Official DJI Phantom 3 car charger

[msinger]

Finally -- DJI has just released a car charger kit for the Phantom 3. See more details here.

 

[sneekypete]

Wow. I think I'll just stick with my 300W inverter and use my normal charger for half the price


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[Spaldeagle]

Well, it's about time. Now i can stop trying to figure out the best spare deep cycle battery, inverter, wiring setup.
I'd love to hear someones comments on it when they pick one up.


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[toorboy]

will this screw up the motors electrics? I do a lot of travelling with my phantom and an inverter is to expensive for me

 

[msinger]

I think I'll just stick with my 300W inverter and use my normal charger for half the price

It's surely not the cheapest option, but it's supported by DJI and will not void the battery warranty if something happens to it while charging. Those things are important to some people

 

[Capt. Wild Bill Kelso]

$85..
Does it come with lube?

 

[DesignFlaw06]

It's surely not the cheapest option, but it's supported by DJI and will not void the battery warranty if something happens to it while charging. Those things are important to some people

Why would using an inverter with the regular charger void a warranty?

If I didn't have an inverter already installed in my truck, this would definitely be something I'd consider. The advantage of this thing is it doesn't matter what vehicle you're in. Hmm, on the other hand, I don't have a solution for charging on the bike........yet.

 

[msinger]

Why would using an inverter with the regular charger void a warranty?

I don't think it would. I was referring to using a non-OEM car charger -- like this one.

 

[DesignFlaw06]

I don't think it would. I was referring to using a non-OEM car charger -- like this one.

OK, was just confused when you quoted sneekypete who mentioned he was just going to use his normal charger on his inverter.

There are always going to be cheaper options for every hobby. For a lot of them, it really doesn't matter and the risk may be low. But there are certain things I'm willing to overpay for to have the peace of mind. With the exception of the Polar Pro filters, I'll likely be sticking to the DJI brand of things. It's a lot of money in the air, so why take the chance?

 

[msinger]

OK, was just confused when you quoted sneekypete who mentioned he was just going to use his normal charger on his inverter.

I was attempting to quote him on the price mention

 

[Ralph M]

I've said this in other posts, but I will say again here: A direct car charger is a significantly more efficient, less complicated, less expensive (unless it is DJI's) and potentially less damaging solution, than using the combination of an inverter and the wall charger.

Why is that? Because a direct car charger only needs to transform and regulate the voltage - from 12.x to 17.x volts DC. That is easy and cheap to do. An inverter must not only do the transform from 12v to 110v, but it must invert the power from DC to AC. Most inexpensive inverters do this by creating a square wave, or a modified sine wave, rather than the smooth, 60hz sine wave that virtually all modern US utilities provide. Why does this matter? Because consumer electronics have been known to be damaged by crappy inverted AC. Would that happen to you? Probably not - battery chargers are fairly resilient devices - but why do it in the first place?

An inverter solution also requires that the power be converted a second time, from 110v AC down to 17.x volts DC. Each of these conversions is inefficient.

As for the DJI car charger... I am sure it is well made, and it comes with a way to charge the RC. But $85??? Ugh. You can buy a car charger from Amazon for less than $20 and it will do just fine. I have been using one for a while and have experienced no problems with it; I will note that it takes about 90 minutes to recharge the Phantom 3 battery. It is a life saver when you are in the middle of nowhere and need just one more flight to finish a project. And you can do 10 or 15 flights, at least, on a single charge of the RC, so the ability to field charge it is not compelling.

Just saying, guys...

 

[Dounin Front]

I've said this in other posts, but I will say again here: A direct car charger is a significantly more efficient, less complicated, less expensive (unless it is DJI's) and potentially less damaging solution, than using the combination of an inverter and the wall charger.

Why is that? Because a direct car charger only needs to transform and regulate the voltage - from 12.x to 17.x volts DC. That is easy and cheap to do. An inverter must not only do the transform from 12v to 110v, but it must invert the power from DC to AC. Most inexpensive inverters do this by creating a square wave, or a modified sine wave, rather than the smooth, 60hz sine wave that virtually all modern US utilities provide. Why does this matter? Because consumer electronics have been known to be damaged by crappy inverted AC. Would that happen to you? Probably not - battery chargers are fairly resilient devices - but why do it in the first place?

An inverter solution also requires that the power be converted a second time, from 110v AC down to 17.x volts DC. Each of these conversions is inefficient.

As for the DJI car charger... I am sure it is well made, and it comes with a way to charge the RC. But $85??? Ugh. You can buy a car charger from Amazon for less than $20 and it will do just fine. I have been using one for a while and have experienced no problems with it; I will note that it takes about 90 minutes to recharge the Phantom 3 battery. It is a life saver when you are in the middle of nowhere and need just one more flight to finish a project. And you can do 10 or 15 flights, at least, on a single charge of the RC, so the ability to field charge it is not compelling.

Just saying, guys...

Hey Ralph
I'm sure you are right about everything, but I went the other way for a few reasons.

• I am also unwilling to pay the crazy price for the DJI car charger.
• With an inverter I can still use the DJI OE AC charger.
• With a 300w inverter I can also use it for other devices having AC charging adapters -laptops, phones, my wife's blow dryer (just kidding on that one).
• Haven't heard any horror stories yet from units in use for these purposes. After all, most AC adapters are quite capable handling a wide range of voltages and cycles. Everything will end up rectified and voltage reduced to DJI's spec as it comes out of their adapter anyway.

This is the inverter I got from Amazon recently. I tried it and it works fine. I'm keeping it in my trunk now waiting for our next road trip.
This is the one I got:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0191E8XWC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

 

[Ralph M]

I'm sure you are right about everything, but I went the other way for a few reasons.

Everybody's mileage varies. And for what it is worth, I have a portable power pack with a 20 amp battery and a 300W inverter on it. Just yesterday, I used it to recharge a Phantom 3 battery with a car charger plugged into its 12v socket (again, more efficient). But the option to use a low-power 110v device is also available. I like the flexibility.