Syma X5C - more fun to be had?

[SuperGoz]

Could you have more fun with such an easy to fly quadcopter? Yesterday I found the answer to be yes - I took off the rotor guards which ultimately reduced the weight (although to me - it didn't seem by much) but when you are flying, it really does make some difference.
Highly recommended 'mod'.

In addition, I purchased a stick on 'fisheye' lens for the camera to widen the view when filming and the result was brilliant. You lose a little sharpness (easily resolved using editing software afterwards) and get a better video.

This summer is going to see a lot of flying I think...

 

[PCR]

Remove the camera and landing gear as well, much better handling, and quicker

 

[SuperGoz]

I may well do that - however, I am enjoying the videos at the moment.

 

[GJH105775]

Haha, yeah the videos are the fun part.

 

[lazylathe]

I was amazed at how much longer my flight times were when I removed the camera, prop guards and the landing gear!!!
Way more responsive and switching over to HIGH was amazing but heart pounding at the same time!!

A very quick and easy mod to turn this pretty tame flier into a very fun and fast quad!

 

[GJH105775]

I was amazed at how much longer my flight times were when I removed the camera, prop guards and the landing gear!!!
Way more responsive and switching over to HIGH was amazing but heart pounding at the same time!!

A very quick and easy mod to turn this pretty tame flier into a very fun and fast quad!

haha, how much that stuff weigh? I can se the camera making a bigger difference, and the prop guards are just useless weight if your in the open and can fly well.

 

[lazylathe]

haha, how much that stuff weigh? I can se the camera making a bigger difference, and the prop guards are just useless weight if your in the open and can fly well.

10 grams less to fly around with!
As a noob I found it to greatly increase my flight times even with numerous flips.

 

[Jackson]

I was amazed at how much longer my flight times were when I removed the camera, prop guards and the landing gear!!!
Way more responsive and switching over to HIGH was amazing but heart pounding at the same time!!

Have you stepped up from the stock 500mAh battery? There are 600, 650, 700 and 720mAh batteries that will fit.

 

[lazylathe]

Have you stepped up from the stock 500mAh battery? There are 600, 650, 700 and 720mAh batteries that will fit.

I have a few 650mAh batteries that last a good 20 minutes.
The stock battery lasts about 17 minutes with all the extra stuff removed from the quad.

 

[Jackson]

I have a few 650mAh batteries that last a good 20 minutes.
The stock battery lasts about 17 minutes with all the extra stuff removed from the quad.

Are you actually flying it or just watching the lights?

Average flight times for a stock X5 are advertised at ~ 6-7min.

A blurb from a review at RCGroups.

Flight Times and Replacement Battery:
My flight times were averaging 6-7 minutes and that was without using the included prop guards and using the stock 500mah lipo. When using the video options, the flight times averaged 4-5 minutes tops. Another tip that some have covered and I cover in my video is replacing the stock 500mah lipo with a 750mah lipo. The Nano-Tech 750mah 1S lipo Model NE-BA931 (from Hobbyking) is a perfect fit for this quad. This lipo with a discharge rate of 35C will give you more performance and longer flight times. My average with this specific lipo was around 8 minutes without prop guards and no camera usage, with camera usage I experienced an average of around 7 minutes! With the 35C discharge rate, you will get the added boost of power and longer flight times.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2309651

FWIW even at 10min of flying time those motors would not last long.

You are giving prospective buyers unrealistic expectations.

 

[lazylathe]

Next time I go out I will start my timer but definitely not getting 8 minutes...
And it is not balls to the wall flying, pretty sedate and still learning.
Will be going out again in the weekend, weather defendant and will time it to be more accurate.

 

[GJH105775]

Are you actually flying it or just watching the lights?

Average flight times for a stock X5 are advertised at ~ 6-7min.

A blurb from a review at RCGroups.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2309651

FWIW even at 10min of flying time those motors would not last long.

You are giving prospective buyers unrealistic expectations.

The problem with all coreless motors for multirotors is their life is expected to be at 8 hours or flight, and the longer the flight times the harder it is for the coreless motors.

 

[Jackson]

The problem with all coreless motors for multirotors is their life is expected to be at 8 hours or flight

That would work out to about 80 flights. If we use 50 flights as a more reasonable estimate and as many of the 7mm motors average about $2 that works out to 12¢ a flight.

 

[GJH105775]

That would work out to about 80 flights. If we use 50 flights as a more reasonable estimate and as many of the 7mm motors average about $2 that works out to 12¢ a flight.

But if you account for crashes or that it is what manufactures advertise it is a lot lower. Light bulb manufactures often give a life expectancy based on the bulb being on 2 hours a day, likewise to the micro quads their motors can't take too much hard or long flights. From my experience the motor's life is a lot lower, I have had three differnt minis and all of them have lost a motor before the first 2 - 2.5 hours of flight and only one was crashed in that time.

 

[Jackson]

But if you account for crashes or that it is what manufactures advertise it is a lot lower. Light bulb manufactures often give a life expectancy based on the bulb being on 2 hours a day, likewise to the micro quads their motors can't take too much hard or long flights. From my experience the motor's life is a lot lower, I have had three differnt minis and all of them have lost a motor before the first 2 - 2.5 hours of flight and only one was crashed in that time.

Didn't you just say 8 hours? Now all of a sudden you are whistling a new tune.

 

[lazylathe]

I read "expected" 8 hours.
So many variables in there that could account for more or less flight time depending on how the quad is handled.

That is how I read it.

 

[Jackson]

I read "expected" 8 hours.
So many variables in there that could account for more or less flight time depending on how the quad is handled.

That is how I read it.

Didn't I already go to 60% of his stated 'expected' hours in my post?

 

[lazylathe]

Moving on from the short derail...

Flight times from this mornings outing:
4 battery packs used, one original 500mAh and 3 650mAh.
Stock battery - 10 minutes exactly. All done on LOW and just basic flying with direction changes, a few flips for fun and just general stuff.
650mAh pack #1 - 16:50 also on LOW, same style as above
650mAh pack #2 - 14 minutes of mixed LOW and HIGH flying, not too many flips.
650mAh pack #3 - 9:32 all done on HIGH with lots of flips, high speed turns and figuring out turning on a flat plane at speed to save distance overshoots.

And please remember that i am still learning how to fly, so my fast is NOT a pro's fast by any means!
I am taking it relatively easy, trying to learn without crashing too many times.

So hopefully this makes more sense this time.
I am just happy that my flight times are quite a bit longer for now!

Time to recharge!

 

[B3Master]

I have an x5c-1 v6 to be precise. Stock battery gets 9:40 no warning just looses power and drops to ground. My other 650mah batteries get similar 10-10:30 flight times. Somthing wrong with my pcb, replacement is on the way since it doesnt give warning, just blinks while it drops to ground and doesnt let me cut throttle, it gets stuck giving throttle untill lvc cuts off after few seconds, which is terrible if any obsticle is close by and props are spinning without prop guards. But anyways not sure if its the V6 Or the faulty pcb but yup almost any battery i got will fly over 9-10 minutes.

 

[GJH105775]

I have an x5c-1 v6 to be precise. Stock battery gets 9:40 no warning just looses power and drops to ground. My other 650mah batteries get similar 10-10:30 flight times. Somthing wrong with my pcb, replacement is on the way since it doesnt give warning, just blinks while it drops to ground and doesnt let me cut throttle, it gets stuck giving throttle untill lvc cuts off after few seconds, which is terrible if any obsticle is close by and props are spinning without prop guards. But anyways not sure if its the V6 Or the faulty pcb but yup almost any battery i got will fly over 9-10 minutes.

Some batteries can develop a steeper voltage drop off, more likely with lower mAh batteries as you are drawing a higher amperage off the total percentage.