I've had my Mavic Pro for almost a month. Today, I tried the car battery charger for the first time. When I plugged it into the cigarette lighter plug, the LED on the 4-battery charging hub glowed orange. I plugged a single battery into the charger and it appeared to start charging. Then the battery LEDs went out. I noticed the battery LEDs would flash 5 times, then go out for a few seconds, then flash 5 times. It would do this for a couple of minutes, then the LED on the hub would go red and charging stopped. I've read a few other reports of the car charger not working, so what's the scoop, DJI? My cigarette lighter socket provides enough voltage and current to simultaneously fast charge my Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and my iPad Pro 10.5" tablet.

If you unplug the hub from the car charger and just charge the battery directly from the charger does it work? That way you could determine if the problem is the car charger, the hub or you car.

Paul_IA Posted at 2017-9-22 17:54
If you unplug the hub from the car charger and just charge the battery directly from the charger does it work? That way you could determine if the problem is the car charger, the hub or you car.

I will try that. I know the hub works, because it charges my batteries just fine when connected to the A/C charger. My guess is it's the actual mobile charger. I'll check the voltage coming from the cigarette lighter socket, but like I said, that socket provides enough volts and amps to simultaneously charge a cell phone and a 10.5" iPad while both screens are on, and mapping software is running!

When you go out to test it without the hub, also try it with the vehicle running.  (Assuming you've got a traditional vehicle with an alternator.)

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-22 18:32
When you go out to test it without the hub, also try it with the vehicle running.  (Assuming you've got a traditional vehicle with an alternator.)

I was driving home while trying to charge with the mobile charger, so, voltage and current should be high.

Jyunte Posted at 2017-9-22 18:41
I was driving home while trying to charge with the mobile charger, so, voltage and current should be high.

Oh, OK.  Well yes, then voltage should have been high.  However current is dictated by the device, not by the supply, as the lighter socket doesn't limit current.  If the device sucks too much current the fuse will blow.  The socket does not "supply more amps" or anything of that nature when the car is on.

The only other thing I can think of (besides a malfunctioning charger) is your alernator's voltage regulator is shot or on the fritz and the resulting voltage was higher than the Mavic charger wanted to see, and it shut down on purpose.  I haven't even played with my charger so I can't comment intelligently on what it's got in there as far as intelligent guts or how picky it is.

You can always try it with the car off too, to see if it likes a nice stable 12.6V instead.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-22 18:53
Oh, OK.  Well yes, then voltage should have been high.  However current is dictated by the device, not by the supply, as the lighter socket doesn't limit current.  If the device sucks too much current the fuse will blow.  The socket does not "supply more amps" or anything of that nature when the car is on.

The only other thing I can think of (besides a malfunctioning charger) is your alernator's voltage regulator is shot or on the fritz and the resulting voltage was higher than the Mavic charger wanted to see, and it shut down on purpose.  I haven't even played with my charger so I can't comment intelligently on what it's got in there as far as intelligent guts or how picky it is.

I connected the mobile charger to my 50A 13.8V regulated power supply. There should be no question that the DJI mobile charger is receiving enough voltage and drawing enough current to charge a single battery (which was connected directly to the charging cable, thereby avoiding the hub entirely).

The green LED on the charger came on, and the battery LEDs began cycling. As soon as the battery began to charge, the charger's green LED went out. The battery continued to display its charge status, by cycling the LEDs, until that cycle ended... at which point the charger's green LED turned on again.

I think this is pretty conclusive that the mobile charger is defective.

Yes, unfortunately that does look bad for the charger verdict.

I got curious just now and went out and played with mine.  Mine does work properly when the car is on.  However when the car is off it behaves almost exactly like yours does.  The only difference is my green LED on the 12V charger flickers a few times the first time it shuts off.  After that each attempt is exactly as your video shows.

Maybe yours has a poor connection internally on the input side causing voltage sag as the current draw increases.  I hope they warranty these chargers?  (Because from another thread today, it seems they don't even warranty the controllers!?)   $50 or whatever these chargers cost seems like more than they're worth compared to ebay alternatives.

My charger is all boxed up and ready to  go back to DJI on Monday. At least Cerritos is fairly local!

Jyunte Posted at 2017-9-23 22:28
My charger is all boxed up and ready to  go back to DJI on Monday. At least Cerritos is fairly local!

Any update on this?  Did you get a replacement and did it work?  I have exactly the same issue with one car however it works perfectly with the other car.  Perhaps an issue with output voltage?  Toyota outputs approx 13.4V once up and running.  Merc outputs 13.8V and it works fine with this.  Seems as though the DJI Car Charger is a little too clever for its own good.  

Jyunte Posted at 2017-9-23 22:28
My charger is all boxed up and ready to  go back to DJI on Monday. At least Cerritos is fairly local!

Any update on this?  Did you get a replacement and did it work?  I have exactly the same issue with one car however it works perfectly with the other car.  Perhaps an issue with output voltage?  Toyota outputs approx 13.4V once up and running.  Merc outputs 13.8V and it works fine with this.  Seems as though the DJI Car Charger is a little too clever for its own good.  

Jyunte Posted at 2017-9-23 22:28
My charger is all boxed up and ready to  go back to DJI on Monday. At least Cerritos is fairly local!

Any update on this?  Did you get a replacement and did it work?  I have exactly the same issue with one car however it works perfectly with the other car.  Perhaps an issue with output voltage?  Toyota outputs approx 13.4V once up and running.  Merc outputs 13.8V and it works fine with this.  Seems as though the DJI Car Charger is a little too clever for its own good.

Dr. Rothers Posted at 2018-2-13 06:41
Any update on this?  Did you get a replacement and did it work?  I have exactly the same issue with one car however it works perfectly with the other car.  Perhaps an issue with output voltage?  Toyota outputs approx 13.4V once up and running.  Merc outputs 13.8V and it works fine with this.  Seems as though the DJI Car Charger is a little too clever for its own good.

DJI replaced it. It took about two weeks to go from for to door, with most of that time spent  at the DJI facility in Cerritos. I've read that the car charger is pretty finicky when it comes to boards and amperage requirements. You might want to check that the sprung contact on the cigarette adapter itself, is actually making contact inside the socket in your car.

MY DJI FPV HAS SAME ISSUE JUST RECIEVED YESTERDAY AND WILL CONTACT DJI TODAY