Dumb question: "Function" button on 2-Way charging hub? Hunh?

Aerophile · Aug 30, 2023

There's a button on the end of the Mini 3 "Two-way Charging Hub." In the Mini 3 User manual, it's labelled as the "function button" - but the manual does not mention what "function" it controls. It looks like a basic "power" (on/off) button to me (circle-with-vertical-line symbol faintly embossed on it).

What does this button actually do?

With batteries in the hub, if it's pressed, the LEDs light up for a few seconds, seeming to indicate charge level - the same result you get if you simply click in a battery, so not really much of a "function." If pressed with no batteries in the hub, nothing happens (since the hub itself seems to have no power, no big surprise there).

I've never tried powering/charging any other device from the hub (it's unlikely I'd ever used that, I usually have a powerbank around and I'd rather have the juice in the batteries). Is this for toggling on/off power output through the (USB A) "output" port?

Does it do anything else?

FWIW, just for grins, I used an AI-powered chatbot search and asked "what does the Function Button on a DJI two-way charging hub do?" It seems to have made up an answer, claiming that a 2-second press will switch to between serial and parallel charging modes (charge one battery at a time, in sequence, or all three at the same time). It also said the left-most or right-most LED would light up WHITE to indicate the mode...which I definitely do NOT see. While that sounds like it might be handy, I've never heard of this, and I assume it's just AI-driven nonsense.

Should I believe my lyin' eyes (there are no white LEDs!), or what I skeptically suspect is just ChatGPT's disinformation making chit up?

mavic3usa · Aug 30, 2023

Google Generative AI says this:

The function button on the DJI Mini 3 Pro Two-Way Charging Hub can be used to:

Activate charging if charging doesn't start automatically
Stop accumulating power by pressing and holding the function button until the status LED turns yellow
Use the charging hub as a power bank to supply power to external devices
Charge up to three batteries in sequence
Use the charging hub for battery storage

The DJI Mini 3 Pro Two-Way Charging Hub supports USB PD fast-charging protocols. It can also be used to charge your mobile device or remote controller via the USB-A port.

You can also check out this video:

Joe Horn · Aug 31, 2023

The "DJI Mini 3 Pro Two-Way Charging Hub User Guide" (which should have been in the box with your hub) includes the following info about the "Function Button". Everything below is from that User Guide.

Function Button
Press to check the battery power level. Press and hold the
function button for two seconds to switch the charging priority.

Press the function button to activate charging if charging does not start automatically.

Switching Devices to Charge
When both the intelligent flight battery and an external device are connected for charging, the battery will
be charged before the external device.
Press and hold the function button on the charging hub for two seconds to prioritize charging external
devices. Charge for Intelligent Flight Batteries will be continued after the external device is fully charged
or it has been charged for 4 hours. When charging an external device, press and hold the function button
for two seconds to switch back to charging Intelligent Flight Batteries.

The charging hub may not be able to detect whether the device is fully charged when charging
an external device with a high standby power consumption such as a smartphone or tablet.
In this case, charging will not switch to Intelligent Flight Batteries until the external device is
charged for four hours. Users can manually switch the charging priority by pressing and holding
the function button for two seconds.

Droning on and on... · Sep 5, 2023

Joe Horn said:
Switching Devices to Charge
When both the intelligent flight battery and an external device are connected for charging, the battery will
be charged before the external device.

Huh?

Can't picture the connections. Does this mean you can put batteries in the hub, plug in a PD source to charge them, and ALSO plug a device into USB-A port and it will be charged by PD source (after the batteries are charged)?

Joe Horn · Sep 5, 2023

Droning on and on... said:
Huh?

Can't picture the connections. Does this mean you can put batteries in the hub, plug in a PD source to charge them, and ALSO plug a device into USB-A port and it will be charged by PD source (after the batteries are charged)?

Yes, that's what it means. See the hub's User Guide, pages 1-3, for full explanation and diagrams.