Mavic Air 2 Car Charger - Original or 3rd Party?

C.W. · Jun 10, 2020

JayTea26 said:
My 2C$ worth is go for real DJI charger. Why risk Your $100 batter, car electrical system or maybe fire! Also, think warranty issues.

Or you can just learn how things work...

DazTay · Jun 14, 2020

dawaske said:
Yeah I saw they also make similar chargers for the Mavic Air 1 and the Mavic 2. However, especially with the Mavic 2 version some of the reviewers on Amazon say the charger is becoming very hot during operation (which is kind of understandable considering the power output), smells burnt and breaks quite quickly. As for the MA1 version, here reviewers mention quality issues with the connector (bent pins short circuiting batteries, lose fit, no fit at all). Have you experienced any of those issues?

Any chance you could test it quickly in the coming days?

Tried this charger over the last week and it appears to charge the batteries fine

dawaske said:
Yeah I saw they also make similar chargers for the Mavic Air 1 and the Mavic 2. However, especially with the Mavic 2 version some of the reviewers on Amazon say the charger is becoming very hot during operation (which is kind of understandable considering the power output), smells burnt and breaks quite quickly. As for the MA1 version, here reviewers mention quality issues with the connector (bent pins short circuiting batteries, lose fit, no fit at all). Have you experienced any of those issues?

Any chance you could test it quickly in the coming days?

I have used the 3rd party car charger for a week now and with no issues at all so far.
The batteries charge well and voltages appear to be the same across all cells.
This charger will charge 2 batteries but so far I have only charged one of my batteries at once.
I will continue to carry on using this charger and if I notice any issues I will post these on this forum.

dawaske · Jun 15, 2020

DazTay said:
I have used the 3rd party car charger for a week now and with no issues at all so far.
The batteries charge well and voltages appear to be the same across all cells.

Thank you for reporting back! I have one more question: how warm does the charger get?

Tentoes · Jun 15, 2020

I have the $20 inverter from Harbor Freight. Charges Spark and Mavic batteries very nicely.

DazTay · Jun 15, 2020

dawaske said:
Thank you for reporting back! I have one more question: how warm does the charger get?

I never really checked whilst driving but after I got to where I was travelling I unplugged the battery and charger from the 12v plug and it never felt hot.
Once the batteries reach 100 % the charger / battery switches off just like the mains charger.

fourbeer · Jun 16, 2020

Raptorman said:
If you use the 3-battery strip that comes with the combo package only one battery is actually charged at a time and my measurement of the charge rate is about 35W-40W for the battery and 15W-20W for the remote. Assuming the higher values for both that would be about 60W. Now, the power factor for the DJI charger is not very high, only about 0.55, so the AC power needed could be closer to 110W though it will likely be less than 100W. So, an inverter of 125W or more will be fine though it would be desirable to use a true sign wave inverter over the really cheap stuff out there.

Brian

The power supply that comes with the 3 battery charger only outputs a total of 38W. A little over 27 watts for the batteries and 10 watts for the USB (remote) charger.

It can't possibly charge at 60W. A 100W inverter will work just fine.

Raptorman · Jun 17, 2020

fourbeer said:
The power supply that comes with the 3 battery charger only outputs a total of 38W. A little over 27 watts for the batteries and 10 watts for the USB (remote) charger.

It can't possibly charge at 60W. A 100W inverter will work just fine.

You misunderstand ... the charger may charge at that rate, but due to the low power factor the actual power being drawn by the charger can exceed 70W. Then, if we have, say, 80% efficiency with the inverter the draw from the outlet will be closing in on 100W. A 100W inverter may well be sufficient, but it might be marginal given the boastful ads of many of these cheap Chinese inverters.

Brian

Juggler · Jun 17, 2020

Pappy said:
My question for the car charger is, do they step up the output voltage and maintain the charging amperage when the input voltage drops below 13.2V. So if I turn off the car's engine and the battery voltage is 12.3V, will these car chargers step up the output charging voltage/amperage to maintain the 13.2V and 2.5A?

yes if the input voltage is within the specified range they will output to the rated values

Tentoes · Jun 17, 2020

And now a mystery is solved!

My car has been making a funny noise, like a little electric motor spinning fast, when I first start it up. I was about to drop in at the mechanic and say, "Can you listen to this?" when I realized, it's the cooling fan in my inverter!