I went and did some flying today, for the first time in almost a year. Being painfully aware of my limitations I set everything to beginner and took it slowly. Managed to get four flights before the battery started to warn me it was getting low, but not too surprised as it was about 6 Degrees.
I misread what I was seeing on the DJI Go 4 app and thought it was telling me that the battery and the controller were low. So I landed, packed up and headed home. Turns out that it was my inexperience with what I was looking at because the controller was still reporting 80% when I put it on charge. That’s a lesson I will need to learn because I actually had another two fully charged batteries with me, so could have landed, changed the battery and taken off again.
It raised the question that the controller then is the weak link in flight time availability, because if the drone battery runs low you can just land and swap out the battery. As far as I am aware you can change the battery in the controller, so need to recharge it before being flight ready again.
The question then is, is there a general preference in the forum for a mobile (in-car) charging solution for the controller and is there some kind of “fast charge” solution?
Thanks.
Knowing which drone and which controller might help people give advice.
I’m guessing you mean for the Mavic 2 looking at your profile as this uses the GO4 app. You mention multiple batteries? do you have the Fly More Combo then? Didn’t it come with a car charger or an adapter to turn a battery into a power bank?
Charge out in the field if you give up a percentage of a battery. Just a Micro USB lead needed.
Sorry about that omission.
Mavic 2 Zoom
Controller is the Mavic 2 Zoom controller that came with the drone.
Non-fly more combo - batteries bought separately.
1 Like
Does anyone know if these things actually work, I’ve read all kinds of horror stories about some that work and others that are “less than stable”?
DJI Mavic 2 Zoom Pro Car Charger Adapter for 2 Battery
I have one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HSGV1PW/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=bca81e03c6e7b2fb1fc5e838cc521524&hsa_cr_id=5256237210402&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=7ab0d0e2-0578-40a9-ae78-871e43af57b2&pd_rd_w=SH3gm&pd_rd_wg=bMypH&ref=sbx_be_s_sparkle_td_asin_1_img
or https://tinyurl.com/y3qsrxhl
Works very well, although to be fair I’ve never used it to charge drone batteries, but would plug my charger into the mains socket. And for USB power to charge the controller and/or phone, that’s there as well as mains, so do both jobs at once.
Peter
1 Like
I used my car charger from the Fly More kit for the first time in the Lake District recently and it worked fine, although it was on a journey where were able to keep going at a decent speed for half an hour or more to keep up the juice.
I use a small leisure battery from my old ride on mower hooked up to a 3.5 amp fag lighter output with two USB 3 ports on it. Plenty capacity but not as portable as a powerbank and charges just as quick as the supplied charger. Bonus is I can leave stuff on charge in the back if the van while I’m at work, always ready for me leaving work early, but that never seems to happen 
I have a Mavic 2 Enterprise which is basically the same as the zoom.
I also have the flymore kit and 12V charger.
If you use a car charger the engine MUST be running as the drone flight batteries need just a teeny bit more than 12V plus a stable current to charge properly.
In my Big Van I have a leisure battery array of 4 x 12V (105Ah) batteries fed by a 250W solar panel (and from the alternator if the engine is running). With the engine off and the sun shining the drone battery charger runs fine, but if its cloudy it may not work with the power from just the 4 leisure batteries(!).
I have the Smart Controller and run that hooked to a meaty powerbank (of a spec that will run an ipad), they just charge on the USB although again in the van I have put dedicated 5v USB with their own fused battery feed as well as having a plug in hub.
The drone batteries draw a surprising amount of power when charging so don’t be surprised if a car charger doesn’t do much unless the car is moving along nicely with a few revs on (well beyond tickover).
GC