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Any leisure battery experts?

palebluedot

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palebluedot

palebluedot

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Hi guys,

I need some mobile power for my NEQ6 and to recharge phones and my laptop for a weekend. I have been looking at a leisure battery for this, as they have a far bigger capacity. I looks like a bit of a minefield with your 'deep cycle' and 'calcium technology'. Can anyone tell me if this battery would be adequate, and if not point me in the direction of one that would.

Thanks in advance.

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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That will be fine - ignore the "technologies" sales pitch - but dont forget to factor in a decent charger/conditioner to keep your battery in good condition for years. The 110Ah is quite heavy - if you don't need that capacity then the smaller capacity batteries are slightly lighter and easier to carry.

You can work out the capacity you need quite easily: Add up the current drawn by your mount 2A, lappy - maybe 3.5A, phone 1A (but not continuous). Makes 6.5A. Double it (so you don't discharge the battery more than 50%) equals 13A. Multiply by the number of hours continuous use between charges - say six - equals 78Ah required (78 Amp-hours). So a 75Ah battery would be quite sufficient for the example given. Hope this helps.

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Stu

Stu

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I have a 110Ah leisure battery which just lasted me 10 days of charging phones/ipods, a pair of dvd players plus providing lighting and also powered my dew strips for around 4 hours, didn't use a powered mount.

They are heavy so be prepared for that. The comments about getting a decent charger/conditioner I also agree with strongly.

I went for the largest capacity I could just to give me maximum power for long weekends using goto mount, as ever it is a trade off between cost/weight and performance. Don't forget also that they don't last as long in cold conditions.

Stu

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palebluedot

palebluedot

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Great guys! Thanks for all the advice. I have gone for the 110 AH above and the this charger/conditioner. I have a fold up trolley that I can use for the battery, so the weight should not be too much of a problem. The charger I ordered claims to be able to deep recharge from 2V. Is it still inadvisable to discharge down to less than 50% ?

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Stu

Stu

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Just checked, mine was a Numax CRW I think, with Numax charger.

Sure what you've ordered will be fine.

Not sure about discharging. Batteries can be sensitive things so the better you maintain it, the better it will last. I have almost completely discharged mine once before but it hasn't seemed to affect it, the charger is very good.

Stu

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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That is a good charger as far as I can tell. You should (be able to) leave your battery on charge/conditioning all the time - ie whenever it is not in use. Mine "lives" on the charger and is always ready for use. It uses almost no juice as it is only doing a light "on/off cycle" to keep the battery happy.

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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It all depends on what "everything" is!! An HEQ5 or EQ6 draws about 1A when tracking so a 7Ah powertank should allow the mount to track continuously for 7 hours. But you shouldn't run a battery right down nor will the battery actually last that long as you will surely need to fast slew from time to time - drawing around 2A as you do. Additionally these figures are for approx 20°C - often astro gear is run at much lower temperatures and this will shorten the batteries available "life".

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Freff

Freff

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Try not to store your battery directly on a concrete floor such as in a garage. From my experience it saps the charge more quickly and I believe shortens the life.

I stored all my leisure batteries on kneeling pads.

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BargeGazer

BargeGazer

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I use semi-traction (half way between deep-cycle and "starter") batteries on board my barge for all domestic chores, including generating mains electricity via an inverter. Thes secret to keeping ANY lead acid battery alive is to keep it fully charged at all times. By limiting its discharge level to say ten percent with a very rare discharge to 20% (that is down by 10% NOT down to 10) has meant that I get 10 years life out of them. Others using similar batteries but not limmiting their discharge have reported only one or two years life.

So the answer is to use the largest you can sensibly manage and to use a VERY GOOD charger that will put the battery through an equalisation/absorbtion phase before dropping into a float mode that means you just leave it plugged in all the time. Costly but tyou will always have a fully charged battery, it will last longer and you will always be able to complete your observations.

Temperature of storage is only a problem if they are left uncharged in which case they die very quickly.

Read the specs on a battery as far as charge cycles but ignore any words that sound too much like marketing hype.

I use Komet batteries but I do not know if they are available in the UK or how low capacity they go.

David

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palebluedot

palebluedot

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My charger has arrived. I had no idea there were so many stages to charging a battery!

  • Desulphation (Sounds like a bit of an Americanism to me)
  • Soft start
  • Bulk
  • Absorption
  • Analyse
  • Record
  • Float
  • Pulse

Surely I can't be missing anything. The pulse stage apparently maintains the battery at 95-100%. The battery is good for 400 cycles, what constitutes a cycle? If I leave the charger attached permanently, will these cycles not get 'used up'?

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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A "cycle" is a full discharge/recharge done under "ideal" conditions. Not to be confused with real life!! if you use your battery 100 times a year (no chance in the UK) it will certainly last at least 4 years and probably 8 or more. In reality maybe use it 50 times a year? It should last a decade easily.

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palebluedot

palebluedot

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I have now moved on to inverters and have a couple more queries. If I I use an inverter to power my device chargers, blow-up beds etc... am I still using the same amount of power drawn by the items themselves, or is there any lost in the conversion? Can this be quite expensive? and does it vary from inverter to inverter. Any recommendations for a cheapo?

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Stu

Stu

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I imagine there will be some losses but you would have to check the specs to compare them. I expect they would be similar.

I use this one from maplin. It's a 300w 12V inverter with USB 5V output which is useful for charging phones aswell as giving the mains.

There are lower power output versions, or the one without USB is on a good offer at the moment. Mine has been very good, reliable and no problems. It gives a warning beep when the battery voltage falls below the useable level so helps to protect against damage.

http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=518798

Cheers

Stu

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palebluedot

palebluedot

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Thanks Stu. I have had a look around and I get a feel that they are usually 85-90% efficient, saying that, few actually state it on the spec, so I will be inclined to go with one that does.

Another thing to factor into your consumption calculations folks.

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palebluedot

palebluedot

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If anyone has spent ages looking for a decent cigar lighter hookup solution to their leisure/car battery like me, then you might find these useful:

Ctek CTE-56382 Comfort Indicator with 8mm Eyelet Adaptors

Ctek CTE-56573 Comfort Connect Cigarette Socket Adaptor

Together with a couple of bolt on terminals from Halfords, it all comes to less than £20 and gives you a connection with battery level indicator and fused at 15A. Far cheaper than I could make it myself.

HTH someone.

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squeaky

squeaky

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Yes. I aimed at powering everything from one source. So at home I just run a single mains cable to my mount. Out on a site I run a single cable from battery to inverter to mount. Only one cable to trip over in the dark :)

Well, two at the moment because I need to fit a laptop holder onto the mount.

Oh, and I went for the larger inverter because it was guaranteed to be able to run my TV, and a light, and my microwave for when I have power cuts :)

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