Field charging

[Eshorvath]

We plan to start spending a lot of time in the field, working on thermal and mapping missions.

Does anyone have a charging set-up for in the back of an enclosed trailer, using 12V batteries, converters, solar, etc?

What do you suggest for charging the batteries the quickest? I was thinking maybe a 12 volt charger, with solar charger on 12 volt batter banks, would draw less off the batteries than a converter?

Anyone have a design and/or photos being used? I am also thinking I probably should have 6 batteries, so that there are five to go through while charging? since about 20 minutes per battery to discharge and approximately 100 minutes to charge?

Any suggestions, ideas, input?

Thank you in advance,
-E

 

[ed.matthews4]

From what I gather from the DJI site, the 12v charger takes 2.5 hours to charge 2 batteries. I think I would go with an inverter. I'm planning to do a similar setup, using an 800 watt inverter, solar panel, 2 DJI 110 vacation chargers and 2 battery stations. Also a Honda EU 1000 generator for when the 12 vdc battery is low and the solar is not keeping up.

 

[DamesNY]

We plan to start spending a lot of time in the field, working on thermal and mapping missions.

Does anyone have a charging set-up for in the back of an enclosed trailer, using 12V batteries, converters, solar, etc?

What do you suggest for charging the batteries the quickest? I was thinking maybe a 12 volt charger, with solar charger on 12 volt batter banks, would draw less off the batteries than a converter?

Anyone have a design and/or photos being used? I am also thinking I probably should have 6 batteries, so that there are five to go through while charging? since about 20 minutes per battery to discharge and approximately 100 minutes to charge?

Any suggestions, ideas, input?

Thank you in advance,
-E

I use 3 of these

4 in 1 For DJI Inspire 2 Drone 16A Charger Intelligent Battery & Remote Control | eBay

And a Honda 2000ie generator.

But harbor freight sells these copies which are decent.

2000 Watt Super Quiet Inverter Generator

That's your best bet IMO.

 

[DamesNY]

That will let you charge 12 batteries in 45 minutes

 

[Eshorvath]

That will let you charge 12 batteries in 45 minutes

Thanks

 

[Eshorvath]

I use 3 of these

4 in 1 For DJI Inspire 2 Drone 16A Charger Intelligent Battery & Remote Control | eBay

And a Honda 2000ie generator.

But harbor freight sells these copies which are decent.

2000 Watt Super Quiet Inverter Generator

That's your best bet IMO.

Thanks

That will let you charge 12 batteries in 45 minutes

How does this charge 12 batteries in 45 minutes?

 

[DamesNY]

It's 3 x 4-at-once chargers

 

[Eshorvath]

It's 3 x 4-at-once chargers

Can you send me a link for these. The 4 at once I have actually only charges one at a time.

 

[DamesNY]

The link is in my first reply

 

[Eshorvath]

The link is in my first reply

Thanks. I saw that after. That is for the I2. I have one like that for the mavic, but have not seen one for the I1

 

[Ed Potter]

Don’t forget to let the batteries cool before charging. Most important.

 

[DamesNY]

Thanks. I saw that after. That is for the I2. I have one like that for the mavic, but have not seen one for the I1

They're available on eBay and Amazon

 

[rjmonroe]

I have a Honda 2000 watt inverter type generator. Compatible with sensitve electronics, quiet, and has all the juice I need. Simple to operate and runs for several hours on a quart of gasoline.

 

[kadmow]

Double the batteries you think you may need, for 3 hours onsite [(3x3)x2 = 18 TB50's batteries, gets expensive fast], there is no time to; discharge, cooldown and charge even one full set (I2) in less than 2 hours, in reality.

400-600W Solar with MPPT Charger can get up to 60A into 12v battery bank continuously.
Several 110/240V chargers with charge stations (off Sinewave inverter) will allow a fresh set every ~30 mins (only 7A charge to 2 batteries (180W), that takes 1-1.5 hours depending on depth of discharge - 12v car charger is only rated at half this, really only useful for topping up a battery / /set - unless you have 3 hours per pair to wait for..)
Faster Charging - with a LiPo Fast charger - will get you in the air quicker, but will cost in form of reduced lifespan (charge cycles) for your batteries.

NB. discharge to "20%" [on the DJI scale] leaves the float voltage just above ideal Storage voltage ( ~3.6-3.7V per cell) Also after this, on discharge, voltage sag gets so bad -underload- that there isn't a lot of useful energy remaining, and it will reduce battery life discharging very much below 50% nominal voltage (3.6V). Watch the % meter drop rapidly once 15% (Storage voltage) is reached

A large operator I know -Australia- reckons that with his DJI platforms (Phantom 4 and M600), about 50 cycles is all he gets before they become unreliable on useful time aloft.

(Need to price that all in, about $11AUD $8.60USD per flight (~$33AUD /hr) - cost, batteries don't look all that cheap... Until you compare it it to AvGas, that price gets you around 1 Gallon in my part of the world.)

 

[AcesAreWld]

Here was my custom built solution to this problem:

The ULTIMATE Inspire 2 battery charger

 

[DamesNY]

There's also this now from DJI

DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

 

[Eric Braun]

Double the batteries you think you may need, for 3 hours onsite [(3x3)x2 = 18 TB50's batteries, gets expensive fast], there is no time to; discharge, cooldown and charge even one full set (I2) in less than 2 hours, in reality.
...

I disagree. We do this on every shoot. You have to be focused and disciplined about getting the batteries on the charger immediately. We have 7 sets of batteries but really only require 5, 6 to be more relaxed about it. We went with 4 of the standard chargers to cycle 4 sets of batteries through at once. There's always a charged set available when we land to swap. Our swaps take under a minute even if we have to change a lens and/or media. Practice. As a side benefit you look good to the client. We've even gotten comments on it! And this is just with me and my camera op. He knows what to do, I know what to do.

And we use the Honda 2000 too. It's a great little generator!

 

[AcesAreWld]

There's also this now from DJI

DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

But theirs requires 120 volts input - it won't run off a car battery.

 

[Eric Braun]

But theirs requires 120 volts input - it won't run off a car battery.

It's too much wattage for a car battery anyway. You'd have to leave the car running. I do this with my Prius. I have an inverter that can supply 1200 watts continuous. DJI's 12v chargers are just too slow.

I usually run a generator anyway.

 

[AcesAreWld]

It's too much wattage for a car battery anyway. You'd have to leave the car running. I do this with my Prius. I have an inverter that can supply 1200 watts continuous. DJI's 12v chargers are just too slow.

I usually run a generator anyway.

On the custom charger I built i've found that my car (idling) can supply about 80-85 amps continuous power to the charger at about 13.8 volts. That is just shy of 1200 watts, and while my charger technically can pull 1500 watts I almost never need much more than 1200-1300 watts even when charging 6 batteries simultaneously all from a fully dead (less than 25% remaining) state.

Being able to charge off AC line voltage OR a car battery saves me from having to purchase a generator and carry it + fuel everywhere I go.