Yuneec Q500 generic battery adapter

thingiverse

This is an adapter for more common generic lipo batteries to fit into the Yuneec Q500 series of quadcopters. To complete this you will need an EC3 female connector (to connect inside the drone), some wire, soldering iron, glue/epoxy, velcro strip and adhesive backed velcro, and a connector for the type of battery that you use unless you cut the battery's original connector off in favor of the EC3. The adapter holds the generic battery inside the normal battery bay with the battery door left hanging open. Adhesive velcro is attached to the outside of the quad and a velcro strip holds the batter in place during flight, fed through the slot in the back of the adapter. The battery I'm using measures approx 26.5mm tall, 48.6mm wide, 156mm long, plus the wires sticking out. Specifically this is an HRB brand 6000mAh, but the format is very common and sizes of other brands should be similar. It does NOT have a hard shell, just shrink wrapped lipo cells. The EC3 connector is glued in place in the adapter. I made sure to dry fit the EC3 shell without the copper (!) to see how closely it lined up inside the drone to ensure that it wouldn't put any undue sideways stress on the internal pins. I highly recommend that you do the same. I had to file the mounting hole in the adapter in order to get a clean fit that lined up well. Depending on the tolerances of your printer you may have better luck. Use epoxy, glue or a 3D printer pen to secure the EC3 once you have it aligned and soldered onto some wire. The wires used need to be thin enough to fit under the length of the battery and allow it all to fit into the quad's battery bay. Common silicone 14+ gauge wire used for RC applications is probably too thick, but good old inflexible Home Depot copper 14g cable has thinner insulation and fits fine. A pair of right angles were bent into the wire to allow a tight fit against the battery.