and was getting 15 mins flight most of my quads run a 10x4.7 prop with a good amount of lift
If running a camera gimble ,GPS etc this can suck a battery
Your battery alarm is going off at 3.5volt a cell you can go as low as 3.2 volt a cell
Is the alarm going off under load of at a hover ?
The ESC should be ok on a 4 cell you may find the motors will get a little warm but as long as they don't get hot your be ok
Use ecalc.com to test set ups it's a good tool once you get used to using it

Thanks "hotneil". The alarm has been going off under load; typically just after I set it onto auto and it's gaining altitude.

I might have to run some tests with the gimbal connected and not. See if there's any difference.

 

[mozquito1]

Hello there I'm from the wirral not far really on the grand scheme of things.
Hey cowboy I can't even see any esc's amongst that wire explosion. Has anybody got a comb or a hairbrush.
Power starved he says, I would get the hedge trimmers out & shave that 600g off in wires alone. New battery's I always run to a stop on first charge. Which is about 3.2v per cell. (each to there own) but I wouldn't advise this. It just sets a mark for me then I knock a minute off which quite successfully lands me around 3.5-3.6v.
As I don't use a buzzer or an osd.
I got one there ready to go in a new build. But my next project is the bif x130 frame which I intend to waterproof to the max.
As roberto knows it gets wet & bloody windy in the north.
I digress but have you made sure the battery alarm is on the correct voltage,
Did you charge the battery properly. Is the battery charger working properly.
If they are all OK then sorry but get rid of a load of that spare wire. It's a RF hell. Depends what you want to do aswell. Acro photography or racing? If photography then you can afford to go upto 5-6000mah maybe 10k.
But you should be getting more than a minute. Yeah try a less aggressive pitch maybe an 8" prop also.
I can tear round a field for 4min on a 850mah 4s on 2205 red bottoms & cyclone V2 props. So really you should be getting a bit more for the battery size, especially just hovering.
But the bigger battery you got, the less agile you are but gain flight time.
Except when your kwad can't actually lift the weight. & if it just about does then it's just about to blow up oh by the way welcome. Sorry about the scouse humour @ the entrance.