Smartree Car Charger .. YAY or NAY?!

Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Messages
27
Reaction score
1
I use their stuff for gopro and i am very happy. however knowing how fragile dji batteries are, I wouldnt go for car charging since I have seen couple of test showing how voltage and amp fluctuates with car charges.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dsp3a
I use their stuff for gopro and i am very happy. however knowing how fragile dji batteries are, I wouldnt go for car charging since I have seen couple of test showing how voltage and amp fluctuates with car charges.
Hmm .. yeah that's what I thought! That's always the warning when it comes to charging phones in the car! And they're not nearly as sensitive, yeah the dji batteries seem fussy enough ... might just stick with the charger out the box and put the 31$ towards a multi dji charger! Thanks for the response Mr.Goodkat!
 
I bought this charger last year and it has works flawlessly with P3P batteries:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010MOYACC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

No problems at least 30 charges. I also use 2 different inverters, one that came with our SUVs, and another on a couple marine batteries I use to charge many RC model Lipos with. I have never had a problem with inverters or direct 12-16v chargers in thousands of charges of Lipos, cell phones, LapTops or video/still cam batteries.

I run a Video Production company and we charge on the road all the time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dsp3a
Amazon.com : Smatree Rapid Car Charger for DJI Phantom 3 Intelligent Flight Batteries and Remote Controller - Suitable for DJI Phantom 3 Professional/ Advanced Quadcopter Drone : Camera & Photo

Almost hitting the trigger button for one of these, it's got good reviews ... 17.4V output at 5.1 amps, bringing it up to 96W (approx) charging power, the same output as the p3p charger. Anyone had experience with this brand or can suggest similar/better/tried and tested options? Thanks in Advance!

I have that Smatree charger. Works great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dsp3a
Frankly, I hate unitaskers. I prefer things I can use for multiple purposes. To that end, I rarely buy a car anything that can only be used for one device. This is one of them.

I favor using an inverter to make 120v. With that I can use any standard wall charger. I use mine successfully with both the charger that came with my P3P as well as the one from my P3A. I simply leave the inverter tucked under the back seat of my truck so I will have it any time I am on the road.

Is it less efficient than the above listed device? Probably. But it also eliminates one thing from the P3 kit. And the laptop kit. And the tablet kit. And the whatever kit. One device. Multiple uses. Including charging my flashlights, my power drill batteries, and running anything else I need 120v for.
 
Frankly, I hate unitaskers. I prefer things I can use for multiple purposes. To that end, I rarely buy a car anything that can only be used for one device. This is one of them.

I favor using an inverter to make 120v. With that I can use any standard wall charger. I use mine successfully with both the charger that came with my P3P as well as the one from my P3A. I simply leave the inverter tucked under the back seat of my truck so I will have it any time I am on the road.

Is it less efficient than the above listed device? Probably. But it also eliminates one thing from the P3 kit. And the laptop kit. And the tablet kit. And the whatever kit. One device. Multiple uses. Including charging my flashlights, my power drill batteries, and running anything else I need 120v for.
Thanks a lot for the info guys! And thanks Wolf! I reckon I'll go with the inverter, it can just sit in my car and I can use my out of box wall adapter! Can you please suggest a brand? I know it's just a simple converter, but a tried and tested one would be great!
 
I have had mine for a good decade and I couldn't tell you where I got it anymore. Look at your cigarette socket and see what current rating it can supply. They typically are either 15a or 20a. Get an inverter that is at or below that rating or you will have to wire it in. Max you can DRAW is 180w for the 15a or 240w for the 20a. Thats DRAW power not OUTPUT power. Inverters have a loss.

Look at inverters in the 100w to 200w range depending on your adaptor output rating. I think my inverter is 150w and will run the P3P power charger.

If you are willing to go direct to the battery, you can go larger. I had 1000w inverter mounted in my old Jeep. But at those power levels, you are looking at 100amps coming off the battery. Them's some serious cables and probably not what you are wanting to do.
 
Can you please suggest a brand? I know it's just a simple converter, but a tried and tested one would be great!
I have the "blue" 3 battery charge and us it with this inverter:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NZI4K6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s02

I can charge 3 batteries at the same time and 3 when the engine is running. I had 2 other chargers (Die hard and a cheap inverter) and nether would charge one battery (they kept tripping with a report of a low car battery). So a quality charge is needed but they don't need to be expensive.
 
Frankly, I hate unitaskers. I prefer things I can use for multiple purposes. To that end, I rarely buy a car anything that can only be used for one device. This is one of them.

This Smatree charger will charge two types of devices, qualifying for multiple purposes :p. It looks like a good option at 89W. My 70W car cord charger works great, it's not DJI. However it doesn't have the right plug to charge the RC, so I like this Smatree charger idea. I use my car charger mostly in my RV where I have a cigarette lighter that's always on, unlike most cars today.

upload_2016-2-25_13-53-49.png
 
Last edited:
I have had mine for a good decade and I couldn't tell you where I got it anymore. Look at your cigarette socket and see what current rating it can supply. They typically are either 15a or 20a. Get an inverter that is at or below that rating or you will have to wire it in. Max you can DRAW is 180w for the 15a or 240w for the 20a. Thats DRAW power not OUTPUT power. Inverters have a loss.

Look at inverters in the 100w to 200w range depending on your adaptor output rating. I think my inverter is 150w and will run the P3P power charger.

If you are willing to go direct to the battery, you can go larger. I had 1000w inverter mounted in my old Jeep. But at those power levels, you are looking at 100amps coming off the battery. Them's some serious cables and probably not what you are wanting to do.
Thanks for the advice Wolf! I'm looking at an energizer inverter, 100W and 120V AC output from a 12V DC input, I haven't checked what my ciggie port amperage is yet! It's a dodge charger .. it just shows 12V on there ... but I'd say it's between 15 and 20Amps. I'd just like to know how the input rating of the P3A brick factors in? 100-240V 1.8A? .. so 120V at 100W .. would mean 0.83A? I'm a bit confused about the input requirements of the P3A brick, and understanding what this energizer inverter would spit out! Thanks!!
 
I have the "blue" 3 battery charge and us it with this inverter:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NZI4K6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s02

I can charge 3 batteries at the same time and 3 when the engine is running. I had 2 other chargers (Die hard and a cheap inverter) and nether would charge one battery (they kept tripping with a report of a low car battery). So a quality charge is needed but they don't need to be expensive.
Thanks for the suggestion! I saw this one, but I was worried that 300W may be too much to expect my cig port to handle! Looking at an energizer 100W or 180W option, both look quite good! Will choose between one of them soon!
 
This Smatree charger will charge two types of devices, qualifying for multiple purposes :p. It looks like a good option at 89W. My 70W car cord charger works great, it's not DJI. However it doesn't have the right plug to charge the RC, so I like this Smatree charger idea. I use my car charger mostly in my RV where I have a cigarette lighter that's always on, unlike most cars today.

View attachment 45033
Yup! I like this charger, but I think I might just go with the inverter option! Thanks for the advice!
 
P=E*I
I=P/E
E=P/I

where
I == Current
E == Voltage
P == Power

However, I don't know if the P3P brick is rated at 100w of charging or 100w of consumption. Consumption will always exceed output. Nothing is 100% efficient. So, if its rated at 100w consumption, it may only put 90w into the battery but will draw 100w from the inverter. However, if its rated at 100w out, then the input will be higher than 100w due to loss in the charger electronics.

Thats why I said look at the INPUT power rating on the charger (should be in fine print on the specs label). That must be smaller than the OUTPUT of your inverter. And you need to look at the "Continuous" rating of the inverter, not the "Peak". It can only sustain the peak for short intervals before shutting down. This is to handle initial current spikes when first turning on a device or starting a motor.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestion! I saw this one, but I was worried that 300W may be too much to expect my cig port to handle! Looking at an energizer 100W or 180W option, both look quite good! Will choose between one of them soon!

Personally, I'd stay away from an Energizer charger. I'd recommend either Tripp Lite or Bestek. These two I know are highly recommended.

I know very little about chargers and electricity but I think it's the amps that matter more then the converted voltage. Each battery pulls about 4 amps.
 
P=E*I
I=P/E
E=P/I

where
I == Current
E == Voltage
P == Power

However, I don't know if the P3P brick is rated at 100w of charging or 100w of consumption. Consumption will always exceed output. Nothing is 100% efficient. So, if its rated at 100w consumption, it may only put 90w into the battery but will draw 100w from the inverter. However, if its rated at 100w out, then the input will be higher than 100w due to loss in the charger electronics.

Thats why I said look at the INPUT power rating on the charger (should be in fine print on the specs label). That must be smaller than the OUTPUT of your inverter. And you need to look at the "Continuous" rating of the inverter, not the "Peak". It can only sustain the peak for short intervals before shutting down. This is to handle initial current spikes when first turning on a device or starting a motor.
Wolfiesden hello, the input only shows 100-240V @ 1.8A. The output is 17.4V and 3.3A, which is approximately 57W. I'm looking at a 100W continuous, 200W peak Energizer (although people are suggesting Bestek, I feel energies might be fine, quite highly rated on amazon). Another option is a slightly higher rated Energizer, 180W continuous. Can you advise if either one of these is okay? There's also the question of the modified sine wave and pure sine wave? Is that an issue? All of these items are modified sine wave inverters.
 
For the money, the mutli-use Bestek from Amazon is hard to beat. My road kit contains multiple iOS and android devices, Lenovo Thinkpad with extra battery (gotta run Pix4d in the field sometimes!), P3 batteries, P3 controllers, sometimes a weather radio, and I'm considering adding a handheld airband to the kit. I only charge one "big" thing at a time with it, (P3 battery or controller at 57W or 100W, laptop 170W for me). Most of my other stuff only draw a handfull of watts.

http://amzn.com/B004MDXS0U
 
Wolfiesden hello, the input only shows 100-240V @ 1.8A. The output is 17.4V and 3.3A, which is approximately 57W. I'm looking at a 100W continuous, 200W peak Energizer (although people are suggesting Bestek, I feel energies might be fine, quite highly rated on amazon). Another option is a slightly higher rated Energizer, 180W continuous. Can you advise if either one of these is okay? There's also the question of the modified sine wave and pure sine wave? Is that an issue? All of these items are modified sine wave inverters.

If their ratings are correct and 1.8a is for 100v then thats 180w in for 57w out. Rather inefficient. At 120v if the 1.8a doesn't change thats 216w. I can't imagine that it maintains 1.8a as the voltage climbs since feeding it [email protected] is 432 watts. So I am going to presume (possibly incorrectly) that as the input voltage rises, the current lowers to approximate ~216w. So thats your target value.

Here is the little inverter that works for me:
unspecified.jpg


As I said before, I have no clue where I got it, I simply don't remember.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,357
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31