Best Remote Battery Charging Options Air 2

[Howard70]

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

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D29QNMJ/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

Hello Bobby:

Charging via 110 and 12 volt simultaneously ought to get two batteries charged quicker than doing them sequentially, perhaps not twice as fast, but quicier.

In your previous message you mention using pass through charging via the Jackery while driving. While that might work, I think getting the Jackery charged and a drone battery charged could happen quicker with your original idea of the splitter.

Howard

 

[Bobby Dee]

Thanks, Howard! When I referred to pass thru charging I was thinking of doing it while charging the Jackery with the solar panel, not while driving (I'd use the cig lighter splitter as you suggest).

Scenario: I'm off-grid camping for a week in the desert (lots of sun!) and I enter with my 3 charged drone batteries and a fully charged Jackery 240 which hopefully will charge about 5 drone batteries. I set up the solar panel to charge the Jackery when it runs down and then use that to charge my batteries. It would be nice to be able to charge the batteries while the Jackery is charging from the solar panel but if that hurts the drone batteries I won't do it and it seems that Jackery warns against it....the link in the prior post says so anyway.

If I then drive to another place to camp, using my cig lighter splitter I'll be able to simultaneously charge my drone batteries and the Jackery. The 3 drone batteries should charge in 5 hours of driving and the Jackery 240 in 8 hours. At least that's the theory.....so with the solar panel hopefully I wouldn't even need to find AC electric outlets on an extended road trip.

I'm hoping to try this scenario in the near future (MA2 was shipped today - hooray!) and am guessing I may need another drone battery or two depending on how much I use it. But I'm excited to have a possible multi day off-grid solution that's not too expensive ($375 total for Jackery 240 and 60 watt solar panel which they claim charges it in 6.5 hours). And I can also use the Jackery to also power light devices while camping as well as in emergencies when there is no power.

Howard, yours and the other folks' posts have helped me save so much time in trying to figure all this stuff out. Thanks to you all!

 

[Bobby Dee]

Results of charging Mavic Air 2 batteries and RC using Jackery 240 ($200) power pack.

Conclusion: It can charge 5 DJI batteries and the Remote Control and have 12% of its power left.

Goal is to be able to go camping off grid for many days and see how many drone batteries I can charge each day.

The Jackery can be charged by wall socket (110V) or car cig lighter or solar panel. I think it takes about 5 to 6.5 hours each way.

Once it was full, I used the Jackery cigarette lighter 12V output port to charge the DJI batteries using DJI's car charger and the DJI 3 battery hub.

The Jackery charged 5 batteries for me (% of Jackery 240 used for each: 15%, 15, 16, 17, 17). All five batteries started from 10% full and each took 93 minutes to charge. I also charged the Remote Control once from 1 light to 4 lights and it used 8% of the Jackery to do it. I used one of the Jackery's USB ports to charge the RC.

Thus, after the above 88% were done the Jackery was down to 12%. I don't know what the minimum charge percentage is that you shouldn't go under but I stopped there.

I also bought a Jackery solar panel (Solar Saga 60; $175 but I read they're sometimes on sale for $125 and some competitors go for that) to charge the Jackery 240 battery pack. I'm heading out to the desert next week and will try it to see if it charges in the 6.5 hours they say. If it does charge the Jackery in a day, theoretically that means I could stay out indefinitely just using the solar panel each day to fully charge the Jackery and then use the Jackery to charge the 5 batteries and remote control that night. And I could supplement the charging with the car if I'm driving.

Car charging: I bought a car cigarette lighter splitter ($15 or 20) so I could theoretically charge the Jackery 240 and DJI batteries at the same time while driving. One draws 3.5 amps and the other 4 amps and my car cig lighter has 10 amps available. I'll test it on my upcoming trip. Ideally I could simultaneously fully charge both the Jackery and 3 DJI batteries while driving about 5 hours.

So those are my results. Many thanks to Howard for his very informative answers and to others for the stuff they've posted above about remote charging. It really helped me come up to speed quickly!

 

[Bobby Dee]

I just spent a week in the desert and tested using the solar panel noted above with the Jackery Explorer 240 to charge my five MA2 batteries. Unfortunately, it was windy almost all the time and I only got to fly my drone for less than 5 hours total (about an hour before sunset on 5 days). Being a newbie I was probably over-cautious but the sudden 30mph gusts out of nowhere scared me. So I never ran down the Jackery much but the solar panel did work very well and it's clear that the panel can easily charge the Jackery in a day. It took about 2 hours to charge 25% of it on a cloudy day so it seems their claim of 6.5 hours to charge is reasonable.

My post above showed that the Jackery Explorer 240 can charge 5 batteries and the remote so along with the solar panel you could stay off grid indefinitely using those 5 batteries each day assuming there is sun. And as a backup you could use a cig lighter splitter to charge both the Jackery and drone batteries at the same time while driving but I didn't test this - I'm guessing it'll work fine but just didn't want to test it in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Hashim Raza]

I am a beginner DGI Air 2 user. Planning a 8 day trekking trip to the mountains in the Northern Areas of Pakistan with little/no access to walled electricity power. 3 days on planes with access to car and 5 days on mountains no car off course. Will be at about 2000-4000 M above sea levels with temperatures ranging between 2-10 degree Celsius. Need a maximum of 1.5 hour flying time each day. Weight/dimensions of power source and off-course cost are considerations.


Currently own combo with 3 batteries and thinking of buying:

1. Hantora Battery Car Charger

2. Sun shades for phone

3. Lanyard and waterproof cover for RC

4. Propeller Guards.

5. RC Antenna Boosters

6. Aircraft Propeller Strap

7. Landing Pad

8. Power Jackery 160 0r 240 or something comparable


9.Cig lighter/charger splitter



Will appreciate recommendations on the following:

1. If the above is adequate/optimal or should I add/drop from the list. Any recommendations on which (brands to pick?

2. For power supply, If Jackery 160 do the job or need 240. Any recommendations on something smaller and still be able to do the job

3. Can the car charger (when plugged to Jackery 160 or 240 OR to the car) charge 2 batteries at the same time. The charger has the jacks to do it. I read above that 2nd battery may have to be charged using Ac outlet that results in power losses.

4. Are their (adjustable) Lanyard available for the aircraft.

5. Any thoughts on per day (gradual) batter power loss each day when not in use and in the conditions, I described above.

6. Any ALL solar solutions to charge power supply or batteries directly.



7. Should I buy an extra battery? If yes do they have to be from DJI.

8. Is there a difference between DJI and third party car chargers, Can 3rd party damage batteries?


Love the discussion on this thread. Am better informed after reading.

 

[Bobby Dee]

I just got back from a second week in the desert off-grid as the first week a month ago it was too windy most of the time. The setup I described above worked excellently for me and I could probably stay off the grid indefinitely if there is sunlight and if not then use the car as backup. The Jackery 240 charges in about 6.5 hours and that's enough to charge 5 batteries and the RC each day. But trekking is a much different story! The Jackery 240 and Jackery SolarSaga 60 solar panel together weigh 14 pounds and the solar panel isn't something you'd want to backpack with as it's bulky. You can't use the solar panel while hiking but if you stay in place it's a great power solution. So if you're walking all day the solar panel won't work for you. I have read of steam powered generators that work on campfires but don't know if they generate enough power to charge more than a phone but if one could power the Jackery that may be an option.

Keep in mind that some of your battery power will be spent while the AC is returning to home so if you'll be flying a decent distance you may only get half the minutes to be filming what you want. So although 3 batteries in theory may give you 102 minutes in reality you may be getting a lot less time to film so may need more batteries. I'm guessing the Jackery 160 could work if you're only charging 3 batteries and the remote. I used 5 MA2 batteries and some days wished I had a couple more. Also keep in mind that you need to charge your phone as well as the remote.

Warning: I think it's illegal to fly on a plane with the Jackery 240 at least in the US so you may want to look into that....I don't know what the size limit is for these battery power packs on planes.

Cigarette Lighter Splitter: the Bestek one I got worked great and I could charge the Jackery 240 and charge a drone battery at the same time while driving. (You could charge while the car is off but it may use all the power in the battery). It also has 2 USB ports so you can charge your phone or tablet. Just make sure you don't go over the amps of your car's cig lighter....explained by Howard70 above.

Yes, you can charge two drone batteries at the same time using the Jackery. You can use the cigarette lighter port to charge one battery if you buy the DJI car charger and another battery can be charged using the 110 AC plug port (this does use a little more power than the direct charge thru the 12V cig lighter). I did not test if you can use the cig splitter in the Jackery (so potentially you could charge 3 batteries at a time) because I only have 1 DJI car charging cable and would need two for this. I read somewhere in the comments on the Jackery website that pass thru charging (it means you charge a battery while the Jackery is itself being charged) can possibly harm the battery being charged so I haven't charged anything while the Jackery is being charged yet and don't know if it's true.

Battery power loss: After one day of non-use the battery automatically discharges down to 96%; after 5 days it goes down to about 60% I think.

Video storage off grid: You didn't ask about this but I will mention that to back up my videos off grid I used a 1TB (terrabyte) SSD that is very light and small and connects to my smart phone. I then just put the microSD card from the drone in the phone and copy the videos from the card to the SSD at the end of each day. That way I can copy videos from the drone without a computer and can erase the SD card to reuse in the drone. This worked great for me.

Bottom line: I love my Jackery 240/SolarSaga 60 solar power setup and 5 MA2 batteries for car camping but I wouldn't try backpacking with it because of weight and bulk. I'm guessing that even smaller versions like the Jackery 160 and smaller solar panel would still be too heavy and bulky for backpacking for one person. But if you can spread the weight/bulk between a few people it's certainly doable, IMO. But even then if you're on the move each day then using solar panels to charge won't work and you'd have to find some alternative to charge the batteries.

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[Bobby Dee]

I wrote the above post assuming you have no access to the grid. But if you could somehow plan your trip so that you are in a place with electricity halfway through your trek you could probably make it just using a Jackery 240 or similar and no solar stuff. Here's how: The Jackery 240 when charged can charge 5 MA2 batteries and the RC. If you have 4 drone batteries then you will have the equivalent of 9 batteries when you leave the grid. If you then have access to the grid about half way through the trek you can again have the equivalent of another 9 batteries. So if you can access the grid at some point, conceivably you could get by with just a battery pack like the Jackery 240 that weighs about 7 pounds and just charge your stuff at night on the grid.

It's also quite possible that the people in the mountains have batteries charged by solar that could maybe charge your Jackery for a fee or even charge your DJI batteries directly using the DJI car charger in their battery. That way you would only need to bring the DJI car charging cable and no Jackery but only if you knew beforehand it was possible. That would be the ideal solution.

 

[Hashim Raza]

I wrote the above post assuming you have no access to the grid. But if you could somehow plan your trip so that you are in a place with electricity halfway through your trek you could probably make it just using a Jackery 240 or similar and no solar stuff. Here's how: The Jackery 240 when charged can charge 5 MA2 batteries and the RC. If you have 4 drone batteries then you will have the equivalent of 9 batteries when you leave the grid. If you then have access to the grid about half way through the trek you can again have the equivalent of another 9 batteries. So if you can access the grid at some point, conceivably you could get by with just a battery pack like the Jackery 240 that weighs about 7 pounds and just charge your stuff at night on the grid.

It's also quite possible that the people in the mountains have batteries charged by solar that could maybe charge your Jackery for a fee or even charge your DJI batteries directly using the DJI car charger in their battery. That way you would only need to bring the DJI car charging cable and no Jackery but only if you knew beforehand it was possible. That would be the ideal solution for

Appreciate the detailed reply. From what I know, my treck wont have grid available anywhere but given what you suggest I will double check. I am asking my trekking partner to carry a power source when he travels from US to Pakistan. Can you confirm or point to a source where I can, whether he can carry Jackery 240? Also, what about Jackery 160, is it prohibited as well? We are planning team of 4 to 5 trekkers and 1 to 2 porters so weight can be distributed (Cant split Jackery up in 2 though ) And yes we will be walking all day thus a heavy solar solution that can only be used when we are stationary may not work, will have to be something that can fit over a large porter luggage case or ideally on a backpack. Thank you for the advice on the video back up, I had planned it through another source but will now look into what you have suggested. Plan to use a third party (not DJI) Hantora Car charger for Air 2 battery charging that can simultaneously charge 2 batteries and 1 RC. Is it something you have experience with or recommend?

Irrespective of the off grid power solution, it seems I have to buy more batteries, but I just think these are over priced, are there any third party batteries that can work?


I have read the thread carefully and thus checking the fuse/amp of the car cig lighter port.

It seems I have to look for alternates for the 5 day off grid trekking. will appreciate any further suggestions on my possible options.

 

[Bobby Dee]

According to the TSA website: Lithium batteries with more than 100 watt hours | Transportation Security Administration

"Lithium batteries with more than 100 watt hours may be allowed in carry-on bags with airline approval. One spare battery, not exceeding 300 watt hours, or two spare batteries, not exceeding 160 watt hours each, are permitted in carry-on bags. For more information, see the FAA regulations on batteries."

Since the 240 and 160 in the Jackery names refer to watt hours it seems he can bring either on the plane as carry-on with permission. Obviously he should check with the airline.

Yes, I agree you'll probably need extra batteries. I agree the DJI batteries seem overpriced but don't know any alternative. It seems like there are cheaper alternatives for other DJI batteries so I'd expect to see some alternatives for the MA2 in the near future.

I don't know if you'll be able to find a solar panel that can fit on a backpack that can charge a 12V battery pack such as a Jackery while you walk; I believe the ones available are only powerful enough to charge cell phones, etc. but I'm not sure.

I don't have any experience with the Hantora car charger you mentioned but it sounds good; I'll research and probably get one if they work and are reasonably priced.

I'm guessing that the locals there must be using solar power and if so must have some way of transferring power from one battery to another with a car charger being a likely common method. I would suggest asking the agency or whoever is supplying the porters if there's any way along the trek to charge a Jackery or the DJI batteries directly as explained in the post above.
Good luck!