Cheerson CX-10 Battery Mod

The Cheerson CX-10 is an amazing little Quadcopter that can be had for as little as 15 Euros at your favourite chinese retailer. It’s tiny and a ton of fun to fly (with a proper TX, that is). But there is one thing I don’t like about it, and that is the battery being permanently mounted inside. What makes matters worse is that the included charger charges the battery too fast, which decreases battery life. Long story short, what I came up with was this:

Maybe a piece of Kapton tape wouldn’t hurt here…

The batteries (these, IIRC) I ordered came with plugs that fit the charging connector on the quad. Nice. So all there is to do is remove the built in battery and bridge the switch as in the picture. In case it’s hard to see: It’s the outermost pads that need to be bridged, but it doesn’t hurt if you bridge all three terminals. Of course you could remove the switch, but I didn’t bother. Maybe I’ll do it when I have to replace the next motor.

The replacement battery fits nicely.

Now I can charge my batteries at a rate that won’t kill them after ten cycles and swap them out like on a “real” Quadcopter.

The rubber band adds a bit of DIY charme to it.

I had to add a picture with my Devo, just because the two of them look so nice together.

There is no banana in this picture.

Update: I actually went and did this one properly later that day..

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24 Responses to Cheerson CX-10 Battery Mod

  1. hi,

    Great job!. Do you mind to let me know the name of the battery charge the you recomend for this batteries? Is there any sort of *all fit” battery charger that you recommend (for any sort of batteries types).

  2. Alexander says:

    I like this one: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_Accessories.html

    It's cheap, powerful enough and very versatile. It can charge li*, ni*, Pb, and maybe even a few other types. The manual is a fun read, too 😉

  3. http://www.banggood.com/3_7V-Lipo-Battery-USB-charger-with-2-to-5-Balance-Charging-Cable-p-917256.html

    is it okay in order to charge the batteries?
    do you use specific amperage to charge batteries?
    I don't understand what I should bridge on the quad because I can't catch the meaning of “outermost pads “.

  4. Alexander says:

    I would't recommend the charger, as it looks just like the ones that come with the CX-10. Also the charging cable has the wrong plugs – those are for bigger batteries, like the ones that go in a Hubsan X4. The charger itself maybe ok, if you always charge more than one battery at a time (otherwise amperage will probably be too high, which in turn reduces the overall lifetime of the battery), but then you will still have to make a cable for that (at least I had to make one myself, maybe you can also buy one).
    As for the bridge on the CX-10 board: The outermost pads are the ones on the edges, or in other words, pads 1 and 3 of 3. But if in doubt, you can also bridge all three pads, it won't hurt.

  5. Hi Alexander,

    Thank you for your replay. Do I need any special adapter for this kind of battery? What kind of adapters do I need if I want to charge (x6) batteries?. BTW what do you think about this charger https://www.hobbywarehouse.com.au/skyrc-imax-b6ac-v2-balance-charger.html

    cheers

  6. Alexander says:

    I can't really comment on that charger, other than that it seems quite pricey! I'd go with the accucell 6, as it's cheap and versatile. The adapter cable you'd have to make yourself, at least I don't know of any for sale. The connector is called Molex Picoblade, if I recall correctly.

    BTW, This isn't really the place to ask about chargers, as my knowledge about this topic is very limited. You'd be better off asking on rcgroups.com or a similar forum. Way more people with way more expertise around there!

  7. Ok I understood what I should do!
    But I thought: instead of bridge the switch isn't the same if solder a jst female where there were the battery cable soldered?
    What power supply is good for the turingy charger you suggested?

  8. Alexander says:

    I'm using an old ATX power supply I had lying around. Cheap and powerful. As for bridging the switch: IIRC the positive and negative battery terminals are too far apart to solder a connector directly, and there already is one on the board.

  9. Hi, I have done the mod but I have the blue board. When I plug the new battery the cx 10 turn on his led's and the controller sounds as usual but then the motors doesn't start. So now my quad it's apparently okay, but it doesn't works. Are there other soldering that I should do?

  10. Max Müller says:

    i have the same problem.I have the green board. 🙁

    pleas help!!

  11. Alexander says:

    I can't really comment on the green and blue boards, since the only ones I've seen up close are the red ones. But from your reports I would guess that you missed a connection. I'd try poking around the switch with a test lead and see if bridging any two contacts (of the switch!!) does the trick,

  12. Max Müller says:

    i think i have destroyed my little cx-10 with this mod..

  13. Alexander says:

    Sorry to hear/read that! I've got a blue board cx10 now, so I'll have another look at it. Although I'll take a shot at reverse engineering the RF protocol first, as I understand that hasn't been done yet.

  14. amidar says:

    Could You please explain what is the point of bridging the switch instead of leaving it to 'on' position ?

  15. Alexander says:

    You could just do that, I guess. I just figured I don't need it, so why waste weight and space on it.

  16. Alexander says:

    Actually, I think I remember it didn't work that way. I think I had to connect the terminals that weren't normally connected by the switch.

  17. You have discovered something?

  18. Alexander says:

    Sorry, no. I have been swamped with work and family matters, so I haven't found time to play. 🙁

  19. Josh A says:

    Are you able to change the receiver (controller) that is used with the cx-10?

  20. Alexander says:

    If you are referring to the transmitter, the answer would be “it depends”. The red boards definitively work with deviationTX (with a nRF24 module), but the green and blue boards are not yet supported, AFAIK. But there's a ton of information about that out there on the forums.

  21. the problem of blue board battery mod is solved.
    solution here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2183413&page=76

  22. Alexander says:

    So they used the case of the switch as a PCB trace, eh? Anyway, glad to see you got it sorted!

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