Welcome Inspire Pilots!
Join our free DJI Inspire community today!
Sign up

Inspire Multi Battery Charger

Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Messages
144
Reaction score
24
Location
San Diego
Website
www.benhecht.com
Hi Guys,

Is this thing good or a waste of money?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/For-DJI-Ins...954?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27fc7f8472

There are several on eBay. I don't want to waste my money or mess up my batteries. I currently have two AC adapters but I have 3 batteries. (Might get a fourth eventually.) Charging two at once on a single AC Adapter would be helpful (so long as it was less time that going one at a time on a single charger.

Obviously the most ideal is a charger for each battery simultaneously but that is an extra 55 bucks for each charger.
I will be charging in the field off an high capacity inverter in my van.

Any feedback is appreciated!!
 
55 bucks is pretty affordable compared to most chargers on the market. This won't actually parallel charge either per say. It will but all you'd be doing is spreading it across 3 batteries...which would take just as long as if you did it one at time. The oem charger is rated for max output of 3.8a, so each battery is only gonna get 1.2a, it won't actually produce the 11.5a that would be required to maintain the same charge time.

So for some knowledge. Typically I would charge a 4500mah at 4.5a which would equate to a 1hr charge time...If I was gonna parallel charge them I would up the amps on the charger to 13.5 this way I can still charge 3 batteries in one hour.
 
  • Like
Reactions: flydogs
55 bucks is pretty affordable compared to most chargers on the market. This won't actually parallel charge either per say. It will but all you'd be doing is spreading it across 3 batteries...which would take just as long as if you did it one at time. The oem charger is rated for max output of 3.8a, so each battery is only gonna get 1.2a, it won't actually produce the 11.5a that would be required to maintain the same charge time.

So for some knowledge. Typically I would charge a 4500mah at 4.5a which would equate to a 1hr charge time...If I was gonna parallel charge them I would up the amps on the charger to 13.5 this way I can still charge 3 batteries in one hour.

THANKS SKY!!!!
 
Like he said, you are just going to be charging the batteries at a lower amperage. You also do not know what effect this has on the battery itself since dji has the internal battery regulator set to be charging within a certain range that it may then fall out of.
That being said, I had one for my phantom. I used it a few times and shortly after one battery gave out on me. A lot of people had battery issues but I always blamed that thing. Stopped using it and never had an issue with another battery. Maybe luck maybe not.
 
  • Like
Reactions: m1ch1gan
the charger puts out 3.83 amps at 26.3v No matter what... this will take 4 hours to charge your batteries and it is not good to charge them that slow....
 
55 bucks is pretty affordable compared to most chargers on the market. This won't actually parallel charge either per say. It will but all you'd be doing is spreading it across 3 batteries...which would take just as long as if you did it one at time. The oem charger is rated for max output of 3.8a, so each battery is only gonna get 1.2a, it won't actually produce the 11.5a that would be required to maintain the same charge time.

So for some knowledge. Typically I would charge a 4500mah at 4.5a which would equate to a 1hr charge time...If I was gonna parallel charge them I would up the amps on the charger to 13.5 this way I can still charge 3 batteries in one hour.
Please excuse my ignorance. Will a 13.5a power supply damage a battery if only one is attached. In other words will it only draw 3.8a of 13.5 available and be safe for the battery?
 
No. The battery does not have a charging regulator, it expects the external charger to limit both voltage and current.

And you should not connect 2 batteries in parallel, if they are not at the exact same charge state the higher voltage one will discharge itself into the other one with potentially high current.

Any multi-charger would need separate voltage and current regulation.

I.e. take multiple oem chargers and put them in a box and call that a "multi-charger", that's the easiest and safest way.
 
I'm holding out for this one... Will charge 4 batteries at a time independently (including discharge and deep-cycling) and at the correct amps/voltage rated for the batteries.


https://www.smartpowercharge.com/proddetail.php?prod=SPC4500
You could buy 3 (as you already must have at least 1) dji chargers for that price and have money left over. As they discharge themselves it sort of fades away...unless you just want to spend of course.
 
No. The battery does not have a charging regulator, it expects the external charger to limit both voltage and current.

Hmm I think I may have to disagree but maybe I am just using the wrong terminology. The battery has technology built onto the battery that keeps track of the balancing, charging, and discharging. The charger just provides a current. Battery "computer?" does the rest.
 
Hmm I think I may have to disagree but maybe I am just using the wrong terminology. The battery has technology built onto the battery that keeps track of the balancing, charging, and discharging. The charger just provides a current. Battery "computer?" does the rest.
No, the battery only does balancing, measurement and power switch (including safety cutoff). No regulation.

If you connect a 13A power supply current will go through the roof and either the PSU will shutdown due to overload or the battery will cutoff due to excessive charge current.
 
No, the battery only does balancing, measurement and power switch (including safety cutoff). No regulation.

If you connect a 13A power supply current will go through the roof and either the PSU will shutdown due to overload or the battery will cutoff due to excessive charge current.

Ok, so it is still like I said but the word regulator is being used differently. It does not regulate the power, it regulates the balancing. Semantics were easily confused the but message is the same. All multi cell lipos should use a "balancer" of some sort. The ones for our batteries are built in. Charger provides the power, battery provides the balance. Like almost anything else, you always need the correct charger with the correct output.

To circle back, if the onboard "balancer" is is being trickle charged at a much lower rate than it was programed to be, then it could have unknown/unwanted consequences. Be it shorter battery life, cell damage, or worse. All just unknowns.
 
Or you could just have another couple of batteries. I have 6 now, 4 x TB47s and 2 x TB48s and I only use one charger. If I'm heading out for some filming I'll obviously take all batteries charged plus my inverter. When battery one gets swapped out and cools down enough then it can begin charging again. By the time battery 6 is flat, number one is fully charged again so in it goes again. I don't really need to film for any longer than what I can with this set up because in the mean time, my iPad battery will be at a critically low point and the controller battery will be close to dying too.
 
With six batteries and three chargers I have no issues keeping up with my charging assuming I have access to a power outlet. I have a three way plug for the chargers. I haven't had the need to cycle all six multiple times yet but my plan is to just use a battery, allow it to cool while I use the next battery, and then plug it in when I start the third battery. This means I can use battery 3,4,5, and 6 while the first one charges and if I keep them on a cycle I should be able to go almost indefinitely with few to no waits. It is a bit of a process but the waits will be much shorter.
 
I really liked how that Adam guy from mythbusters built a charging station using whatever plastic it was and 3 chargers. I have no idea how he cut it up but you could probably do something similar to charge the lipos in a quick fashion. It didn't link the time...but it's somewhere around the 14min mark

Please excuse my ignorance. Will a 13.5a power supply damage a battery if only one is attached. In other words will it only draw 3.8a of 13.5 available and be safe for the battery?

i would imagine so, yes. The DJI batteries seem very finnicky (?) I suppose, with that said you really should stick to the DJI supplied charger, at least this is how I feel. I know some people that use their normal lipo chargers to charge up the i1 batteries but only get it to 95% or so and have to move it to the DJI charger for the last bit...I would just say stay safe and use the dji chargers...they are relatively affordable to have multiples if you have a ton of ammo to charge.
 
I have 6 batteries, 3 x TB47 and 3 x TB48. I do have 8 chargers so that I can charge all of my batteries and both of my controllers at once. I charge them when I get home right now. I have 6 Lipo charging bags to put hem in while charging. I have a 40W USB charger that will charge both of my iPads at the same time, easily. I have not done more filming than I can accomplish with the 6 batteries without taking a break and have charged my batteries during the break. So far, I have not taken the chargers on location with me when I am shooting, but I could if I have access to an outlet to plug in my power strip.
With my Phantom 2 Vision +, I have 5 batteries and 4 chargers. I can fully charge the first battery before the last one is drained when I am videoing sporting events. I haven't put it to the test yet with the Inspire (haven't done any sporting events with it), but I have the 6 batteries so that I can keep rolling if I need to.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
22,277
Messages
210,655
Members
34,321
Latest member
powerdry