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

Using a power bank to charge Mavic batteries?

Qoncussion

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2017
Messages
1,894
Reactions
1,722
Age
58
Location
California
This probably falls into the category of dumbest question ever - but I have to ask... Does anyone know if you can run a 20000mah power bank into one of the USB ports on the brick charger, to charge a Mavic battery?
 
I purchased that charger. It only works with wall outlet. It's a nice charger though for charging 3 batteries and controller in one hour.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

ohh... i misunderstood it. it is not a powerbank? it's just a silmply charger? :D
 
The only power bank that has the ability to charge at 12V is the Powermonkey Extreme. These units can charge laptops and other items that require AC current. BUT as the MP batteries require 13.7 V it still won't do the trick.

Posted from somewhere in beautiful South Africa
 
Yes you can, tested and confirmed 1 battery full charge from 20%! Waiting for ebay to deliver the rest of the chargers and ill see if I can do 3 at a time!
 

Attachments

  • 1488432676607.png
    1488432676607.png
    286 KB · Views: 130
  • 1488432710244.png
    1488432710244.png
    148 KB · Views: 119
  • 1488432719687.png
    1488432719687.png
    143.6 KB · Views: 116
  • 1488432724793.png
    1488432724793.png
    423.4 KB · Views: 120
This probably falls into the category of dumbest question ever - but I have to ask... Does anyone know if you can run a 20000mah power bank into one of the USB ports on the brick charger, to charge a Mavic battery?
Are you seriously thinking you can somehow feed the stock charger by force feeding it via it's 5V output instead of powering it from the AC and expect it to charge the Mavic's battery as a result?

The answer on this is ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact, there is no way you can make such a connection using any set of stock cables, but if you try it anyway, by making your own, the only thing you will achieve is either nothing, or frying the stock charger's 5V output.

In order to actually use the 5V output power bank you would have to raise the 5V provided by the power bank to the voltage required by the Mavic's battery, implementing the CC/CV control or a similar charging method (simple DC to DC won't be enough). Even after doing so, those power banks are usually able to provide 5V*2A, which is 10W, which is 5 times less than your stock Mavic charger provides (read - charging 5 times slower). Even worse, your 20000mah*3.7v power bank is 74Wh total, while one Mavic battery is 44Wh. Evem if you did a very good job building the circuitry, you won't have more than 90% efficiency, so all you will get is about 1.5 full charges. Which would take 5 hours per charge or so.
 
We will see if this thing comes out...

PLUG - The World's Most Powerful Battery Pack

Would be ideal for quick "on field" charging
48000mAh, assuming its 3.7V, is 178Wh, which is almost x2 the maximum capacity (100Wh) you are allowed to carry on a plane according to TSA. Also this thing is gonna be heavy, about 5 times heavier than a single mavic battery (optimistic estimation, based on typical LiPo energy density and circuitry required). Expect the inverter to be rather inefficient, too, meaning you will get about 3 full Mavic batteries instead of 4 out of that thing. But other than that, i don't see why would that product be impossible, unlike the original post idea.
 
I think some people on the forum don't quite understand that a small bank or even a big bank pumps low voltage. If u are that desperate to charge ur batteries in the field..... Get a backpack and pack a carbattery

Posted from somewhere in beautiful South Africa
 
Yes, you can, but with huge power loss. By involving an inverter.

I managed to charge 2 Mavic LiPos with my Sherpa 100 and a 220V power inverter. So yes, it is possible, but highly inefficient.
 
There are powerbanks like the Omnicharge that have an adjustable output that could power the car charger, and/or an inverter that could power the mains charger, but no common 5V powerbank will do the trick.
These devices are typically expensive enough so that you'd be better jsut buying more Mavic batteries.

One trick for those who have electric bikes, scooters or other PEVs is to make use of its expensive battery they already have with a suitable regulator.
 
Yes, you can, but with huge power loss. By involving an inverter.

I managed to charge 2 Mavic LiPos with my Sherpa 100 and a 220V power inverter. So yes, it is possible, but highly inefficient.
But that will defeat the point of what he wants to do.... Pack light travel light

Posted from somewhere in beautiful South Africa
 
This probably falls into the category of dumbest question ever - but I have to ask... Does anyone know if you can run a 20000mah power bank into one of the USB ports on the brick charger, to charge a Mavic battery?

Looking at DJI support page under FAQ/Others topic I found this:
"It is not recommended to charge the remote controller with a mobile power bank. This may damage the coulometer. Battery level readings for the remote controller may become incorrect, and the battery consumption speed may become greater than the charging speed."

I don't know if it also applies to the Intelligent Flight Battery.
 
This answer has typically referred to charging the remote during use, seems they forgot to include that detail in the faq.
 
  • Like
Reactions: borislip

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,583
Messages
1,554,083
Members
159,586
Latest member
DoubleBarS