Air 3 Battery Charging

[old man mavic]

the feature for me personally ,will maybe come into play more ,if i have had to interrupt a particular flight ,say because of a sudden change in the weather conditions,and i have landed with the battery on say 70% remaining charge ,and there is one in the hub with 35% remaining charge ,so while i fly the third battery, i can top up the 75% one ,so i start of with a fully charged one ,does it say somewhere , that in order for it to work, there has to be all three batteries in the hub ,i will have to investigate that

 

[Dr.Sparky]

My understanding, for what it's worth (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that dual port charging blocks max out at half the wattage split between the two ports. So a 100 w dual provides 50 w each port, whereas a 100 w single port provides up to the max 100 w.

 

[msinger]

Considering that it used to NOT be a good thing to start your flight without a FULLY charged battery I need to do some reading on these new batteries.

Like everything, it depends. In general though, starting with a full (or nearly full) battery is always safest. And the idea of this feature is to move all available battery charge into a single battery with the goal of having a single battery that is charged enough for the intended flight.

BUT I must ask HOW in the world can I get a MORE FULLY Charged Battery?

That's simply not possible. A battery cannot charge beyond 100% capacity.

 

[msinger]

So a 100 w dual provides 50 w each port, whereas a 100 w single port provides up to the max 100 w.

I believe that's accurate (or it's split somehow at least). And a dual port with a single plug attached would also provide up to the max 100W.

 

[Torque]

My understanding, for what it's worth (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that dual port charging blocks max out at half the wattage split between the two ports. So a 100 w dual provides 50 w each port, whereas a 100 w single port provides up to the max 100 w.

That is exactly how my old charger works. I just bought a 3 port charger that puts 140 watts out of one port, 100 watts out of the 2nd, and 30 watts out of the third without splitting power between the 3 ports. It is a UGREEN brand from Amazon.

 

[old man mavic]

quoting from the info that came with my 100w charger from DJI
when both ports are in use the maximum output of one of the ports is 82w the pd will dynamically allocate the output of the two ports ,according to the power load
based on this it would probably seem logical that if you had a 4th battery in the drone and use the two outlets ,one to the hub and the other to the drone then it should split the load evenly to 50w each outlet ,but then of course it would take longer to charge those two batteries at the same time ,so would it be of benefit

 

[Droning on and on...]

re: Multiport PD chargers and power distribution

This is entirely a design decision. The typical design is to have one port at least capable of 100W standalone, which reduces if other ports are used. The device usually includes a little table for how max wattage is distributed to each port for each combination of port usage.

Here's a 130W unit I've had for a while ($90 Amazon), and the table for how the output combinations break down:

 

[old man mavic]

we can go back and forth all day long, about the attributes of different chargers
but at the end of the day ,to successfully charge the Air 3 batteries in a reasonable time frame,then at a minimum it requires at least a 65w output PD charger

 

[Droning on and on...]

Just trying to be helpful, @old man mavic. Seemed some misunderstanding about how power was split in a multiport charger. Apologies if it was annoying, sincerely.

 

[rangemaster728]

Received my Air 3 w/Flymore kit yesterday and connected the battery hub to this:

Amazon.com

I used a USB-C safety checker inline and saw that the hub actually drew 80W while sequentially charging.
No complaints regarding time to charge; about 45-50 minutes per battery as they were all at ~25% charge level put of the box.

 

[old man mavic]

@Droning on and on... , no need to apologise at all,the thread had just gone off track a bit ,and that was the reason for my post

 

[Crater1]

@marshvet can i jump in here ,for a second ,if no one minds, as a new AIR3 owner since yesterday, and having been able to get my Air 3 up and running can i mention a few points with regards to your OP
first off the hub that comes with the fly more combo and holds 3 batteries ,is not actually a charger ,that job falls to a mains operated power brick that supplies a certain voltage/ Wattage of charge to the hub, which in turn controls which battery get charged first, and so on ,the hub also acts as a power supply to charge something like a phone or tablet, using the stored energy from the battery or batteries that are in the hub
DJI recommend two types of PD charging bricks to charge the Air 3 batteries a 65w version and the 100w version that is used in the Mavic 3 series of drones
both of them will do the job but the 100w one just does it quicker thats all
i was able to charge one battery in the hub with the 100w brick in around 45 minutes
i have not woken the other 2 up from hibernation yet as i dont know when the weather is going to be suitable for flying, its constant rain on and off every day, for several days here, in days gone past DJI used to supply charging bricks with their drone bundles, and still do now, in some of the more expensive high end drones,but for a us poor hobbyists ,they now expect us to supply our own power source

I was surprised, actually shocked, that the Air 3 came with no battery charger, even in the Fly More kits. DJI tech support didn’t have a clue how to charge the batteries. After telling me what I needed, not really, I had to tell them about the DJI 65 & 100 watt chargers. They told me the following, “It is recommended to use a 5 V/3 A charger (PD charger) or 5V/2A for charging.” And, “It is recommended to purchase the DJI 30W USB-C Charger for fast charging at 30W power.” And, “Because many of our customers already have the relevant charging hub, we have excluded the charging head from all sets after the mini 3 pro in order to be environmentally friendly.” I just wish they had made it clear that a charger was not included and had suggested what chargers were needed. Seems like an omission that could leave some purchasers without a means of charging their batteries or flying their Air 3 for awhile.

 

[old man mavic]

@Crater1,from what you have said in your post ,it would seem that whoever you spoke to thought you were talking about the Mini 3 that requires a 30w charger ,the Air 3 has only just hit the market place ,but that doesn't excuse the misinformation you received from a supposedly knowledgeable tech person

 

[DARKSeifer]

If you want the batts to last longer charge them slower, I'd recommend a 60W one for those batts instead of a 100W one.

If you want them charging faster, charge them in parallel with an aftermarket charger. For example, I have one adapter for each of my M3 batteries, but for the Air2S I had a charger that could charge 4 in parallel.

PS: As for the OP, you are probably using a low power charger, If you charge the batts with a 10W charger for example... it will take several hours to charge them.

 

[PepperBird]

This is what I use

Amazon.com

 

[Ridgeback65]

Huh?



Someone piss in your Corflakes this morning? All the "attitude" in this thread is 100% contained in the paragraph above.

People were trying to help. And gave sound advice and recommendations.

To charge a 62Wh battery in one hour it will take at least a 65W power source.

It has nothing to do with attitude, and everything to do with technical facts.

As someone with no skin in this argument, when someone said, "You have no idea? !! Did DJI supply you with this charger- if so then contact DJI- If not, and you contact them ( why?) the first thing they will want to know is the same question Dr. Sparky just asked."

I've got no skin in this argument. We are all here to share and learn. Perhaps the intent and content provided were sound but there was a bit of tone in the delivery IMO.

 

[Ridgeback65]

My question is, why on GGE wouldn't DJI provide just us with whatever charging "system" is necessary to charge the batteries in a "reasonable" amount of time and not have to go to a 3rd party component like Anker? One might anticipate that if there was some sort of mishap with the charging task and DJI discovered a 3rd party component was used, might they invalidate the warranty??

 

[msinger]

My question is, why on GGE wouldn't DJI provide just us with whatever charging "system" is necessary to charge the batteries in a "reasonable" amount of time and not have to go to a 3rd party component like Anker?

They do have their 65W charger available. While it doesn't charge at the speed of a 100W charger, it would probably be good enough for most people. And then for those who also have other drones that use that charger already, they could just use the charger they have now.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I really don't think DJI is being rotten in some way here, or forgot to include a charger.

Rather, I suspect this was a well-researched decision. DJI marketing decided the tipping point had been reached in standardizing PD in the world out there, perhaps even further want to encourage it. There would be more complaining from people like me that already have a sufficient PD charger for making me buy something I don't need.

That's the asymmetry in this: Those without are not really losing anything other than some inconvenience. People like me – and there are a lot of us – would be cursing DJI for making us spend money on a charging block we don't need. I could buy ND filters with that money.

So, I have the opposite take on this... I'm glad they didn't include a charger.

Perspective is everything.

 

[msinger]

So, I have the opposite take on this... I'm glad they didn't include a charger

If this is a reply to @Ridgeback65, I'm not sure this take is relevant. It sounds like he's suggesting DJI have a 100W charger available so people can optionally buy it. It's out of stock in the DJI Store.

But, sure, your point is valid. I'd rather DJI keep the price lower than add accessories that might not be needed.