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Just discovered this power pack has a £15 bonus with it and it's only £59.99

jon1000

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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Yes, a battery in parallel works fine for giving extra power - I have done just that before. TBH though, when I get to need that amount of power I will get a GEL Motor scooter battery and build something from scratch. Optimate will still see we well :D Many ways to skin this cat..

For now, the Maplin is a great solution.

Steve

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Picked my unit up from Maplins today. Got it home, opened box to find the polystyrene packaging damaged and none of the chargers present. Had to drive back and get a replacement:mad:

This one was fine, with all packaging intact. Anyway, it is now connected up to the Optimate:). Really pleased with this, so thanks to all for the tips.

Cheers

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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Picked my unit up from Maplins today. Got it home, opened box to find the polystyrene packaging damaged and none of the chargers present. Had to drive back and get a replacement:mad:

This one was fine, with all packaging intact. Anyway, it is now connected up to the Optimate:). Really pleased with this, so thanks to all for the tips.

Cheers

They work great. But remember you must charge it after every use without fail. Never have a three hour observing session then just leave the battery at 70% for a few weeks. It'll destroy it in no time. Keep it well maintained and it should last a good few years. When the internal battery does give up the ghost I will swap out the SLA inside for a GEL battery.

EDIT - Also you should not do a deep discharge of the battery either. When you've got down to 70% or so - which is a fair good observing run starting at 17Amps, you should be thinking of recharging. Deep discharges do not do these batteries any good.

Steve

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Simms

Simms

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Jumping in the thread here for a bit of advice - I actually have the Skywatcher Powertank (the biggest one) and think the cr*ppy little DC charger isnt really upto the task - if I was to buy one of these battery conditioners/chargers mentioned I understand I could connect it to the Jumpstart leads on the unit but what position would I put the switch in? On, Off or Charge? Now some of you may think "Duh, charge obviously", but I am thinking the charge option is ONLY for the DC adapter charger. - if I was bypassing this and connecting directly to the crocodile clips/jumpstart leads would I need it in Charge mode or would ON be the more obvious choice? Hope I am making myself clear here.

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cowasaki

cowasaki

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Jumping in the thread here for a bit of advice - I actually have the Skywatcher Powertank (the biggest one) and think the cr*ppy little DC charger isnt really upto the task - if I was to buy one of these battery conditioners/chargers mentioned I understand I could connect it to the Jumpstart leads on the unit but what position would I put the switch in? On, Off or Charge? Now some of you may think "Duh, charge obviously", but I am thinking the charge option is ONLY for the DC adapter charger. - if I was bypassing this and connecting directly to the crocodile clips/jumpstart leads would I need it in Charge mode or would ON be the more obvious choice? Hope I am making myself clear here.

You would need to have it in the position where the battery is connected to the connections you are using. For these jump start boxes that position would be ON as in that position the jump leads are connected to the battery. IF you take the lead out of the conditioner's box that is designed for permenantly connecting to a motorcycle and fit a power plug to it then it would plug into the charge socket on the power pack and you would use the CHARGE position.

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Simms

Simms

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You would need to have it in the position where the battery is connected to the connections you are using. For these jump start boxes that position would be ON as in that position the jump leads are connected to the battery. IF you take the lead out of the conditioner's box that is designed for permenantly connecting to a motorcycle and fit a power plug to it then it would plug into the charge socket on the power pack and you would use the CHARGE position.

Perfect, thanks for the reply.

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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Perfect, thanks for the reply.

Yes, you put it to the "on" position so charges through the jump leads. All the ON switch does is provide a connection between the + terminal of the battery and the RED jumper cable to isolate it. So to charge the SLA through the same leads you just turn the battery ON and charge :icon_salut:

Steve

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They work great. But remember you must charge it after every use without fail. Never have a three hour observing session then just leave the battery at 70% for a few weeks. It'll destroy it in no time. Keep it well maintained and it should last a good few years. When the internal battery does give up the ghost I will swap out the SLA inside for a GEL battery.

EDIT - Also you should not do a deep discharge of the battery either. When you've got down to 70% or so - which is a fair good observing run starting at 17Amps, you should be thinking of recharging. Deep discharges do not do these batteries any good.

Steve

Thanks Steve. Will plug it back on to Optimate each time I pack the gear away. Am still doing the 38 hour pre-charge from the mains as per the instructions. Looking forward to ditching the 8 x AA batteries!

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cowasaki

cowasaki

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What's an invertor?

It converts the 12V DC from the battery into 240V AC that you can then use to power other items like your laptop's power supply. The 240V will not be particularly powerful so you can't start running power tools but it can be handy.

Personally the Maplin one looks like a better device for a small additional amount.

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jon1000

jon1000

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It converts the 12V DC from the battery into 240V AC that you can then use to power other items like your laptop's power supply. The 240V will not be particularly powerful so you can't start running power tools but it can be handy.

Personally the Maplin one looks like a better device for a small additional amount.

+1 I would choose this over that other on any day of the week. It's so much better, quality seems really good too.

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cowasaki

cowasaki

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Whilst it may be £25 more at the moment, by the time I get around to being able to purchase one, the maplin one will be off offer, making it £35 more. Harldy a "small amount" of money for some!

To be honest my memory was playing tricks and I thought it was £49.99 so only £15 more. The device you've pointed out is just as good if you only want a single 12V supply and nothing more.

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  • 2 weeks later...
dellboy78

dellboy78

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Just bought one of these 5 in 1 maplin power packs. The DISCOUNT3 code still works for £3 off, I also used a site called TopCashback (which is great for online purchases at many places) to give me a further 7% cashback which is basically another £4 off. You just have to sign up to the cashback site and click the link to maplin from there and shop as usual. Its like money for nothing!:)

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jon1000

jon1000

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The Maplin unit looks to be very versatile with the inverter as well. What's the overall build quality like?

The build quality is very good, since opening this post i have not been able to use mine for what it was bought for but no doubt it will get some use soon, well, as soon as I finally get a clear sky.

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I tried using the included car charger that came with the unit to power my scope, but found the cigar lighter adapter was not a great connection when plugged in at the unit. The connection kept momentarily dropping out causing the SynScan to reset.

Have since bought a power lead from Astronomiser which has a far more sturdier fit in the 12v socket with no loss of connectivity. The powertank runs the scope no problem at all. Great little unit.

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  • 9 months later...
jon1000

jon1000

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Just found the old thread I posted ages ago, wondering how people are getting on with this power pack if you bought one.

Mine is still in great condition, I bought the optimate 4 charger for it (that another user mentioned earlier). I just charged the car battery too, ready for the winter, it's a great little charger.

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