Looking to upgrade the battery in the Taranis X9D and get longer battery life? Check out this 2S 3000mAh LiPo battery designed specifically for the Taranis.
Check out this article for more Taranis X9D hacks, tutorials and tips.
Where to Buy?
- Banggood: http://bit.ly/taranix-x9d-lipo
- Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2VqiThm
What’s Good about this LiPo?
The stock battery is a Ni-MH 7.2V 2000mAh battery, while this upgrade battery is a 2-cell 3000mAh LiPo. In theory it should give you a 50% boost in battery life. However when I ran tests to confirm the capacity (charging it from 3.4V per cell to 4.2V), I only got around 2500mAh, so the stated 3000mAh seems overstated.
Check out this guide to learn about the basics of LiPo battery.
This 2S LiPo is designed for the Taranis X9D (not compatible with QX7), it fits in the battery bay perfectly. It might also work in some other radios, as long as the voltage and dimension are supported :)
The physical size of the battery is 95x27x26mm.
Despite having a larger capacity, it’s also much lighter than the original battery (118g vs. 167g). With this LiPo installed, the radio feels much better in the hands.
I’ve been using the stock Mi-MH battery for over 4 years, it’s time for a new battery anyway :) So this LiPo seemed to be a good candidate.
What’s Not So Good…
Because it’s a LiPo battery, you need to “balance charge” it, and you cannot use the internal charger. That means you would have to take the battery out of the Taranis for charging. But given the longer run time, you probably won’t have to charge it as often.
If you don’t know what “balance charge” means check out my LiPo Charger Guide.
How about 3S Battery?
I thought about getting a 3S LiPo, but when you flash your receivers via the Taranis, you can fry them with the higher voltage. Therefore you’d have to power the receiver separately which isn’t convenient at all. So 2S makes more sense to me.
How about 18650 Battery?
Yes, It’s possible to use 18650 Li-Ion batteries too in the Taranis X9D.
Setting Up
Check the voltage of your pack before connecting – voltage should be around 7.6V. You might want to charge it first :)
The LiPo Battery connects to the radio by the balance lead.
Go to the Radio Setup page by holding down the menu button for 3 seconds, and set “Battery Meter Range” to something like 7.0V to 8.4V.
Finally calibrate the battery sensor under “Battery Calibration” against a multimeter for more precise reading.
23 comments
I’m using a taranis 9xd also a sim joystick and i m wondering if when i use it in joystick mode with a lipo 2s can i damage the battery.
Hello,
I use a taranis 3s 2650mAh battery – lasts incredibly long.
hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-2650mah-3s-1c-lipoly-tx-pack-futaba-jr-1.html?queryID=beba78f97a0544ffaaca9be70e1a2242&objectID=74802&indexName=hbk_live_magento_en_us_products
Can we use 25C battery to power up Taranis XD 9 Plus SE instead of 5C (2S 3000mAH 7.4V) ?
How may effect the power system ?
Thanks
Yea that’s totally fine. It won’t affect the power system.
Oscar. I have many 2.7V 2300 Lipos laying around. Would it be worth it to use these instead of actually going out and buying a 3000 2.7 lipo?
you mean 3.7V? 1S Lipo?
You will need two of them, connect them in series, and check if the shape fits the Taranis compartment. If that checks out then you can.
Thanks Oscar. Just received a X7 and have a lipo battery. Just confirming what you said above, that it’s ok to leave in the TX and charge every few weeks. I don’t need to remove it after every use. Correct?
Thanks in advance and sorry for double checking.
I’m using the Thunder Power 2600mah 2s lipo and running the TBS Crossfire module on my X9D.
It definitely provides power needed for the power hungry FrSky R9 or TBS CRSF modules.
Just remember that under no circumstances should you use the wall charger you received with the Taranis X9D to charge lipos.
Doing that may result in destruction of your X9D or worst case scenario burning down a house or charging station.
Im using 2x 18500 cells in my X9D, they weight around 70gr and fit nicely.
That’s on my to do list, just trying different options :)
I have a QX7 and I’m sick of replacing the AA batteries. Do you have a recommended lipo battery that fits the QX7?
Maybe just use two high capacity 18650 Li-Ion batteries in there? They should fit well.
Of course it appears now. Tried refreshing the page numerous times today, went back to the article link to start from scratch, nothing. The moment I sent that last one my first message appeared.
My apologies
Disregard previous message.
Well I guess commenting was a waste of my time. Thought perhaps something had malfunctioned, tried to comment again. Was informed that message was a duplicate.
I’ll continue to enjoy all of your posts and videos, but will never attempt to comment again.
New comments need approval from myself before they are made public.
Do you have to put in storage voltage after every flighting session?
No it’s okay to leave it charged for even a few weeks.
I’d only put it in storage charge if I am going away on holiday.
Your timing couldn’t have been better for this one Oscar. Was just thinking of upgrading my battery a few days ago.
I’m also still on stock battery, but my Taranis came with an 800mah Ni-MH. All part of being an early adopter I guess. Had my Taranis w/X8R pre-ordered back in 2013, for considerably less than the Taranis Plus(without Rx) is going for now.
Still rocking (pre-ordered)Fatshark HD1 as well, but that’s a story for another day.
Wow… You might be looking after your gear really well that they are still working after all these years :D
I don’t know how you survived on 800mAh :D With 2000mAh I almost always have to charge it every two sessions.
I have put 2 x 18650 VTC6- 3120mAh batteries inside the X9D. I can balance charge it in the field and even power the Crossfire modul with it when I need more than 500mW.
Which font do you have on your radio in the picture? It’s so much more legible than the stock font.
it’s the SQT5 Font.
it’s an option you can check when flashing OpenTX: https://oscarliang.com/flash-opentx-firmware-taranis/
Ive been using the thunderpowerrc lipo for the x9d, and it’s been charging back up at the rates capacity. Cant recomend it enough. thunderpowerrc.com/FPV-BATTERIES/FPV-Adrenaline/TP2600-2SATX