Hello all,

I was wondering what you guys are doing for charging on the road. My wife and I are taking a road trip through the western United States and I want to find a safe, reliable way to charge my batteries from the car. I noticed DJI sold car chargers for almost every model aircraft with the exception of the Spark. I would prefer to purchase DJI equipment but if it's not available then it is what it is..

Thanks!

Hello and good day StetsonWatkins. Thank you for the inquiry and for reaching out. You can check the DJI Spark Portable Power Pack: https://store.dji.com/product/spark-portable-power-pack. The DJI Spark Portable Power Pack is designed to wirelesly charge up to three DJI Spark Intelligent Flight Batteries on the go. Safe and intelligent with an impressive total power of 5000 mAh, the Charging Station charges up to three Spark batteries in 2.5 hours when fully charged. It also provides power to mobile devices via its USB port, and the Charging Station itself charges in just 1 hour and 35 minutes. Thank you.

You could use one of these...   on Amazon look up DJI Spark Car Charger Adapter...  $18   

I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to just plug my Spark into the car's USB port. I only have 2 batteries and normally charge them in my Spark.

Warriewoodlad Posted at 3-10 13:05
I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to just plug my Spark into the car's USB port. I only have 2 batteries and normally charge them in my Spark.

I don't know if 5v is enough and how long it would take.  I think they require more volts to charge.

I think the DJI Stephen's power pack is the Cadillac and Rustic17's adapter is the Pinto.  I own the Pinto but hope to spring for the Cadillac some day

Cheap inverter, been working for me for the last 2 years + can charge my laptop etc..

$15 on Amazon

I think the portable charger is good for in the field...I have the Smatree SP90 versus DJI's.  But the poster was asking about charging in the car.  Why waste your portable charger that you might want to use during the hike when you can use a simple car charger enroute to your hiking destination???

Rustic17 Posted at 3-10 16:14
I don't know if 5v is enough and how long it would take.  I think they require more volts to charge.

I think you are correct. Scratch one idea.

DJI Stephen Posted at 3-10 12:20
Hello and good day StetsonWatkins. Thank you for the inquiry and for reaching out. You can check the DJI Spark Portable Power Pack: https://store.dji.com/product/spark-portable-power-pack. The DJI Spark Portable Power Pack is designed to wirelesly charge up to three DJI Spark Intelligent Flight Batteries on the go. Safe and intelligent with an impressive total power of 5000 mAh, the Charging Station charges up to three Spark batteries in 2.5 hours when fully charged. It also provides power to mobile devices via its USB port, and the Charging Station itself charges in just 1 hour and 35 minutes. Thank you.

[view_image]

I saw this. I will definitely consider this as an option. Thanks for sharing!

Rustic17 Posted at 3-10 12:31
You could use one of these...   on Amazon look up DJI Spark Car Charger Adapter...  $18   [view_image]

I saw these but they look cheaply made.. do you have one? Are they reliable and made nicely? Thanks for the reply.

Warriewoodlad Posted at 3-10 13:05
I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to just plug my Spark into the car's USB port. I only have 2 batteries and normally charge them in my Spark.

I'm sure that will work. I usually charge mine on the DJI charging station and prefer to do it that way. Thank you for the suggestion!

MccloudSpark Posted at 3-10 16:28
I think the DJI Stephen's power pack is the Cadillac and Rustic17's adapter is the Pinto.  I own the Pinto but hope to spring for the Cadillac some day

Haha, I'm considering both! Do you like your "pinto"??

StetsonWatkins Posted at 3-13 07:32
I'm sure that will work. I usually charge mine on the DJI charging station and prefer to do it that way. Thank you for the suggestion!

I don't think the voltage from the car usb is enough...that's usually 5 volts like out of your normal phone charger.  The Spark battery max charging voltage is 13.05 volts with normal voltage at 11.4.  You could try it at home using your phone charger and usb to the Spark.

StetsonWatkins Posted at 3-13 07:31
I saw these but they look cheaply made.. do you have one? Are they reliable and made nicely? Thanks for the reply.

I don't see how you can say they look cheaply made by a photo.  What I see is a standard, 12 VDC car adapter (like you would use for a GPS or any other type player) with a plug that goes into the Spark charging hub.

StetsonWatkins Posted at 3-13 07:33
Haha, I'm considering both! Do you like your "pinto"??

Yes, so far good!  It is a very simple device and low cost.  I just throw it in the back and charge while I drive.

Rustic17 Posted at 3-13 08:00
I don't think the voltage from the car usb is enough...that's usually 5 volts like out of your normal phone charger.  The Spark battery max charging voltage is 13.05 volts with normal voltage at 11.4.  You could try it at home using your phone charger and usb to the Spark.

Hi folks,

You are wrong, the Spark does indeed charge nicely on a 5 volts USB port! See attached picture, where I use the DJI-supplied cable and a standard USB wall wart, connected via a current monitor. The battery is doing the same lightshow as on a mains charger, and was already about 75% full here.

No need to buy car chargers.
DJI engineers did a great job there! Hats off to them!

Cheers,
Wolferl

Wolferl Posted at 3-13 08:15
Hi folks,

You are wrong, the Spark does indeed charge nicely on a 5 volts USB port! See attached picture, where I use the DJI-supplied cable and a standard USB wall wart, connected via a current monitor. The battery is doing the same lightshow as on a mains charger, and was already about 75% full here.

Great to hear!!!

StetsonWatkins Posted at 3-13 07:30
I saw this. I will definitely consider this as an option. Thanks for sharing!

You are very much welcome StetsonWatkins. If you have any inquiries or concerns with DJI. Please feel free to post it here at DJI forum we are here to help and support you.

Warriewoodlad Posted at 3-10 13:05
I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to just plug my Spark into the car's USB port. I only have 2 batteries and normally charge them in my Spark.

I had good luck charging spark from my phone's high rate car charger, but once I was out with Sully in his BMW and the built in usb port never managed to put any charge into the drone. I'm guessing the drone asked for lots of amps, like 2, which was beyond what the built in usb port would deliver.

Tentoes Posted at 3-15 09:10
I had good luck charging spark from my phone's high rate car charger, but once I was out with Sully in his BMW and the built in usb port never managed to put any charge into the drone. I'm guessing the drone asked for lots of amps, like 2, which was beyond what the built in usb port would deliver.

Hi Tentoes,

Yeah there seems to be some "logic" built into this. If I plug the USB cable into a USB 3.0 port on my laptop, it does only supply current the Spark, so you can mount the SD card, but not charge (150mA @ 5 volts). As soons as you put the Spark USB cable to a "dumb" charger which i capable to output 2 amps or more, it works.
The USB ports in the BMW are designed to be used with USB flash sticks for your music etc, so that may stop the Spark to use it for charging. I know because I'm owning a BMW myself *g*
So I'm just using a cheap cigarette lighter adapter for USB to charge the Spark with it.

Cheers,
Wolferl

Rustic17 Posted at 3-10 16:14
I don't know if 5v is enough and how long it would take.  I think they require more volts to charge.

The voltage is "done" by the Spark, just with 1A or 2A, it needs "forever"
honestly, if I would think about a car charging option, I would get a 12V to 220V inverter and use the Sparks charging bay.

USB is a standard voltage across the world.

USB in fact is a a standard.. it must be 5volts DC, if it’s not it’s not USB .

The only thing that changes is the amperage.. most devices will still charge with the older 1amp ( including the spark)  but most newer gear likes 2amp

In saying that USB via the spark is a lot slower then using the charging dock..

The best thing to buy is a 120w inverter

Renames Posted at 3-18 05:57
USB is a standard voltage across the world.

USB in fact is a a standard.. it must be 5volts DC, if it’s not it’s not USB .

But what is wrong with the item I showed in Reply #3???

dansmar Posted at 3-10 17:18
Cheap inverter, been working for me for the last 2 years + can charge my laptop etc..

$15 on Amazon

That’s awesome. Thanks for this information.  

Rustic17 Posted at 3-18 10:40
But what is wrong with the item I showed in Reply #3???

Assumingly nothing, just it is only for the Spark.
And that from a third party.
How are the charging specs (times) for a fully load bay?

An inverter, however, can "feed" a lot of devices.
Soon there is/may be a notebook to charge, too ;-)

Which is the best wireless car chargers?
​‘‘YOUR CELL PHONE BATTERY IS ABOUT TO DIE”, is the most tragic notification for anyone. Especially when you are driving, and you need to contact your family for any kind of emergency purpose and your battery is almost dead. So, what will you do? First, you will find your  car chargers , then you will plug in your phone and you will balance your attention on roads and the screen of the cell phone at a time.I will recommend for you best wireless car charges. https://wirelesscares.com/best-wireless-car-chargers/
ZeeHoo Best Wireless Car Chargers
HUAWEI SuperCharge car charger
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Homder Automatic Clamping Wireless Car Charger Compatible With Samsung All
Wireless Car Charger,0W Compatible For Galaxy All
CHOETECH Wireless Car Charger
Yootech Wireless Charger Qi-Certified 10W Fast Wireless Charging Pad

So,you can drive at any speed you want.This phone charger works well with iphone and Samsung models.If you don’t like to keep the charger on dashboard ,you can keep it on the air vent.This phone charger received several positive reviews on Amazon:“Great charger”, “Works as adviced.Great construction” “Excellent feature on automatic phone sensing and battery recharge”.

Rustic17 Posted at 3-10 12:31
You could use one of these...   on Amazon look up DJI Spark Car Charger Adapter...  $18   [view_image]

That's cool. I've been using a cheap inverter.