12 volt power inverter to charge batteries from my car?

[DOC 1500]

Can any of you guys recommend a power inverter to charge drone batteries from my car what are you using ?? any help is appreciated
What are the power requirements for an inverter to charge the Drone batteries?

 

[spirytus]

Why not get the DJI car charger?

 

[umanbean]

Why not get the DJI car charger?

The one I bought from Amazon is like this one ... they also sell one for the P4 batteries... not DJI brand but works fine.

I also bought my 300w AC DC inverter from Amazon. Shop for one that shuts itself down before your car battery gets so low it won't crank

 

[umanbean]

What are the power requirements for an inverter to charge the Drone batteries?

To calculate the power requirements to safely power your DJI factory charger, use the WAVe formula:

Watts = Amps x Volts

My p3p charger has an input of 120V at 1.4 Amps, so:

120 x 1.4 = 168 Watts

BTW - DC inverters are, at best, only about 75% efficient. The rest of the energy, required to run the electronics, is dissipated as heat... so get one with a fan

 

[DOC 1500]

I was thinking around 400to 500 watt would have to work a whole lot less and get the job done.

 

[umanbean]

I was thinking around 400to 500 watt would have to work a whole lot less and get the job done.

You'll need to connect a 400, but especially a 500-watt, directly to your battery with heavy duty wire, probably 12ga would do.... make sure to add an inline fuse of the appropriate rating.

The wire size and fuse size of a cigarette lighter plug is not enough for anything over 300 watts

 

[umanbean]

Using the same formula in post #4

300w / 12v = 25 amps

Using a 300 watt inverter at full capacity would still be a heavy draw on a cigarette lighter plug, most of them have at most a 20 amp fuse

400w / 12v = 33.3 amps
500w / 12v = 41.6 amps

 

[DOC 1500]

Using the same formula in post #4

300w / 12v = 25 amps

Using a 300 watt inverter at full capacity would still be a heavy draw on a cigarette lighter plug, most of them have at most a 20 amp fuse

400w / 12v = 33.3 amps
500w / 12v = 41.6 amps

The inverter I'm looking at hooks directly to the battery via alligator clamps has a built-in fuse

 

[RPP]

I use this -

DJI Car Charger for Phantom 4 Quadcopter CP.PT.000377 B&H Photo

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Yip I use this one,,I think it was ebay,,works well but normally charge while I'm driving or get the flat car battery and that mean long walk home

 

[With The Birds]

To calculate the power requirements to safely power your DJI factory charger, use the WAVe formula:

Watts = Amps x Volts

My p3p charger has an input of 120V at 1.4 Amps, so:

120 x 1.4 = 168 Watts

BTW - DC inverters are, at best, only about 75% efficient. The rest of the energy, required to run the electronics, is dissipated as heat... so get one with a fan

Actually a properly engineered sine wave inverter is over 90% efficient, 94-98% is common. The problem is with over enthusistic specifications produced by Chinese manufacturers. Also your formula, in this instance is determining VA rather than watts, being the apparent power rather than actual applied to the input of the inverter (DC side) it would give you watts.

 

[The Phantom]

Does one need to buy a pure sine wave inverter if only used with drone chargers, or is it enough with a modified sine wave inverter?

 

[umanbean]

The problem is with over enthusistic specifications produced by Chinese manufacturers.

Yes, I should have clarified that most or all cheap electronics especially from China are over-spec'd. I always try to leave at least a 25% overhead.

Also your formula, in this instance is determining VA rather than watts, being the apparent power rather than actual applied to the input of the inverter (DC side) it would give you watts.

So is that to say the formula is good for DC but not for AC? Seems the quote below should clarify it - if I could comprehend it all.

from Wikipedia:

A volt-ampere (VA) is the unit used for the apparent power in an electrical circuit, equal to the product of root-mean-square (RMS) voltage and RMS current.[1] In direct current (DC) circuits, this product is equal to the real power (active power) [2] in watts. Volt-amperes are useful only in the context of alternating current (AC) circuits (sinusoidal voltages and currents of the same frequency).

With a purely resistive load, the apparent power is equal to the real power. Where a reactive (capacitive or inductive) component is present in the load, the apparent power is greater than the real power as voltage and current are no longer in phase. In the limiting case of a purely reactive load, current is drawn but no power is dissipated in the load.

Thanks

 

[tcope]

I would recommend that you go with either a Bestek or Tripp Lite brand. I've found that other brands will result in the inverter tripping and turning off very easily. That is, those other brands will make claims of being able to deliver certain wattage but those claims are really not accurate.

I run the following charger and can charge two Phantom batteries at the same time using the black 3 battery charger:

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-...ocphy=9029683&hvtargid=pla-391702780059&psc=1

I run it through the power port (lighter plug in) inside my car and truck. I prefer an inverter to a dedicated Phantom battery charger as the inverter is multi purpose. I can use for other things as well.

 

[WV. Rootman]

My funds are of a limited nature, so as of yet I fly with only 1 battery.
While taking a Lengthy trip recently, I wanted to fly at two different places about an hour apart. I bought my wife an inverter years ago for her laptop. The laptop is gone, but the 200 w peak inverter is still here so I gave it a try. I was amazed at how well it worked and didn’t get hot. Well, nothing like it did with my wife’s laptop.
It is a simple plugin to the lighter port. PowerLine 140w continuous, 200 w peak, 16 vdc. I used it on my DJI P4 battery.

 

[spirytus]

I use this -

DJI Car Charger for Phantom 4 Quadcopter CP.PT.000377 B&H Photo

That's the one I use - no issues, built to spec by the OEM of my battery packs... $60 is not a lot to invest when you're flying gear approaching 2 grand in value.

 

[KCadby]

I bought a cheap 200w inverter from Wallyworld several years ago.
Bought it to run and charge my laptop on trips back then but ended up using it to charge phones (old car had no USB) and then charge my Phantom batteries.
So unlike buying a car charger that will only charge one model of phantom batteries it makes good sense to buy inverter.

I'm reiterating to make sure you get one with a fan (they do get warm) and also make sure it will turn off if/when the car battery gets low.
With that said, as hot as it gets in FL I had and issue with the charger (and or battery) stop charging if/when they got hot in the car so now I leave the car running with AC on (which also cools used batteries much quicker for safe recharging).
Having a 40+mpg 4-cylinder is nice for this = an hour or two of idling with AC on is 'cheap'...

 

[tcope]

(which also cools used batteries much quicker for safe recharging).

Just to be a little more clear in this, the batteries will not charge if they are too hot. So it is not a question of safety but still a question of needing to be cool enough to charge at all.

 

[rstekeur]

If it's to hot, you'll get one blinking green light on the other end of the green bars. I had to hold mine in front of the AC vent to get it to cool down while I was traveling between jobs last weekend. I used a 300 watt inverter while I was traveling.

 

[KCadby]

Just to be a little more clear in this, the batteries will not charge if they are too hot. So it is not a question of safety but still a question of needing to be cool enough to charge at all.

I know and understand that. I said cools much quicker for safe charging because it makes sense that it's safer(er) to charge batteries in 70*s-80*s air than at 90*s-100*+...
The event I was talking about, the battery wasn't hot when I plugged it in (so it did start charging) but it stopped charging before fully charged because it did get hot enough for the safety to kick in IE un-safe...