I will be off the grid for a week in Alaska soon. Need help finding a solution to charge my batteries from a power bank (Goal Zero or Jackery). Does anyone have a solution? I will not be able to use the wall plug, need a USB C or USB A charging option.
Best Remote Battery Charging Options Air 2
- Thread starter azteca90
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There aren't any that I'm aware of. You'll need a 12V battery pack (some of the larger Goal Zero banks have this) and the Mavic Air 2 auto adapter. I've got one from Hanatora, charges two batteries and the controller.
Which Goal Zero bank are you using?
Which Goal Zero bank are you using?
JustAGuy
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This post is based on having a car, hiking is a whole different ball game.
To start with, I don't know of any USB-C options. You need more power than the smaller packs have anyway, and larger packs have DC/AC out.
If you have a car, the answers are different depending on whether you will be driving daily. I recently did a bunch of driving/camping in the Wyoming/Idaho/Utah/Colorado area and a Jackery 160 combined with a car charger for the drone and the Jackery did the trick for me. I never touched a wall outlet the entire trip. Don't use the AC inverter outlet on the battery pack, it wastes power and you'll want a car charger to charge while driving anyway. Always use the drone's car charger (see attached pic).
If you are car camping but not moving, you will need solar and a bigger battery would be good too. A bigger battery is always good, they just cost a lot.
To start with, I don't know of any USB-C options. You need more power than the smaller packs have anyway, and larger packs have DC/AC out.
If you have a car, the answers are different depending on whether you will be driving daily. I recently did a bunch of driving/camping in the Wyoming/Idaho/Utah/Colorado area and a Jackery 160 combined with a car charger for the drone and the Jackery did the trick for me. I never touched a wall outlet the entire trip. Don't use the AC inverter outlet on the battery pack, it wastes power and you'll want a car charger to charge while driving anyway. Always use the drone's car charger (see attached pic).
If you are car camping but not moving, you will need solar and a bigger battery would be good too. A bigger battery is always good, they just cost a lot.
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Nice. I didn't know Jackery had built anything bigger than a pocket-sized "phone bank." But I haven't been looking for anything like that in the last 18 months or so.
JustAGuy
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They have models all the way up to 1,000 Wh if you are willing to pay for them and they sell solar panels as well. Goal Zero Yeti is another good brand option. You are looking at roughly $1/Wh of capacity regardless of size.
Electromen
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Hello EMike:
Most of Goal Zero’s larger battery banks (Yeti 150 for example) have a 12 volt “car plug” ouput. The DJI car charger plugs right in. As mentioned above, it is most efficient to use the car charger rather than inverting the battery’s 12 volts to AC for the wall charger and then allowing the wall charger to step that AC back down to 12 volts for the DJI battery. Each of those voltage changes has a loss due to conversion inefficiency. Total loss somewhere between 10 - 20%.
As mentioned up thread, get the largest battery you can afford / carry as energy basically flows downhill - once charging battery and charged battery reach same voltage continued charging takes stepping up of source voltage at a greater loss of efficiency.
If you are backpacking consider carrying extra flight batteries rather than a source for charging. Extra flight batteries is the most efficient way to store energy - except for the self discharge built into some DJI batteries - if your trip is longer than three days you’ll lose 40% of flight battery storage.
Howard
Yeti 150 is unacceptably big and heavy for my usage unfortunately. I need to charge my drone during 10days mountain hiking/climbing.
Goal Zero Sherpa 100 is my maximum.
Is there a way to change self discharge setting?
Hello EMike:
Do you know how many minutes of flying you will do in the 10 day trip? It might be easier to provide helpful information if we knew the complete parameters.
I do not know of means to alter the self discharge settings of Mavic Air 2 batteries. Some other Mavic drones seem to have options for that based on what I've read in other posts.
I suspect you may be better served by a means of producing power during the trip as opposed to carrying enough stored energy. Popular means include solar, wind, miniature hydrosystems, and a biolite device that uses thermal gradients. I doubt that those would easily produce enough power to charge MA2 batteries unless you'll have an established basecamp where the production gear could be set up and left to function. If you're moving every day, it's hard set those systems up at each camp. Plus, you effectively remove solar as an option because you're moving during the optimal hours for capturing solar energy. Deploying flexible panels on a backpack can occasionally work for something small like a cell phone or GPS watch, but probably not an MA2 battery.
Howard
Do you know how many minutes of flying you will do in the 10 day trip? It might be easier to provide helpful information if we knew the complete parameters.
I do not know of means to alter the self discharge settings of Mavic Air 2 batteries. Some other Mavic drones seem to have options for that based on what I've read in other posts.
I suspect you may be better served by a means of producing power during the trip as opposed to carrying enough stored energy. Popular means include solar, wind, miniature hydrosystems, and a biolite device that uses thermal gradients. I doubt that those would easily produce enough power to charge MA2 batteries unless you'll have an established basecamp where the production gear could be set up and left to function. If you're moving every day, it's hard set those systems up at each camp. Plus, you effectively remove solar as an option because you're moving during the optimal hours for capturing solar energy. Deploying flexible panels on a backpack can occasionally work for something small like a cell phone or GPS watch, but probably not an MA2 battery.
Howard
I'm sure you've already enjoyed your trip but I have an Omnicharge Ultimate rated at 38400mah that can be recharged via solar panels. It weighs a little over 3 pounds and has replaceable battery cores. With DC barrel port, AC and USB A and C out its versatile and can also be charged by the USB C port or off the wall too. When im doing a longer day trip where im going to blow through all 4 batteries on my MA2 and/or MM I pack it with me. I can charge the MM and controller, 1 MA2 battery via AC and 1 by dc barrel port to cigarette adaptor and MA2 controller all at the same time. I don't have a solar panel for it per se, just a 21w foldable with USB out , but it can handle up to 90w input.
I will be buying the Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo soon. I do a lot of car camping and would like to be able to be away from the electric grid for a few days at a time without driving once I get there and am wondering what 12 volt battery pack I should get. The Jackery Explorer 160 battery pack mentioned above has 167Wh. Since the Mavic Air2 battery is 40Wh does this mean that the Jackery when full can charge 4 Mavic Air2 batteries (4 * 40Wh = 160Wh)? Or is there energy lost while charging them and if so how much?
Any suggestions on other battery packs would be appreciated. I will be getting the DJI car charger but need a battery pack to charge the drone batteries when I'm not driving. Since I'm car camping battery pack weight isn't a big issue but cost is as I don't want to spend a fortune. Thanks.
Any suggestions on other battery packs would be appreciated. I will be getting the DJI car charger but need a battery pack to charge the drone batteries when I'm not driving. Since I'm car camping battery pack weight isn't a big issue but cost is as I don't want to spend a fortune. Thanks.
Followup to above question: Can I use a splitter for the car cigarette lighter so I could while driving 1) be charging the drone batteries thru the DJI car charger; while 2) at the same time be charging the Jackery battery pack? Does anyone know if this would work? If so, it seems like a 5 hour drive could charge 3 batteries via the DJI charger and hub as well as charging the Jackery which should then be able to charge 3 or 4 drone batteries later on. Thanks in advance.
Hello Bobby:
Regarding your two questions:
1. Jacky Explorer - there is a tradeoff between depth of discharge and life span of any battery. For most batteries I'm familiar with, aside from lithiums, 50% depth of discharge is a good rule of thumb. For lithiums that can be lower, but I don't know at what point is optimal. If the Jacky Explorer has a user manual that information might be within it. There are inefficiencies in charging and they are greatest when there are multiple steps. Thus storage battery to charger to drone battery is more efficient than storage battery to inverter to 110 charger to drone battery. If it was me and I wanted to charge 4 Mavic Air 2 batteries from a single storage battery I'd be looking at a storage battery at least 8x the capacity of a single MA2 battery, but I'm pretty conservative when it comes to batteries.
2. Splitting the output from a single 12volt receptacle in your car - this is possible, but really depends on the total amperage capacity of the receptacle (possibly between 10 and 15 amps) and the requirements the two draws. You can check the amperage of the receptacle by locating its fuse. The fuse limits the amperage to the receptacle. Then you can check the requirements of the draws by looking at the current requirements of the DJI 12 volt charger and the Jacky Explorer charger. Sum those and compare that total to the fuse. One thing to consider is that the voltage to the receptacle when the car's engine is running will be higher than without the engine. That higher voltage will help charge anything quicker. Personally I don't charge with the vehicle's starter battery without the engine when camping as that can leave me stranded.
Good luck!
Howard
Regarding your two questions:
1. Jacky Explorer - there is a tradeoff between depth of discharge and life span of any battery. For most batteries I'm familiar with, aside from lithiums, 50% depth of discharge is a good rule of thumb. For lithiums that can be lower, but I don't know at what point is optimal. If the Jacky Explorer has a user manual that information might be within it. There are inefficiencies in charging and they are greatest when there are multiple steps. Thus storage battery to charger to drone battery is more efficient than storage battery to inverter to 110 charger to drone battery. If it was me and I wanted to charge 4 Mavic Air 2 batteries from a single storage battery I'd be looking at a storage battery at least 8x the capacity of a single MA2 battery, but I'm pretty conservative when it comes to batteries.
2. Splitting the output from a single 12volt receptacle in your car - this is possible, but really depends on the total amperage capacity of the receptacle (possibly between 10 and 15 amps) and the requirements the two draws. You can check the amperage of the receptacle by locating its fuse. The fuse limits the amperage to the receptacle. Then you can check the requirements of the draws by looking at the current requirements of the DJI 12 volt charger and the Jacky Explorer charger. Sum those and compare that total to the fuse. One thing to consider is that the voltage to the receptacle when the car's engine is running will be higher than without the engine. That higher voltage will help charge anything quicker. Personally I don't charge with the vehicle's starter battery without the engine when camping as that can leave me stranded.
Good luck!
Howard
Thank you so much Howard, for the quick answer.
By 8 times the battery size do you mean you would get a Jacky about 320Wh or more? (8 * 40Wh = 320Wh).
I will research the values you point out in #2.
Thanks again!
By 8 times the battery size do you mean you would get a Jacky about 320Wh or more? (8 * 40Wh = 320Wh).
I will research the values you point out in #2.
Thanks again!
I did some research and see that my Subaru cig lighter is 10amps. The DJI car charger uses 4 amps. The Jackery 160 power pack seems to use 3.5 amps to charge from cig lighter. So it's looking to me like I could use the cig lighter splitter to charge both the Jackery and the DJI car charger at the same time while driving because the total amps they use (7.5) is less than the 10 amps available. Is my reasoning correct?
Also, I'm not totally sure I understand how many drone batteries I can charge using a full Jackery 160 (167Wh) with the DJI car charger connected to its 12V output port. Since the batteries are 40Wh will I be able to charge close to 4 of them (4 * 40Wh = 160Wh) with the Jackery? On the Jackery website it says it will charge "2.5 drones (60W)" in one place and in another it says "3 drones (60W)". When they say 60W are they referring to a drone battery that is 1.5 times bigger than the DJI 40Wh battery so we could assume that it will charge more of the DJI batteries because they are only 40W?
It seems to me that if the above is possible then during 5 hours of driving with the splitter I could fully charge 3 DJI drone batteries using the hub connected to the car charger while at the same time fully charge the Jackery 160 which would allow me to charge another 3 or 4 batteries. Is my reasoning correct?
Many thanks!
Also, I'm not totally sure I understand how many drone batteries I can charge using a full Jackery 160 (167Wh) with the DJI car charger connected to its 12V output port. Since the batteries are 40Wh will I be able to charge close to 4 of them (4 * 40Wh = 160Wh) with the Jackery? On the Jackery website it says it will charge "2.5 drones (60W)" in one place and in another it says "3 drones (60W)". When they say 60W are they referring to a drone battery that is 1.5 times bigger than the DJI 40Wh battery so we could assume that it will charge more of the DJI batteries because they are only 40W?
It seems to me that if the above is possible then during 5 hours of driving with the splitter I could fully charge 3 DJI drone batteries using the hub connected to the car charger while at the same time fully charge the Jackery 160 which would allow me to charge another 3 or 4 batteries. Is my reasoning correct?
Many thanks!
Hello Bobby:
Great job on the research! Some more thoughts:
1. I think you're reasoning about the splitter is correct. If the Subaru 12 volt outlet is 10 amps (seems a reasonable value) and the sum of the two loads is 7.5 amps then charging both as you drive ought to work.
2. I looked at the Jackery website. Their battery packs are based on lithium batteries, so my original suggestion of working towards a 50% draw down was overly cautious. You'll be able to draw the Jackery pack down further without overly shortening battery life. Looking at their models, if it was me I would select the Jackery 240 rather than the Jackery 160 just to get slightly greater capacity. My experience with claims of capacity by manufacturers suggests they can be a bit optimistic.
3. As I was on the Jackery website, I looked at the available output ports for both the Explorer 160 and 240 packs. According to their technical specs pages, both have 12volt DC output (as well as others). This could be helpful for you as you plan to have a DJI 12 volt car charger as well as the standard DJI 110 charger. I'm pretty sure that charging your DJI batteries from the Jackery via the 12 volt output and DJI car charger will be more efficient than using the 110 charger. If time was more important than efficiency it might be possible to use both of your DJI chargers (110 and 12 volt) simultaneously from the Jackery. In that case you'd actually be able to charge two drone batteries at the same time. If that was important to you, I'd suggest confirming with Jackery that the 110 output and the 12 volt output could be simultaneously used.
Good luck!
Howard
Great info, Howard, thanks much! Yes, I will take your advice and probably get the Jackery 240 for the reasons you specified (man, I love this site! It has already saved me from making a couple of costly missteps).
I also noticed that the Jackery 160 doesn't allow pass through charging but the 240 and others do. Pass through charging allows you to charge your drone battery while the Jackery is being charged by solar or whatever (at least I think it does) and that may be useful to me off grid.
I also noticed that the Jackery 160 doesn't allow pass through charging but the 240 and others do. Pass through charging allows you to charge your drone battery while the Jackery is being charged by solar or whatever (at least I think it does) and that may be useful to me off grid.
The quote below is from a Jackery rep on amazon. It doesn't say if you can do pass thru charging when using the cig lighter (it just mentions AC and solar). Someone else there mentioned that Jackery warns that you can possibly harm the battery being charged when doing pass thru so I'll check further on that and if it's true I won't do that.
The quote below does state that you can use both the AC and 12V output ports to charge two drone batteries at the same time, at least during pass through so I would guess (but it's just a guess) that you could charge two simulataneously when not charging the Jackery.
Jackery rep on 240: "Thanks for your interest on Jackery Portable Power Station. As Buck has mentioned, this product supports pass-through charging, Which means you can use all the ports while charging, both from wall outlet and a solar panel. Only the recharging speed will be reduced, as all the ports are also discharging the battery because of devices you plugged in. How much slowly also depends on the devices you 're plugging in."
The quote below does state that you can use both the AC and 12V output ports to charge two drone batteries at the same time, at least during pass through so I would guess (but it's just a guess) that you could charge two simulataneously when not charging the Jackery.
Jackery rep on 240: "Thanks for your interest on Jackery Portable Power Station. As Buck has mentioned, this product supports pass-through charging, Which means you can use all the ports while charging, both from wall outlet and a solar panel. Only the recharging speed will be reduced, as all the ports are also discharging the battery because of devices you plugged in. How much slowly also depends on the devices you 're plugging in."
Jackery rep confirms below you can use the Jackery 240 to simultaneously charge 1 drone battery using 12 volt and one using 110 plugin. I don't know if it will be any quicker than charging one after the other using the same port but hopefully it will be. Any ideas? Thanks!
Q: can i have two items plugged... one in 12v and the other in the 110 plugin?
A: Hi yes, sure, you can. The 240 can charge/power multiple devices at once. Btw, the 240 can charge devices that require less than 200W. Feel free to reach out to our customer support team directly for better assistance. Thanks.
By Jackery Inc on July 9, 2019
Q: can i have two items plugged... one in 12v and the other in the 110 plugin?
A: Hi yes, sure, you can. The 240 can charge/power multiple devices at once. Btw, the 240 can charge devices that require less than 200W. Feel free to reach out to our customer support team directly for better assistance. Thanks.
By Jackery Inc on July 9, 2019
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