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I have an F450 quadcopter frame with the integrated Power Distribution Board. In order to use this feature, I soldered the battery (XT60) and the four ESC (Dean-T) connectors. I tested the continuity with a multimeter and it seems that everything is soldered fine since the measurements are completely normal. My concern is that when I connect all the different parts (motors - ESCs - battery) the voltage of the LiPo battery keeps dropping even when I am not sending any command to the motors. I just plug the battery and its voltage keeps diminishing. Is this normal or is there something wrong with my soldering connections ?

I am using a 3S LiPo battery along with 4 brushless DC motors (1000kV) and 30A ESCs.

P.S.: Same thing happens if I use a separate Matek-XT60 PDB instead of the frame's integrated one.

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    $\begingroup$ How fast is it dropping? There will be standing losses from the flight controller, ESCs, BECs, receiver etc. even when the motors are not actually operating. Perhaps a watt or three? You should not expect to store the drone e.g. overnight with the battery connected, but tens of minutes shouldn't be major. $\endgroup$
    – SomeoneSomewhereSupportsMonica
    Commented Feb 7, 2023 at 9:04
  • $\begingroup$ I need to measure it more precisely to answer on how fast it is dropping. What do you mean by tens of minutes ? If I let the drone with the battery connected and motors not operating for about 15 minutes let's say, what should I expect from the voltage drop ? $\endgroup$
    – Teo Protoulis
    Commented Feb 7, 2023 at 11:54
  • $\begingroup$ Please add a few pictures of your connections $\endgroup$
    – Luca Spuntoni
    Commented Feb 25, 2023 at 15:18

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Please try the following:

  1. Lipo checking: -Discharge the battery and note the mA discharged; -Recharge the battery and note the mA charged; -Compare the mA discharged, mA charged and the nominal battery capacity, if the three figures are about equal the battery is fine, otherwise if the figures are more than 30% different the battery is damaged and needs to be replaced.

  2. Circuit checking: -disconnect the battery and connect the multimeter to the + and - connections of the circuit selecting Ohms, the reading should be higher than zero. If the reading is zero that means that you have a short circuit. In this case Re-check your soldering and connections to find any error in the wiring.

  3. Component checking: Check the components connecting them one at the time and note the voltage between the + and - connectors of the battery, is you note a voltage drop, you have found the faulty component.

  4. Current checking: Connect a power checker between the battery and the drone that will give you information about the current drain, the voltage and the power provided by the battery to check if all is working properly.

Please always be careful performing these checks, the LiPo Batteries need to be treated and used properly to avoid safety issues, read the documentation first.

All the best, enjoy and be safe.

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