Battery charging in the field

[miturnbo]

Curious what others are doing to recharge batteries while on a mission with extended flight times.
- Minimum number of batteries to have on hand
- Field charging or quick charging solutions
- Charging multiple batteries at once solutions

Additionally, keeping all batteries at the ready, fully charged and ready to deploy is a challenge. I'd welcome any feedback on how others are doing this.

 

[BigAl07]

Here's my 2-cents:

All Batteries Fully charge Flight Ready - You do NOT want to keep all batteries at FULL charge ready to go. That's the quickest way to ruin ALL of your batteries most efficiently. That will kill them. Keep a Flight Pack (whatever # your aircraft requires for a single flight) ready to go and charge the rest while enroute to the way to the flying site. Better yet keep ALL of your batteries at STORAGE Level (50%) and charge on the way. If you keep a set Flight Ready you'll need to keep VERY good logs and rotate your batteries regularly. This will still accelerate battery decay so factor this into your annual budget because you'll be buying more batteries than you normally would.

Minimum # of Batteries - How long do you need to be "Flyable" at a time? How many batteries does your aircraft require per flight? Matrice 600 requires 6 per flight and has a roughly 20min flight time in ideal circumstances.

Field Charging and Quick Charging are pretty much the same thing with DJI Smart Batteries.. Keep in mind that DJI Batteries have a narrow window of allowable input so true Quick Charging as we know it from other types of batteries isn't possible. Also Quick Charging (of a non DJI type battery that isn't SMART) can great degrade the LIFE of the battery. Anything outside of the designed "Norm" of the battery is going to take away battery health and performance. The closest I come to Quick Charging a DJI Battery is getting a charger that charges multiple batteries at the same time (Parallel charging) where-as DJI Charging Hubs charge ONE to full and THEN starts the next and the next (Series charging).

One thing most people don't think about when setting up for "Extended Flying" is that Radio Control battery life. That's usually the limiting factor in this type of scenario. If you need to fly longer than just a few batteries you may need to look into additional RC units and learn how to bind them unless you have one that allows easy battery swaps.

Here are some links with additional information on this topic:

Mavic 2 Pro Multi Charger for Vehicle

As promised here are a few quick snapshots of how my CrossTrek has a "Dryer Pigtail" for the inverter to run from. IIRC this is 8GA wire and it's ran direct to the battery box and has it's own disconnect and fusing box NOT part of the OEM on the car.

commercialdronepilots.com

In the field battery charging - Help

I'm looking for input on what type of power station I will need to keep me flying in the field. At first, I looked at an inverter for our truck, but I can't get our fleet manager to budge to install one (fear of too much load on alternator). Next, was a gas generator but that was quickly removed...

commercialdronepilots.com

Keeping Batteries Ready to Go

I'm with a disaster response team and we are developing our drone program for rapid response. One thing we are finding is hard to manage is keeping the batteries charged up since it does tend to shorten the life of the battery to keep charging it to capacity. I'm wondering what other response...

commercialdronepilots.com

 

[TreeLineView]

Curious what others are doing to recharge batteries while on a mission with extended flight times.
- Minimum number of batteries to have on hand
- Field charging or quick charging solutions
- Charging multiple batteries at once solutions

Additionally, keeping all batteries at the ready, fully charged and ready to deploy is a challenge. I'd welcome any feedback on how others are doing this.

I fly M200 series with 20 TB50 batteries. I often am in the field flying all day long. I rely on the DJI Battery charging station for TB50 batteries. It can charge and discharge batteries 8 at a time. During my busy season, I keep my batteries at 50%. I can charge 8 batteries to 100% in 45 minutes using a normal charging setting. It has speed charging that will get them to 90% in 30 minutes, but I don't rely on that. Keeps me going all day long. During the summer months, it can take up to 60 minutes to cool them down before charging them again. Also, carry a small gas Honda generator if I have to run it in the field. As Big Al mentioned, Charging batteries that have not returned to normal temp will shorten the life of the battery and can be dangerous. Also carry a portal Powerpack battery station to connect my controller and keep it charging along with the ability to charge my laptop, hotspot, flashlight, and night lights. I also have a portable pack that is running my portable viewing station. That charge will keep the 22" LCD screen going for over 8 hours. Just my solution. Many options out there.

 

[miturnbo]

The closest I come to Quick Charging a DJI Battery is getting a charger that charges multiple batteries at the same time (Parallel charging) where-as DJI Charging Hubs charge ONE to full and THEN starts the next and the next (Series charging

Yes, when I said quick charging, it was a mistake. I meant parallel charging. Thank you for catching that. There are several parallel chargers out there and I was looking for any suggestions on which ones are worth having.

And thank you for the clarity on battery maintenance. Makes sense. And it actually simplifies the process since we don't need someone to constantly charge the batteries, we simply need to be able to start the charging process in parallel on all batteries once we begin the response. The remote is a different story though. It does not deplete like the smart batteries. So some thought needs to go into this process.

Thank you again

 

[Arnold LeVine]

Discussion up for grabs. I think the DJI charge one battery to full and then go to battery #2, then #3 etc. is superior to parallel charging. I would rather have one ready to use the fastest than have 3 of them almost ready to use. Interested to see what others think and do.

 

[BigAl07]

Discussion up for grabs. I think the DJI charge one battery to full and then go to battery #2, then #3 etc. is superior to parallel charging. I would rather have one ready to use the fastest than have 3 of them almost ready to use. Interested to see what others think and do.

It depends on which charger you're using but most non-DJI can charge multiple batteries at just about the same time as a single battery. Mine can charge 4 batteries in about 80 minutes.

YMMV but for me my chargers are powerful enough to charge ALL at ONCE at the standard Charge Rate.

 

[TJS]

Curious what others are doing to recharge batteries while on a mission with extended flight times.

Here's a good thread on this issue of simultaneously charging without damaging battery heath when you don't have access to mains electricity, such as in the field or with a car. Ultimately a good inverter is required and even then it can be tricky and problematic to get a truly satisfactory result. After far too many hours of research I opted to buy extra batteries for my Mav2Zoom (I know when I'm going to need them, so there's no sponteneity involved), and of course I do all the things appropriate to care for them. Here's the link to include in your contemplation Mavic 2 Pro Multi Charger for Vehicle

 

[MadgeAguillon]

Thanks a lot for the tips, guys. A few days ago, I bought myself my first drone, so it’s going to take some time to figure out how it works. Considering that I’m 57, it’ll take a long time. Anyway, I’m glad I’ve found this thread so I can prolong my batteries’ lives. Thanks for your suggestions! You know, I think your advice could be applied to any kind of battery. I mean, a few years ago, I bought myself this flashlight https://www.amazon.com/Vont-Flashlight-Flashlights-Water-Resistant-Accessories/dp/B089T8HDBV and a man who sold it to me told me a lot about batteries and how they work. He says most people charge their phones until they reach 100%, and it’s a complete nonsense cause, as you’ve said, it’s the quickest way to make your battery die. Anyway, thanks again, guys! Keep the thread updated, please.

 

[miturnbo]

Thanks a lot for the tips, guys. A few days ago, I bought myself my first drone, so it’s going to take some time to figure out how it works. Considering that I’m 57, it’ll take a long time. Anyway, I’m glad I’ve found this thread so I can prolong my batteries’ lives. Thanks for your suggestions! You know, I think your advice could be applied to any kind of battery. I mean, a few years ago, I bought myself this flashlight https://www.amazon.com/Vont-Flashlight-Flashlights-Water-Resistant-Accessories/dp/B089T8HDBV and a man who sold it to me told me a lot about batteries and how they work. He says most people charge their phones until they reach 100%, and it’s a complete nonsense cause, as you’ve said, it’s the quickest way to make your battery die. Anyway, thanks again, guys! Keep the thread updated, please.

57 is the new 35.. Don't sell yourself short due to age. I'm 57 and I'm the sUAS Coordinator for a local Search and Rescue organization. Watch youtube videos to learn, read the manual, take it slow and careful but set goals to push your learning. Have someone there to be your visual observer and you practice flying in FPV (first person view) meaning you are flying by watching the screen. Make a habit of thinking through every situation. I watched a lot of drone disaster videos and asked myself in each situation what I would have done to avoid or recover from that. It helps. Good luck.