I have been in this hobby / sport for long enough to ask the simple question.... With all of the Lipo battery charging technologies available to us today, why are we stuck with low-tech slow chargers with DJI Inspire 1 (cutting edge) aircraft?  I guess that I am not asking for 6C charging rates however, it would be nice to have the option to charge a little faster..  2 X (2C rate). The quality of this battery system should be of the highest grade that would allow us some flexibility.

Does anyone else have some thoughts or experience with faster charging rates with DJI smart battery technology?

Thanks for sharing your ideas..

Hi Rich, my plan is to buy a DJI charger per battery.
Then make a battery docking station (pelican or so)
Build all in with only 1 plug to the mains to charge.

Easy, fast, mobile and no warranty issues.
Doing so creates more space in the DJI-Case for other things.

Hi Dundee,

That sounds like a great plan for sure. I was hoping to be able to have one charging station to handle all the batteries without duplicating. You will need to post a photo once it is set up!
I assume DJI does not want us to fast charge correct...

dundee Posted at 2015-2-10 13:28
Hi Rich, my plan is to buy a DJI charger per battery.
Then make a battery docking station (pelican o ...

That sounds awesome, just what we need

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-2-10 13:34
Hi Dundee,

That sounds like a great plan for sure. I was hoping to be able to have one charging sta ...

See http://batteryuniversity.com for info about charging speeds and discharge rates

Actually, the charger get you up to about 75+% very quickly, closer to the end, cell balancing is critical to keeping long life. The last 5% is very slow.  I'm impressed with how quickly this charger pumps charge up. After a flight that gets cells down to 20% I like to top up to around 40-50% in case I don't fly for a long time. The few times I've done this, I go off on an errand, come back and find that the charger has overshot target. If you are serious about multiple flights Dundee's strategy works. After testing out the bird and gaining confidence, I'm getting another charger and some extra batteries.

dundee Posted at 2015-2-10 13:28
Hi Rich, my plan is to buy a DJI charger per battery.
Then make a battery docking station (pelican o ...

Great Idea! I have 5 chargers on order suppose to get them this Friday. I have an extra pelican case and might have to consider something like that as well.

Mike

I agree with you on this and typically the charge rate (current) drops off as the capacity increases on the charged battery. It still would be nice to decrease the charging times.

Is there a way to charge multiple batteries at once?  With my current phantom 2 I have to purchase 2 extra chargers to enable me to charge 3 batteries at once (I will go to a location with 8 fully charged batteries).  I would have to have to invest into another 2 chargers.  The other question is, does DJI sell just a small charger for the radio?  From what I have read you can only charge the radio battery or craft battery at one time.

smcbrearty.roge Posted at 2015-2-11 22:59
Is there a way to charge multiple batteries at once?  With my current phantom 2 I have to purchase 2 ...

I don't know of any way to do this with the current charging equipment that comes with the Inspire 1, this is why I was asking for other opinions..

I sure would like to find another option that would let us charge at a faster rate without damaging the batteries or Intelligent  Battery Technology.

dundee Posted at 2015-2-10 13:28
Hi Rich, my plan is to buy a DJI charger per battery.
Then make a battery docking station (pelican o ...

I ordered two more chargers as they were back in stock. At this point, I am not sure what strategy to use going forward. I was hoping to get some more ideas or experiences from others on this forum.

Keep the ideas coming

Here's the reason why you'll never be able to charge your batteries faster than with the DJI charger: The "charger" isn't really a charger. It's merely a power supply. The charging rate, cell balancing and everything else is contained within the battery itself. Each batter essentially has it's own charger built in. Because of that small detail, you'll never be able to charge at a faster rate.

That is the matter with those "intelligent batteries" since the phantom 2... It is a great tool, to have a fool proof battery type, but stupid for experienced rc fellows.

Zeebadoo Posted at 2015-2-16 13:08
Here's the reason why you'll never be able to charge your batteries faster than with the DJI charger ...

Thank you for this information. I understand now and it is really appreciated. Maybe in the future DJI will provide us with some options.
Can you confirm the battery chemistry is Lithium Ion and not Lithium Polymer.   

Can someone here explain to me just how this battery run in should go with a new battery?  Never heard of it until this forum and I have many 5000 batteries for my hex but the Inspire batteries are different.  I have a new one coming, so I want to try this break in procedure.

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-2-17 05:42
Thank you for this information. I understand now and it is really appreciated. Maybe in the future ...

I want to add to that comment that compared to my other rc batteries and chargers I am quite happy with the charge time. I also charge my tx and battery at the same time. The first couple of times I just kept an eye on the temperature of the 100w power supply, but it stays much cooler than that of my regular lipo charger. So I guess they just put the warning in the manual because of warranty issues. At worst the power supply could fail, which is easy to replace. If you want to make a charging bay, you won't need multiple power supplies. Just use any capable powersupply (amount of batteries x 100watt) and connect them with the battery connectors. They already sell them for them phantom, they look the same, but if not I'm sure they will be available soon.

xzces Posted at 2015-2-17 06:07
I want to add to that comment that compared to my other rc batteries and chargers I am quite happy ...

It is good to hear other experiences with the intelligent batteries. The thing I do not know is.. how much load would be exerted on the power supply for maintaining the correct charging rate. I am sure if you were to monitor the charge circuit the DJI power supply would have its limit. This could be why they do not want you to charge both the flight battery and radio transmitter battery.

alexmarnas Posted at 2015-2-16 15:07
That is the matter with those "intelligent batteries" since the phantom 2... It is a great tool, to  ...

Very true.

Can you tell me if the firmware needs to updated for every intelligent battery used for the inspire 1? If so, then how do you upgrade the firmware on the other intelligent batteries once the quad is updated?

I suspect the battery uses the full 100w at first and then slows down to balance the 6 cells. But really, the charging times are good. Just for reference, I have a $500 car that came with a 5000mah 2s lipo and a 800mw charger. That's 0.8 watts.. It takes about 12 hours to charge the 2s lipo with a stock charger!

And yes, the firmware needs to be upgraded for every battery. It's documented in the updating instructions but I believe you just have to delete the text file after a successful upgrade and repeat the process with the new battery in the inspire.

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-2-17 05:42
Thank you for this information. I understand now and it is really appreciated. Maybe in the future ...

The batteries are Lithium Polymer (LiPo). LiPos are basically the standard for RC vehicles. My understanding is that the Lithium Polymer batteries have a much higher discharge rate than the Lion batteries can support.

Zeebadoo Posted at 2015-2-18 22:27
The batteries are Lithium Polymer (LiPo). LiPos are basically the standard for RC vehicles. My und ...

The reason I ask is they say Lithium ion on the battery itself.. am I missing something?

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-2-17 10:25
It is good to hear other experiences with the intelligent batteries. The thing I do not know is..  ...

I think that there is a timing algorithm and the charging rate would be slower with the Tx charging at the same time, potentially leaving the battery not fully charged in the allotted time.

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-2-19 12:59
The reason I ask is they say Lithium ion on the battery itself.. am I missing something?

On the side of the battery is says "LiPo High Performance Battery"

http://www.heliguy.com/media/cat ... spire1201412264.jpg

Zeebadoo Posted at 2015-2-21 01:42
On the side of the battery is says "LiPo High Performance Battery"

http://www.heliguy.com/media/c ...

Wow, thanks for pointing this out and I missed it..

I feel bad now.

DJI is selling the chargers (power supplies) without the AC cord. Where can you get this cord??

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-2-28 06:37
DJI is selling the chargers (power supplies) without the AC cord. Where can you get this cord??

Order from dealers and make sure you include the cord in the order--another $6.00.

InspiredOne Posted at 2015-2-28 06:48
Order from dealers and make sure you include the cord in the order--another $6.00.

Thanks for the reply, I already have the chargers. I will see if I can buy the power cords separately from the dealers....

Sounds to me like any power supply capable of producing 100 watts or more might be suitable. For instance, if you created a base station with a 1000 watt power supply the battery may be able to detect the incoming amperage and voltage and adjust this as required. If not, a large power supply could be devided by use of circuitry to reduce current to each station. Anyone with electronic experience out there that can schematic a 10 bay 1000 watt charging station? It would sell like hot cakes! DJI take a hint!

Dangair Posted at 2015-3-1 03:04
Sounds to me like any power supply capable of producing 100 watts or more might be suitable. For ins ...

DJI said that using any other power source than the DJI charger could damage the batteries.

Just saying.

Are there other 22 Volt Chargers out there?

InspiredOne Posted at 2015-3-1 06:21
DJI said that using any other power source than the DJI charger could damage the batteries.

Just ...

Why? Power is power AC/DC,  Amps times volts equal Watts. That rule will never change. What is important is the use of a regulated power supply. Amateur Radio uses these up to very large wattage that are regulated. Then depending on how the batteries accept the power, a resistive circuit may need to be created. More than likely a protective circuit already exists in the battery so you would benefit from the addition of an additional one pre charger at the power supply stage. For an electronics nut that should be easy to crack. DJI would lose out big time if people were making there own power stations. Plus if DJI new it would damage your batteries I wonder why they would tell you? Heck think of the batteries they would need to replace! GOLD MINE Anyway, just a thought. DJI have managed to make this complicated enough to start messing with power supplies. Mark my word though someone will.

Dangair Posted at 2015-3-1 07:27
Why? Power is power AC/DC,  Amps times volts equal Watts. That rule will never change. What is imp ...

Hey Dangair
I agree that someone will figure out a better way to charge the intelligent batteries. I hope it is before summer.

Dangair Posted at 2015-3-1 07:27
Why? Power is power AC/DC,  Amps times volts equal Watts. That rule will never change. What is imp ...

I was just passing along what I read in the User Manual. Do as you please, but if something were to happen, , please, don't blame DJI.

Hey, Inspired 1 I am the last person on earth to cry the blame game. I try very hard to live by basic principals. Namely, if you brake it, you bought it, and when you fall down of the horsie be a man and get back on. Oh, I like this one too... You gotta pay to play.

InspiredOne Posted at 2015-3-2 01:54
I was just passing along what I read in the User Manual. Do as you please, but if something were t ...

Just wondering if these are a higher ampacity ( "C" rating) and a quality battery used in its core? If they skimp in the battery quality, then charging at a higher rate could them to overheat the cells and cause premature failure or gassing.

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-3-2 12:37
Just wondering if these are a higher ampacity ( "C" rating) and a quality battery used in its core ...

Therein lies my challenge--I have no understanding of these things, so I am at the mercy of the manufacturers and what they say as to how to charge their batteries.

Having tried to circumvent "instructions" in years before, I have learned that (for me) it's better to follow instructions, rather than try to figure out a work around. It was getting expensive.

Hey guys,
I have successfully built a Fast charge case that can dock and charge 3 inspire batteries at once and independently.
It charges a TB47 battery in 45 minutes from 10% and is inside the max charging rate recommended by DJI.
Currently considering building a batch of these fast charge cases.
If anyone is interested, please let me know.

Watch this video and start at 11:50:

scott.radiantme Posted at 2015-3-12 05:16
Hey guys,
I have successfully built a Fast charge case that can dock and charge 3 inspire batteries  ...

Hey Scott, I am interested,  would like to see what you are doing. Post a picture and some details.

InspiredOne Posted at 2015-3-12 07:46
Watch this video and start at 11:50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JsGggcQRTM

That is awesome.
Just watching Adam in this video you can tell he is just supercharged with ideas!!

He obviously has OCD. He might want to seek professional help?