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Car Inverter to Charge Batteries
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Salmonslayer
Second Officer
Flight distance : 100220 ft
Canada
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Hi All,
I don't have a car charger for my Phantam 3 Standard but I got a new Samlex power 450 AC-DC Modified Sine Wave Inverter (450 watts , 12 VDC Input, 115 VAC output ) , Model SAM-450-12.

Can us use THIS along with my DJI AC  battery charger to charge my Phantom 3 Standard Batteries SAFELY  ?

Thanks
Clint



2017-9-14
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RicardoGray
Captain
Flight distance : 4356421 ft
United States
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Hoping "Solentlife" will respond to this for you. He seems to have a lot of knowledge of the batteries & charging options.
2017-9-14
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Salmonslayer
Second Officer
Flight distance : 100220 ft
Canada
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Yup... Would appreciate it
2017-9-14
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Salmonslayer
Second Officer
Flight distance : 100220 ft
Canada
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Hey Solentlife , any thoughts on this  !
2017-9-15
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solentlife
Captain
Flight distance : 1087530 ft
Latvia
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Hi ... tks for the faith !

Yes it should work fine. The inverter will only supply what is demanded by the item connected to it.

Inverter though is a wasteful way to do it .... but if its already at hand ... fine.

Don't forget that if the unit is to supply 70W .... the inverter due to losses will be pulling nearer 90W ... unlike a direct car charger of probably about 80W draw. Its normally better to power direct of car battery if possible when up around the 100W mark .... ciggy sockets in cars are designed for 10A max ...

Nigel
2017-9-15
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Geebax
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Australia
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solentlife Posted at 2017-9-15 21:56
Hi ... tks for the faith !

Yes it should work fine. The inverter will only supply what is demanded by the item connected to it.

Agreed. An important factor also is that it is a modified sine wave converter. The DJI charger brick is a switched mode power supply, so it needs a correct sine wave input to work properly.

BTW, I bought a cheap $18 car charger off eBay and it works just fine. Looks like this: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Car-C ... :g:HNEAAOSwOtdYS6Sa


2017-9-15
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Hellsgate
Captain
Flight distance : 1991555 ft
Australia
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I agree with geebax.
I personally would not use a modified sine eave inverter on delicate electronics.
Your best option is to buy a pure sine wave inverter or get a proper car charger
2017-9-15
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solentlife
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The way to check compatibility of an item with the inverter in terms of its sine wave ... is to plug it in and try.

If it works - fine.
If it doesn't - then that's it.

The DJI charger is what is termed in the trade : a Dumb Brick .... it is purely a regulated step down AC to DC converter.

Nigel
2017-9-16
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Nigel_
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solentlife Posted at 2017-9-16 07:20
The way to check compatibility of an item with the inverter in terms of its sine wave ... is to plug it in and try.

If it works - fine.


That can be a very expensive check since there are quite a lot of things that simply die when powered by a non-pure sine wave inverter
2017-9-16
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solentlife
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We are talking about a power supply 'brick' ..... people attribute the DJI charger with some magical quality when in fact its no different to the power brick connected to your Laptop except in voltage it pumps out.

As to damaging gear by modified sine wave inverter ... its got to be some extremely sensitive and 'rare' item !! I've powered GPS, Radios - communication and broadcast, laptops, printers, chargers, all sorts of 'sensitive' gear via cheap modified sine wave inverters ... most worked and those that didn't were fine when connected to their normal designed supplies ...

I do not say damage cannot happen - but would need to be ultra sensitive and delicate gear ... not a ******* power brick !!

Nigel
2017-9-16
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Hellsgate
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Australia
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Does not need to be ultra sensative or delicate equipment to get damaged by modified sine wave inverters.
I can speak from experience i have fried a number of pieces of equipment including soldering irons using msw inverters.
The problem is the high frequency used to create the sine wave. Many electronic devices do not have sufficient filtering to safe gaurd against such a high frequency noise coming in from the power supply
2017-9-16
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Salmonslayer
Second Officer
Flight distance : 100220 ft
Canada
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Great to get the pros and cons, thinking since it's only 30 bucks CDN or so for a true charger may as well not risk it, I'll sell the inverter and get at least 50 bucks so thanks again
2017-9-16
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solentlife
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The direct car charger is well worth it .... I carry one in my case .... its actually a better way as you are only stepping up voltage ... instead of an inverter ... step up to 110 / 240 ... then charger reducing to 17.5 ... with more losses and higher draw on the car socket. My car charger was a lot less than $30 ... in fact more like $10 !

As to your inverter - it would work - as I say the DJI charger is only a basic regulated power brick .... nothing special about it at all .... if I lived close to you SS .... I would connect my own gear to it confident it would be fine.

I've been using inverters for many years being a serious yachting person .... and haven't found one instance of damage to any item yet from MSW inverter. As said - when item doesn't like MSW - it just didn't work. That's my observation .....

Like many things ... not everyone experiences same.

Nigel
2017-9-16
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Nigel_
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Salmonslayer Posted at 2017-9-16 15:19
Great to get the pros and cons, thinking since it's only 30 bucks CDN or so for a true charger may as well not risk it, I'll sell the inverter and get at least 50 bucks so thanks again

Search the forum to see if anyone else has used your charger on a non-pure sine wave inverter, if they have then there is no problem.  I have seen posts for the Phantom 4 charger that say it is OK.

You could also choose to test it, a new mains charger is not all that expensive!

I have blown a couple of things up including a battery charger before I scrapped my cheap inverter and got a decent pure sine wave one.
2017-9-17
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Salmonslayer
Second Officer
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Canada
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Thanks again Nigel... A lot of sound wisdom, greatly appreciate!
2017-9-17
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Geebax
Captain
Australia
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The DJI charger is a switch mode power supply, and as such relies upon having a sine wave input in order to regulate its output. If you were to supply it with a square wave input, it would not work at all. If you supply it with a modified sine wave input, it should be OK as long as the MSW input approximates a sine wave sudfficiently to satisfy the circuitry inside the 'charger'.
2017-9-17
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Raverty
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After reading this I am still a little confused with all the technical terms. I have a inverter or converter, not 100% what its called. Its a box that plugs into my car cigarette lighter port, that allows me to then plug in a normal 110 "house plugin"

Is this safe to use to charge my DJI batteries? Or should I buy a dedicated car charger?

Thanks!  
2018-7-5
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RedHotPoker
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Canada
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Raverty Posted at 2018-7-5 15:05
After reading this I am still a little confused with all the technical terms. I have a inverter or converter, not 100% what its called. Its a box that plugs into my car cigarette lighter port, that allows me to then plug in a normal 110 "house plugin"

Is this safe to use to charge my DJI batteries? Or should I buy a dedicated car charger?

Be brave, Try it and find out... ;-)

Hard for anyone to say, from this vantage point.


RedHotPoker
2018-7-5
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Geebax
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Australia
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Raverty Posted at 2018-7-5 15:05
After reading this I am still a little confused with all the technical terms. I have a inverter or converter, not 100% what its called. Its a box that plugs into my car cigarette lighter port, that allows me to then plug in a normal 110 "house plugin"

Is this safe to use to charge my DJI batteries? Or should I buy a dedicated car charger?

The 'Box' may not have sufficient output to do the job, far better to buy a car charger that is designed for the purpose.
2018-7-5
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RJB1
Second Officer
Flight distance : 32031 ft

Australia
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Hey Can I resurrect this thread and say I'm a bit confused too. Saying "car charger" sounds like its for charging the car! I'm in Australia so we are on 240v mains. I found this but its also an inverter, but is this what people are recommending for plugging the DJI battery charger into?

https://www.catch.com.au/product ... QA5DbBoCLNAQAvD_BwE
2019-3-8
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Geebax
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RJB1 Posted at 3-8 20:45
Hey Can I resurrect this thread and say I'm a bit confused too. Saying "car charger" sounds like its for charging the car!  I'm in Australia so we are on 240v mains. I found this but its also an inverter, but is this what people are recommending for plugging the DJI battery charger into?

https://www.catch.com.au/product/ppin150usb-doss-150w-12vdc-240vac-can-inverter-with-usb-500mah-output-doss-750973/?offer_id=1511360&gclid=CjwKCAiAwojkBRBbEiwAeRcJZBeUYyXO-n3SK7M8_WTaa4k8u1NaWooEw0mccSidYFPoxGeAQA5DbBoCLNAQAvD_BwE

Probably not. That device can barely provide 100 Watts continuously, and the DJI mains charger requires at least that much. Also, although it does not say so, it probably is a crude converter and does not have a sine wave output, which is necessary for the DJI charger. It you want to charge your DJI batteries on the go, then this is hard to beat: https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.ht ... ar+charger&_sacat=0

Just make sure you get one to suit the aircraft you have because they don't all have the correct connector for the battery.
2019-3-8
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RedHotPoker
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Canada
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RJB1 Posted at 3-8 20:45
Hey Can I resurrect this thread and say I'm a bit confused too. Saying "car charger" sounds like its for charging the car!  I'm in Australia so we are on 240v mains. I found this but its also an inverter, but is this what people are recommending for plugging the DJI battery charger into?

https://www.catch.com.au/product/ppin150usb-doss-150w-12vdc-240vac-can-inverter-with-usb-500mah-output-doss-750973/?offer_id=1511360&gclid=CjwKCAiAwojkBRBbEiwAeRcJZBeUYyXO-n3SK7M8_WTaa4k8u1NaWooEw0mccSidYFPoxGeAQA5DbBoCLNAQAvD_BwE

There are car chargers that run from battery socket to battery socket.

This isn’t that type of charging system...

Here they are Talking about an inverter.


RedHotPoker




2019-3-8
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RJB1
Second Officer
Flight distance : 32031 ft

Australia
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Geebax Posted at 3-8 21:24
Probably not. That device can barely provide 100 Watts continuously, and the DJI mains charger requires at least that much. Also, although it does not say so, it probably is a crude converter and does not have a sine wave output, which is necessary for the DJI charger. It you want to charge your DJI batteries on the go, then this is hard to beat: https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.ht ... ar+charger&_sacat=0

Just make sure you get one to suit the aircraft you have because they don't all have the correct connector for the battery.

Ah thanks! Wow I looked all over the DJI site and couldn't find anything like that for sale by them.

Ah takes 50mins to recharge! So Id drain one battery to 30% then its hot so wont charge for at least 10 minutes, by then the second battery has been flown with and discharged and Id still have 50 minutes to wait till i could fly. Seems like I might as well not bother and just go home and charge them at home. Are all that style of car charger that slow. Or are there better ones out there?
2019-3-9
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RJB1
Second Officer
Flight distance : 32031 ft

Australia
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RedHotPoker Posted at 3-8 22:05
There are car chargers that run from battery socket to battery socket.

This isn’t that type of charging system...

Um thanks, looks like you tried twice but still no link.
2019-3-9
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Geebax
Captain
Australia
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RJB1 Posted at 3-9 00:52
Ah thanks! Wow I looked all over the DJI site and couldn't find anything like that for sale by them.

Ah takes 50mins to recharge! So Id drain one battery to 30% then its hot so wont charge for at least 10 minutes, by then the second battery has been flown with and discharged and Id still have 50 minutes to wait till i could fly. Seems like I might as well not bother and just go home and charge them at home. Are all that style of car charger that slow. Or are there better ones out there?

The car chargers are slow because they cannot supply the full power required to charge the battery quickly. The cigarette socket is limited to 10 Amps of current, and given the inefficiency of the car charger circuitry, that does not supply enough current to charge faster.

I carry one with me in case I need it while in the field, but I also carry 3 fully charged batteries as well, and plan my flying around those batteries.
2019-3-9
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RedHotPoker
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Flight distance : 165105 ft
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RJB1 Posted at 3-9 00:53
Um thanks, looks like you tried twice but still no link.

Inadvertently double posted, it’s removed thanks. ;-)

So anyways...
5037BC66-6940-4E53-ADF9-B62AE977BE90.jpeg

Most modern vehicles have the cigarette lighter socket only live when the ignition is on. It is very simple to change this to a constant fused feed, but make sure that no children could put a cigarette lighter in the socket and start a fire or burn themselves, as this was the primary reason that cigarette lighters in cars were changed to the accessory circuit quite a few years ago. A lot of cars have a ‘power’ socket which is compatible with the same plugs and these are often live all the time as they are great for inspection lamps, vacuum cleaners etc. . To use this method to charge the car battery is simply a matter of wiring your battery charger of whatever type to a cigarette lighter plug, but if your charging source is a high capacity (high current) source such as another car battery or high capacity charger it is essential that you have a fuse in the circuit of no more than 10 amps.

Bear in mind that the tip of the plug on your charging lead is now at 12v+ and you would short your charging circuit if you grounded it anywhere, including to the outer part of the socket - so only activate the charging side AFTER the plug is connected.

You can’t use this method for an immediate ‘jump start’, but 20 minutes of charge from a good source should enable enough charge to start a car if the battery was low. If you simply want a method of connecting a trickle charger, either mains or solar, there are OBD2 charging connectors available which go into the diagnostic port and in which case you don’t need to modify any wiring.



RedHotPoker
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2019-3-9
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solentlife
Captain
Flight distance : 1087530 ft
Russia
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Red Hot Poker - agreed.

Most cars you need ignition on to have power to the ciggy socket ..... unless you have similar to my Volvo XC70 - which has an always live 12V socket in the rear cargo area. I only use this for charge to one or two lipo's at most to prevent draining cars starter battery too far. If I want to charge more - I start the engine periodically to ensure car battery gets some charge back into it !

I would like to say this : When it comes to powering anything in the car, if I can buy a car 12V adaptor for the job - I would always use in preference to using an Inverter.
2019-3-9
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