Skywatcher Power Tank 17ah flashing lights!

[WesB]

Hi, I have a Skywatcher Power Tank 17ah which I bought in a bundle with other equipment and it didnt come with the mains charger, I have purchased one (the correct one from Skywatcher) and connected it to charge the tank and the charging (red light) & fully charged (green light) are now flashing! is this normal?

When I switch the charger to ON then the green light comes on saying its fully charged? However I tried it last night supposedly fully charged and their was nothing in the tank! I am confused because I dont have instructions and cannot find them online. I have found the instructions for the Celestron version which looks exactly the same and this indicates that the red light is ON when charging and green light ON when fully charged. Therefore no flashing lights! Does this mean my tank is...how shall I put this.....broken?

[rowan46]

was it a new tank or second user?

[sologuitarist61]

You can certainly use the instructions for the Celestron version as they are identical and made by the same company, just rebrabded SkyWatcher and Celestron.

The main trouble with any unit like this which has a bettery similar to a car version, is that if left 'flat' and uncharged for a long period of time, they are almost impossible to charge again. I would also guess that the lights situation would indicate that this unit was broken before you got it. Don't know what you paid for the bundle, but the 17ah versions sells for well over £100 and its secondhand value would probably be 2/3rds of that if it was OK, so if you paid less than that for the bundle then they probably knew it was useless.

[rowan46]

That was my thought that it had been left flat. a new battery is about £35 just unscrew the case and drop a new one in

[WesB]

Thanks for the timely responses, I have used the tank since I bought the equipment however I never had the charger til recently so its probably been sinking slowly. Don't think it was left for a long period without charge however I have read (this morning) that they do need to be charged weekly! or they bust.

Can you tell me where I can get a replacement battery or a tank with a better shelf life?

[rowan46]

maplins should do a battery or nthere are plenty of places online that do them. you are looking for a 17ah 12v gel battery

[glowjet]

Power-sonic SLA batteries have a very long shelf life after charging and according to their info do not need regular top ups as some do, but there again their 17aH model is a bit expensive, but may worth the investment in the long run. I am fortunate in having as a friend a near neighbour in property alarm maintenance and they use the above batteries in all their systems. From a quick look they are available from Hunters Wholesalers fire alarms/security for just over £31 inclusive of Vat HTH

John