Car charging LiPo batteries

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I travel often (planes/cars) and like to go on small adventure trips when I'm shooting. thinking about getting a power inverter instead of a car charger to re-charge batteries if I'm out in the middle of nowhere and want to keep flying. I currently have 4 batteries which should be enough but always nice to I can take a break and recharge if I want to keep flying.

I'm thinking of getting a 1000w power inverter in case I want/need to use it for other stuff I have. Here is a link to one I'm considering:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SLDDHQ?psc=1

Any suggestions/insight would be greatly appreciated. Mahalo & Aloha!
 
Keep in mind that I at inverters cut off if input it lower than 10.6 volts. So you will probably need to leave your vehicle running during the time you are charging. A while ago I bought a 4 stroke generator (Earthquake) through Amazon for around $260. It's only 800 watts but this is just fine to charge batteries and a laptop. Runs 6 hours on a gallon of gas.

You may want to look into The deep cycle battery for charging. A battery requires about 130 watts when charging.
 
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Keep in mind that I at inverters cut off if input it lower than 10.6 volts. So you will probably need to leave your vehicle running during the time you are charging. A while ago I bought a 4 stroke generator (Earthquake) through Amazon for around $260. It's only 800 watts but this is just fine to charge batteries and a laptop. Runs 6 hours on a gallon of gas.

You may want to look into The deep cycle battery for charging. A battery requires about 130 watts when charging.

thanks for the insight. yes, i usually start my car when i'm charging things like this since i'm out in the middle of the desert sometimes. likely no AAA service there! ha just figuring out what the best routes to take and have options. thanks again!

btw...i also have a small gas powered generator w/ me when i travel. just in case.
 
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thanks for the insight. yes, i usually start my car when i'm charging things like this since i'm out in the middle of the desert sometimes. likely no AAA service there! ha just figuring out what the best routes to take and have options. thanks again!

Yup, was out these past two weekends doing the same thing!
20150509_185806.jpg
 
Looks a great price. The CIG lighter plug is a pointless addition if you want anything over 20A, but OK to use for phones I suppose.
I would hard wire it the battery via a fusible link, as it will draw 200A at surge the crock clips won't be up to it.
 
You don't need a charger. The P2V+ batteries each already contain a balance charger. The "Charger" you get with them is just a 12 VDC Power Supply. You can pump 11-18 VDC right into the battery. Just make an adapter from auto 12V (cig lighter) receptacle to spade terminal. Why go from DC to AC to DC?
 
You don't need a charger. The P2V+ batteries each already contain a balance charger. The "Charger" you get with them is just a 12 VDC Power Supply. You can pump 11-18 VDC right into the battery. Just make an adapter from auto 12V (cig lighter) receptacle to spade terminal. Why go from DC to AC to DC?

i was looking at the diff between getting a regular DJI LiPo battery charger that attaches to the cig or a power inverter to charge several batteries at the same time and also be able to use it for other devices.
 
That is my point. With the P2V+ batteries, you don't need a " liPo Charger" per se; there is one integrated into every battery. Just supply it 11-18 VDC, and the battery's integrated charger will do the rest. You can hook as many in parallel as your car's charging system will support. Now, if using standard Lipos, yes you need a "charger"
 
Thanks CapnBob, Do you use this?
$100.00 + is way to much for the dji car plug. I asked in the forums a while ago if anybody dissected one of those car adepter to see inside.
 
I bought one of these multi-battery charging boards for $8. You can charge 3 batteries with it, and power can be supplied by either the dji power supply, or another source. I had an old cig lighter plug lying around, bought the correct coaxial adapter for the board, and spliced it in. You could also buy alligator clips and connect it directly to the battery terminals, bypassing the lighter socket fuse.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/201140559715?lpid=82&chn=ps
adapter.jpg
 
I bought one of these multi-battery charging boards for $8. You can charge 3 batteries with it, and power can be supplied by either the dji power supply, or another source. I had an old cig lighter plug lying around, bought the correct coaxial adapter for the board, and spliced it in. You could also buy alligator clips and connect it directly to the battery terminals, bypassing the lighter socket fuse.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/201140559715?lpid=82&chn=ps
View attachment 22536

looks nice CapnBob. i checked that out although i already bought a charger w/ multi connections to charge 3 P2V+v3.0 LiPo batteries simultaneously.

are you aware of any USB type...or do you think it's possible/easy to connect a usb instead of a cig lighter?
 
Check these ebay cheap adapters carefully, one I bought had a large solder blob on the battery connector and was slightly thicker than the standard blade - you do not really want to be stretching your battery connections?!?
 
Check these ebay cheap adapters carefully, one I bought had a large solder blob on the battery connector and was slightly thicker than the standard blade - you do not really want to be stretching your battery connections?!?


Absolutely. I do so with everything I buy, and have had to do pre-use fixes and even re-engineering on more than a couple of purchases. The fact is though, it would cost me 4-5 times the purchase price in cash and time to come up with something on my own. It's an economical starting point, but that is all.
 
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looks nice CapnBob. i checked that out although i already bought a charger w/ multi connections to charge 3 P2V+v3.0 LiPo batteries simultaneously.

are you aware of any USB type...or do you think it's possible/easy to connect a usb instead of a cig lighter?

Well, you will now be running 3 Li-Po chargers in parallel from another Li-Po charger. Not sure how that will play out. Don't know why you would want to do that.

USB should even not be in the equation. Remember, USB 1.x and 2.0 specifications provide a 5 V supply on a single wire to power connected USB devices. A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0. A device may draw a maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) from a port in USB 2.0; 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0.

In any case, I would run it directly from the battery if possible, so as to bypass any inline fuses. A 5400MAH 3S pack can draw 5.4+ amps while charging. 3 could draw 16.2+ amps.
 
Well, you will now be running 3 Li-Po chargers in parallel from another Li-Po charger. Not sure how that will play out. Don't know why you would want to do that.

USB should even not be in the equation. Remember, USB 1.x and 2.0 specifications provide a 5 V supply on a single wire to power connected USB devices. A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0. A device may draw a maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) from a port in USB 2.0; 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0.

In any case, I would run it directly from the battery if possible, so as to bypass any inline fuses. A 5400MAH 3S pack can draw 5.4+ amps while charging. 3 could draw 16.2+ amps.

ok. thanks, i was just curious to see if it was possible. i have a multi-USB charger in my car so wanted to see if it was possible to charge the LiPos, RC, etc while I was driving to another location for example instead of a direct-to-car-battery connection/charge.
 
In any case, I would run it directly from the battery if possible, so as to bypass any inline fuses. A 5400MAH 3S pack can draw 5.4+ amps while charging. 3 could draw 16.2+ amps.

If I wanted to be able to charge 2 batteries at the same time off of Cig Lighter. What would you fuse it at 10 or 15 amps and would they charge with out engine running if batter level was say 12.4 Volts or just take longer.
 
If I wanted to be able to charge 2 batteries at the same time off of Cig Lighter. What would you fuse it at 10 or 15 amps and would they charge with out engine running if batter level was say 12.4 Volts or just take longer.

It really depends on your vehicle and what the wiring and fuse amperage is. I would think that most vehicles would handle (2) 3s 5400mah packs in parallel (~10.8 Amps). 3 packs might be dicey. Read your owners manual and find where the fuses are, Always have a few spares on hand for the lighter circuit. There are many variables as far as charging while the engine is off; the rated Amp-Hours of your battery, wiring resistance, etc. I always carry a booster-pack for jump-starting the vehicle so I'm covered if I accidentally kill the battery. With the engine running, it will be no problem. Most alternators will put out over 100 amps these days.
 
Thanks, I going to fuse my own wiring from the plug, I will try 10 amp fuse at first. If I like the results I will add a battery under the hood and create a couple of detecated circuits in the vehicle and maybe one outside.
 
It really depends on your vehicle and what the wiring and fuse amperage is. I would think that most vehicles would handle (2) 3s 5400mah packs in parallel (~10.8 Amps). 3 packs might be dicey. Read your owners manual and find where the fuses are, Always have a few spares on hand for the lighter circuit. There are many variables as far as charging while the engine is off; the rated Amp-Hours of your battery, wiring resistance, etc. I always carry a booster-pack for jump-starting the vehicle so I'm covered if I accidentally kill the battery. With the engine running, it will be no problem. Most alternators will put out over 100 amps these days.

How long have you been doing this? Noticed any issues with heat or signs of current overload when the engine is running (the voltage would be higher with alternator turning)? One last question as this seems too good to be true to me being as I currently use the invertor to run two chargers while engine is on. How long does it take you to charge the batteries?
 

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