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Battery Charging options

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Nov 4, 2015
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Hello all,

I've been waiting to see if there is news on either people making modifications for charging batteries or for DJI to offer a better option for charging other than the stock method.

As with the Inspire 1, the stock charger for the Inspire 2 takes waaaaaaay too long for me. It is annoying because it forces me to plan ahead for flights as opposed to being able to go at a moments notice when I have some free time. It isn't good for the batteries to leave them fully charged so I only charge them when I'm going to fly.

This was not an issue with the Inspire 1. The two terminal connection is obviously easy to provide power to and charge. Not so much with the new batteries that have all of those extra contacts. I'm an old hobbyist and don't like all of these new batteries with the charging circuitry built into the battery. I would much prefer having the circuitry in my charger and allow me the ability to charge and care for my batteries my own way - but DJI makes the smart batteries and such is the way things go.

I tried plugging my power supply to a step-up voltage and amp regulator to the charging hub. This is the same thing I did with the Inspire 1 batteries (minus the charging hub). Worked like a charm. Not so much with the Inspire 2 charging hub. Anything past the stock 6.9 amps and it would shut off. Annoying. I see that DJI built in circuitry into the charging hub as well. Probably best this way considering those barrel connectors that DJI is using for the charging hub can't handle a lot of current anyway.

This leaves me with finding a way to connect to the batteries directly. I know DJI is pushing this "paired" battery thing, but that is just meant to make you happy and fuzzy inside. Sure, it makes sense to use the same two packs together all the time, but that can be done by the user themselves. There is no way to make sure that both packs are perfectly "aligned" their entire useful life. There will always be slight differences between the two and over time it will become more evident that their cells will gain in resistance with use and not be perfectly matched over that entire period of time. Still, it makes sense to keep them paired together - but that doesn't mean they have to be charged together - just discharged together in the Inspire 2.

I haven't seen any third party stuff out there yet but I did notice third party stuff for the Phantom 4. Does anyone here know if the phantom 4 battery connector is the same as the Inspire 2? I'm well aware that the Phantom 4 battery is 4 cell compared to the Inspire 2's 6 cell battery, but all I care about is the connector. If I had the connector, then I could connect my step-up voltage/amp converter directly to the batteries and utilize my 1100 watt power supply so I could charge all 4 of my batteries in about an hour. There are some cheap options on eBay that I've seen that have parallel charging boards for the phantom 4. I'm looking to use those parts if their connectors are the same.
 
Looking into doing the exact same thing and running into the exact same issues. I have not found a pinout for the 12-pin Inspire 2 batteries, but I can tell which pins are + and -.... however it seems the outside 2 pins are used for communication of some kind. They are what turn the battery ON, and also what tell the battery to accept the voltage on + and - to charge with.

I haven't figured it all out yet, but looking for anyone who has found a way to charge the I2 batteries directly without the charge hub.
 
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If I am understanding what you are trying to do I think this cable will do exactly what you want. I have one to charge my controller while I am flying with an Inspire 2 battery on a belt strap. I know Michael @Florida Drone Supply has them in stock. Buy Inspire 2 - Remote Controller Charging Cable

Edit: The Phantom 4 is different.
No, I want to charge the Inspire batteries USING this cable -- not charge the transmitter with the cable (as is the intended use of this cable)

Think I'm onto something right now, though...
 
If I am understanding what you are trying to do I think this cable will do exactly what you want. I have one to charge my controller while I am flying with an Inspire 2 battery on a belt strap. I know Michael @Florida Drone Supply has them in stock. Buy Inspire 2 - Remote Controller Charging Cable

Edit: The Phantom 4 is different.

I already got them. They don't work. I tried. They have a small circuit board at the plug that goes into the battery. It has some sort of step down software to control the voltage and amps coming from the battery going to the controller. It won't work in reverse to charge a battery. It stops the voltage from getting through to the 12 pins.
 
I already got them. They don't work. I tried. They have a small circuit board at the plug that goes into the battery. It has some sort of step down software to control the voltage and amps coming from the battery going to the controller. It won't work in reverse to charge a battery. It stops the voltage from getting through to the 12 pins.

Bummer, what about disecting a charging hub?
 
I wonder if the Inspire 2's battery has pins for the individual cells? There's 12 pins. Possibly the hub acts more like a regular 6s Lipo charger rather than just a power supply (as in the Inspire 1)

Maybe dji reduced the battery cost by moving that circuitry into the charging hub?

Just a theory, I haven't verified any of this. Reverse engineering the charging hub would be needed to design a safe high speed charger. Doesn't sound fun.
 

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