Charging battery from a car

BaldEagle · Jan 17, 2015

Could someone who has reasonable electrical knowledge share whether I would be able to use the provided charger for the I1 with a power inverter to charge the battery? I assume that I should get one that at least meets the 3.83 amp/26.3V output. But someone with knowledge would help. I've also heard it is not always a good idea to use an inverter in that it might damage the brick somehow (or maybe certain types of inverters do this).

Tks in advance.

Mohan · Jan 17, 2015

According to the info printed on the brick the input is around 1.4amp

So If your inverter can supply around 150W A/C Output it should cover it.

When I visited the USA last year I bought a cheap Duracell Mobile 150 Inverter. It is rated at 100W continuous and 150W Peak which may not be enough as it might overheat the Inverter.

Quadpilot · Jan 17, 2015

Mohan said:
According to the info printed on the brick the input is around 1.4amp

So If your inverter can supply around 150W A/C Output it should cover it.

When I visited the USA last year I bought a cheap Duracell Mobile 150 Inverter. It is rated at 100W continuous and 150W Peak which may not be enough as it might overheat the Inverter.

Blade Strike is a DJI Forum support guy and he suggested a minimum of a 300W transformer/inverter to handle the load. That usually requires direct battery connection. Won't be able to just plug it into cigarette lighter. And watch you car battery. If your car is not running, you'll deplete the battery fairly quickly.

BaldEagle · Jan 17, 2015

Quadpilot said:
Blade Strike is a DJI Forum support guy and he suggested a minimum of a 300W transformer/inverter to handle the load. That usually requires direct battery connection. Won't be able to just plug it into cigarette lighter. And watch you car battery. If your car is not running, you'll deplete the battery fairly quickly.

Hey Quad - thanks for this info.

Mazz · Jan 17, 2015

I have a power inverter from Walmart I always use for anything I want to plug into my car. Had a whole Xbox and tv setup on it for a trip once. No doubt it could handle multiple of these. I think it is 700w which is probably the biggest you'll get for a cigarette lighter connection.

iswimmer · Jan 17, 2015

I've been charging with a 400 Watt Coleman Powermate in a Honda Fit while driving. It seems to charge in about the same amount of time as plugged into a normal outlet.

Paul K · Jan 17, 2015

BaldEagle said:
Could someone who has reasonable electrical knowledge share whether I would be able to use the provided charger for the I1 with a power inverter to charge the battery? I assume that I should get one that at least meets the 3.83 amp/26.3V output. But someone with knowledge would help. I've also heard it is not always a good idea to use an inverter in that it might damage the brick somehow (or maybe certain types of inverters do this).

Tks in advance.

It is recommended to use" pure sine wave" type of investor which is safe with electronics . I have build in PSW convertor in my truck ,and I do charge all my LiPo battery with it.

Harry Nicholson · Mar 18, 2015

Mazz said:
I have a power inverter from Walmart I always use for anything I want to plug into my car. Had a whole Xbox and tv setup on it for a trip once. No doubt it could handle multiple of these. I think it is 700w which is probably the biggest you'll get for a cigarette lighter connection.

Can you supply a link (UK) for charger?

Thx

Mazz · Mar 18, 2015

The inverter I use is a Schumacher XI75DU Power Inverter. It is good for 750W and 1500W peak. Anything bigger that I have found requires a direct to battery connection. Searching on Amazon.com I found a few but on Amazon.com.uk I do not see any listed. It looks like most of the inverters sold there take the voltage to 220V for obvious reasons. It will take a little more research to find one similar.

sdjackaerial · Mar 18, 2015

Mazz said:
The inverter I use is a Schumacher XI75DU Power Inverter. It is good for 750W and 1500W peak. Anything bigger that I have found requires a direct to battery connection. Searching on Amazon.com I found a few but on Amazon.com.uk I do not see any listed. It looks like most of the inverters sold there take the voltage to 220V for obvious reasons. It will take a little more research to find one similar.

I saw the amazon link, and it doesn't show a cigarette plug..only the red and black posts. Did yours come with the cig attachment?
I thought mine was big enough, but it just beeped at me and shut off when I tried to charge I1 batteries on it.

catware · Mar 18, 2015

Most vehicles have their 12v power outlets on a 15 amp circuit. At 12v, this would supply a maximum of 180W before blowing the fuse. The unit that @Mazz mentioned will only supply 750W if directly connected to the battery -- otherwise it is limited to 120W (per its user manual).

My 140W inverter can only handle charging a single Phantom 2 battery at a time. I tried connecting two chargers and two batteries to it, and the inverter shut off due to excessive current draw. I haven't tried charging my Inspire 1 battery through the inverter yet, but if the Inspire 1 charger is 1.4A at 120V, it would require 170W minimum inverter, which is just at the limit of what most 12v power outlets can supply.

Mazz · Mar 18, 2015

sdjackaerial said:
I saw the amazon link, and it doesn't show a cigarette plug..only the red and black posts. Did yours come with the cig attachment?
I thought mine was big enough, but it just beeped at me and shut off when I tried to charge I1 batteries on it.

Yes it came wih the attachment. I have plugged a lot of stuff into it with no issues so I assumed this would not be a problem. Let me load it up this weekend and I will let you know how it does. If people have tried and it didn't work it gives me second thoughts with mine.

mayank Tanwar · May 4, 2015

Charging a battery from car usually a good idea, but not works well. If battery is 125 or 150 Ah than needs to use battery charger 350 to 600 VA.

Jay Baldwin · May 4, 2015

I use a West Marine 75w inverter. (www.westmarine.com) built and marketed for boats and does the job well. Toying with packing two 12v batteries in series and simply removing all of the inverter/transformer, etc. and going straight with 24-26v source.

catware · May 4, 2015

You'll blow it up if you do that. The power needs to be trickle fed into the battery. Do NOT connect it straight to an unmetered 24v supply.

John · Mar 15, 2016

For a half-day+ shoot with an Inspire 1, I'll go through (3) TB48 & (2) TB47 batteries that need to be recharged. Want to use the SPC4500 commercial-grade quad-battery charger from Smartpowercharge.com in my 2015 Honda Civic Hybrid. Smart Power Charge says to use the quad-charger in the field, I need a 12VDC to 120VAC 600-W pure sine wave inverter (like the Power Bright APS600-12). Any input on the wisdom of this approach?

SkipTV · May 6, 2018

I don’t care what any manuals said. I did just what your asking and it killed my 1 year old car battery. After charging just 2 inspire batteries. Better to get a field Charger like the DroneMax from Energen. It will charge 4 batteries at the same time and charge them through three cycles. Just charge up the DroneMax overnight and take it into the field

SkipTV · May 6, 2018

I didn’t mean one year old drone battery It killed my car battery and left me stranded in middle of no where

John · May 6, 2018

SkipTV said:
I didn’t mean one year old drone battery It killed my car battery and left me stranded in middle of no where

Am not surprised as I've heard others share similar experiences.

John · May 6, 2018

I use a SmartCharger that charges (4) TB47/48 batteries simultaneously. SmartCharger manufacturer says it draws 650 watts at full load and must be fed 120VAC in a pure sine wave form. The setup I went with that seems to work well is: (2) NPP 6V 200Ah AGM Deep Cycle Camper Golf Cart Batteries in series + Power TechOn 1000 Pure Sine Wave Inverter + 200A fuse + Bayite Energy Meter. The 6V batteries are recharged with a standard car battery charger capable of AMG when back at the office.