I'm interested in purchasing the Smart PowerCharging Station by smartpowercharge.com.  Does anyone have this product that they can share their experience?  It is a little pricey but when you think that it is charging 4 inspire batteries at the same time (the cost of 4 inspire chargers is about $200+ alone).  I'm just curious if anyone has had experience with this product and if it is safe to use on the inspire batteries.  I know that they have a similar product for the Phantom Batteries.

Incidentally in case you are wondering, the manufacturer has had limited supplies of this product (that are released for sale periodically).  According to the website the product goes into full production May 20th-25th.  My questions have been directed to those lucky folks that may have been able to order this product while it was in stock.  Thanks in advance if any of you are out there that may have been so lucky or maybe even those who are using the same product for the Phantom Batteries:

PRE-ORDERS START FRIDAY, APRIL 24th. MASS PRODUCTION has been set for MAY 20th - 25th - so I'm hoping someone out there might have some experience with either the SPC4000 (for the Phantom) or the SPC4500 (for the inspire).  Any feedback would be most appreciated !

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-4-22 00:09
PRE-ORDERS START FRIDAY, APRIL 24th. MASS PRODUCTION has been set for MAY 20th - 25th - so I'm hopin ...

Last edited by GENETTICO In 2015-4-22 08:13 Editor


Funny you should ask:

I have contacted the company directly on 4-18-2015 to try and get some clarification as to how they deal with the charging in light of discoveries made by me on the way the batteries take charge... however I have not gotten a response. Let's see if they respond. It seems expensive, however the discharge/charge feature might be worth it when in combination with everything else.

This is the email I sent them:

Hey there,

A few of my friends with Inspires are very interested on the station but have a couple questions I did not get an answer by reading the description... Maybe I just didn't know what I was reading?:

1. I see there is deep cycle, but is there a discharge ONLY function? And if so... Can it be set to a certain percentage amount? Or is it fixed?
2. What is the charging amperage/wattage at each terminal? Is it adjustable?
3. What is the total wattage of the charging station?

Hope to hear back from you soon. You can call me at

Best Regards,

John Cascante

By the way... Theres another post on this as well here:
http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=12782&extra=page%3D1&lang=en

John,

Thank you VERY much for letting me know about your email.  I'm very much interested in finding out what their response is.  The person that I have been speaking with directly has been very responsive.  His name is Rich Howard and is reachable via richie.howard@angeltrax.com.  I would appreciate you keeping me in informed.  Until I hear back from you I am going to hold off on pre ordering the SPC4500 (for the Inspire 1).

Rich

hi all

no expert but this look good
i live in uk and am concerned about import duty and vat did online  check and below is what i got  
Import duty & taxes calculation result



From where to where you import
Importing from:        United States
Importing to:        United Kingdom  (view country guide)
The type of product, its value and where it was manufactured

Product description:        Model Charger
Product category:        Batteries - other  (Upgrade account to get HS code)
Product value:        US$399.00
Country of manufacture:        United States
The cost of shipping and insurance of importing

Shipping costs:        US$18.00
Insurance costs:        US$400.00
Calculation results

Total customs value (CIF):        £538.05       
This is the amount that customs values your import at
- Duty:        £14.53
- VAT:        £110.52
Total import duty & taxes due:        £125.05       
This is the amount that needs to be paid to customs
Total landed cost:        £663.10       
This is the total cost of importing, including product, shipping, insurance and import duty & taxes
at exchange rate of 1 GBP = 1.52 USD
Calculation and compliance notes
Notes on duty & taxes rates and compliance
Model Charger has an import duty rate of 2.7% and a VAT rate of 20% . Importation of these articles must comply with labelling requirements (CE marking) and safety standards (Low Voltage Legislation) controlled by European Commission. Please contact regulatory agency for more information. Restrictions will apply for shipping this product with courier or postal companies [High probability]. Various conditions apply to transportation of all batteries regarding labelling and packaging. Please, contact your courier for more information. .
Notes on import taxes due
Please note that your shipping provider may add an additional handling fee
Read more on how import duty & taxes are calculated for United Kingdom here

not sure if it spot on sure someone can confirm but to get one sent  it get very expensive

Well I took the plunge and pre-ordered the SPC4500 (for the Inspire 1).  Hopefully it will work as advertised.

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-5-7 20:46
Well I took the plunge and pre-ordered the SPC4500 (for the Inspire 1).  Hopefully it will work as a ...

Great let us know how it worked out for you!! Im interested in someone's results! I believe it will work as advertised... however I do feel it might get a bit on the warm to hot side if all is running!! but with the fans you might not even be able to tell!!

GENETTICO Posted at 2015-5-8 02:00
Great let us know how it worked out for you!! Im interested in someone's results! I believe it wil ...

Hey there! I'm on the pre-order but have not received the unit yet.  

I did email the company to ask about the wattage.   They replied with "About 600 total   We manage charging by CPU. We keep the charging operation safe. "

As soon as it comes in, I'll post a quick review.

dmytchak Posted at 2015-5-8 02:09
Hey there! I'm on the pre-order but have not received the unit yet.  

I did email the company to  ...

Hey... thank you.. Yes... I did contacted Rich as well and coincide with what you were told... It looks like a cool unit, and I like the built... Im trying to see about procuring one to give it a whirl for the community as well.. Would love to see some pics, videos... you know... the works!!

Thank you!

dmytchak Posted at 2015-5-8 02:09
Hey there! I'm on the pre-order but have not received the unit yet.  

I did email the company to  ...

Yes please do, I to am very interested in the charging station.

I'm one of the earlier pre orders.  I'm told that mine will go out pretty quickly after full production.  What that means, I don't know but I will be sure to let you know how long it takes to charge, how quiet it is and does it stay cool.  Patiently waiting.

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-5-8 08:54
I'm one of the earlier pre orders.  I'm told that mine will go out pretty quickly after full product ...

I think (hope?) it will be a solid offering.   I don't expect to see massive decrease in charge times due to the higher wattage.   The main selling point for me was:

- Discharge capability (I dread manually bringing the batteries down)
- Convenience.  Four at once? - sold!

dmytchak Posted at 2015-5-8 09:16
I think (hope?) it will be a solid offering.   I don't expect to see massive decrease in charge ti ...

They were both the big selling points for me as well.  I'll post my findings as soon as I have mine

Still waiting on the shipment of my SPC4500 (for the Inspire 1) charging station

Kind of unhappy that it is taking so long to get this shipped to me.  I know that they have shipped this item before.  I guess I have to be a bit more patient.

I'm told that my SPC4500 is about to ship.  I hope to have some feedback for you here once I have received it.

They also have the I1 prop-guards.  I just ordered one set. If the review of the charger is good I might get one also.

cucubogdy Posted at 2015-5-16 23:00
They also have the I1 prop-guards.  I just ordered one set. If the review of the charger is good I m ...

I'm still waiting on the charger to ship.  It was supposed to ship yesterday (Monday).  I'm very much interested in hearing about the ease of installing the rear prop guards.  I understand you either have to insert a screw or wire tie.  Was wondering how much of a pain it is.  I'm also interested in hearing how secure the prop guards are for the front prop being that they just snap into place.  Would it be possible for you to post a photo here of the rear prop guards showing the screw that you had to insert and where?

I had no idea about this charger looks cool as hell.
Did buy the prop guards they will be here this week buying some small cable ties for fast install in the field cant wait to see how they mount as well with out the screws.

I have this charger and love the discharge feature, not a rapidcharger, but works very well and convenient ,,, ports for everything

wcough@gmail.co Posted at 2015-5-19 17:45
I have this charger and love the discharge feature, not a rapidcharger, but works very well and conv ...

Cool ... thanks for the feedback.  Once again, I have been disappointed and the reseller is telling me that they will not be shipping until June 1.  Patiently waiting and kind of disappointed.

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-5-20 02:30
Cool ... thanks for the feedback.  Once again, I have been disappointed and the reseller is tellin ...

I ordered mine same day as you did in your first post, Howard has always informed me from the beginning that they wont be shipping till after end of May looks like were getting close, I have 8 TB48 batteries this will come in handy for me and the Deep Cycle was the clincher to get me to purchase one, I also picked up the Smart iPHONE USB Adapter,  for the use f the inspire Batteries for field charging my pad's if necessary.

cmontisano Posted at 2015-5-20 04:12
I ordered mine same day as you did in your first post, Howard has always informed me from the begi ...

Thank you sir.  I appreciate knowing that there are others here that feel confident these orders will come through.  This is the first time I have ordered through this company and the fact that they have pre-order $$$ for so long can be a little unsettling.  They seem to be honest and hoping that the chargers do ship that first week in June as promised.

I'm told today that my SPC4500 should ship today.  I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this puppy.  Will certainly make life a little easier and less messy.

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-6-3 19:51
I'm told today that my SPC4500 should ship today.  I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on ...

Hope mine ships soon, since I was among the first pre-orders I was told by Richie in a previous email they were  to ship June 1st.
look forward to getting mine as well.

cmontisano Posted at 2015-6-3 21:39
Hope mine ships soon, since I was among the first pre-orders I was told by Richie in a previous em ...

That is exactly what Richie told me.  I was in touch with him last night.  My status was changed from pic to shipped last night.  I have fedex tracking info but it does not show that it was picked up by fedex.  It probably will be picked up by fedex today (according to Richie).  Hopefully yours is in that same group.  Good luck.

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-6-4 18:16
That is exactly what Richie told me.  I was in touch with him last night.  My status was changed f ...

same here tracking received but last checked not picked up, hope to get it soon

had message from richie yesterday after i enquired if international orders shipped

he said all USA shipped and international shipped this week  i bought mine from drone land in netherland
also received an email them and was told 1-2 weeks so hoping maybe some time next week here in uk
i paid 490 euro which was about £370 worked out cheaper that direct from USA
no import duties as vat or duties as netherlands in EU

cmontisano Posted at 2015-6-5 11:11
same here tracking received but last checked not picked up, hope to get it soon

Finally mine was picked up by FEDEX yesterday and due for delivery this Tuesday.

nala Posted at 2015-6-5 15:53
had message from richie yesterday after i enquired if international orders shipped

he said all USA  ...

Excellent ... please post how it works once you have received your charger.

cucubogdy Posted at 2015-5-16 23:00
They also have the I1 prop-guards.  I just ordered one set. If the review of the charger is good I m ...

Did you ever get your prop guards?

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-6-5 19:46
Finally mine was picked up by FEDEX yesterday and due for delivery this Tuesday.

Looks like your one day ahead of me mine shows to arrive to my door on Wednesday. I hope you like as much as I know I will.

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-6-5 19:46
Finally mine was picked up by FEDEX yesterday and due for delivery this Tuesday.

Looks like your one day ahead of me mine shows to arrive to my door on Wednesday. I hope you like as much as I know I will.

cmontisano Posted at 2015-6-5 21:17
Looks like your one day ahead of me mine shows to arrive to my door on Wednesday. I hope you like  ...

Awesome .... I will post here how this beast works once I have received it.  Thanks for sharing.

cant wait to see your prop guards!

cmontisano Posted at 2015-6-5 11:11
same here tracking received but last checked not picked up, hope to get it soon

This is odd..I had the same thing with my order.. Richie said it shipped but it said Label created and no tracking info.. hmmmm Hope this isnt anything bad

I have one on its way and due to arrive on Wednesday. Started in Alabama, it's currently in Colorado.

Mine arrived yesterday.  It works great.  Used it to charge four batteries, controller, and iPad mini2 simultaneously.  It sure is convenient not to have to connect so many chargers.

Deep Cycle button works differently than I expected. Battery must be below about 30% charge before it will go into deep cycle. Thought I could use it to manually discharge battery but it does not work that way.

Also noticed that the display for the first two batteries is brighter than the display for the second two.  Can anyone else tell me if there's is doing the same thing?

Jim K.

jimcking Posted at 2015-6-8 01:03
Mine arrived yesterday.  It works great.  Used it to charge four batteries, controller, and iPad min ...

I just received mine today.  I will be charging my batteries on Saturday for a Sunday flight.  I will check out the discharge at that time and also get back with you on the brightness of the displays.  I did power it up just to make sure it did power up and did not notice any difference in brightness from any of the displays.  I'll get back to you on Sunday.

rsghowellnj@gma Posted at 2015-6-10 00:33
I just received mine today.  I will be charging my batteries on Saturday for a Sunday flight.  I w ...

I received mine yesterday but haven't tried it out yet.   

Unfortunately, I had a fly away two weeks ago - contacted DJI and they haven't replied or cared to even give me a link to send them the flight logs.   During the fly away, I turned of the controller to initiate the RTH - which worked thank God.   So the bird is fine but I will not be flying it until DJI returns my inquiry.

-David