Please select Into the mobile phone version | Continue to access the computer ver.
SOLUTION: Charge Phone and Controller while Flying Mavic Pro
21157 23 2017-1-29
Uploading and Loding Picture ...(0/1)
o(^-^)o
Kurakka
New
Flight distance : 4137 ft
United States
Offline

I have done some searching and it seems no one has a solution that seems to answer the question of "Can I Charge My Phone and/or Controller While Flying My Mavic Pro".  Well I found a solution.  I purchased a new battery backup and as it turns out a feature I thought would be kind of useless I think is what makes this solution work. NOTE - At this time this solution has only been tested on an android phone using a USB Type C connection (LG V20).  I have some older android phones I will try it with and I will also see if I can get ahold of an IPhone of a recent model to test this out as well.  Since the piece of equipment that makes it work is the battery backup and it is shown primarily with Apple devices I doubt it will be a problem.
  
  
To start off you need to purchase this
    
  
You will also need to get some cables.  If you own them great if not, I have had good success with Anker brand which are easily found on Amazon.
  
  
The part that makes this work is that the power bank has iSmart 3.0 tech.  what this allows is Data transfer through the power bank while charging your phone, or the Mavic Pro controller in this case.
  
  
Unfortunately, since the Mavic Pro Controller does not use its USB ports in a normal manner this process is overly complicated.  What I mean by this is that for some reason, as far as I was able to find, the micro USB-ish port on the side of the controller will only charge if you use a standard Micro USB cable.  If you want to connect a device for video and control you HAVE to use the included cable.  By contrast I have not been able to charge the controller using the full Size USB port on the bottom of the controller however, it works just fine for video feed. Because of this you will need to use 3 cables for this to work.  I am sure most of you know this, but I wanted to put this here so you can see why I did this the way I did.
  
  
So to start off you have the RavPower unit
  
[Imgur]()
  
  
Now the unit has 4 ports.
  
  
[Imgur]()
  
  
I have labeled the ports because according to the manufacturer it matters which ports you use in order for the data transfer to work.
  
  
Port 1 is where you would plug in the phone using, in this scenario a USB 3.0 to USB type C cable.
  
Port 2 is where you plug in the micro USB-ish port on the controller
  
Port 3 is where you plug in the full USB port on the controller
  
Port 4 is not used but can be used to plug the batter pack for charging.
  
  
Once done it will look like this, Sorry for messy pic.
  
  
[Imgur]()
  
  
For the data transfer to start working make sure you double press the power button on the battery pack.  
  
  
And that is it.  This should work and allow you longer flight times on both the controller and your phone/tablet/whatever video device you choose to use.  As I test more configurations I will add to this post just to confirm it works.  If anyone chooses to try this and can get it to work in a more simplified configuration, please feel free to add to the post.
2017-1-29
Use props
Petroboy
Second Officer
Flight distance : 3681 ft
Canada
Offline

Interesting exercise, but the weak point is going to be your Mavic battery life and how many you have.  As long as you have the controller and phone fully charged at the start, I think they will last longer than the Mavic's batteries (unless you have a crazy number of them).
2017-1-29
Use props
Kurakka
New
Flight distance : 4137 ft
United States
Offline

Practicality was never my intention with this setup.  The practical thing to do would be to use the batteries that are too low to fly and attached them to the DJI Battery to power bank adapter to charge the controller with what is left on the batteries while using the full USB port on the bottom of the controller to connect to the video device.  This was mainly to answer a questions that I had seen.  I also never intended to use the RavPower bank in this manner, I originally bought it for my phone for work as I have to transfer data from air gapped computers.  So the battery and USB transfer to my phone works great.  This just happened to be a secondary usage.  Also as RavPower does make some pretty big battery backup units already, as they continue to push the iSmart 3.0 tech to their larger devices people using larger tablets for display's will also benefit from it as well.  Greatest Solution Ever!! not really, but I thought others might find it interesting.
2017-1-29
Use props
Vivi
lvl.1
Flight distance : 130285 ft
United States
Offline

Kurakka Posted at 2017-1-29 15:34
Practicality was never my intention with this setup.  The practical thing to do would be to use the batteries that are too low to fly and attached them to the DJI Battery to power bank adapter to charge the controller with what is left on the batteries while using the full USB port on the bottom of the controller to connect to the video device.  This was mainly to answer a questions that I had seen.  I also never intended to use the RavPower bank in this manner, I originally bought it for my phone for work as I have to transfer data from air gapped computers.  So the battery and USB transfer to my phone works great.  This just happened to be a secondary usage.  Also as RavPower does make some pretty big battery backup units already, as they continue to push the iSmart 3.0 tech to their larger devices people using larger tablets for display's will also benefit from it as well.  Greatest Solution Ever!! not really, but I thought others might find it interesting.

Looks good to me as my Galaxy Note 4 drains the RC battery really fast, from 100% to 30% after 20 minutes of flight time. Sometime I thought my Note 4 would shut down in mid flight.  Thanks, I'll try this.
2017-4-5
Use props
digitalintruder
First Officer
Flight distance : 3652379 ft
United States
Offline

Totally looks convenient and portable. I suggest you add a few more wires and perhaps a car battery to this setup to help it's mobility.
2017-4-5
Use props
hallmark007
Captain
Flight distance : 9812789 ft
  • >>>
Ireland
Offline

It certainly does away with the whole portability, there is very little draw on phone battery to warrant something so elaborate, why not get a mini iPad and use that and if you need a back up then just use your phone.
2017-4-5
Use props
Aerial Gopher
Flight distance : 331906 ft
Canada
Offline

But if you just plug the remote control bottom USB to the phone and then the battery bank to the left USB port.  The RC controller charges the phone ( Android Phones anyways, and iPhones apparently not)
This will charge the controller, and the controller charges the phone.  Might want to get a right angle micro USB to plug in the phone so it doesn't stick straight out and hard to hold the controller.
2017-4-17
Use props
Xman1
Second Officer

United States
Offline

You could use a Mavic battery to accomplish the same thing
2017-4-17
Use props
CAAirborne
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1174232 ft
United States
Offline

Aerial Gopher Posted at 2017-4-17 09:17
But if you just plug the remote control bottom USB to the phone and then the battery bank to the left USB port.  The RC controller charges the phone ( Android Phones anyways, and iPhones apparently not)
This will charge the controller, and the controller charges the phone.  Might want to get a right angle micro USB to plug in the phone so it doesn't stick straight out and hard to hold the controller.

Agreed.  This is the method I use with my Galaxy S7 Edge.  I stick the recharging battery in my pocket, run a USB cable from it up to the left-side port of  the RC, then connect my phone to the RC using the bottom USB port on the RC.  It keeps everything topped off while flying multiple Mavic batteries.
2017-4-17
Use props
Aerial Gopher
Flight distance : 331906 ft
Canada
Offline

CAAirborne Posted at 2017-4-17 11:40
Agreed.  This is the method I use with my Galaxy S7 Edge.  I stick the recharging battery in my pocket, run a USB cable from it up to the left-side port of  the RC, then connect my phone to the RC using the bottom USB port on the RC.  It keeps everything topped off while flying multiple Mavic batteries.

I had to look for the name because I forgot what it was but.. If you read this....  It will make sense...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine

I have an s7 edge as well, and I don't like the Remote charging the phone.  The phone has the biggest battery on the market, and will last, so why does it HAVE to charge the phone. We should have the option.   There is one if you want to root your phone, and download an app that disables charging with ADP connection. its a few dollars. But WHY!!!!!  :-(
2017-4-17
Use props
CAAirborne
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1174232 ft
United States
Offline

Aerial Gopher Posted at 2017-4-17 11:57
I had to look for the name because I forgot what it was but.. If you read this....  It will make sense...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine

I totally agree.  I hate that my S7 drains my RC.  That's the primary reason for the outboard battery.
2017-4-17
Use props
jimmybbq
lvl.1
United States
Offline

This was the first biggest disappointment I had as a mavic user, that the RC drained soooo fast.. I couldn't figure out why folks were getting more batteries. I was thinking, why? The RC won't last more than maybe two mavic batteries... I have seen a video that says you can cut the black wire inside the micro usb cable and it will no longer charge the phone. It says it is, but it isn't... has anyone tried this yet?
2017-6-2
Use props
Lesani
lvl.1
Flight distance : 618307 ft
Austria
Offline

The iPhone (6s) lasts for 2-3 batteries usually - the remote controller at that time is at ~60%.

It would be much appreciated though if we could get an official Y-Split cable to supply both from an external power source (powerbank, used battery, ...) as I've had a few cases where waiting 40mins until the phone is full again is not an option.
2017-9-4
Use props
Mark Notton
New
United Kingdom
Offline

Thanks for taking the time to test this out and share your findings. This is easily the biggest let down I've discovered using Mavic Pro. My iPhone 6 doesn't hold a charge for more than 2 Mavic battery uses. Did you ever manage to test this set up on an iPhone in the end? If so, did it work?
2017-9-26
Use props
Mark Notton
New
United Kingdom
Offline

Thanks for taking the time to test this out and share your findings. This is easily the biggest let down I've discovered using Mavic Pro. My iPhone 6 doesn't hold a charge for more than 2 Mavic battery uses. Did you ever manage to test this set up on an iPhone in the end? If so, did it work?
2017-9-26
Use props
Mark Notton
New
United Kingdom
Offline

Thanks for taking the time to test this out and share your findings. This is easily the biggest let down I've discovered using Mavic Pro. My iPhone 6 doesn't hold a charge for more than 2 Mavic battery uses. Did you ever manage to test this set up on an iPhone in the end? If so, did it work?
2017-9-26
Use props
fans1a10fb76
lvl.4
Flight distance : 2069964 ft
United States
Offline

I must need some education.  Why plug power into both of the controller usb ports?
2017-9-26
Use props
djmythos
lvl.1
Flight distance : 6854 ft
Offline

Lesani Posted at 2017-9-4 00:01
The iPhone (6s) lasts for 2-3 batteries usually - the remote controller at that time is at ~60%.

It would be much appreciated though if we could get an official Y-Split cable to supply both from an external power source (powerbank, used battery, ...) as I've had a few cases where waiting 40mins until the phone is full again is not an option.

I think this is what hundreds of us are looking for
2018-10-3
Use props
bholliger0014
lvl.3
Flight distance : 372887 ft
Switzerland
Offline

Hi there!

I just tried this using my RAVPOWER RP-PB059 and my iPhone 6s and Mavic Pro Platinum.
Unfortunately it does not work. Data connection is not established. And, it seems the RemoteController is charging the RAVPOWER.

Do you have any ideas on this?

Thanks!
-Bruno.
2018-11-4
Use props
Kurakka
New
Flight distance : 4137 ft
United States
Offline

Apologize to all for not responding turns out I suck as a pilot.  I wrecked my mav shortly after this post was made so I have not bothered to login to the forums.  I know that with the Power bank it does not have Data transfer on as default.  Make sure to read the manual about how to enable this, I think you have to plug everything in, then double tap the button on the battery pack to put it into data transfer mode.

hope this helps.   
2018-11-20
Use props
Nebuchadnezzar
Captain
Flight distance : 3428747 ft
Spain
Online

Charging Remote Control With a powerbank while Remote is charging mobile device ..... not good idea IMO
2018-11-20
Use props
Flycaster
Captain
United States
Offline

Why not just mod you data cable, cut the +v (+5v) power line.
Data still flows, zero charging:
2018-11-20
Use props
Jack Foley
New

United States
Offline

Hello Kurakka !
  Thanks for sharing! A buddy of mine and myself have been trying to figure something out like this for a while now... and it looks like what you have done works for you!
I am hoping you can give me some tips on how I can get my rig working the same as you...
I have purchased the RAVPower ismart 3.0 external battery pack from the link you posted above, to go with my Mavic Pro Platinum/iPad Mini 4 setup... I tried running the same as yours and it will not work while charging. I double tapped the power button and everything for data transfer and still nothing.... if you have any tips please! let me know! Thank you either way!
Cheers!
2019-4-18
Use props
bonmot
lvl.4
Flight distance : 382815 ft
Canada
Offline

This is an old thread. Any one has tried this? Thanks
I also want to have a big power pack to support the remote controller and the iPhone at the same time while flying to fight the cold in Canada.
Thanks
2020-1-6
Use props
Advanced
You need to log in before you can reply Login | Register now

Credit Rules