Battery charging anomaly- Charging pack vs charging inside drone

[Skybuyer]

I flew my Mini 2 for a bit yesterday and only used one battery. The two other Mini 2 batteries and my one Mini 1 battery were nested in the charging bank nicely. So I decided, instead of messing with the battery bank, I would just use my Mini 2 to charge that one battery.

So I plugged the Mini 2 in to charge and went off to bed. Several hours later I woke up and walked past the Mini 2 and saw it was still charging. It had only charged to the level of 3 dots. Odd, I thought. So I took the other batteries out of the charging pack, put that one battery in the pack and used the pack to check the charging level after the hours of charging. The charging pack confirmed only 3 dots of charge. So I plugged in the charging pack with the one battery inside. When I came back a few hours later it was up to the full 4 dots.

I cannot understand why it would not fully charge in the drone but would in the charging pack? I never paid attention before. Could it be this one battery and the drone being a mis-match? Why would the Mini 2 show that it was still charging after so many hours.

What I know is that the charging adapters of the Mini 1 would only charge the Mini 2 batteries to about this point, leaving the Mini 2 charging bank to top off the rest of the charging when plugged in for a few minutes longer. But a Mini 2 battery charging inside a Mini 2???

I have a Mini 3 on order and my plan was, intially, to get one extended battery and forget about the charging pack. This is causing me to take a pause on my plan. I might end up getting the FMC+ kit for two extra extended batteries and the charger. HAS ANYONE ATTEMPTED TO CHARGE BATTERIES INSIDE THEIR NEW MINI 3 PROS rather than the sequential charging hub of the FMC?

 

[eva2000]

My new Mini 2 charges fully the battery inside it as does the 2 way battery charging hub. But I'm not using Mini 2 included wall power adapter but the charger that I also use for my phone.

So I plugged the Mini 2 in to charge and went off to bed

Personal preference but I never charge stuff unattended or while asleep just in case a fire breaks out!

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

@vindibona1 did you happen to check the rate at which the LEDs on the underside of the drone work through their sequential flashing thing? The speed of their progress appears to be indicative of the carging rate, fast = fast, slow = slow. I find it is always a good idea to check this because charging rate differs greatly depending on which cable is used. The same thing applies when using the charging hub.

I have never noticed a difference between the 'final' voltage of charging a Mini 2 battery irrespective of the charger used, all seem to fully charge Mini 2 batteries. As far as I can see the chargers for the Mavic Mini and Mini 2 are identical. If you have noticed a physical difference between them what is that difference please?

 

[fgurnee01]

... The speed of their progress appears to be indicative of the carging rate, fast = fast, slow = slow. I find it is always a good idea to check this because charging rate differs greatly ...

The wall charger brick that comes with the drone is a USB-C PD charger. It is 18W and can charge at 5, 9, or 12 volts per the PD spec. Most assuredly it is charging at 9v 2A for 18W. If you use a older typical phone charger brick it goes at 5V and maybe 2A (or 3A) for 10W, but at the lower voltage. So it takes a much, much longer time. The charge rate flashing LED is basically the 9V vs 5V.

 

[Skybuyer]

@vindibona1 did you happen to check the rate at which the LEDs on the underside of the drone work through their sequential flashing thing? The speed of their progress appears to be indicative of the carging rate, fast = fast, slow = slow. I find it is always a good idea to check this because charging rate differs greatly depending on which cable is used. The same thing applies when using the charging hub.

I have never noticed a difference between the 'final' voltage of charging a Mini 2 battery irrespective of the charger used, all seem to fully charge Mini 2 batteries. As far as I can see the chargers for the Mavic Mini and Mini 2 are identical. If you have noticed a physical difference between them what is that difference please?

I never owned a charging bank for my Mini 1. I got the Costco kit but bought 2 adapters that would charge the batteries indiviually, which was a great thing as getting them all charged up was very fast.

I suppose if one were to use the speed of the lights to determine how fast it was charging one would need to have a comparison. I've never noticed speed. I have a number of charging wall warts that are in excess of 15w. I don't remember how amps convert to watts, but I have some 3 amp charging ports as well.

I have multimeters, so if I were checking the voltage, which contacts on the Mini 2 battery would the probes go on? I suppose I could turn on the Mini 2 and look to see what it is measuring. A multi-meter on a fully charged battery would be much fast and convenient if I knew which contacts to use.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I never owned a charging bank for my Mini 1. I got the Costco kit but bought 2 adapters that would charge the batteries indiviually, which was a great thing as getting them all charged up was very fast.

I suppose if one were to use the speed of the lights to determine how fast it was charging one would need to have a comparison. I've never noticed speed. I have a number of charging wall warts that are in excess of 15w. I don't remember how amps convert to watts, but I have some 3 amp charging ports as well.

I have multimeters, so if I were checking the voltage, which contacts on the Mini 2 battery would the probes go on? I suppose I could turn on the Mini 2 and look to see what it is measuring. A multi-meter on a fully charged battery would be much fast and convenient if I knew which contacts to use.

You can get in-line USB multimeters that record not only the supply voltage but also the current and the mAhr passed.
Using one of those is where I get the "The speed of their progress appears to be indicative of the carging rate, fast = fast, slow = slow." from.
I have seen charge rates between 0.2A and I think 1.5A depending on the cable used, that is from the same charger and drone/hub.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

The wall charger brick that comes with the drone is a USB-C PD charger. It is 18W and can charge at 5, 9, or 12 volts per the PD spec. Most assuredly it is charging at 9v 2A for 18W. If you use a older typical phone charger brick it goes at 5V and maybe 2A (or 3A) for 10W, but at the lower voltage. So it takes a much, much longer time. The charge rate flashing LED is basically the 9V vs 5V.

If I remember I will check voltages next time I charge but what I have seen suggests that the flash rate rate reflect the charging current. I have not taken notice of whether there is a linear increase in the flash rate with charging current or if it is a either/or step increase.

 

[fgurnee01]

If I remember I will check voltages next time I charge but what I have seen suggests that the flash rate rate reflect the charging current. I have not taken notice of whether there is a linear increase in the flash rate with charging current or if it is a either/or step increase.

Your multimeter needs to be one that supports USB PD. Otherwise it will prevent the conversation between the battery and the brick that selects the voltage. It will probably be stuck at 5V if it's the old version multimeter.

 

[Skybuyer]

I figured the most reliable way to measure charge and voltage was just to put the batteries in the Mini 2 and open the fly app. 2 of the 3 batteries, while showing fully charged in the charger and drone were 4.2v in each cell with 8v4 volts total. One battery was a full 4.3 in both cells with 8.6v.

I supposed the slightly degraded starting points while supposedly fully charged would confirm my perception that I wasn't quite getting the flight time I thought I should get. But I never thought much of it because for the most part I almost always had the video going and the drone's flight weight with strobes, velco and leg extenders runs a little above 280g, depending on which strobes I use.

I will definitely get at least one extended battery for the Mini 3 when it comes (projected July 27th if the preorders before me do not suck up all the stock).

 

[Skybuyer]

You can get in-line USB multimeters that record not only the supply voltage but also the current and the mAhr passed.
Using one of those is where I get the "The speed of their progress appears to be indicative of the carging rate, fast = fast, slow = slow." from.
I have seen charge rates between 0.2A and I think 1.5A depending on the cable used, that is from the same charger and drone/hub.

Duh... I'm on a medication where one of the main side effects really tamps down my memory. I actually have two of those Kweisi devices, one USB-A and the other USB-c. Why didn't I think of that?

 

[fgurnee01]

If your charging brick has a USB C cable port, it also needs to support USB PD to get the fast charge. some bricks support only USB QC 3.0. I don’t believe the mini 2 batteries support QC 3. A lot of the bricks do both. The one shipped with mini 2 is only USB PD.

 

[eva2000]

The wall charger brick that comes with the drone is a USB-C PD charger. It is 18W and can charge at 5, 9, or 12 volts per the PD spec. Most assuredly it is charging at 9v 2A for 18W. If you use a older typical phone charger brick it goes at 5V and maybe 2A (or 3A) for 10W, but at the lower voltage. So it takes a much, much longer time. The charge rate flashing LED is basically the 9V vs 5V.

I have those usb-c with voltage/wattage display on the connector using my phone charger, the drone charging starts at 28-30 watt if under 1-2 dots and reduces to around 18w at 2-3 dots and at flashing 4th dot the charge rate is as low as 2w. The 2 way battery hub is very similar too.

 

[fgurnee01]

I have those usb-c with voltage/wattage display on the connector using my phone charger, the drone charging starts at 28-30 watt if under 1-2 dots and reduces to around 18w at 2-3 dots and at flashing 4th dot the charge rate is as low as 2w. The 2 way battery hub is very similar too.

Excellent! Like my Tesla at super charger, starts at 900 miles/hr of charge and works its way down as it fills up.

 

[eva2000]

Excellent! Like my Tesla at super charger, starts at 900 miles/hr of charge and works its way down as it fills up.

Yeah the controller differs it's starts at 24-28w, then 10w and then 2w IIRC.

Photo of my first charge on my Mini 2 - started as high as 31w then down to 27-28w.

 

[Dave-in-Elland]

HAS ANYONE ATTEMPTED TO CHARGE BATTERIES INSIDE THEIR NEW MINI 3 PROS rather than the sequential charging hub of the FMC?

Hi, I’ve not got the FMC for the Mini 3 pro so in-drone charging is my only option. I use the USB-C cable supplied and a 30w wall plug I bought seperately. It’s just charged from 11% to full in around an hour (I wasn’t actually timing it). Hope this helps

 

[LoudThunder]

This video is a bit dated but it explains slow charging verses fast charging pretty well…

The Magic of the Charging Hub Explained