Anyone have any experience with this unit?

I read about the features and one thing it does is balance the cells. I noticed that I always have one or two cells that are off just a tad. So picked one up from Tower.

I have a 3000 mha 4s battery. After a flight the batteries read as follows.

Total voltage - 14.7
C1-3.71
C2-3.71
C3-3.71
C4-3.67

The device also has a percent meter. It reads 12%. So this says I have 12% of 100%. This concerns me.

Do I need bigger batteries? Flight time is 5:30.

these are pretty vague as to usefullness, I have a similar tool,, if you measure right after flight,, then again 15 to 20 minutes later you can see a difference,,
I basically only use mine to make sure I am installing a fully charged pack,, beyond that they are of limited benefit,,
as was mentioned,, the charger readings are more valid,,

 

In addition to the battery voltage, your charger should also display a number with Mah beside it while charging. This is the number to go by and this would be the number to base the 80% factor on. Your packs have a total capacity of 3000 mah, so 80% of that would be 2400. If the mah number after recharging is greater than 2400 then you probably need a larger capacity battery. There are others on here that can explain this better than I, but I hope this helps a little!

That's good but close to the border. Depending on the wind and extra maneuvers and what timer/settings you use ect. your battery could dip down lower. I wouldn't be concerned but it's something to look at after different flights.


MM

The 80% rule is just a guideline for so called maximum life out of a battery just the same as your 3000mah battery isn't exactly 3000, it may be 2950 or 3050. If you use 78% or 82% I doubt its going to make much difference in the life of the battery. I bet an occasional 85%-90% doesn't matter much either.(I wouldn't do it every time but I do know of one person who does) More than one of us has used the same battery twice by accident and we have not suffered any ill effect from it.