Hi there,

Why can't the battery hub charge all attached batteries simultaneously? It would speed up the loading process so much... Currently, the only real advantage of the hub is, that I don't need to switch batteries in order to get them all loaded. But still, it feels like it is doing half of what it could do?

Cheers

My guess is the charge speed is limited because they decided not to create/sell a new power brick that can provide enough current to charge all 4 batteries at the same time. Currently the charger is rated to only charge one at a time.

Its a bit silly if you ask me, but w/e floats their boat

Charges one battery at a time but can also charge the remote or phone while powering up the batteries.

In order to simultaneously charge batteries I'm sure it would have to be larger and much more costly -- while It matches my needs elegantly, I expect those whose needs are more demanding can always buy multiple chargers.

Thanks, your guess is as good as mine, but looks like we're all guessing the same.... =)

Cheers

The transformer that charges them only has the correct amperage ability to do one at a time. My question is why don't they just simply sell you a separate charger with each battery. Plug them all in with a power bar and bob's your uncle. Why even build the ridiculous hub? They should've stuck with the KISS rule (Keep It Simple Stupid)

I would appreciate as well if the hub could charge all batteries at the same time. But for me does the job.
Still, Ive seen that there are a couple of aftermarket chargers that can charge all at the same time.

think about it... it is pretty much common sense if you do. you can charge 4 batteries... do you want the user to sit around and want for 4 batteries to slowly charge up or do you want to fully charge one battery, allowing the using to get out and fly while the others charge.  

I have heard of people getting these https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N7FYBDL/ref=mp_s_a_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1484887015&sr=8-14&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Mavic+Pro

stratosHD Posted at 2017-1-19 19:43
I would appreciate as well if the hub could charge all batteries at the same time. But for me does the job.
Still, Ive seen that there are a couple of aftermarket chargers that can charge all at the same time.

What does the charger do? Well, it pushes a particular amount of electrical power into the batteries. The amount of power that it put into the batteries is limited by the charger itself. A 50W charger gets 50W into the batteries. A 100W charger gets 100W into the batteries.

The DJI charger is able to charge one battery in about one hour. To do so, it has to deliver the max power it can deliver. But this means, if you charge two batteries at the same time, the charger power is split between the batteries and both of them only get half the power. If you charge four batteries, they only get a quarter of the power.

In the end, charging batteries simultaneously will require a longer time to fully charge the batteries. Charging them one by one will give you one fully charged battery much earlier. This is also the reason why the fullest battery is charged first.

I think there was talk of DJI releasing some kind of fast charging hub. I imagine it'd have to be a much beefier PSU if it's gonna be able to charge up to 4 batteries at full speed.

Personally, I'm quite happy with the way this one works, as I've never been in a situation where I had 3 flat batteries that I urgently needed charged all at the same time. Perhaps the majority of us hobbyists find the current hub quite adequate, but I guess more pro users could benefit from a faster charging hub.

BTW, I've heard that the car charger can actually charge a battery more quickly than the AC charger.

Dronoob Posted at 2017-1-19 23:41
What does the charger do? Well, it pushes a particular amount of electrical power into the batteries. The amount of power that it put into the batteries is limited by the charger itself. A 50W charger gets 50W into the batteries. A 100W charger gets 100W into the batteries.

The DJI charger is able to charge one battery in about one hour. To do so, it has to deliver the max power it can deliver. But this means, if you charge two batteries at the same time, the charger power is split between the batteries and both of them only get half the power. If you charge four batteries, they only get a quarter of the power.

Thanks for the explanation

I read today that there might be a firmware update coming so it can charge all 4 at once.. Trying to find where I read it but I dont see how it would be possible..

Guntert Posted at 2017-1-24 17:31
I read today that there might be a firmware update coming so it can charge all 4 at once.. Trying to find where I read it but I dont see how it would be possible..

I think that is quite unlikely, because the charging hub does not really have a firmware that you can update. It might have some simple chips to control charging, but it's not like a complete operating system.

trickn0l0gy Posted at 2017-1-26 02:28
I think that is quite unlikely, because the charging hub does not really have a firmware that you can update. It might have some simple chips to control charging, but it's not like a complete operating system.

It has! At one of the corners there is a USB plug probably to update the firmware.

But it still does not make sense to charge four batteries simultaneously. It will require the same amount of time to charge them no matter if they are charged sequentially or simultaneously. The charger is too weak to provide enough power for multiple batteries.

I would hate it if they tried to charge all 4 at the same time.  Imagine you are in a hurry, put 4 dead batteries on to charge.  Realize you have to go back out in 2 hours and now you have 4 batteries that are each 50% full.  I would rather have 2 full batteries instead.