I just plugged my batteries on the charging port and they started to charge all 3 simultaneously. I was wondering if this behavior is normal since the spark multiple charging port should only charge a battery at a time.

That’s normal. Otherwise it would not be able to charge them all in less than an hour.

But they advertised that it only charge one at a time. And it did charge one at a time before, until today.

Mine charges my two batteries simultanously. If a battery is still hot, it defers that one until it has cooled down.
I must admit I don’t know what they mean by "is designed to charge up to three Intelligent Flight Batteries in sequence or simultaneously."
https://store.dji.com/product/spark-battery-charging-hub

stanzhang Posted at 2017-12-26 05:51
But they advertised that it only charge one at a time. And it did charge one at a time before, until today.

AFAIK Sparks hub always charges all three batteries at once (at least mine does). It is a normal behaviour. The only reason why it would not charge all at once is if some of them is still too hot from a flight, as is mentioned above. I believe that Mavics charger charges only one battery at a time and should start with the one with the largest charge in it.

Hi, Stan. That' s normal. Please do not feel worry. Here is the mechanism of the charging hub:
1. The battery charging hub will charge multiple batteries at the same time with its maximum rated power.
2. The battery charging hub will spend the shortest time in charging the three batteries with the largest rated power.
3. The battery with the lowest voltage will be charged first.
Hope it can help you. Thanks for your support.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2017-12-27 01:48
Hi, Stan. That' s normal. Please do not feel worry. Here is the mechanism of the charging hub:
1. The battery charging hub will charge multiple batteries at the same time with its maximum rated power.
2. The battery charging hub will spend the shortest time in charging the three batteries with the largest rated power.

Point 3 is quiet interessting. Thank you for that information.

The mobile power station is only charging one battery at once. But the wall-charger-powered for “at home” can charge three at once.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2017-12-27 01:48
Hi, Stan. That' s normal. Please do not feel worry. Here is the mechanism of the charging hub:
1. The battery charging hub will charge multiple batteries at the same time with its maximum rated power.
2. The battery charging hub will spend the shortest time in charging the three batteries with the largest rated power.

If 1 is true, the battery with the highest voltage finishes first. (it is true!).
So 3. is wrong.

Also:
Please explain what the product page means by
"Spark's Battery Charging Hub is designed to charge up to three Intelligent Flight Batteries in sequence or simultaneously.”

When does it charge in sequence? I have never seen that happen.

I definitely will see some odd behavior if I put the batteries into the charger one at a time. Sometimes 1 of the 3 will not start charging (not hot from flight), but I found that if I have them sitting there and click all three in at the same time, they usually all charge together.

heliman Posted at 2017-12-27 12:13
If 1 is true, the battery with the highest voltage finishes first. (it is true!).
So 3. is wrong.

If the temperature of battery is lower than 15℃, in this case, quick charge may cause damage so the batteries will be charge in sequence. Also, the highest power of the battery will be charged first.

That does not sound true.
As I see it:
Each battery has a independent charging circuit built in, which controls the charging current.
Charging in sequence does not change that.

Charging 3 batteries simultaneously will get each battery charged slower because of the power supply 3.83A current limit.

I'm going to read the DJI-Tim thread about smart batteries, https://forum.dji.com/thread-40320-1-1.html

The spark batteries can’t use a charger like the cellpro.
They have a charger built in, which needs exactly 13.05V to work correctly.
The fly more power supply gives exactly that, and each battery controls it’s own charging current. It can't be forced to go faster.
When charging 3 batteries simultanously, the 3.83A power supply may be the limiting factor, slowing charging a little down.

The normal procedure for charging a lipo cell pack is to start with a constant current while watching cell balance.
If one cell has higher voltage than the others, the balancing circuit will discharge that cell while the others are charging.
The discharging circuit is slow (to avoid excessive heat), so it may ask the charging circuit to slow down.
When the battery is near full, the charging circuits goes from constant current to constant voltage mode, which is slow.

Heliman's comments are spot on regarding the 3 bay intelligent charger tray. My question regarding the tray is one of ergonomics. If you have three batteries in it, how the heck do you get any one of them out? You need fingers like toothpicks to succeed. There is no space between the batteries to reach the tabs to pull any one of the 3 batteries out. I have normal size fingers like the rest of the human race. No problem of course if using only the two end bays.

I don't believe the tabs engage when in the charger tray?

Hover_hound Posted at 12-27 00:05
Heliman's comments are spot on regarding the 3 bay intelligent charger tray. My question regarding the tray is one of ergonomics. If you have three batteries in it, how the heck do you get any one of them out? You need fingers like toothpicks to succeed. There is no space between the batteries to reach the tabs to pull any one of the 3 batteries out. I have normal size fingers like the rest of the human race. No problem of course if using only the two end bays.

You just need to put the fingers to front and back an pull!

AC5FF Posted at 12-27 07:07
I don't believe the tabs engage when in the charger tray?

Spot on, no safety in charging bay

Yep, the spark multi charger, it charges all 3 batteries at the same time, now I just wish that the mavic pros multi charger would also charge all the batteries at the same time, but no, it charges one by one, it takes ages! 4 times as long!

Flysafely
Alex

S-e-ven Posted at 12-27 07:28
You just need to put the fingers to front and back an pull!

Oh, ok I get it. Should have tried that.

Hover_hound Posted at 12-27 00:05
Heliman's comments are spot on regarding the 3 bay intelligent charger tray. My question regarding the tray is one of ergonomics. If you have three batteries in it, how the heck do you get any one of them out? You need fingers like toothpicks to succeed. There is no space between the batteries to reach the tabs to pull any one of the 3 batteries out. I have normal size fingers like the rest of the human race. No problem of course if using only the two end bays.

They're quite easy. You don't need to grab them by the sides, the ends will do.

Perfectly normal my charger always charge all the battery at the same time. if it wasn't the case it wouldn't make ens to have multiple socket on the charger.

Hover_hound Posted at 12-28 07:04
Oh, ok I get it. Should have tried that.

Good to know I was wondering the same thing.

stanzhang Posted at 2017-12-26 05:51
But they advertised that it only charge one at a time. And it did charge one at a time before, until today.

Mine always charge my batteries at the same time. It is very quick to charge. Sometime one will stop charging before the others but it is only because it was less discharged than the others. Usually if I put them all at the same level for charging, they are ready pretty much at the same time.

Where exactly did you see that it should only charge one at a time?

Daniella3d Posted at 2018-12-30 07:09
Mine always charge my batteries at the same time. It is very quick to charge. Sometime one will stop charging before the others but it is only because it was less discharged than the others. Usually if I put them all at the same level for charging, they are ready pretty much at the same time.

Where exactly did you see that it should only charge one at a time?

My sometimes are charged in sequence, and sometimes - simultaneously. It depends.

Hover_hound Posted at 2018-12-27 00:05
Heliman's comments are spot on regarding the 3 bay intelligent charger tray. My question regarding the tray is one of ergonomics. If you have three batteries in it, how the heck do you get any one of them out? You need fingers like toothpicks to succeed. There is no space between the batteries to reach the tabs to pull any one of the 3 batteries out. I have normal size fingers like the rest of the human race. No problem of course if using only the two end bays.

Just slide them foreward first then you can lift them out.  Marc.

fanse692c102 Posted at 2-22 09:00
Just slide them foreward first then you can lift them out.  Marc.

Good point