DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Charging a mavic pro with inverter.

Wilbur

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
105
Reactions
86
Age
56
I'm not clear as to whether or not this set up is safe.
I have a 05 accord that I had a power port professionally installed in the trunk. Using 12 gauge wire with a 20 amp fuse connected to the fuse box. Power with ignition on only.
I'm looking to use a 300 watt inverter that i would plug a Dronemax MP18A, and charge 3 batteries, iPad mini 4, and remote.
Dronemax specs are:
Output DC: DC 13.05V/13.8A (Branch output 13.05V/4.6A)
USB output: 5V/2A
I would be letting the car engine idle during charging, and visually monitor the process.
Is this set up safe, risky, or won't work?
I hope I left enough information for a educated response.
Thank you
 
13.8A at 13.5V is 186A. Based on just wattage, you should be OK. However inverters don't usually put out a true sine wave so the DroneMax might have issues with that. Most of the time high capacity AC power supplies use switching power supplies. I would be surprised if the DroneMax wasn't a switching power supply.
On the other hand, often switching power supplies would rectify the AC to DC and use large high voltage capacitors to feed the actual power supply. In that case a modified sine wave wouldn't likely be a problem.

You would also need to consider the capacity of your alternator. If you didn't have any major accessories on, such as headlights, then in that concern, you should be OK.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wilbur
Well, I went for it. Opted for a 400 watt, 800 peak, and it's charging all 3 batteries. Dromemax was more than warm, much more than plugging in house ac. The 20 amp fuse holder was quite warm. Everything else seemed fine.
Here's a pic of it working.

20181007_172948.jpeg
 
13.8A at 13.5V is 186A. Based on just wattage, you should be OK. However inverters don't usually put out a true sine wave so the DroneMax might have issues with that. Most of the time high capacity AC power supplies use switching power supplies. I would be surprised if the DroneMax wasn't a switching power supply.
On the other hand, often switching power supplies would rectify the AC to DC and use large high voltage capacitors to feed the actual power supply. In that case a modified sine wave wouldn't likely be a problem.

You would also need to consider the capacity of your alternator. If you didn't have any major accessories on, such as headlights, then in that concern, you should be OK.
Good call on the accessories being off. I almost started the radio which would've turned on the 200 watt amp powered sub.
 
A normal radio wouldn't be an issue, but yeah, that 200W amp could be a problem. You probably wouldn't be drawing anywhere near 200W at lower listening levels. At least not average watts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wilbur
Good call on the accessories being off. I almost started the radio which would've turned on the 200 watt amp powered sub.


cool beans. the only thing i can think of to add is a rpm bump to raise the rpm to 1800 for ideal charging ,, and it helps keep the oil pressure up if you are idling for a long time. a little solenoid on the throttle some place to kick up the rpm a little. probably not going to full field a alt. with a 300 watt inverter!
 
It is important to find best inverter generator which fulfill your requirement. This discussion share valuable information on inverters. You can check review for different inverters here.
 

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
134,589
Messages
1,596,575
Members
163,092
Latest member
jonwill89
Want to Remove this Ad? Simply login or create a free account