Charging drones on the go - M2Pro car charger + MaxOak K2 50.000 mAh power bank?

[AlexanderStarbuck]

Hi all!

I am preparing for my first off-grid weekend trips season with my M2P so I am looking into the best charging solutions. Usually, I use 3 batteries and these drone batteries are my biggest power hoarders. I know just a bit about electronics but not nearly enough to architect my in-car solution.

Here is what I was thinking of doing:

• buy a powerbank (MaxOak K2 50.000 mAh), charge it at home;
• charge M2P batteries at home;
• go for a trip, use the drone;
• re-charge drone batteries using the DJI car charger from MaxOak power bank;
• re-charge the powerbank every once in a while (either from an AC outlet, or from the car battery while driving or even solar--I'd get a small solar panel);

Powerbank gives either 12V (2.5A) or 19.5V (5.0A) out, while the DJI car charger wants 12.7-16.0V (6.0A). Would this work or not really? If yes, than it is an amazing solution as I could charge other stuff from this bank as well. Should I try to match voltage or amerage when choosing chargers/banks/solar?

Many thanks for all replies!

 

[coneslayer]

The Powerbank doesn't look suitable. The 12 V output is under-voltage and way under-current for the car charger, so the circuit breaker or other protection in the powerbank would trip. The 19.5 V output is over-voltage for the car charger, and could damage it. (Plus, if it didn't damage the car charger, it's still a bit under-current so again it could trip the breaker.)

 

[brett8883]

Hi all!

I am preparing for my first off-grid weekend trips season with my M2P so I am looking into the best charging solutions. Usually, I use 3 batteries and these drone batteries are my biggest power hoarders. I know just a bit about electronics but not nearly enough to architect my in-car solution.

Here is what I was thinking of doing:

• buy a powerbank (MaxOak K2 50.000 mAh), charge it at home;
• charge M2P batteries at home;
• go for a trip, use the drone;
• re-charge drone batteries using the DJI car charger from MaxOak power bank;
• re-charge the powerbank every once in a while (either from an AC outlet, or from the car battery while driving or even solar--I'd get a small solar panel);

Powerbank gives either 12V (2.5A) or 19.5V (5.0A) out, while the DJI car charger wants 12.7-16.0V (6.0A). Would this work or not really? If yes, than it is an amazing solution as I could charge other stuff from this bank as well. Should I try to match voltage or amerage when choosing chargers/banks/solar?

Many thanks for all replies!

Hi all!

I am preparing for my first off-grid weekend trips season with my M2P so I am looking into the best charging solutions. Usually, I use 3 batteries and these drone batteries are my biggest power hoarders. I know just a bit about electronics but not nearly enough to architect my in-car solution.

Here is what I was thinking of doing:

• buy a powerbank (MaxOak K2 50.000 mAh), charge it at home;
• charge M2P batteries at home;
• go for a trip, use the drone;
• re-charge drone batteries using the DJI car charger from MaxOak power bank;
• re-charge the powerbank every once in a while (either from an AC outlet, or from the car battery while driving or even solar--I'd get a small solar panel);

Powerbank gives either 12V (2.5A) or 19.5V (5.0A) out, while the DJI car charger wants 12.7-16.0V (6.0A). Would this work or not really? If yes, than it is an amazing solution as I could charge other stuff from this bank as well. Should I try to match voltage or amerage when choosing chargers/banks/solar?

Many thanks for all replies!

The voltage is the most important thing and you have to match it. However, cars are 12 volt so I don’t know where the 12.7 comes from.

In this application because we are going from DC to DC you really want something that can match or exceed the current of the charger which is actually 4.5 amps for the OEM DJI charger. However, the DJI charger steps up to 17v to supply those 4.5 amps so what we really need to do is find out if the power bank you are looking at can provide the wattage output that the charger can provide which is 80w. Power(watts)=voltage*current so 12*2.5=30 which is a far cry from 80.

Solar power doesn’t work in these high power requirements unless you have a permanent solar panel not one that you can carry around with you. My advice would be to just use the car to charge the batteries since you have that.

 

[coneslayer]

However, cars are 12 volt so I don’t know where the 12.7 comes from.

"12 volt" is more of a name than a measurement. 12-volt lead acid batteries are about 12.7 V when fully charged, and a car's electrical system is over 13 V when the engine is running and the alternator is charging the battery and powering the electronics. If a car battery gets down to 12.0 V, it's quite depleted.

 

[AlexanderStarbuck]

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated!

As Coneslayer just explained, the extra voltage is probably DJI factoring this in (they state on their website that the car charger takes in 12.7-16.0V up to 80W and pushes 17.0-17.6V; 4.5A to the drone battery). That is why I thought that MaxOak's 19V out might do the trick even though it IS a bit over the suggested voltage.

That's a **** shame. I will have to be driving in order to charge my batteries, as it takes about 1.5 hrs per battery. Are there really no other solutions? Will I have to get something like the Bluetti AC series (50, 100 or even 200)?

I do have other stuff to charge, like my Canon batteries which require 8.4-16.0V, my camera stabilizer which wants his 3.6-8.0V; 3A / 12.0V; 2.0A, camera external monitor has a battery which charges at 8.4-8.55V; 0.6A....

Do I really need a 220V AC solution and just use their wall chargers or can I somehow make the dang thing work over DC (it IS DC in the end, after all).

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

That's a **** shame. I will have to be driving in order to charge my batteries, as it takes about 1.5 hrs per battery. Are there really no other solutions?

There's a lot of other solutions.

I use the Goal Zero Yeti 400 (non-lithium - the lithium model might be better, but the non-lithium makes it simpler for chaining — see below). Be sure to click the Tech Specs tab to check requirements (for the above conversation). You should get a few charges out of this and can then charge this on the go from your car battery between locations to top it off.

Don't use their smaller ones (Yeti 150) as it won't last as long, but you can see from their page that they have much larger ones. So yes, there are other solutions.

Chain: I also chain another battery to this using the Anderson Power Pole Chaining Port. The extra battery is just a marine 12v to match the one in the Yeti and I put it in a marine battery box. Chaining is a good solution for long road trips. It basically lasts twice as long. Since I don't have a lithium Yeti model, I don't know the chaining requirements for those -- you would have to ask Goal Zero support (and they're very friendly).

Chris

 

[brett8883]

"12 volt" is more of a name than a measurement. 12-volt lead acid batteries are about 12.7 V when fully charged, and a car's electrical system is over 13 V when the engine is running and the alternator is charging the battery and powering the electronics. If a car battery gets down to 12.0 V, it's quite depleted.

Learn something new every day! Thanks!

 

[Juggler]

Buy a small inverter for $20 and charge thru the cig lighter with DJI power hub...it will be your cheapest option

 

[AlexanderStarbuck]

But Juggler, is this not terribly wasteful on the electricity? Besides, where I live, the inverters that allow such high amp draws are well above 150 bucks, not 20 [emoji31]

 

[gnirtS]

You can get 200-300w inverters for not a lot of money and most car electrical systems will handle that power output.
Get one of the mavic multi charger units so you can do do or 3 batteries at once.

Years ago when i used to lug heavy radio gear up mountains i bought sealed lead-acid batteries (gel type) using in things like bikes and burglar alarms. They'd do the job but no faster than a car charger. Heavy to carry too.

(and yes, engine on, most car charging systems use 13.8v. If a car battery is down to 12v its extremely depleted and maybe useless).

 

[Capt KO]

The power pack will be fine. Use my 25k usb often for mavic. Remote and batteries. I also have an inverter for plug in a multi charger as well. Car chargers use vehicle 12v so that is not a problem either.

 

[Trackerputnam]

I have an inverter mounted under my seat! It’s A 750. I have had two four batteries and a iPad and a phone charging at once! Works great. I used oversized wire for the battery run. It has been working now for three years or so!

 

[Chrislaf]

As @Not A Speck Of Cereal said there are solutions. I have used Goal Zero stuff too when off grid. It is expensive but is well made and long lasting. A few years ago, I used a Sherpa 100 power bank and a couple of Solar panels to keep my DSLR batteries charged, action cam batteries and 2 iPhones and my laptop charged while we were camping and off grid for a couple of weeks. I used the solar panels, and the car cigarette port to keep the Goal Zero power bank charged up or just the panels alone to charge the phones. I also made sure I had lots of batteries for my cameras so that I would not have to wait until batteries had been charged.

Check the Goal zero web site for info. They likely have a solution that would fit your needs.

Chris

 

[Ken-Mav-Mtl]

I'd like to add a comment to the exchanges on using your car as a source of power to operate chargers, etc. In my experience so far, charging one battery is fine, but when charging multiples from the same cigarette lighter socket, the plastic housing that fits into the socket will overheat and melt (since it's only plastic), due to the heat generated from the relatively high amperage.

You might consider wiring directly from your car battery terminals to an inverter that can handle the power demands of your devices if you are using chargers that use A/C.

 

[Capt KO]

I have an inverter mounted under my seat! It’s A 750. I have had two four batteries and a iPad and a phone charging at once! Works great. I used oversized wire for the battery run. It has been working now for three years or so!

Same size and similar to mine from Sams. Works just fine for nearly 20 yrs. ($29 day sale lol) Only way for multi batteries. And fans, tools, etc. Have power packs for single charges in the field.

 

[cashout5669]

I havent read all the responses to your question, so I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned an inverter yet. As long as you're close to a vehicle it seems like a pretty simple choice to me and let's the Dji power source do what it's supposed to do.

 

[Acronut]

A small inverter petrol generator would solve all your problems and many other power requirements, when living off grid.