Skywatcher Power Tank Fix..

[Greg]

For those of you that purchased an HEQ5 or EQ6 up untill last year, Skywatcher supplied a 12v 17ah power tank.

The things were virtually useless as they never held their charge for any length of time and took days to re-charge after use..

The problem with them was that they were delivered to the customer fully discharged and the supplied charger was inadequate to supply the battery with the initial deep cycle charge it requires..

I have spent the last few days and nights looking how to rectify this problem without blowing the battery up!

The fix is simple. Remove the battery and put on a motorcycle battery charger or a car charger that will specifically charge motorcycle batteries as well as car ones.

I have charged mine with both a motorcycle bike battery charger (Optimate) Which deep cycle charges and a Halfords automatic battery chargerwhich has a Motorbike battery setting.

After a load testThe results were the same the battery held it's charge at 13.2 volts and after 2 nights use on the HEQ5 Pro running the mount and the lappy it's still ok for one more night..

There are some photo's below to assist you in taking the thing apart..It's quite simple, the battery is a bit of a tight fit to get back in the box...

[FLO]

Nice one Greg

Resourceful sort, aren't you.

[Kai]

Did you discard the rest of the casing and use the battery by itsself OR put it all back together again afterwards.I take it you dont use the supplied mains adaptor for charging now.

[beamish]

that's a really helpful post there Greg cheers, I think I'm encountering the same problem with my "tank". I've opened it up and the battery is identical. It never seems to hold enough charge, so I'll try this solution before I decide whether or not I ought to THROW IT AT THE WALL !!!!

Ta, Karlo

[Greg]

I put it all back together Steve..

The next plan will be to drill 2 small holes on the back of the casing and run the bike charger to there with a couple of cables off the battery..

Greg

[Kai]

mmmm

I might just take the battery out and wire a female cigarette lighter plug end to the terminals and then "car" charge it each time.

[Greg]

I might just take the battery out and wire a female cigarette lighter plug end to the terminals and then "car" charge it each time.

Seems like a plan..

[Jamie]

mmmm

I might just take the battery out and wire a female cigarette lighter plug end to the terminals and then "car" charge it each time.

If thats what works for you then go for it...

[beamish]

I put it all back together Steve..

The next plan will be to drill 2 small holes on the back of the casing and run the bike charger to there with a couple of cables off the battery..

Greg

Thats just what I've done this afternoon, finished it about an hour ago and following your recommendation Greg, I bought on Optimate 3sp .Once the mod was completed, I hooked it up and it's charging away as I type! Nice one ,cheers!

Karlo

[orion f6.3]

I opted for the Halfords POWER TANK £75 :shock: but 300w 3-pin plug power inverter twin florescent lights (independent switching) 12v cig plug compressor (removed but still usable saved 3" on the width) but best of all a wopping 20APH Orion

[orion f6.3]

there you go some pics and the upgrade

[proflight2000]

is there an adaptor to just plug in the electric socket and then plug it into the mount? just a straight forwards thing.

[orion f6.3]

no, you would use the 12v cig socket :? the electric socket is 230/240v

[proflight2000]

yes what i meant is there a transformer of sorts that allows me to just directly use my 240v power supply then plugged straight into the heq5 mount. Bit like the ones you can buy for the meade scopes. On the issue of batteries, does not a bike battery charge at 6v or is it safe enough to connect a battery charger to the (sealed battery) within the power tank. I have a charger that does both 6v and 12v either fast charge or trickle charge. Would be interested in any feedback on that as charging sealed batteries can be a tad dangerous if it is not done right.

[proflight2000]

Just mentioning that there is a charger made by ring called the smart charge 4, phatt mentioned about installing leads directly to the battery so it could be plugged in and charged with the battery left in the compartment, this one has round ended leads that can be attached to the battery constantly then the attachment to the charger bought outside the unit to save pulling the battery out again. saw it in a motor shop a little while ago. It has the same stuff as the optima and was wondering if they were infact the same item in a different box. It charges at 2 and 4 amps and has the same keep it attached for optimum performance stuff.

[beamish]

Just to say, I don't have to remove the battery from the tank to charge it via the optimate since you can attach the clips from the optimate directly to the corresponding crocodile clips on the tank. I've actually removed the clips from the tank, shortened them and then fed thru into the covers where the booster clips would have been stored and then re-crimped the cable-ends back on so the optimate clips can get a firm purchase for re-charging . If you want to run your mount off mains then get to Maplins ASAP and get one of these,

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&DOY=30m7&ModuleNo=42702&criteria=

Karlo