DJI Inspire Battery Mod

[x5yo]

Come across a nice little mod today which allows you to to add another battery to your inspire without ripping the battery to bits, to add an extra layer of protection and extra flight time.

DJI inspire 1 battery mod power adaptor on Strikingly

I'll wait until the 15th Nov to see what DJI have planned with the inspire 2, and if I don't see a worthwhile reason to update I'll buy one of these and let you all know if they are any good.

Or if any of you have got one please let us know.

 

[Kilrah]

Would REALLY like to see how that's made before ordering/using.
The last thing you want is something that could cause bad contacts on the battery terminals.

 

[huppe]

Mmm not much information on the site.Can't see how this works.

 

[SanCap]

Mmm not much information on the site.Can't see how this works.

It is a little clip that clips into the female slots on the battery then has the plug outside for a XT 60 lipo connector. It seems like it is a tight squeeze.

 

[x5yo]

Would REALLY like to see how that's made before ordering/using.
The last thing you want is something that could cause bad contacts on the battery terminals.

Agreed, I would

It is a little clip that clips into the female slots on the battery then has the plug outside for a XT 60 lipo connector. It seems like it is a tight squeeze.

Thanks, looks good, obviously way overpriced for what it is and milking it because of the lack of competition, but if I do not get the Inspire 2, I do like the idea of improving redundancy.

I would not carry two big batteries, just a small high power one about 150 grams to give it an extra chance of survival if something bad happens, as I hear the extra power IS displayed via the app in someway.

 

[Kilrah]

The capacity of the battery gets "lost" in that of the main one and both will drain together, so you won't have any warning or extra safety if something goes wrong.

 

[lake_flyer]

The capacity of the battery gets "lost" in that of the main one and both will drain together, so you won't have any warning or extra safety if something goes wrong.

I wonder, wouldn't you notice it in the flight-time-left bar in Go?

 

[lake_flyer]

Agreed, I would


Thanks, looks good, obviously way overpriced for what it is and milking it because of the lack of competition, but if I do not get the Inspire 2, I do like the idea of improving redundancy.

I would not carry two big batteries, just a small high power one about 150 grams to give it an extra chance of survival if something bad happens, as I hear the extra power IS displayed via the app in someway.

Me too, only looking for a extra redundancy without going over the MTOM of 3.4Kg.

 

[Kilrah]

I wonder, wouldn't you notice it in the flight-time-left bar in Go?

Possibly, since some current will come from the additional battery the draw will be lower on the main one, and the bar should likely go down slower.

But my point is it doesn't add any "safety", since if the main battery was weak/problematic the power would jsut come from the additional battery without any real warning. By the time you get a warning both are down, so the additional battery will have done nothing to save you.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

This subject, and the questions in this thread have been thoroughly flogged here:

Battery Mod Info

Tl;dr: Redundancy is effective and essential to keeping the bird aloft in the event of a tb cell failure (the cause of many crashes not attributed to pilot error.) Time on the time Bar adjusts for added ah but maxes out at 25 min. Size and config doesn't matter as long as you match voltage (single or multiple 6S batts in parallel, or 2 3S in series.) Max acceptable weight is redlined at about 800g, with 600-700 being the sweet spot in the power to weight max time coefficient.

 

[lake_flyer]

Possibly, since some current will come from the additional battery the draw will be lower on the main one, and the bar should likely go down slower.

But my point is it doesn't add any "safety", since if the main battery was weak/problematic the power would jsut come from the additional battery without any real warning. By the time you get a warning both are down, so the additional battery will have done nothing to save you.

The flight time bar would tell you. But I agree, no warning when one dies.
Someone should design a little electronic circuit with a relais and a voltage checker so that the extra batteries wouldn't kick in at all, unless the main battery drops to the first warning level that you have set. In that case you would have had the first Go warnings and could choose to land right than or fly on the extra batteries.

Hmm, surely someone, with enough electronics knowledge, must already have thought about it and decided it couldn't be done.

 

[Kilrah]

Connecting a full battery in parallel with an almost empty one is not a terribly good idea. Would have to add circuitry to prevent it from recharging the empty battery (which it would do outside specs) and that opens another can of worms.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

Low C rated batteries are designed to release energy relatively slowly. I don't think there's much danger there. Like water finding its level, the charges equal out.

Why then would the factory make and recommend a cable to recharge a controller with a TB battery?

 

[SanCap]

Connecting a full battery in parallel with an almost empty one is not a terribly good idea. Would have to add circuitry to prevent it from recharging the empty battery (which it would do outside specs) and that opens another can of worms.

That is easily solved by only using fully charged batteries.

 

[x5yo]

What have I started :>

 

[lake_flyer]

Connecting a full battery in parallel with an almost empty one is not a terribly good idea. Would have to add circuitry to prevent it from recharging the empty battery (which it would do outside specs) and that opens another can of worms.

Good point.
Such a circuitry would be too difficult/expensive to design I guess, otherwise it would be available probably.

The same with time travelling. If we were ever meant to invent it, even a million years from now, it would have been here since time began.

Ok, that's it. More coffee please. A lot.

 

[huppe]

It is a little clip that clips into the female slots on the battery then has the plug outside for a XT 60 lipo connector. It seems like it is a tight squeeze.

Thanks X5yo.Makes it much clearer now.

 

[Kilrah]

Why then would the factory make and recommend a cable to recharge a controller with a TB battery?

The controller has a built-in charge circuitry. Connecting a 6s pack straight to a 2s one would defintiely make pretty fireworks.

 

[Rich Sugden MD]

I have an Inspire 1 that is about 18 months old .. haven't flown it in probably 8 months, getting more familiar w. my Phantom 3 AV ... Yesterday when I checked, three of the four batteries were 'dead' .. no lights when pressed, or held for 5 sec .. one had 1.5 lights, and came right back. I took of the battery tops, disconnected the small wires connector and let them sit over night ... then plugged them into the charger .. still 'dead' after 30 min.! I thought all this complicated, expensive, circuitry in these batteries was to protect them against over-discharge ... which destroys lithium batteries. So now I have $600 worth of paperweights. One of the batteries was OK ... why would the other three go bad ... All had the same charge when stored.

Any suggestions?

 

[jaymiejame]

The flight time bar would tell you. But I agree, no warning when one dies.
Someone should design a little electronic circuit with a relais and a voltage checker so that the extra batteries wouldn't kick in at all, unless the main battery drops to the first warning level that you have set. In that case you would have had the first Go warnings and could choose to land right than or fly on the extra batteries.

Hmm, surely someone, with enough electronics knowledge, must already have thought about it and decided it couldn't be done.

yeah i managed to build a circuit that monitors primary battery and switches in secondary when it drops below a certain voltage, but i decided to have fun flying my inspire instead of stressing trying to get an extra fifteen minutes flight time when all i needed to do was change the battery. i spent two months on the project in the summer with good results but it was pointless, the range on the inspire doesn't justify the extra time gained, you then need extra range extenders to get full value, TBH the mavic does all this and more, and you might think the x5 has a better camera, but it weighs more and with extra batteries and switching circuit it was killing the motors