Wow!! I'm going through remote battery charge in no time flat !!

[Gorlash]

In less than an hour of playing with things today (15 mins outside flying, and about half an hour sitting on my desk and studying the app interface), the remote controller is down to 44% !! The drone battery was *also* down roughly 50%, but I have spare batteries for it; I *don't* have spare batteries for the RC.

I suspect alot of that charge went into trying to charge up my cell phone, which I *really* don't need it to do!
(as a reminder, I'm connecting RC to phone via the USB-A connector; the side connectors don't reach my phone, plus I'm using the 'tablet stent' mounting device to hold the phone)
Is there some way to set the RC to *not* charge the phone?

 

[Drone Master]

In less than an hour of playing with things today (15 mins outside flying, and about half an hour sitting on my desk and studying the app interface), the remote controller is down to 44% !! The drone battery was *also* down roughly 50%, but I have spare batteries for it; I *don't* have spare batteries for the RC.

I suspect alot of that charge went into trying to charge up my cell phone, which I *really* don't need it to do!
(as a reminder, I'm connecting RC to phone via the USB-A connector; the side connectors don't reach my phone, plus I'm using the 'tablet stent' mounting device to hold the phone)
Is there some way to set the RC to *not* charge the phone?

There is a setting for this.

 

[Bramavic2]

Nope, best I found so far was to connect a powerbank to the side USB connector. That keeps the controller charged.

There are talks of modifying the USB cable to the phone to cut charging or limit it but I haven't found anything definitive so far.

 

[Bramavic2]

There is a setting for this.
View attachment 91362

I guess this setting only appears for IOS devices.

 

[Scubadiver1944]

In less than an hour of playing with things today (15 mins outside flying, and about half an hour sitting on my desk and studying the app interface), the remote controller is down to 44% !! The drone battery was *also* down roughly 50%, but I have spare batteries for it; I *don't* have spare batteries for the RC.

I suspect alot of that charge went into trying to charge up my cell phone, which I *really* don't need it to do!
(as a reminder, I'm connecting RC to phone via the USB-A connector; the side connectors don't reach my phone, plus I'm using the 'tablet stent' mounting device to hold the phone)
Is there some way to set the RC to *not* charge the phone?

As Bramavic2 states, use a power bank held securely in place in your shirt/jacket pocket attached via a long enough cable to the side of your RC. Works for me, though keep any pocket buttoned up or velcroed shut. If you inadvertently bend down the power bank could fall out, possibly damaging the cable, the power bank or both!

 

[GeraldV]

Instead of using the small port on the side of the controller use the standard USB port at the bottom. As far as I know this doesnt pass charge to the tablet/phone. I had the same issue but since switching the controller battery lasts a loooong time.

 

[Gorlash]

Instead of using the small port on the side of the controller use the standard USB port at the bottom. As far as I know this doesnt pass charge to the tablet/phone. I had the same issue but since switching the controller battery lasts a loooong time.

Actually, I *am* using the USB-A connector on the bottom, but it *is* charging the phone!!

 

[Gorlash]

Thank you both for the suggestion about using an external power bank, I should have thought about that. As it turns out, I always carry one of those in my hiking packs anyway, in case my Kindle is low!! So I'm set !!

However, next time I hook the system up, I'll also check to see if I can turn that off, as @Drone Master suggested...

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

A good recent thread here in MavicPilots

Anyone has used a big (20000mAh) power bank to charge the remote and iPhone at the same time in cold to avoid battery dying?

I tried my first fly today in 2C/36F. It was great. But iPhone 7 died in 5 minutes. Landed using the controller. All good. Now busy thinking about a solution for cold. Power bank is the first thing came to my mind.

mavicpilots.com

Same search also brought up this, just something to be aware of

Charging the Mavic's RC using a mobile power bank: not recommended

"3. Can I charge the Mavic's remote controller using a mobile power bank? "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...

mavicpilots.com

 

[Gorlash]

Same search also brought up this, just something to be aware of

Charging the Mavic's RC using a mobile power bank: not recommended

"3. Can I charge the Mavic's remote controller using a mobile power bank? "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...

mavicpilots.com

hmmm... well, *that* leaves things ambiguous !!

Actually, your first link isn't relevant to the question; he was having trouble charging two devices with one external battery, and his iPhone battery was dying.

However, the second link *is* discussing exactly this issue, and proposes that possibly the RC might have trouble regulating (or measuring??) current-charge level if charging and discharging the battery at the same time...

What do others here think about this?? @Scubadiver1944 , @Bramavic2 , you guys said you have done this?? You haven't detected any issues with charge-level monitoring??

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

hmmm... well, *that* leaves things ambiguous !!

Actually, your first link isn't relevant to the question; he was having trouble charging two devices with one external battery, and his iPhone battery was dying.

Hmm I thought you were the OP ?
And you were having trouble with your controller charge level due to it charging your phone ?
Obviously if an iphone you should be able to turn that off in settings as per one post in my first link.
The other solution for android users is use the usb a port to connect device, and micro usb to charge.
Sorry if I have read that wrong in your original post.

 

[JimWest]

I've found that I'm losing power in my controller very quickly in cold weather. Down to around 30% this morning (temp below 20F) after using just one AC battery. In warm weather, I can use three AC batteries and still have power to spare in the controller.

 

[Gorlash]

I've found that I'm losing power in my controller very quickly in cold weather. Down to around 30% this morning (temp below 20F) after using just one AC battery. In warm weather, I can use three AC batteries and still have power to spare in the controller.

Well, that's interesting... I don't quite get 20F here in Fremont, but we *have* been having relatively cool days, more like 50F when I was out the other day, though most of the time that I was using it was indoors... something to keep in mind, though...

 

[Bramavic2]

hmmm... well, *that* leaves things ambiguous !!

Actually, your first link isn't relevant to the question; he was having trouble charging two devices with one external battery, and his iPhone battery was dying.

However, the second link *is* discussing exactly this issue, and proposes that possibly the RC might have trouble regulating (or measuring??) current-charge level if charging and discharging the battery at the same time...

What do others here think about this?? @Scubadiver1944 , @Bramavic2 , you guys said you have done this?? You haven't detected any issues with charge-level monitoring??

Interesting thread. If true, that would be quite a big design flaw. I hope it's not.

I bought this drone for work, and we need it to fly big mapping missions, I just realized three batteries is not enough, even with a parallel charger, so I will probably buy two more. It would quite weird if you couldn't use it just because the controller can't be used and charged at the same time.

If it was true it's the kind of limitation you would expect them to fix from version 1 to 2. Imagine buying a phone that has to off while charging. And that makes me wonder about the controller, if it was true you would have to turn it off while charging (it wouldn't have a charging indicator in the panel).

So I will keep on using my powerbank, as I need anyways, and we'll see in the long run.

 

[Checki]

That's the main reason I bought the smart controller. I don't have an iPhone, on android I can't turn off the charging "feature".

 

[Gorlash]

That's the main reason I bought the smart controller. I don't have an iPhone, on android I can't turn off the charging "feature".

Wow... but I stretched my budget by spending $2000 on the drone... another $750 is only viable if it is actually necessary; after all, I already *have* spare Android phones...