Ive been looking around and cannot seem to find a DJI P3 car charger anywhere, ive seen that you can get them for the phantom 2... Does DJI have any intentions of releasing one, or am i going to have to use an other brand? What do people think of using cheap ones like the ones you can get on ebay? I dont really want to be charging my 200 and something dollar battery with something that could reduce the life span of the battery.. Cheers

Why not just buy an inverter that plugs into a lighter plug, like this :
http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-Pow ... p;keywords=inverter

nrechtman Posted at 2016-1-15 23:32
Why not just buy an inverter that plugs into a lighter plug, like this :
http://www.amazon.com/BESTE ...

Thanks for the reply, im in Australia and cant find one like that, would this one do the trick; http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Large ... -Plug-/331279407166[/url]

nrechtman Posted at 2016-1-15 09:32
Why not just buy an inverter that plugs into a lighter plug, like this :
http://www.amazon.com/BESTE ...

Thanks for that  i was about to get the car charger , but now i think that im going to get one of those

Try one of these, quite cheap and does the job just fine. Using an inverter is very wasteful of battery power in your car and really not necessary: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/262008556837

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-15 16:59
Try one of these, quite cheap and does the job just fine. Using an inverter is very wasteful of batt ...

i dont trust those $20 chargers for a $800 quad , but im not shure may be some one else can share an experience with those chargers

GTDrone Posted at 2016-1-16 10:02
i dont trust those $20 chargers for a $800 quad , but im not shure may be some one else can share a ...

I have a background is designing high end battery charging systems, and those cheap Chinese devices are fine. All the charging smarts are in the battery itself, all you need is a power supply of the right voltage, and that's what that device provides.

Ive contacted my local dealer and they don't trust the third-party chargers and recommend using an inverter.. I am getting a fair bit of conflicting evidence for both products. Does anyone have conclusive evidence for or against third-party chargers or inverters?? I just really don't want to cook my battery using something that isn't up to par..

mitchwhite_93 Posted at 2016-1-16 16:33
Ive contacted my local dealer and they don't trust the third-party chargers and recommend using an i ...

The Phantom uses the DJI intelligent battery, all the charging circuitry is inside the battery. The external 'charger' is simply a power supply that outputs 17.5 volts at just under 6 amps. The major reason for not recommending third party 'chargers' is that many of them do not have sufficient output. You local dealer may not have any detailed electronics experience, you are more likely to get accurate device here, particularly if a DJI agent chimes in.

Using an inverter will work, but is very wasteful of your car's power system, as it has to convert the 12 volts DC of the car's system up to 120 volts AC (or 240 volts), to power the 'charger' which drops it all the way back down to 17.5 volts to charge the battery.

Why bother? The cheap simple charger I linked to simply uses a voltage doubler circuit to boost 12 volts to 17 volts and does the same job, all for much less than the cost of an inverter. And it cannot shorten the life of your battery, as it has no control over the charging process at all, that's controlled by the battery.

BTW, I uise one of those eBay cheap devices and it works just fine.

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-16 18:42
The Phantom uses the DJI intelligent battery, all the charging circuitry is inside the battery. The ...

Thanks mate, sounds like you know what you're on about, Ill have to pick up one of these chargers

Mitchwhite Posted at 2016-1-16 21:51
Thanks mate, sounds like you know what you're on about, Ill have to pick up one of these chargers
...

Try it, only costs twenty bucks to find out.

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-16 18:42
The Phantom uses the DJI intelligent battery, all the charging circuitry is inside the battery. The ...

Do you use the one that you linked to?

I would never personally trust a third party cheap 12v car cigarette charger. Use a AC converter to be safe. I use a 300W one and works perfectly - takes around an hour. Why risk ££££'s?

Mitchwhite Posted at 2016-1-16 22:03
Do you use the one that you linked to?

Yes, that was the link I used to buy it.

P3_Nutz Posted at 2016-1-16 22:07
I would never personally trust a third party cheap 12v car cigarette charger. Use a AC converter to  ...

Sometimes I wonder why I bother going into long explanations. Did you not read what I wrote? Where is the risk, even the supply that comes with the Phantom is NOT a charger, just a power supply.

And what can go wrong with the car charger? At worst it will supply less than it should, which will not do any damage.

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-17 09:10
Sometimes I wonder why I bother going into long explanations. Did you not read what I wrote? Where ...

Ive got a small inverter for charging my dog collars , will this be suitable to charge the P3P  ?

Powertech 12v to 150w
Specifications:
Output Power Continuous: 150W
Output Power Surge: 450W
Standby Current: < 300mA
Input Voltage: 10 - 15VDC
Output Wave Form: Modified Sine Wave
Efficiency: > 90%
Size: 156(L) x 91(W) x 58(H)mm
Weight: 0.4kg

Circuit Protection:
Thermal Shutdown and Alarm: 55°C +/- 5°C (Automatic Recovery)
Battery Low Alarm: 10.5VDC +/- 0.5VDC
Battery Low Shutdown: 10.0VDC +/- 0.5VDC
External Fusing: 20A Maximum

RodB Posted at 2016-1-17 10:34
Ive got a small inverter for charging my dog collars , will this be suitable to charge the P3P  ?
...

It might be, bearing in mind the DJI power supply is rated at 100 watts. My instinct is that your inverter is a little on the low side in terms of its output power. But give it a try, it won't damage anything.

I just bought a Smatree car charger for P3A and tried it today. It worked great. $34.99 at Amazon

mitchwhite_93 Posted at 2016-1-16 09:51
Thanks for the reply, im in Australia and cant find one like that, would this one do the trick; ht ...

I don't know how you can say you can't find one in Australia, Bunnings, Supercheap, Repco, Jaycar, JB Hi-Fi and many other stores stock them.
Attached is a picture of one of the many that Supercheap Auto have in stock.

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-17 09:10
Sometimes I wonder why I bother going into long explanations. Did you not read what I wrote? Where ...

What is this wizardry you speak of ? I can charge with something other than a DJI "power supply"!!!!


haha I can see you posting till you are blue in the face with this one, DJI has convinced the flock not to stray or the wolf will get them.


I cut the battery plug off my DJI power supply and re-joined it using XT-60 plugs, this way I am able to charge using the DJI 240v supply or simply plug the XT-60 into my field charger (old but faithful Swallow) and use the Pb function for charging.

Yes, I realise that DJI do not recommend other chargers, but their recommendation is somewhat correct in that a charger is not required, nor will it do the job properly. As stated, the charger is in the battery, not the device you connect to it, so using an external charger will not hurt the battery, but it may not charge it properly.

BTW, every manufacturer of devices with rechargeable batteries always say not to use anything but their charger.

??????????

Rob_stal Posted at 2016-1-16 18:42
What is this wizardry you speak of ? I can charge with something other than a DJI "power supply"!!! ...

can you post pic of this?

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-16 22:10
Sometimes I wonder why I bother going into long explanations. Did you not read what I wrote? Where ...

Hence why I said "I would personally" - I fully read your "opinion" and I was giving mine.. From experience with cheap chinese stuff it will probably only fall apart anyway.... or go up in smoke ha.

Can't go wrong with an AC inverter "IMO".

P3_Nutz Posted at 2016-1-17 21:22
Hence why I said "I would personally" - I fully read your "opinion" and I was giving mine.. From ex ...

"Can't go wrong with an AC inverter "IMO".

Sure, probably made in China as well, so it will 'go up in smoke'.

Probably...

Bit of a touchy subject by the looks of i... not everyone is an expert in this field and thats why I think most of us are on here... to learn how to make the most of our drones and so that we can enjoy using them!! Thanks everyone for the help

Kookydo Posted at 2016-1-17 17:01
can you post pic of this?

Sorry for the late reply, will do when I get back home.
Out of town for the week and I didn't bring the toys with me

This has worked perfectly for me for $15:

     http://www.amazon.com/gp/product ... _detailpage_o02_s00

Kookydo Posted at 2016-1-17 17:01
can you post pic of this?

Got home this afternoon and almost forgot, anyway here it is.
Works fine for me, seeing as I already had the gear the only investment was a few XT60 connectors.

Cheers