Hi guys

sorry if that already been discussed, but I am a little concerned by the fact taht I cannot get more than 16 minutes flight with my Phantom 3 Pro.

I put the low battery at 30 per cent what I usually reach in about 14mn. After that battery goes down quiet quick despite I deactivated leds.

Need to add that doing 2mn long or full flight video does not seem to make significant difference. Usually flying with no wind. I always wait for the vbattery to cool down before charging/using it.

To make it short I am far for the "up to 25 mn flight" claimed by DJI.

Are you facing the same and do you have any idea?

Many thanks

Phil

Anything between 15-18  from 100% to 30% minutes is good going.. DJI state the the 25 is under specific conditions ( like a car's MPG really ).. Also depends on how you fly..

Wasnt that 23 minutes on paper? The on paper claims are always way off since the beginning of the Phantom series. Sometimes its measured when the Phantom is just hovering. The LED Arms will not do the trick, thats probably the least energy drainer. The lightbridge and VPS suck down your energy pretty fast, even on the ground.

Daninho Posted at 2015-8-14 22:00
Wasnt that 23 minutes on paper? The on paper claims are always way off since the beginning of the Ph ...

Yep I reckon you hit the nail on the head turn of vps and test.

bastell Posted at 2015-8-14 22:18
Yep I reckon you hit the nail on the head turn of vps and test.

I have it deactivated since the beginning and remember VPS is only active under a certain height. I guess its the lightbridge technic that needs a lot of energy. You can tell that something gets really hot inside the VPS box and that is the lightbridge unit i would say, not the VPS unit.

Daninho Posted at 2015-8-14 22:24
I have it deactivated since the beginning and remember VPS is only active under a certain height.  ...

So are you agreeing that with it disabled your getting longer flight times?

bastell Posted at 2015-8-14 23:01
So are you agreeing that with it disabled your getting longer flight times?

VPS ON/OFF has very little impact on battery. 15-18 is good, 19-21 is very good but means you flew it like a grandma.. If you want to fly longer, get more batteries

I agree with the OP. I have noticed diminished battery life after upgrading to the latest firmware.

I have three batteries and average around 19-20 minute flights out of each normally. At that point I usually have 15-16% battery remaining according to the application which is slightly lower than I maybe should be allowing it to get. I am not too worried, if the battery wears out I will just buy more. I would rather fly a bit longer each flight and wear the battery out faster than fly less and save the battery.

Kinda the same story with eating food. I personally prefer to eat what I want even if I live a bit less in the end, at least I enjoy live and eat as I please.

sploodge Posted at 2015-8-14 21:55
Anything between 15-18  from 100% to 30% minutes is good going.. DJI state the the 25 is under speci ...

Had to laugh when I saw your post. Many, many years ago, I read an article from Consumer Reports about how gas mileage was calculated. Hopefully, it's different today, but....

Back in the 1950s, the tester would remove just about everything from the car that could be removed - the passenger seat, the back seat, spare tire, etc. Then they'd pump the tires up to about 75 psi (instead of the usual 30 or so) and then drive the car. No jackrabbit starts, never drive it at high speeds - most often around 40 - 45 MPH and *nothing* else turned on in the car, certainly not the air conditioning (which was kind of rare in those days anyway). Running the A/C in the car is a sure way to rob the engine of 5 - 10 HP. Even today, the EPA tests for mileage without running the air.

Guess the guys who flight tested the Phantom got their ideas from those guys from the 50s - LOL!

sploodge Posted at 2015-8-14 23:05
VPS ON/OFF has very little impact on battery. 15-18 is good, 19-21 is very good but means you flew ...

Someone said that, even with VPS turned off, the system still operated but the bird doesnt pay attention to the sonar info.. Not sure if thatnis fact or not.

Thanks to all for your input. My main concern is not to get more batteries to fly longer but the fact that you have to turn back your bird after 7 to 8 minutes if you want to be sure to see it again... except for those you love to fly in cricles   ;-)

ppkessler@free. Posted at 2015-8-15 00:32
Thanks to all for your input. My main concern is not to get more batteries to fly longer but the fac ...

" ... except for those you love to fly in circles "  That made me LOL.  I got a visual of the "under 20's" taking endless POI selfies.

I'll start monitoring battery life and report back.  I always just plan on 15 mins per battery with a 35% warning.

sploodge Posted at 2015-8-14 23:05
VPS ON/OFF has very little impact on battery. 15-18 is good, 19-21 is very good but means you flew ...

Spot on Sploodge turned VPS off and no noticeable difference on battery drain on a long flight.Meh id rather fly 15mins like I stole it than flight it like grandma's at the controls.