Sometimes I drive a few hours but only can fly 60 minutes with 3 batteries. It is a pity I have to go back home or find a place to recharge my Mavic.

  

Original charger performance for 3 batteries:

50w charger: every battery will need about 60 minutes, one battery at a time, 3 hours to be fully charged

Car charger: every battery will need about 50 minutes, need to drive 3 hours to be fully charged

RC: can fly at least 6 batteries

Phone: my iphone can fly 3-4 batteries but I have 2nd phone

The issues:

1. 50w charger can't charge all 3 batteries parallel

2. car charger can only charge 1 battery

Best solution:

DJI release quick charger (both 220v + car charger) which support charging 3 batteries parallel.

As it didn't happen yet, so we can have a DIY solution.

Design:

1. reduce charging time - quich charger which support parallel charging 3 batteries. 60-80 minutes vs 180 minutes.

2. charge in wild - no 220v power available

2.1 inverter + quick charger: charge 3 batteries in 60-80 minutes. Can keep the car engine running (safer) or turn the key to "ON" position.

2.2 Car battery + Inverter + quick charger: charge batteries without keeping car engine running or turn key to "ON" position.

3. limit:

3.1 must be used with a car. can't fly far away from the car.

3.2 the RC and phone have to be charged with a battery bank or car charger, sure they can be charged with the inverter directly, also the quick charger support charge 3 batteries + RC + phone parallel.  

My solution:

Bought a few extra accessories to "build a perpetual motion machine"

1. 1XCar battery - optional

2. Car battery charger - optional

3. Inverter

4. Mavic Pro quick charger - charge 3 batteries parallel, also can charge the RC and phone simultaneously, Mavic batteries are about 1 hour to be fully charged. RC and phone are about 2 hours to be fully charged.

  

The hard limit is the "cool down" time for 1st battery, about 30 minutes. That means I can charge it when I fly my 3rd battery.

In theory, if I have 4 batteries, I will be able to keep flying my Mavic - fly 2 batteries time will fully charge 1 battery.

  

The easy solution is "inverter + quick charger" only, but will have to keep car engine running - in theory it is not required, but considering the possibility the car won't start, I will keep it running if I choose this solution.

Some smart guy connect the 2nd battery to the car battery - the generator will charge both batteries, then the car battery charger is not required.

Buy more batteries is too expensive and not necessary for me - every battery supports 200 charging circle which is about 4 years if fly once per week.
I believe I will buy a new drone after 4 years if I am still interested in flying a drone.
With more Mavic batteries which won't be able to be reused with new drone, it is a waste for me.
The inverter can be used for camping and traveling - when you drive a car, you have 220v power with you.

Very cool.  Yeah I just got a Car 500w inverter today and also have 4 batteries along with a quick charger that charges 3 batteries in an hour.  I figure this should do me just fine and not need an extra car battery.

Nice setup. Looking to get something similar.

"he hard limit is the "cool down" time for 1st battery, about 30 minutes. "

You need a tank of 3M Fluorinert or Novec to immerse cool the batteries as they are charged.  

That is some heavy duty machinery.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-3-24 20:32
"he hard limit is the "cool down" time for 1st battery, about 30 minutes. "

You need a tank of 3M Fluorinert or Novec to immerse cool the batteries as they are charged.

the wind will do the job

Or you could just buy another 3-6 batteries and have a day's worth ....  unless you really want to fly non stop for 5 hours....

Ian

Wellsi Posted at 2018-3-24 23:29
Or you could just buy another 3-6 batteries and have a day's worth ....  unless you really want to fly non stop for 5 hours....  

Ian

every solution is about money. More batteries are better for Mavic.
Another 3-6 batteries are $300-$600 and need a long time to charge them - 1 hour each.
When Mavic crash or fly away, there will be a big trouble to deal with all the batteries.
The 2nd car battery and inverter can be used in camping, traveling.

How many remote controllers and devices do you have?

I would be worried about my batteries and rather buy more of them if needed.

Does this have an effect on the batteries?

A CW Posted at 2018-3-25 00:25
How many remote controllers and devices do you have?

the remote with iphone can fly 6 batteries.
the problem is the phone - maybe not able to fly 6 batteries

Wachtberger Posted at 2018-3-25 00:28
I would be worried about my batteries and rather buy more of them if needed.

Let's say, with "standard voltage and current", in theory it should be the same to charge the batteries with 50w charger and "inverter + quick charger".
At least I didn't see the difference - fly the same time.

flybirdpro Posted at 2018-3-25 01:44
the remote with iphone can fly 6 batteries.
the problem is the phone - maybe not able to fly 6 batteries

Yeah, I find 6 to be about right for the RC and 4 or 5 with the iPhone 7+ on warmer days (2 or 3 on freezing days). The P4P RC lasts for about 6 hours on one charge but is the size of a drone LOL

A CW Posted at 2018-3-25 01:53
Yeah, I find 6 to be about right for the RC and 4 or 5 with the iPhone 7+ on warmer days (2 or 3 on freezing days). The P4P RC lasts for about 6 hours on one charge but is the size of a drone LOL

As the phone and RC can be charged easily by anything - car, battery bank, so they are not the problem - we can charge them at any time. The key problem is Mavic battery.
If DJI can release an official car charger which can charge 3 batteries parallel, that will be the easiest solution. But it didn't happen yet and we have to figure out a DIY solution in mean time.

flybirdpro Posted at 2018-3-25 02:00
As the phone and RC can be charged easily by anything - car, battery bank, so they are not the problem - we can charge them at any time. The key problem is Mavic battery.
If DJI can release a official car charger which can charge 3 batteries parallel, that will be the easiest solution. But it didn't happen yet and we have to figure out a DIY solution in mean time.

Well good luck putting that together. The ability to sustain perpetual flights is great for commercial purposes of the drone - as for me the 75 minutes I get from three back-to-back MPP batteries with no need to charge anything in the field is the sweet spot.

A CW Posted at 2018-3-25 02:06
Well good luck putting that together. The ability to sustain perpetual flights is great for commercial purposes of the drone - as for me the 75 minutes I get from three back-to-back MPP batteries with no need to charge anything in the field is the sweet spot.

I agree, I have 3 batteries for each of my drones P4P, MP & MA the P3P has 4, I use the CS when using Go4 App (solid 5 hours of usage per battery / 2 batteries for it and a Mini 4 for Litchi), always bring them all if I am going to fly for the day. That said, I reach "MY" minimum energy level long before my batteries do!

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-25 02:30
I agree, I have 3 batteries for each of my drones P4P, MP & MA the P3P has 4, I use the CS when using Go4 App (solid 5 hours of usage per battery / 2 batteries for it and a Mini 4 for Litchi), always bring them all if I am going to fly for the day. That said, I reach "MY" minimum energy level long before my batteries do!

Especially over the winter - in fact 2 flights was enough on my most trips for me