Power Stations

Mavic Rick · Jan 8, 2022

Anyone care to share their pros/cons experience using a "power station" to charge evo 2 batteries in the field? I'm considering buying one, a Jackery 240, to extend the number of flights I get in an outing.

Thanks

M

kenautelevo2pro · Jan 8, 2022

Mavic Rick said:
Anyone care to share their pros/cons experience using a "power station" to charge evo 2 batteries in the field? I'm considering buying one, a Jackery 240, to extend the number of flights I get in an outing.

Thanks

M

was $179 on amazon last week...

it's probably overkill for a couple of evo 2 battery but there are a ton more uses for the "power station" if you get one. it's a pretty good buy imo.

herein2021 · Jan 13, 2022

Mavic Rick said:
Anyone care to share their pros/cons experience using a "power station" to charge evo 2 batteries in the field? I'm considering buying one, a Jackery 240, to extend the number of flights I get in an outing.

Thanks

M

I do not recommend the Jackery line of power stations or any line of power stations that do not let you replace the battery when it stops holding a charge. My Goal Zero is now almost 8yrs old and the first battery lasted 7yrs and I was able to replace the battery for $90 when it finally stopped charging; Jackery and products like them end up in land fills when the battery dies.

Yes the Goal Zero costs more up front, but it will literally last a lifetime with a few battery replacements here and there. As far as pros and cons, below are some of the cons that you will encounter:

Diminished Capacity - You asked about the Jackery 240.....that power station only has 240Wh of capacity. The EVO II flight batteries hold 82Wh each which means in perfect conditions you would theoretically be able to recharge 3 flight batteries from zero to 100% before the power station is dead. I say theoretical because you will never get perfect conditions. You will lose at least 20% due to having to use the DC inverter vs being able to use the 12V car charger, and you will want to keep at least 20% of the power station's battery capacity charged to lengthen the life of the power station so that takes you down to about 1.75 EVO II flight batteries you will be able to safely recharge. Of course you are also leaving some capacity remaining when landing the EVO II so you may be able to get back up to around 2 EVO flight batteries with a 240Wh power station
Recharge Time - Flight batteries recharge very slowly. Fully charging 4 batteries with the EVO hub takes 6.5hrs and recharging a single flight battery can take up to 1.5hrs. I don't know about you, but its rare that I have a project where I can wait around that long to fly again.
Cool Down Time - Autel is far more lenient about this than DJI...Autel lets you recharge very warm flight batteries; DJI would make me wait up to 3hrs just to start the recharging process. However, just because Autel lets you recharge your hot flight batteries doesn't mean you should; I recommend waiting at least 30min on hot days after a flight to even begin the recharging process if you want your flight batteries to make it to the 1yr mark.
Useless With Autel Car Charger - This thread goes into a lot of the frustrations I ran into when trying to use the car charger with a battery pack. Long story short, you will need to skip the car charger and just use the DC inverter and wall charger for this capability.
Battery Maintenance - Once you own a power station you cannot simply leave it plugged into the charger and pull it out when you feel like it; that's an almost certain way for the battery to be useless when you need it most. Many people do this then blame the power station when it fails right after the warranty is up. What I try to do is at least once a month plug the charging hub into the Goal Zero and charge all 4 flight batteries from the Goal Zero until it shuts off, then I plug the Goal Zero back into the charger. This gives it a full charge/discharge cycle to maintain the battery.

Obviously, it is not all bad and I have occasionally used my Goal Zero at a project site when for example I was shooting more than just drone footage and just needed the drone for a few quick flights here and there throughout the day.

Off Grid - If you really are off grid for camping or something like that power stations are great especially when combined with solar options and could be the only way to recharge the flight batteries
Battery Top Off - This is the main thing I use mine for, before the pandemic I used to film long large events such as international speed boat races, car races, concerts, etc. and the Goal Zero was great to keep all of the batteries topped off so that they were all 100% charged for the grand finale when the drone had to stay in the air the longest....last thing you want to do is miss the winner crossing the finish line because the battery is running low. I would shoot B roll here and there but land with 75% remaining and keep the batteries topped off to capture the peak action moments such as the winner crossing the finish line
Emergencies - I live in FL so I originally got the Goal Zero for hurricanes. Power stations are great for many other things during emergency situations so they aren't a bad thing to have regardless

Mavic Rick · Jan 16, 2022

herein2021 said:
I do not recommend the Jackery line of power stations or any line of power stations that do not let you replace the battery when it stops holding a charge. My Goal Zero is now almost 8yrs old and the first battery lasted 7yrs and I was able to replace the battery for $90 when it finally stopped charging; Jackery and products like them end up in land fills when the battery dies.

Yes the Goal Zero costs more up front, but it will literally last a lifetime with a few battery replacements here and there. As far as pros and cons, below are some of the cons that you will encounter:

Diminished Capacity - You asked about the Jackery 240.....that power station only has 240Wh of capacity. The EVO II flight batteries hold 82Wh each which means in perfect conditions you would theoretically be able to recharge 3 flight batteries from zero to 100% before the power station is dead. I say theoretical because you will never get perfect conditions. You will lose at least 20% due to having to use the DC inverter vs being able to use the 12V car charger, and you will want to keep at least 20% of the power station's battery capacity charged to lengthen the life of the power station so that takes you down to about 1.75 EVO II flight batteries you will be able to safely recharge. Of course you are also leaving some capacity remaining when landing the EVO II so you may be able to get back up to around 2 EVO flight batteries with a 240Wh power station

Recharge Time - Flight batteries recharge very slowly. Fully charging 4 batteries with the EVO hub takes 6.5hrs and recharging a single flight battery can take up to 1.5hrs. I don't know about you, but its rare that I have a project where I can wait around that long to fly again.

Cool Down Time - Autel is far more lenient about this than DJI...Autel lets you recharge very warm flight batteries; DJI would make me wait up to 3hrs just to start the recharging process. However, just because Autel lets you recharge your hot flight batteries doesn't mean you should; I recommend waiting at least 30min on hot days after a flight to even begin the recharging process if you want your flight batteries to make it to the 1yr mark.

Useless With Autel Car Charger - This thread goes into a lot of the frustrations I ran into when trying to use the car charger with a battery pack. Long story short, you will need to skip the car charger and just use the DC inverter and wall charger for this capability.

Battery Maintenance - Once you own a power station you cannot simply leave it plugged into the charger and pull it out when you feel like it; that's an almost certain way for the battery to be useless when you need it most. Many people do this then blame the power station when it fails right after the warranty is up. What I try to do is at least once a month plug the charging hub into the Goal Zero and charge all 4 flight batteries from the Goal Zero until it shuts off, then I plug the Goal Zero back into the charger. This gives it a full charge/discharge cycle to maintain the battery.

Obviously, it is not all bad and I have occasionally used my Goal Zero at a project site when for example I was shooting more than just drone footage and just needed the drone for a few quick flights here and there throughout the day.

Off Grid - If you really are off grid for camping or something like that power stations are great especially when combined with solar options and could be the only way to recharge the flight batteries

Battery Top Off - This is the main thing I use mine for, before the pandemic I used to film long large events such as international speed boat races, car races, concerts, etc. and the Goal Zero was great to keep all of the batteries topped off so that they were all 100% charged for the grand finale when the drone had to stay in the air the longest....last thing you want to do is miss the winner crossing the finish line because the battery is running low. I would shoot B roll here and there but land with 75% remaining and keep the batteries topped off to capture the peak action moments such as the winner crossing the finish line

Emergencies - I live in FL so I originally got the Goal Zero for hurricanes. Power stations are great for many other things during emergency situations so they aren't a bad thing to have regardless

thanks for that thorough reply. Appreciate that.