Shocking bird
lvl.3
Flight distance : 929465 ft
United States
Offline
|
Being able to charge your Phantom 4 batteries in the field has been discussed at length here before. The most common solution is an inverter between your car's cigarette socket and your Phantom's charger brick. My goal was to be able to charge without using a car, reduce bulk and in the event anyone was wondering if this could be a solution for them.
Being primarily a still photographer, I own two Paul C. Buff Vagabond Lithium(US $240) batteries I use to power my (non-continuous) lights. Since the batteries have AC plugs (and a USB as well!), I thought I would run a test to see how practical using one as a Phantom 4 field charging solution would be.
Summary
The Vagabond is a pure sine wave battery so no worries on damaging your Phantom 4 battery due to variable sine. It also has a built-in fan to dissipate heat. With a fully charged Vagabond battery, you should get 1 complete Phantom 4 battery charge from 20% to 100% with about 1/4 of power left on the Vagabond. Unless you already own one of these like I do, it's not an ideal solution for field charging but could be a solution for some depending on your needs, especially if a vehicle is not available.
The Vagabond battery is for you if
You already own one, of courseYou can't or you'd rather not use your vehicleYou want/require a lightweight (3.5lb), non-bulky solution
One full charge (plus another 20%) is enough for your purposes
The Vagabond is not for you if
You need 2 or more charges
Using your vehicle's cigarette socket is available or preferred
The price of the battery doesn't justify the amount of power
Testing
Using a two-week-old Phantom 4 battery, I drained it down to 20% via normal flying and plugged it into the Vagabond battery.
Charge time from 20% to 100%: 61 minutes
Vagabond remaining power: Less than 1/4
Second battery: I charged a second battery to completely drain the Vagabond. It took the 2nd battery from 20% to 40%.
Vagabond specs
3.5 pounds total weight
Dimensions: 2.75” x 4.3” x 7.8”
14.8V 8.8AH LiNiMnCoO2 lithium battery (130 Watt-hours)
120VAC inverter with two standard, 3-prong 120VAC outlets
Hopefully this information helps anyone. Thanks to all who contribute to these forums.
|
-
Vagabond battery
-
-
Charging via Vagabond battery
-
Starting the charge
|