jsfait

My son has an inexpensive drone that came with one 700mAh 7.4V 2S LiPo battery. The run time is very short (5-6 min). Wondering if our only option is to purchase additional batteries exactly the same so he can burn through a number of them before having to recharge, or are there other options that would give him longer run times that would be compatible with his drone? Thanks!

rgburrill

The drone manufacturers make sure you have to spend tons of money on batteries. And get a charger that will charge 5 or so at a time.

jsfait

I did not know you could get a charger that would charge multiple batteries simultaneously. Did a fair bit of research when I learned it would be safer to use a charger that monitors/balances the cells while charging (as opposed to just using the charger that comes with the toy). I use term toy purposely, because his drone is inexpensive and is sold as a toy (UTO Quad-Copter, which was gifted to him by someone who really did not know anything about RC - and neither did I). However, after doing some research I do not regard these batteries as toys, so taking charging seriously. Anyway, we ended up getting a SKYRC iMAX B6AC V2 charger, which seemed like overkill because it cost more than half as much as the drone itself. Have been happy with it, but can only charge one battery at a time. Can you recommend a charger that can safely charge multiple batteries at the same time?

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

There are a few variables that you have to consider.....

1. You have to make sure you have the correct plugs. The red one is called a JST Plug. I do not know enough to tell you what that specific balance lead plug is called.
2. You need to make sure the space available is capable of holding a larger battery. As you look for longer flying times the battery is going to become larger and may not fit on the space provided. Some models DO NOT tolerate the battery placed in a different position.
3. With all that said, if you increase the Miliamp number, you will theoretically get more flight time. Try looking for a battery larger than 700mAh that is still 7.4V and has the same plugs as your current one.
4. Again, there are drawbacks to everything. A larger battery will also be heavier which means that you may end up burning the miliamps at a higher rate because of the weight increase. I doubt that yours may be included in this case, but it is worth noting for future reference.

seems like you are well versed in doing research. Research "parallel charging" that is how people charge multiple batteries of the same "voltage and capacities" at the same time.

On the other hand, I have been using a Hitec x4 (out of production) now replaced by the Hitec X4 AC PLUS X4 AC Plus 4 Port AC/DC Multi-Charger | HITEC RCD USA that is capable of charging 4 completely different battery packs at once.

Hope that helps a bit.
Rafael

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

Duplicate.

jsfait

Thank you very much. Very helpful!