Charging the battery using the quad contacts?

slothead · Dec 1, 2017

On the Spark batteries there is a set of quad contacts (on the exposed side when inserted in the Spark). What uses those contacts for charging? I have not seen any device that uses those quad contacts.

TrooperDrone · Dec 1, 2017

There is a new device DJI just released for charging the drone and two addition batteries. The battery in the drone utilized those quad pads. Look up DJI portable charging station!

Link: DJI Spark Portable Charging Station

slothead · Dec 1, 2017

TrooperDrone said:
There is a new device DJI just released for charging the drone and two addition batteries. The battery in the drone utilized those quad pads. Look up DJI portable charging station!

Link: DJI Spark Portable Charging Station

I've seen that charger, but it is not immediately apparent that it uses those quad contacts. Is there some text description of the device that explains that?

TrooperDrone · Dec 1, 2017

slothead said:
I've seen that charger, but it is not immediately apparent that it uses those quad contacts. Is there some text description of the device that explains that?

That is why it was created, to utilize the contacts. If you look at the picture you’ll see where the spark sits there is a charging pad that the battery inside the spark will make contact with for charging.

slothead · Dec 1, 2017

Ok Trooper. That satisfies me. Thanks.

slothead · Dec 1, 2017

Ok, I found the details. The charger is configured so you can only charge the battery on the spark. If you want to charge the others you have to swap out the spark battery with the one you want to charge. At least that is what I see in the close up photos. At least I now know what uses the quad contacts.

msinger · Dec 1, 2017

If interested, you can download the "Spark Portable Station" manual from the Spark downloads page.

nicholas hickman · Dec 2, 2017

slothead said:
Ok, I found the details. The charger is configured so you can only charge the battery on the spark. If you want to charge the others you have to swap out the spark battery with the one you want to charge. At least that is what I see in the close up photos. At least I now know what uses the quad contacts.

no, it will charge the "stowed" batteries but only after it has charged the battery attached to the spark via the contacts. So this device will charge 3 batteries without having to swap anything.

Edit to add: I also believe the device will also charge it's internal battery when everything else is fully charged so it can act as a powerbank out in the field.

slothead · Dec 2, 2017

nicholas hickman said:
no, it will charge the "stowed" batteries but only after it has charged the battery attached to the spark via the contacts. So this device will charge 3 batteries without having to swap anything.

Edit to add: I also believe the device will also charge it's internal battery when everything else is fully charged so it can act as a powerbank out in the field.

Nicholas. The pictures I saw on the DJI website onlhy show the charging contacts in the center bay. What makes you think that it will charge the outboard batts? Am I misunderstanding the image? (Thanks for the link msinger.)

I stand corrected (and the question mark in the above image should be deleted). The link to the manual (which msinger so graciously provided) answered all my questions. On page four it states "When connected to an external power source, the Charging Station can charge itself, Intelligent Flight Batteries, and other compatible equipment." It goes on to say (on page 6) "When charging, the Charging Station will first charge the battery in the aircraft, and
then the two spare batteries in accordance with their power levels from high to low."

I guess what distracted me was that the batteries in the three bays are in different orientations. The inboard battery (attached to the Spark) is facing up (so the quad contacts are pointing down), and outboard batteries are facing down, hence the different charging contacts.

The bottom line of all this (remember my first question?) is that the quad contacts are used by the portable charger to charge the battery attached to the Spark while in the portable charger (and only while in the portable charger).

Thanks to all for humoring me in this research/discussion.

slothead · Dec 2, 2017

I just ordered one of the above from the DJI website. It was only about $40 because the $139 order included two batteries!

TrooperDrone · Dec 2, 2017

Glad you were able to get your answers.

nicholas hickman · Dec 2, 2017

slothead said:
Nicholas. The pictures I saw on the DJI website onlhy show the charging contacts in the center bay. What makes you think that it will charge the outboard batts? Am I misunderstanding the image? (Thanks for the link msinger.)

View attachment 2097

I stand corrected (and the question mark in the above image should be deleted). The link to the manual (which msinger so graciously provided) answered all my questions. On page four it states "When connected to an external power source, the Charging Station can charge itself, Intelligent Flight Batteries, and other compatible equipment." It goes on to say (on page 6) "When charging, the Charging Station will first charge the battery in the aircraft, and
then the two spare batteries in accordance with their power levels from high to low."

I guess what distracted me was that the batteries in the three bays are in different orientations. The inboard battery (attached to the Spark) is facing up (so the quad contacts are pointing down), and outboard batteries are facing down, hence the different charging contacts.

The bottom line of all this (remember my first question?) is that the quad contacts are used by the portable charger to charge the battery attached to the Spark while in the portable charger (and only while in the portable charger).

Thanks to all for humoring me in this research/discussion.

If you like watch this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r4XulGzELk

slothead · Dec 2, 2017

nicholas hickman said:
If you like watch this

Thanks for posting this Nicholas.

RayNg · Dec 5, 2017

I am curious, can you fly the spark and land on the charging station, let it charge and then take off, without needing touch the spark or turn on/off the batteries?

slothead · Dec 5, 2017

RayNg said:
I am curious, can you fly the spark and land on the charging station, let it charge and then take off, without needing touch the spark or turn on/off the batteries?

No, because there is a (sort of) bar that you clamp down over the spark to apply pressure to the charging probes.

Virtual1 · Dec 6, 2017

slothead said:
Thanks to all for humoring me in this research/discussion.

Also of interest... the contacts on the bottom of the battery are always hot and I suspect they bypass the "intelligent" of the battery and are just connected right to the internal battery pack.

Makes me a little nervous seeing those hot pads exposed like that... you definitely don't want to toss that battery in your pocket with your car keys! (the ~6 pin connector on the other hand is much less likely be contacted by something as thick as car keys, and isn't providing power while the battery is "off") I'm tempted to tape them over as a precaution as they serve no purpose if you don't have the charge station.

And I'm waiting for DJI to come out with a charge landing pad mode or something that enables the Spark to home in on and "dock" with its charger and sit there and top off its batteries automagically. Maybe not terribly practical, but definitely cool, a bit like how the roombas etc go dock and charge themselves. They've got the "precision landing" thing working (sort of?) so this may be in the cards.

slothead · Dec 6, 2017

Virtual1 said:
Also of interest... the contacts on the bottom of the battery are always hot and I suspect they bypass the "intelligent" of the battery and are just connected right to the internal battery pack.

Makes me a little nervous seeing those hot pads exposed like that... you definitely don't want to toss that battery in your pocket with your car keys! (the ~6 pin connector on the other hand is much less likely be contacted by something as thick as car keys, and isn't providing power while the battery is "off") I'm tempted to tape them over as a precaution as they serve no purpose if you don't have the charge station.

And I'm waiting for DJI to come out with a charge landing pad mode or something that enables the Spark to home in on and "dock" with its charger and sit there and top off its batteries automagically. Maybe not terribly practical, but definitely cool, a bit like how the roombas etc go dock and charge themselves. They've got the "precision landing" thing working (sort of?) so this may be in the cards.

Thanks V1 for your inputs here. I suspect that if what you say is correct (and I don’t doubt it), the only way to remove the potential voltage from those contacts is to drain the internal battery, but that makes no sense and defeats its purpose. A better protection might be to fashion an ‘insert’ to clamp under the top strap in place of the Spark and cover up those contacts. A piece of non-conductive foam cut to an appropriate size/shape would do the trick.

Virtual1 · Dec 6, 2017

You definitely do not want to drain a lipo battery, that will brick it. I'll probably just apply a little kapton (polyimide film) tape to them if it worries me further, no need to add weight or drag. A dab of rubber cement would also probably work well - it'd be protective, not harm the plastic or gold plating, and would be easy to remove. (peel off) I know there are a few places selling "Spark battery bags" for protection during transport also, but I don't know who just tosses their batteries loose into a box with other things?

But I could really see someone walking out to their Spark and swapping the battery and launching it back up, and slip the swapped battery into their pocket as they walk back to the bench, and have a car-key accident happen while they walk.

slothead · Dec 6, 2017

I think I may have misunderstood your last input. I thought you were talking about the portable charger contacts, but now I see you were talking about the battery contacts themselves! That indeed makes the problem more serious if it is correct (I will check mine later today).

Virtual1 · Dec 6, 2017

when I was testing them I found the front two and rear two pads were essentially the same contacts, with about 3.7v between front and back, at all times. I didn't test to see if it was "willing" to pass any significant current though - there may be a very low current threshold somehow and its possible two of those pads are somehow data lines that are at rest at + or - potential.