For someone who just got into PD charging, you delivered many great facts and information! But here's a caveat: Not all chargers can distribute the power efficiently. If you have more than one device plugged in, it could hinder all ports from charging at their optimal rate, even tho the total wattage is still within the charger's rating. So when I want to top something off quick, I will only plug in one device at a time (which defeats the purpose of multiple ports I know...). But now that you have a power meter, perhaps you can test if your changer is smarter and get that peace of mind!
You are absolutely correct, Justin! The power sharing when multiple devices are plugged in is an important thing to know. The KOVOL folks publish their port distribution algorithm, and it seemed sensible to me. I didn't mention it because the video was already getting pretty long and technical for a battery charger review.
Hi Don; Earlier this year, I needed a good charger for my Mini 2 as I did not purchase the fly more kit. In my research I found the 65 watt Kovol charger and purchased one. I was really impressed. When the Mini 3 Pro was released I thought I would use the same charger. While waiting for release, and eventual delivery of my new mini 3 pro, I looked at Kovol to possibly purchase another when I found their 125 watt charger. I purchased 2 of them. I use them to fast charge many-many devices. They are really great. Thank you for making this video to let more Mini drone owners about Kovol. PS> Another coincidence is that a few months ago, I also purchased the exact same USB digital tester (power meter) that you did, and I like it as well. {Also in Southern Ontario}
Thanks Don, very well explained. You are starting to become my favorite techie.... Mainly because you are able to take the complex and break it down for a simple guy like me....😃
Thanks for that informative and throw review. I just wish I saw it a week ago, Next time I'll check your library for assistance when I have drone type questions. Looking forward to reviewing more of your videos in the future. Thanks again Keith
DJI really cheaped out on not providing a charger in the box, I also got a multi PD charger, a huge help in getting everything charged up. Great video, Don 👍
Well - that's a really interesting device - and your review introduces and explains it very clearly. Charging units are a really confusing topic and anything that makes the subject clearer is welcome. I think that I see one of these in my future very shortly. I'll be picking up one of the testers too.
Thanks for your video Don,, bought one of these based on your review, charged my plus battery from a 25% in 1 hour 5 mins, normally it was taking 3 hours plugged into a DJI Mavic Platinum charger
Hi Don, just received my first drone for Christmas (DJI Mini SE) Just one question, is this suitable to charge my new drone as well as the Mini 3? Thank you for the incredibly informative videos and all the work behind the scenes in the Canadian drone community. Hope you have wonderful Christmas.
Thank you Don. I am considering getting that charge and will use your link if I do get it. I have the DJI battery bank (3 battery) charger for my Mini 3. Looks like it only supplies 15W. Normally I leave my batteries at a little over 50 percent so I can charge three batteries overnight or in a morning if I plan to fly later in the day. It would be useful to be able to charge a battery faster in some situations.
Thanks Dave! Yes, in the past I did the 'charge overnight' approach, but this offers the advantage of more spontaneity, and safety...I'm always concerned about leaving batteries on chargers overnight.
Paying 1500$ for a kit containing 2 bags (the big one unwanted) and filters, I also missed the charger. Using 1 Amp phone chargers really felt bad. Having a charger that delivers lots of power is of course nice. But, how much charge current does the intelligent DJI Mini 3 PRO battery take care of, use?
can I charge my DJI RC controller from my PC...Also is it ok to remove the factory drone battery and charge it with the 2 that came with the FLY MORE KIT?
Yes, you can charge the controller from your PC...it will just be slow due to the low power output. And yes, you can charge your battery from the other two....but why would you do that when you can simply use one of the other one?! And yes, it will be very slow as well.
Great video I would love to see your experience on an air 3. I have been having major issues. I have a anker pd 65 watt charger. I can charge through the drone at 65watt but then when I hook up the battery hub to my a/c watt meter it shows I am only charging 39watt. Curious if you end up with this issue. Assuming you have an air 3 for reference. So confused on what is going on here.
The batteries will never take the full 65 watts when charging. They will negotiate the maximum rate with your pd charger...30 ish watts sounds about right.
And the batteries did take the full 65watt charge when I charged through the drone itself. Which makes this even more confusing than ever. Why would the drone charge at a faster rate than the battery hub.
Great vid. I was wondering if you can do a video, or have done a video on agriculture spray drones? Currently in Canada you cannot legally spray with a drone yet as it's still in testing and there are no pesticide labels that show procedures or rates for drone use. However I wonder how future agriculture spraying with drones will work? The drones will require a SFOC for their flights under the current rules just due to the weight and flights beyond visual line of sight. How do you think thst will work? Will farmers be required to do individual SFOC's for each field they apply in? Can you do a wide scope SFOC for multiple fields if you know all your locations in advance? Etc.
Thanks. I have not done a video related to agricultural spray drones. I don't know much about either the requirements nor the technology. I have no idea if Transport Canada is looking at this at all...perhaps they are. Sorry...out of my area of expertise!
Are you able to do the Advanced Operator Flight Review exam with a DJI Mini 3 Pro with the DJI MINI 3 PRO INTELLIGENT FLIGHT BATTERY PLUS putting the weight over 249g, or does the drone itself need to be a Transport Canada approved drone for Advanced Operations Flight Review exam?
Yes, you can use a Mini 3 with the PLUS SIZE battery at a Flight Review. This video explains the same situation with a Mini or Mini 2...except your battery is a lot more functional than my block of wood! th-cam.com/video/tKFFQa2cJbw/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for sharing this Don. My Toyota 4Runner has a standard plug in the back cargo area which is controlled by a switch on my dash. It would be great to charge my quad batteries while I’m driving 👍👍👍 oh …dumb question alert!….. the Amazon link to this product in the description under ‘items used’ is the one that gets you the credit for sending folks to the product? Sorry,I haven’t ever bought anything via TH-cam link.
So this charger will allow for the simultaneous charging of two mini 3 pro batteries or four? I cant believe there is not yet a solution for a multi charger yet!
You can plug 4 devices into it simultaneously, although the power distribution drops when you do this. I frequently plug the drone in with its battery into one PD port, and the charging hub into the other PD port. (The charging hub can charge 3 batteries, but it does that sequentially.) I then plug the controller into one of the regular USB-A ports since it doesn't suck as much power.
If I recall, I ddin't have my fly-more kit at the time of this video, but I do now and regularly use the Kovol charger with it. Everything charges very quickly...amazing really. (I'm fully charged right now or I'd do a quick measurement....sorry)
The RC controller only draws 11 to 12 watts The drone was drawing 28w. Found that out in the field. I use my 800w Bluetti solar station to charge stuff and at the same time it brews me a cup of coffee.😆😆😁😁
Hi Don, Ok I' ve just wasted ..... er *spent* that is ... ~3 hrs googling and reading about charging, volts, amps PD .... etc. and am still confused. Googling "mini 3 pro battery plus" : Capacity: 3850 mAh. Voltage: 7.38 V. Charging Voltage Limit: 8.5 V. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Charging voltage limit is 8.5v", I bought the Kovol 65w charger and the Electop power meter , that you demonstrated. When I connect the charger to the drone the shows that the charger is outputting 11.9 v / 2.4 a -> 28.6 watts, similar to the numbers you were showing. You didn't seem to be worried about the ~11 almost 12 volt charging voltage So what does the "charging voltage limit 8.5v" mean ? Mike
Maybe I wasn't worried because I had a fire extinguisher close by! LOL. Just kidding. The charging volt limit is the maximum charging voltage that will be 'accepted' by the battery, throttled by internal circuitry. In other words, anything over that figure won't make the charging go any faster.
@@DonJoyce "accepted by the battery" : Is that a particular feature of the Dji "intelligent" batteries ? I.e. do you have to be more careful with a "dumb" generic rc plane / heli battery. (Not that we need to worry about that apparently for Dji, but I'm just curios) I was flying rc planes heli's about ten years ago, I think my charger then had a dial where you could specify the voltage. I *think* back then you might have had to be careful not to output more than ~ 8.4 volts.
The weak link in this scenario is using your device usb port to charge the battery. The actual socket will fail over time, happened to me with every single device charged in this fashion. It's become common place to simply toss failed devices and get another; for 50-100 bucks- nothing to cry about. Removing the battery and charging in the hub is the only serious solution for longevity of your expensive drone, IMHO.
Way off topic ## can you make a video explaining the law that protects drones and their pilots? Something to combat the I will shoot your drone out of the sky statement. Thanks love your content.
For someone who just got into PD charging, you delivered many great facts and information!
But here's a caveat: Not all chargers can distribute the power efficiently. If you have more than one device plugged in, it could hinder all ports from charging at their optimal rate, even tho the total wattage is still within the charger's rating.
So when I want to top something off quick, I will only plug in one device at a time (which defeats the purpose of multiple ports I know...). But now that you have a power meter, perhaps you can test if your changer is smarter and get that peace of mind!
You are absolutely correct, Justin! The power sharing when multiple devices are plugged in is an important thing to know. The KOVOL folks publish their port distribution algorithm, and it seemed sensible to me. I didn't mention it because the video was already getting pretty long and technical for a battery charger review.
Hi Don; Earlier this year, I needed a good charger for my Mini 2 as I did not purchase the fly more kit. In my research I found the 65 watt Kovol charger and purchased one. I was really impressed. When the Mini 3 Pro was released I thought I would use the same charger. While waiting for release, and eventual delivery of my new mini 3 pro, I looked at Kovol to possibly purchase another when I found their 125 watt charger. I purchased 2 of them. I use them to fast charge many-many devices. They are really great. Thank you for making this video to let more Mini drone owners about Kovol. PS> Another coincidence is that a few months ago, I also purchased the exact same USB digital tester (power meter) that you did, and I like it as well. {Also in Southern Ontario}
Thanks for sharing, Dave! The Kovol charger is very good!
Hello Don Joyce! it's amazing! Thanks for the very nice video! I saw it with great interest! Super shot! Great! Have a nice day!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Don, very well explained. You are starting to become my favorite techie.... Mainly because you are able to take the complex and break it down for a simple guy like me....😃
What? Just starting! LOL Thanks, Ed. I figure if I can't explain it simply, I don't understand it myself!
Thanks for that informative and throw review. I just wish I saw it a week ago, Next time I'll check your library for assistance when I have drone type questions. Looking forward to reviewing more of your videos in the future. Thanks again Keith
Thanks, Keith!
Thanks for the invaluable information you provided.
Glad it was helpful, Amer!
DJI really cheaped out on not providing a charger in the box, I also got a multi PD charger, a huge help in getting everything charged up. Great video, Don 👍
Thanks. That said, I seem to have a remarkable collection of chargers, so it is high time we stopped getting one in every box of cereal.
@@DonJoyce That's true for sure, but no doubt, DJI certainly haven't turned into environmentalists 💰
Great Charging Solution for DJI Mini 3 Pro Drone, good and useful information, thanks for sharing
Glad you found it useful!
Amazingly done. So much value in this. thank you!
Thank you!
Hey Don, ive actually been using the ACEFAST PD65W 3 Port, comes with a 6 foot usb-c cable so its pretty great
Cool. Yes, this is certainly not the only PD charger in town, but I like it!
Thanks Don, really appreciate the information, exactly what I needed to know.
Great to hear, Dane! I use the Kovol charger all the time, and it's great!
@@DonJoyce I purchased it on Amazon $44, but will be worth it. Thanks again Don.
Just FYI, your Amazon link to the *"Kovol 65W 4-port USB-C PD Charger"* is not working.
Awesome, Great information. Thank you.
Thanks. I use this charger every day .
Nice video comme toujours 👍🌟🌟✌️You are blessed with your choices thanks you 🌟
Thank you!
@@DonJoyce You are most welcome. I hope you will visit my channel 🔔 and give me your opinion🌟🌟 thanks you 🌟🌟
Thanks Don. I wish I would have seen this review before purchasing the DJI charger,,,,but I will still order the Kovol 65W Charger.
Thanks for watching, Joel! Yeah, I think the Kovol is better than the DJI charger.
Well - that's a really interesting device - and your review introduces and explains it very clearly. Charging units are a really confusing topic and anything that makes the subject clearer is welcome. I think that I see one of these in my future very shortly. I'll be picking up one of the testers too.
Thanks, Mike! Yes, very handy and so fast to charge even phones. The tester was an interesting way to see what was REALLY going on!
Thanks for your video Don,, bought one of these based on your review, charged my plus battery from a 25% in 1 hour 5 mins, normally it was taking 3 hours plugged into a DJI Mavic Platinum charger
Great to hear, Mike! I use mine all the time!
Hi Don, just received my first drone for Christmas (DJI Mini SE)
Just one question, is this suitable to charge my new drone as well as the Mini 3?
Thank you for the incredibly informative videos and all the work behind the scenes in the Canadian drone community. Hope you have wonderful Christmas.
Thank you, and welcome to this wonderful hobby! Yes, this charger will work with the mini se.
Thank you Don. I am considering getting that charge and will use your link if I do get it. I have the DJI battery bank (3 battery) charger for my Mini 3. Looks like it only supplies 15W. Normally I leave my batteries at a little over 50 percent so I can charge three batteries overnight or in a morning if I plan to fly later in the day. It would be useful to be able to charge a battery faster in some situations.
Thanks Dave! Yes, in the past I did the 'charge overnight' approach, but this offers the advantage of more spontaneity, and safety...I'm always concerned about leaving batteries on chargers overnight.
Paying 1500$ for a kit containing 2 bags (the big one unwanted) and filters, I also missed the charger. Using 1 Amp phone chargers really felt bad.
Having a charger that delivers lots of power is of course nice. But, how much charge current does the intelligent DJI Mini 3 PRO battery take care of, use?
Very informative. Keep up the good work. !
Thanks! Glad you found the review informative!
Great video and very informative
Thanks!
can I charge my DJI RC controller from my PC...Also is it ok to remove the factory drone battery and charge it with the 2 that came with the FLY MORE KIT?
Yes, you can charge the controller from your PC...it will just be slow due to the low power output. And yes, you can charge your battery from the other two....but why would you do that when you can simply use one of the other one?! And yes, it will be very slow as well.
Great video I would love to see your experience on an air 3. I have been having major issues. I have a anker pd 65 watt charger. I can charge through the drone at 65watt but then when I hook up the battery hub to my a/c watt meter it shows I am only charging 39watt. Curious if you end up with this issue. Assuming you have an air 3 for reference. So confused on what is going on here.
The batteries will never take the full 65 watts when charging. They will negotiate the maximum rate with your pd charger...30 ish watts sounds about right.
@@DonJoyceso if that’s the case then why do they advertise 100watt chargers for the air 3 batteries. Very confusing.
And the batteries did take the full 65watt charge when I charged through the drone itself. Which makes this even more confusing than ever. Why would the drone charge at a faster rate than the battery hub.
@@12345howarthplease check again, and Google the DJI battery maximum charging rate.
@@DonJoyceand I did and it says 100watts. So something is a miss charging at only 39 watts.
Excellent information, looks like a nice charger
Thanks! It certainly charges quickly!
Great vid. I was wondering if you can do a video, or have done a video on agriculture spray drones? Currently in Canada you cannot legally spray with a drone yet as it's still in testing and there are no pesticide labels that show procedures or rates for drone use. However I wonder how future agriculture spraying with drones will work? The drones will require a SFOC for their flights under the current rules just due to the weight and flights beyond visual line of sight. How do you think thst will work? Will farmers be required to do individual SFOC's for each field they apply in? Can you do a wide scope SFOC for multiple fields if you know all your locations in advance? Etc.
Thanks. I have not done a video related to agricultural spray drones. I don't know much about either the requirements nor the technology. I have no idea if Transport Canada is looking at this at all...perhaps they are. Sorry...out of my area of expertise!
Thanks for sharing Don cheers
Thanks for watching, Rod!
Are you able to do the Advanced Operator Flight Review exam with a DJI Mini 3 Pro with the DJI MINI 3 PRO INTELLIGENT FLIGHT BATTERY PLUS putting the weight over 249g, or does the drone itself need to be a Transport Canada approved drone for Advanced Operations Flight Review exam?
Yes, you can use a Mini 3 with the PLUS SIZE battery at a Flight Review. This video explains the same situation with a Mini or Mini 2...except your battery is a lot more functional than my block of wood! th-cam.com/video/tKFFQa2cJbw/w-d-xo.html
@@DonJoyce thank you very much!
Thanks for the great info.
Glad you found it helpful, Syed!
Thanks for sharing this Don. My Toyota 4Runner has a standard plug in the back cargo area which is controlled by a switch on my dash. It would be great to charge my quad batteries while I’m driving 👍👍👍 oh …dumb question alert!….. the Amazon link to this product in the description under ‘items used’ is the one that gets you the credit for sending folks to the product? Sorry,I haven’t ever bought anything via TH-cam link.
Great idea to charge on the go, Derek! And yes, those are all affiliate links in the description, which helps me with a small commission.
Great video! Thanks for breaking it down like you did, I still would like it compared with the DJI charger
Glad you found the video helpful!
So this charger will allow for the simultaneous charging of two mini 3 pro batteries or four? I cant believe there is not yet a solution for a multi charger yet!
You can plug 4 devices into it simultaneously, although the power distribution drops when you do this. I frequently plug the drone in with its battery into one PD port, and the charging hub into the other PD port. (The charging hub can charge 3 batteries, but it does that sequentially.) I then plug the controller into one of the regular USB-A ports since it doesn't suck as much power.
I wonder how much power it would put out to the fly more Hub?
If I recall, I ddin't have my fly-more kit at the time of this video, but I do now and regularly use the Kovol charger with it. Everything charges very quickly...amazing really. (I'm fully charged right now or I'd do a quick measurement....sorry)
Thank you for the info. Very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
good job , thanks
I hope you found it helpful!
What amp/coulomb is max charge rate? for mini 3 pro
You could check the specs or ask DJI...
Wow that is super fast, but I have heard that rapid charging is hard on Lipo batteries.
Fake news. Where did you hear that? And DJI's charger is exactly the same technology...
It was on YT, but I forget what channel. Glad that myth isn't true... I ordered a PV charger
Can I use my 100w macbook charger?
As long as the macbook charger is rated as a PD charger, yes, it will do the proper negotiation of power settings.
Thanks for this video! Still no DJI Mini 3 Pro Fly More Kits in Canada! Arg!
Well, I bought a fly more kit on amazon.ca and received it a week ago. They are still showing in stock. There's a link in the description.
@@DonJoyce I got a delivery date of Aug 29. I'm going to wait and see if Vistek gets them in before that date. Thanks for the link.
@@DanaNield btw, I received mine 10 days earlier than the date they said for me. In fact, today (Aug 16) was their forecast!
@@DonJoyce Damn. Wonder what's going on with that? I'll place the order and cross my fingers! Need to get filming!
I just got mine from best buy, purchased it online 5 days ago.
The RC controller only draws 11 to 12 watts The drone was drawing 28w. Found that out in the field. I use my 800w Bluetti solar station to charge stuff and at the same time it brews me a cup of coffee.😆😆😁😁
Cool!
Nice video
Thanks!
wow. 5v 2a charging in 1,3h?
It's a great charger...I use it every day
Don, Appreciate the vid! I will support you by clicking the link!
Thanks!
Hi Don,
Ok I' ve just wasted ..... er *spent* that is ... ~3 hrs googling and reading about charging, volts, amps PD .... etc. and am still confused.
Googling "mini 3 pro battery plus" :
Capacity: 3850 mAh.
Voltage: 7.38 V.
Charging Voltage Limit: 8.5 V.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Charging voltage limit is 8.5v",
I bought the Kovol 65w charger and the Electop power meter , that you demonstrated.
When I connect the charger to the drone the shows that the charger is outputting 11.9 v / 2.4 a -> 28.6 watts, similar to the numbers you were showing.
You didn't seem to be worried about the ~11 almost 12 volt charging voltage
So what does the "charging voltage limit 8.5v" mean ?
Mike
Maybe I wasn't worried because I had a fire extinguisher close by! LOL. Just kidding. The charging volt limit is the maximum charging voltage that will be 'accepted' by the battery, throttled by internal circuitry. In other words, anything over that figure won't make the charging go any faster.
@@DonJoyce "accepted by the battery" : Is that a particular feature of the Dji "intelligent" batteries ?
I.e. do you have to be more careful with a "dumb" generic rc plane / heli battery. (Not that we need to worry about that apparently for Dji, but I'm just curios)
I was flying rc planes heli's about ten years ago, I think my charger then had a dial where you could specify the voltage. I *think* back then you might have had to be careful not to output more than ~ 8.4 volts.
buen trabajo, maravilloso video Saludoss
¡Gracias! ¡Estoy tan contenta de que hayas disfrutado el video!
The weak link in this scenario is using your device usb port to charge the battery. The actual socket will fail over time, happened to me with every single device charged in this fashion. It's become common place to simply toss failed devices and get another; for 50-100 bucks- nothing to cry about. Removing the battery and charging in the hub is the only serious solution for longevity of your expensive drone, IMHO.
Way off topic ## can you make a video explaining the law that protects drones and their pilots? Something to combat the I will shoot your drone out of the sky statement. Thanks love your content.
You're right...that IS a bit off the topic of PD chargers!! Thanks for the suggestion; I'll put it on my list.
*Like :)*
Thank you!
@@DonJoyce *If you want check my videos too, ok? :D*