Battery Recommendations for Blade 400?

[topquark41396]

Hey all,

I'm fairly new to the hobby, having flown my CX2 and a simulator for about 4-5 months. Picked up a Blade 400 a couple of days ago, and I'm looking for battery recommendations for a second battery.

Do I need a 20C battery? I know I need a 11.1V, 3-cell in a form factor close to the original battery (11.1V, 3S, 1800 mAh, 20C). Having looked over batteries on the 'net, there seems to be quite a few choices. The stock battery lasts about 5 mins.

I'm looking for a battery that will give me about 10-15 mins flight time, with just basic flight maneuvers (hovering, slow flight). What effect does a lower "C" rating have on the flight time/performance? I'm assuming that mAh ratings have more effect on flight time than the "C" rating... is that correct?

Sorry for the newbie questions... And thanks in advance!

[Heli Jim]

Yes, you do need a 20C (or higher) battery. The C rating has to do with the discharge rate and too low a C rating and the battery will, I believe, get too hot.

The mAh is what you are looking for to get longer flight times. Yours is an 1800 mAh and you should be able to find a 2100 mAh that will fit. If you go much bigger than that, you start adding a whole lot more weight and that's not a good idea.

I have heard that the ThunderPower 2100 fits pretty good in there.

[psindrup]

I don't think flying times of 10-15 minutes is realistic.

When looking for a battery, weight and physical size is what matters, other than, of course it has to be a 3s and no less than 20c

Peter

[Heli Jim]

I agree......15 minute flights aren't going to happen with
this set-up. Brushless motor and symmetrical blades
use a lot of power. I think with the 1800 mAh you will
average 6-8 minutes. You might get 8-10 out of a 2100
pack if you are flying easy.

[JimLerch]

A few days ago I put 7 batteries on my Blade 400, implementing the count up timer on the radio and keeping track of how many mAh I put back into the batteries while recharging. Here's the results of Non-3D, hover, and slow forward flights (assuming my charger is accurate)
Stock E-Flight 1800mAh 20C
6 minutes 20 seconds, 1544mAh to recharge
6 minutes 20 seconds, 1547mAh to recharge
6 minutes 15 seconds, 1522mAh to recharge
E-Flight 2100mAh 20C
7 minutes 23 seconds, 1855mAh to recharge
7 minutes 33 seconds, 1880mAh to recharge
Thunder Power V2 2200mAh 25C
7 minutes 48 seconds, 1933mAh to recharge
7 minutes 10 seconds, 1794mAh to rechargeIn hind site I ran all these batteries into the "to deeply discharged" state and should have put the bird on the ground a little sooner...

[psindrup]

-> Jim

Thanks for your battery/charge report! :)

I have bought 3s2100mAh for my Blade 400, and it looks as if I can expect around 7 minutes of flight on them.

Peter

[topquark41396]

Wow! Thanks for all the good info. So much to learn, so little time...

[infanterene]

Why is it consuming so much? I fly my trex for 10 min and put back about 1700. No 3D only some piros and FFF.

I am not flaming in fact I am probably going to by a blade 400 as a back up.

[JimLerch]

Perhaps its my head speed.. I changed the norm flight mode throttle curve to match the positive half of the stunt mode throttle curve.

Also, these tests were all done with a bone stock heli, right out of the box, all I tweaked mechanically was the blade pitch. The wood blades might add a little drag, and I had a little tail vibration after punting a field goal with a piece of shell when the tail rotor made ground contact..

I put new stock tail blades on last night and replaced the woodies with a pair of Align CF night blades. The first thing I noticed was how much more quite the heli was. :YeaBaby: I didn't time any flights last night, but they did seem longer!

[th3tick]

FFF is also kinder than a hover. Translational lift is your friend!

[Wolfpackin]

Will the stock B400 charger work with Thunder Power and other non-E-flite batteries?
Does a connector need to be added/changed?

Thanks.

I know I need to get a better charger...someday.

[topquark41396]

Yes, non E-flite batteries are compatible with the stock charger (at least in my very limited experience). I bought a generic (don't have it in front of me at the moment) 3S 20C 2100 mAh battery and it works fine. Had to solder a connector onto the battery leads, but the charging/balancing lead needed no modification.

Again, thanks for all the good info in this thread!

[JimLerch]

Thunder Power batteries use a different balance connector than the E-Flight or E-Sky (or other less expensive batteries) On both of my Thunder Power packs I soldered salvaged balance connectors of old cheap puffed up batteries..

I've been trying to find part numbers to order the actual connector from an electronics warehouse like digikey.com or mouser.com, but no luck so far..

[BKF]

Are the E-Flight 2100mAh batteries the same size/weight of the 1800 mAh batteries?

I was going to buy a couple more batteries and I figured I might as well get a larger capacity if it's not going to affect the flight characteristics too much.

I searched and found this discussion, so I thought I'd ask.

Also, what are the recharge times on the stock charger for the 1800 mAh and 2100 mAh batteries.

A few days ago I put 7 batteries on my Blade 400, implementing the count up timer on the radio and keeping track of how many mAh I put back into the batteries while recharging. Here's the results of Non-3D, hover, and slow forward flights (assuming my charger is accurate)

Stock E-Flight 1800mAh 20C
6 minutes 20 seconds, 1544mAh to recharge
6 minutes 20 seconds, 1547mAh to recharge
6 minutes 15 seconds, 1522mAh to recharge
E-Flight 2100mAh 20C

7 minutes 23 seconds, 1855mAh to recharge
7 minutes 33 seconds, 1880mAh to recharge
Thunder Power V2 2200mAh 25C

7 minutes 48 seconds, 1933mAh to recharge
7 minutes 10 seconds, 1794mAh to recharge
In hind site I ran all these batteries into the "to deeply discharged" state and should have put the bird on the ground a little sooner...

[JimLerch]

2100mAh Eflite is larger than the 1800mAh, I have to add 2 or 3 clicks of elevator trim when I swap batteries to keep a stable hover.

About an hour for recharges. I figure I need 5 batteries and 4 chargers to fly continual 7 minute sorties with 8 minutes worth of turn around time :)

[nyc_863]

About an hour for recharges. I figure I need 5 batteries and 4 chargers to fly continual 7 minute sorties with 8 minutes worth of turn around time :)
Are there no uber chargers on the market that will charge 3 or 4 packs at the same time?

[maxxteezy]

yes there are. my buddy george has a lipo charger that does 4 at once. with a 10-20 amp power supply, you can stay charged. just get a couple of blinkeys and rotate the charges to keep a good balance. I'll ask him the name of the charger this sunday.

[haf4046]

You can charge 4 3S 2100 packs with this charger at once

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKAU0&P=ML

I've had mine for a couple of years and it works perfect every time!

I love the fact that you just set the charge current and it automatically sets the
cell count so makes it hard for you to hack it up by setting the wrong cell count!

I use a hyperion LBA 6 to balance the cells, mostly off the charger but I do charge
through it occasionally.

I ordered a B400 for my fleet, and may buy a couple of new Lipos as my old Saehan
V2 packs are a couple of years old now and may need upgrading. I am probably going to go
with the new FMA Revolution packs as they are reasonably priced and lightweight compared to
some of the lead brick packs out now. ALSO t-rex tuning is giving them better reviews than TP or FP,
both of which are way overpriced IMO anyway. just my .02c worth ;>

[SeanOC]

I've read that the stock Eflite 1800mah pack is a tight fit in the 400's canopy. Unfortunately horizon doesnt have specs listed on the website for that pack.
I want to order some more packs for my B400 but I want to make sure they will fit. In particular I am looking at Kong Power packs.

Specs for the 3s 1800mah KP:

SPEC:11.1V/ 1800mAh/ 25C (3S1P)
Size:110(L)x35(W)x24(H)mm
Weight:170g
25C(45A)Max Continuous . 30C(54A)Sustain . 50C(90A)Max Bursts .


and for the 2200mah:

SPECS:11.1V/ 2200mAh/ 25C (3S1P)
Size:110(L)x34(W)x28(H)mm
Weight:195g
25C(55A)Continuous 30C(66A)Sustain 50C(110A)Max Bursts

So for just under 1 oz more you get 400 more mah.... If only I knew it would fit.

Anyone care to measure their Eflite pack?

[adelmasw]

I am using both the Thunder Power 2200 extreme V2 and the eflite battery and it is almost a match. No problem with fitting.

[adelmasw]

Also, if you buy the Thunder Power LiPo the balance plug is not the same as the Eflite. You will have to either change one or buy a converter pigtail. - about 4.00 from various on-line stores.

[int2str]

Just did a few nice flights on my Cellpro Revolution packs
They are slightly smaller than the E-Flite pack actually and have gobs more power.
Price wasn't bad either.

See here:
http://www.fmadirect.com/detail.htm?item=2210&section=69

[kenny.c]

Hi there

I got a couple of these packs for the Blade 400....

Although I think these packs are only in the UK it should give people an idea of what will fit size and weight wise.
They also balance the Blade perfect....

Tornado Professional 2200mAh 11.1v 25C - £35.99

http://www.overlander.co.uk/productimages/BAT22004RS1801.jpg

Size 102mm x 34mm x 22mm
Weight 176g

Cheers
ken

[kenny.c]

Double post....sorry

[nim]

Is anyone using the kong packs or the Air Thunder packs on these yet and if so what size? 1800 or 2200?