The ViFly Short Saver V2 could save you from burning your ESC and flight controller on the bench. I consider any type of smoke stopper a must have for checking new FPV drone builds regardless of experience, because everyone makes mistakes right?
I tested the Vifly Short Saver and confirmed it was working as expected. They made it even better with the V2 by adding a few new features.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
- RDQ – https://oscarliang.com/product-kb4z
- AliExpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCMQSwV
- GetFPV – https://oscarliang.com/product-58bj
- Amazon – https://amzn.to/3em3itG
What Does It Do?
If there was a short circuit in your FPV drone, it could burn out expensive components in a buff of smoke when you connect the battery. This is a common issue with newly built drones, literally happens to everyone regardless of experience – maybe the wrong wires are connected, or there is a drop of solder on the PCB.
The Vifly Short Saver 2 can detect and prevent short circuit in your FPV drone. It does this by measuring the amount of current going from the battery to the drone, and it cuts off power as fast as it can to protect your electronics if the current exceeds a certain amount.
Yes, you can make one with a light bulb, but it’s probably cheaper and easier to just buy one. But there are some downsides to it:
- It doesn’t have controllable current threshold.
- It doesn’t cut off current completely, it just limits it.
Vifly Short Saver V2 Improvements
V1 and V2 are quite similar in terms of specs, they both work as expected. The difference is not huge apart from a couple of tweaks, buttons to be more specific, which make it easier to use. It really just V1.1 :)
If you already bought the Vifly Short Saver V1, you can continue to use it, it’s fine.
Vifly listened to my suggestion and added an on/off button to the V2, which eliminates the need to disconnect the battery when you want to power off the drone. This can be useful if you want to disconnect power really quickly, because it’s easier than unplugging the XT60 in a panic. It also makes binding Frsky receivers easier.
They also added a button for adjusting circuit breaker reaction time (delay). When you connect the LiPo battery, it causes a rush of current from the battery – aka current surge. Sometimes when current surge is so high, it can give you false alarm (smoke stopper mistakes it as short circuit). By increase reaction time, it reduces its sensitivity to current surge, hence reducing false alarms.
And the wires in the V2 are also thicker, and they printed the handy instruction table on the back too for quick reference.
A Close Look
The Vifly Short Saver V2 Comes with both XT30 and XT60 connectors for different size batteries.
With a 5″ build, or anything with a powerful VTX, you can use 2A threshold. If it’s a 6S build, you probably want to set delay higher if it’s giving you false alarm. This should be tested and setup for the first time (preferably with a quad that works), basically just start from the lowest and work your way up.
For 3″ builds or smaller, 1A should be enough if the VTX isn’t too power hungry.
Here’s the manual how it works. Quite straight forward and simple. If you need a more in-depth tutorial how to use it check out my review of the V1.
It’s useful, just get one.
10 comments
we are using a 6s 22.2v lipo battery that has 32000 mAh. When plugging in the vifly v2, we at low sensitivty ( 3 blinks) and 2A. The device is shutting down at almost 30% power. This might be due to a false alarm. What are the possible solutions.
Use a smaller 6S battery for testing. Bigger battery will cause a larger current rush.
Newbie problem, I had a new 850mAh battery go up in flames immediately after connecting it to a Vifly Shortsaver V2. I had successfully used both battery and shortsaver/quadcopter two times before without problems (i.e. was able to configure the quadcopter etc). Any thoughts what I might have done wrong?
Just use a bench power supply! Don’t know the quad building community is pushing these snakeoil like solutions. I laughed at everyone who thinks a lightbulb (this is a fancy version of this) could save their precious flight controller. Don’t know why the quad building community thinks their special and have to invent everything anew (and make it worse). These are all problems that were solved long before we were around
This is an affordable device that’s been proven to work.
Not everyone has a reliable and expensive bench PSU at home.
Exactly, because surely everyone has a bench PSU at home
Such a dramatic reaction over an $11 item. Nobody’s making you buy it, dude.
I just set a 1A current limit on my supply (C. C.).
I have v1 and it gives many errors, activating when there is no short circuit, if it is the same, it is not accurate at all
A couple of things:
1. You need to increase reaction time until you have no more failsafe
2. Use a smaller battery (lower capacity or lower voltage)
Take a quad that you know works and set it up for the first time before using on a new quad.