Anycopter Tri Flight Time

[mdr1031]

I built the anycopter tri and was wondering what others are experiencing as far as flight times. I'm still in the dialing in phase so I haven't really had a chance to clock it, but wanted to see what others were reporting. Here's what I used for parts:

Hobby King KK2.0 Multi-rotor LCD Flight Control Board
3X Blue Wonder (2712-12 24G) - LazerToyz.com
3X 15amp esc - LazerToyz.com (turnigy's were backordered)
TGY-375DMG Metal gear Digital Servo
3X 8045 SF Props 2pc Standard Rotation
3s1p 2200mah 30c nano tech lipo

 

[kah00na]

I was getting about 8-12 minutes with mine. I had 2100mAh 3S battery. Be sure to set your low voltage alarm on your KK2 board - that is assuming that you soldered on the two wires on so that it can read it.

 

[mdr1031]

So after getting everything dialed in I've found that I'm getting around 5-6 minutes of flight time before I need to recharge the battery, and this is pretty similar across the three batteries that I have. Beginning to wonder if the power management cable I made is causing some resistance in the system. Esc's get mildly warm after the 5 or so minute flight but nowhere near hot.

 

[Mustang7302]

How low is the voltage getting to in your batteries when you put them back on the charger?

I can't find the KV rating for that Blue Wonder, but it makes me wonder (not a pun) if the 8" props are not enough lift and you're running extra throttle to compensate. How much does your tricopter weight with a battery on board? How far up the throttle travel are you to achieve hover?

 

[mdr1031]

I try and keep the voltage from going below 3.8 per cell. AUW is 665g, and I can hover around 60-65% throttle.

 

[pelotron]

I have only timed mine once, but using DT700s, 11x4.7 props, and a 3000 mAh battery, I flew for 17 minutes before the low voltage alarm went off (3.3v per cell).

 

[Mustang7302]

Fly it down to 3.3v per cell; you're missing so much flight time from stopping early. Get a low voltage alarm and fly it until it goes off.

 

[kah00na]

I set my low voltage alarm at 9.6 volts (3S). That may seem kind of low, but that reading is reached under a load. If I land it with 10-15 seconds of the alarm sounding, it climbs back up to over 10 volts after it is at rest for a short amount of time.

 

[vk2dxn]

I have always set my LV for 3v per cell.
I have never had a problem with my lipo's, they get a flogging in my traxxas rustler vxl

 

[mdr1031]

That would definitely give me more flight time. I was just under the impression that running a battery below nominal would be harmful.

 

[earthsciteach]

Does your TX have a timer? If so, determine the time it takes your battery to drop to the lowest level you want. Then, you can set the timer on the tx to beep when that amount of time passes. Its not as perfect as a low voltage beeper on the battery itself, but it does work. Be aware that the battery will degrade over time, so it will not be able to reach that time limit indefinitely.