Does anyone successfully use a Portable Generator to charge their Mavic 2 batteries in the field ?

[BobbyBob]

I raise this as a new thread, because the similar threads are about suggestions of possible solutions, but Amazon feedback frequently shows that the possibly suitable generators, turn out to be unsuitable for one technical reason or another. Hence the question, does any one ACTUALLY use portable generator to successfully charge their Mavic 2 batteries in the field? and if so - which generator do you use please? Thanks

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The only success i have seen is the Mavic 3 using a Power Block to charge in the field but not a generator.


Gear to fly in the Rain, and land on the water.
Phantomrain.org

 

[Deleted member 103366]

What do you mean by "in the field" ?
If just general out and about in a car, then a cigarette socket charger is sold by DJI and others, it's part of the Flymore kit.
If at the top of Ben Nevis etc., then "pass" sorry.
I did find this Going camping? Be sure to pack one of these portable solar chargers

 

[sar104]

I have a Honda EU2200i and a Yamaha EF2000iS, either of which will comfortably feed my CDC PRCS 4-battery parallel charger, which pulls around 700 W with 4 batteries fast charging simultaneously. Obviously you could also power a regular DJI charger with either of those generators.

Those generators each weigh just under 50 lbs, so not really suitable for hiking though.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I have seen some of those guys that do week long canoe trips and bring along the Jackery portable charger. It seems to last a very long time out in the field.

 

[Bryan L]

I like the GoalZero Yeti-150 I've used for years. Charge it up during the day with solar panel or through the 12v receptacle in my truck and re-charge my drone and other batteries at night.

(I consider a "generator" to be a device that actually creates energy as opposed to storing it.)

 

[ashyt16]

Don't see why you would hump about a heavy piece of equipment when a high capacity battery pack will do?

 

[BobbyBob]

I have a Honda EU2200i and a Yamaha EF2000iS, either of which will comfortably feed my CDC PRCS 4-battery parallel charger, which pulls around 700 W with 4 batteries fast charging simultaneously. Obviously you could also power a regular DJI charger with either of those generators.

Those generators each weigh just under 50 lbs, so not really suitable for hiking though.

This looks useful thanks. Is it easy to use? (never used one before). The simultaneous charging would be extremely useful for my purpose - as I need to cover a lot of ground fast. I can hire such a generator for a weekend and it will keep my 4 batteries in continuous rotation as I burn through them in my remote location. This will be cheaper than buying dozens of batteries. Once I get it on site its good to go, and I have a helper, so one of us can backpack it for the hike in. Is it easy to use? (never used one before)

 

[BobbyBob]

I like the GoalZero Yeti-150 I've used for years. Charge it up during the day with solar panel or through the 12v receptacle in my truck and re-charge my drone and other batteries at night.

(I consider a "generator" to be a device that actually creates energy as opposed to storing it.)

This might be a good lower-budget option for me or a back-up, thanks. How many batteries can you charge from it, before it runs out ?

 

[Wildcatgary]

I raise this as a new thread, because the similar threads are about suggestions of possible solutions, but Amazon feedback frequently shows that the possibly suitable generators, turn out to be unsuitable for one technical reason or another. Hence the question, does any one ACTUALLY use portable generator to successfully charge their Mavic 2 batteries in the field? and if so - which generator do you use please? Thanks

Buy a JACKERY

 

[zeusfl]

Carrying an INVERTER, not a generator is common in the R/C Helicopter hobby since you are in the air for about 4 minutes only and with 2 7S 5500Mah batteries charging at the field is a most.

I used to use Honda EU2000i or the new one EU2200. Also, the Yamaha is great. Super quiet and reliable with only 1 gallon of fuel I used to run all day.

 

[Cklballs]

I raise this as a new thread, because the similar threads are about suggestions of possible solutions, but Amazon feedback frequently shows that the possibly suitable generators, turn out to be unsuitable for one technical reason or another. Hence the question, does any one ACTUALLY use portable generator to successfully charge their Mavic 2 batteries in the field? and if so - which generator do you use please? Thanks

Yes. Eco Flow River has worked well for me while out in the "field". On weighs about 5 pounds and can be recharge using solar panel.

 

[sar104]

Carrying an INVERTER, not a generator is common in the R/C Helicopter hobby since you are in the air for about 4 minutes only and with 2 7S 5500Mah batteries charging at the field is a most.

I used to use Honda EU2000i or the new one EU2200. Also, the Yamaha is great. Super quiet and reliable with only 1 gallon of fuel I used to run all day.

Just to clarify - these are inverter generators, which are still generators. Their advantages are:

1. Variable speed operation, since the initial AC is rectified to DC and so the frequency is not important;
2. Lower fuel consumption at lower operating speeds under light loads;
3. Inverter conversion back to AC, which gives a smooth and stable sine-wave AC output.

 

[sar104]

This looks useful thanks. Is it easy to use? (never used one before). The simultaneous charging would be extremely useful for my purpose - as I need to cover a lot of ground fast. I can hire such a generator for a weekend and it will keep my 4 batteries in continuous rotation as I burn through them in my remote location. This will be cheaper than buying dozens of batteries. Once I get it on site its good to go, and I have a helper, so one of us can backpack it for the hike in. Is it easy to use? (never used one before)

Very easy to use.

 

[tlswift58]

My SUV has an electrical plug built in, so I use that esp when driving from launch spot to another launch spot. No issues with it, as typically only one battery is usually charging at a time.

You can also get a DC to AC converter that plugs into a USB port or the cigarette lighter receptacle and it will slow charge batteries.

I'd prefer not to be lugging around a gas generator, but some folks - like 107 / commercial folks may need it to do a job.

LBNL - buy a couple more "expensive" batteries to have on hand....

 

[Rich QR]

This looks useful thanks. Is it easy to use? (never used one before). The simultaneous charging would be extremely useful for my purpose - as I need to cover a lot of ground fast. I can hire such a generator for a weekend and it will keep my 4 batteries in continuous rotation as I burn through them in my remote location. This will be cheaper than buying dozens of batteries. Once I get it on site its good to go, and I have a helper, so one of us can backpack it for the hike in. Is it easy to use? (never used one before)

I have a Honda EU2000i, and it is a very nice portable generator, but at 50 pounds, it's big and heavy for a backpack. It must be kept more-or-less upright during transport to avoid spilling fuel or oil. It's basically a large, heavy, suitcase.

Personally, I would never hike more than a hundred yards with it.

Electrically, it's great. Kept my house going through several multi-day outages.

 

[sar104]

My SUV has an electrical plug built in, so I use that esp when driving from launch spot to another launch spot. No issues with it, as typically only one battery is usually charging at a time.

You can also get a DC to AC converter that plugs into a USB port or the cigarette lighter receptacle and it will slow charge batteries.

I'd prefer not to be lugging around a gas generator, but some folks - like 107 / commercial folks may need it to do a job.

LBNL - buy a couple more "expensive" batteries to have on hand....

In a vehicle with an inverter and AC outlet then the DJI 110 V charger will obviously work, but you are best off using the DJI DC charging unit rather than going DC ➛ AC ➛ DC. The DJI 12 V charger is actually slightly faster than the 110 V charger.

 

[BobbyBob]

Thanks. Very informative answers, and some tricky call for me to make!. It looks like the EU2000I might indeed be bit to big and heavy for my 2-mile hike in, even with my helper . So perhaps the Jackery might be the better option: I wonder how many charges of my Mavic 2 batteries, I will get out of one fully charged Jackery-500 ??

 

[earlbalentine]

I raise this as a new thread, because the similar threads are about suggestions of possible solutions, but Amazon feedback frequently shows that the possibly suitable generators, turn out to be unsuitable for one technical reason or another. Hence the question, does any one ACTUALLY use portable generator to successfully charge their Mavic 2 batteries in the field? and if so - which generator do you use please? Thanks

I thought about using a generator but because of the weight and overkill I decided to just purchase a cigarette light plug type charger for my charging battery pack. I have a auxiliary 12v plug in the back area of car and I can just plug my charger in there. I have 3 batteries so I'm assuming I can plug my 1st discharge battery in the charger and it's charging while I use battery #2 and #3. When the battery #3 is dead I should be able to switch over the the battery #1 that was charging. It may not be 100% charge within an hour but that's something to be tested next time I'm out. If I was meeting drone friends yes I could bring my 2200 watt Champion and charge everyone's batteries at the same time. I forgot to mention I have a Tesla so I have plenty of juice to charge something.

 

[Bryan L]

This might be a good lower-budget option for me or a back-up, thanks. How many batteries can you charge from it, before it runs out ?

It will do a full charge on my 3 MA2 batteries, but that's just leaving it plugged in when I go to sleep. I've never put a meter on it to get actual numbers.