Have just tried out a DC to DC booster as a method of charging the Phantom 3 battery from 12V DC so I can charge OK from the vehicle without having to use an inverter.

The main part is the "DC to DC 600W 1060V to 1280V Boost Converter Stepup Module Car Power Supply LX" which was deliverd in 1 week to New Zealand.  It was less than US$12 delivered, bought on eBay here: DC-DC 600W 10-60V to 12-80V Boost Converter



There's many other vendors of this product as well.  Excellent test video on the module here:  

To test it I simply connected a couple of car tail light bulbs for a while first to get the voltage very close to 17.4V and to assure myself it remained steady.  Adjustment is done with very fine blade screwdiver on the blue 10-turn trim pot labelled V-ADJ.

Now that it works just fine I'll find a suitable ventilated plastic case and maybe a very small computer CPU cooling fan although the heat sink is a very generous size.

Have not tried charging a discharged battery yet so it's just topping up  - it started at 1.5A and has now dropped to 0.2A.  Ooops, it's just switched off charging (the flashing lights have gone off).  So far so good.  Once assembled properly will post some photos.

Nice detailed video.  Ideal for the "some assembly required" tinkerer who doesn't want to pay $99 for the DJI car charger.  I'm at the age where I'm a bit more inclined for an off the self solution that I can use out of the box and found a decent DC inverter that I can also use for other things (and for less than $99!)

Personally haven't had the need to do any charging out in the field yet.  Mostly I tend to favor having multiple spare batteries before I head out the door.

But dang, after having said all that my inner tinkerer may still just get one of these to add to the room full of other stuff I couldn't resist buying.

Is there any problems with this charging method? Do you still use it? How is the battery health?

Gearbest has a P3 car charger for about 30 bucks..

I ordered one as i only have 12v on my boat..  and I am going far out

al7 Posted at 2016-4-13 06:08
Gearbest has a P3 car charger for about 30 bucks..

I ordered one as i only have 12v on my boat..  a ...

Have you got it an used it? Can you comment on it?Is this the charger you got?

300 watt power inverter - $29.  http://www.powerdriveinverters.c ... d-2-ac-2-usb-ports/   Handles 2 100 watt chargers just fine.   Find them at Love's truck stops, Harbor Frieght, etc.
Perfect for making sure you're topped-up when you're traveling to fly.