Leisure Battery Box

[MushroomBill]

Very nice build.

Can I ask where you get the 15a wire from? There are obviously lots of places selling it but I've only found large reels of it in my quick searches to date.

Thanks!

[pwalsh61]

I got my wire from Halfords. Ended up needing 2 reels of each colour. All connectors crimped on

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[lardy]

Try this company ... very good dispatch, normally order one day delivered the next

www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu

[Russe]

If you say that cold diminishes battery life, shouldn't we put it into a heat insulated box?

[Bizibilder]

I keep my own battery indoors at around 20°C (on the charger) and the box I use has 15mm of expanded polystyrene all around the battery for that very reason. I've never measured the effect but it should keep the battery warm. Its own chemical reaction will produce a little heat and should also help.

[pwalsh61]

A couple of images of my version. I've not made up a ply box yet. The battery is sat on a ply base with 9x12mm stripwood to stop it sliding. The second image shows the charger temporarily in place with croc clips to the battery. I just need to fix it in place and sort out the connections:

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[philming]

Great post ! Can anyone tell me if one can find those fuseboxes on ebay somewhere ?

I have my own gear in place, I'll post photos asap, but these boxes should be of great help to get the wiring a little tydier.

[Photosbykev]

There are plenty of fuse boxs available on the bay http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sis.html?_kw=12+Way+Blade+Fuse+Box+car+boat+campervan+motorhome+Auto

[pwalsh61]

If you're in the UK you can get them from Halfords. 6-way is part number HFS204

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[philming]

Hi again !

So here's my project :

[pwalsh61]

For those who might be interested, here's a list of Halfords parts used (apart from cable ties which I already had). I could probably obtained the items cheaper elsewhere but it was convenient to just be able to pop in:

HFS204 Compact fusebox 6-way

HFS513 15A Spade connectors, female

HEF381 15A Ring connectors 8mm

HEF731 Red 17A cable (2 x 4m reels)

HEF732 Black 17A cable (2 x 4m reels)

And, from http://leisurekings.co.uk , 6 x 12v recessed cigar lighter sockets

With a bit more careful measuring of the cables I could have possibly got away with one reel of each colour but I didn't want to put any strain on them.

Was it easier than making my own box out of ply? Definitely. Was it cheaper? Errrm, debatable! The cost of the bits and pieces listed above came to more than the toolbox itself. However, if I had gone ahead with a self-build the chances are I'd have ended up buying a circular saw with which to cut the ply (I have a jigsaw, though the concept of a straight line is alien to it!), so the cost of saw + ply + fixings + time and effort would probably have come to more than that of the toolbox + components. This is a much neater solution, so thanks to JimS for his original post!

[pwalsh61]

Nice one Phil. Very compact

[philming]

Thanx ! As I said, each 12V outlet has its own fuse, set on the + wire, and sized depending on what will get plugged into it. The EQ6 has a 3A fuse, the dew heaters have a 2A, and so on.

.I need to clean it all up a little, so I guess a fuse box would be great. But since I'm using quiet varied fuse sizes (from 2A to 5A), some of them are "mini" and others are standard. I'm wondering if those fuse boxes can handle both types...

The cable I used was 4mm2.

[philming]

Hi all again. I suddenly have some doubts with my setup. I read here and there that the EQ6 is very sensitive on the voltage it gets.

I did some tests with an older battery (haven't tested with the new one yet) with all the stuff connected to it.

That's a Lacerta Mgen, 2 dew heaters with controler, an external 450D power supply, and the loaded EQ6 itself.

I have noticed during the test while checking the voltage on the HC, that the voltage the EQ6 was getting was getting pretty low. Strange, because the battery was fully loaded.

So does that mean that with all the gear plugged in, whatever is being drawn from the battery by the other equipment doesn't leave enough juice for the mount ? Or did I have some cabling problem somewhere ?

Best regards

[Photosbykev]

as you increase the loading on the battery the voltage will naturally get lower as the battery discharges. I doubt you have a wiring problem, if you did there would be smoke The EQ6 needs a solid 12v or ideally even higher

[kirkster501]

Great project.

Jim, the DVM should be fused in-line somewhere mate in case it does go short circuit. I'd take it off one of the outputs.

What Leisure battery did you use?

Thanks, Steve

[Epicyclus Dave]

Wow , some very nice & practical designs for power boxes guys , im slowly ironing out my problems with power at remote sites http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/165173-neq6-flashing-led-resulting-bad-tracking/

What i've encountered so far is , the battery needs to be in a well insulated box and if possible, low power warming between the battery and insulation if you are using at a cold frosty site.

Also the more power that is drawn from the battery the tighter the "good" voltage is available to the mount ( full charged battery = around 13V ---- running down to 12.5V and below = NEQ6 throwing a wobbler ) .

The easiest way to solve this new problem of the mount disliking 12.5V and lower is to use a step up power pack that runs an 12v cigar plug input converting it to 15V output , and if your really adventurous & a whizz with a soldering iron you can mod the power pack to give a happy medium output voltage of around 13.5V

Dave.

[jbk44]

Wow , some very nice & practical designs for power boxes guys , im slowly ironing out my problems with power at remote sites http://stargazerslou...g-bad-tracking/

What i've encountered so far is , the battery needs to be in a well insulated box and if possible, low power warming between the battery and insulation if you are using at a cold frosty site.

Also the more power that is drawn from the battery the tighter the "good" voltage is available to the mount ( full charged battery = around 13V ---- running down to 12.5V and below = NEQ6 throwing a wobbler ) .

The easiest way to solve this new problem of the mount disliking 12.5V and lower is to use a step up power pack that runs an 12v cigar plug input converting it to 15V output , and if your really adventurous & a whizz with a soldering iron you can mod the power pack to give a happy medium output voltage of around 13.5V

Dave.

So I have a universal charger between my leisure battery and mount set to 15v, I'd like to bring that down to 13v as you suggest. I'm not whizz, but really want to know how. Any ideas please?

[Epicyclus Dave]

JBK44 , if you understand my post below from another topic , and are adept at correctly identifying and carefully removing a surface mount component then replacing with a normal 1/4w type 1K resistor, neatly with good contacts, then this will be a breeze to do.

Having the correct tools is paramount , adjustable temp good soldering iron , tweezers , long nose pliers , solder wick braid , multi-meter, etc.

All the things an electronics hobbyist should have already.

Good luck.

Dave.

Hi Phil

What about just using your power pack at the 15V setting , seems to work fine for a lot of people , i did this because im volt obsessive i'm an electrician through the day and build home made synthesisers at weekends .

If you are interested here is my disclaimer ... then method of attack.

There may be problems sharing my mod .

There are many variations of circuit layout / pcb layouts for these small step up power packs and where i changed a resistor might not be the same remedy applicable to another design.

Cool , that's me free from blame for carbonised / burnt out NEQ6's heheheheh

My power packi bought uses a simple slide switch to select the output voltage (15V ...to...20V) , when i opened the case i noticed the slide switch had a surface mount resistor connected to every pole of the switch , using a magnifiying glass , i saw they had used a small ohmic value (220R i think) for the 20V output , the values rose as the volts dropped , at the 15V setting on the slide switch they had a 820R smd resistor , intuition suggests changing that to a 1K to lower the voltage slightly more , and luckily that for me landed on 13.8V .

Dave.

[jbk44]

I've got the tools (a brilliant friend)...

Thanks for your last post Dave, I really appreciate you posting that.

:icon_salut:

[jbk44]

Dave I'm using a Uniross u0151429, was that the same as yours??

[Budding Star Gazer]

nice,

if you don't mind me asking what was the total cost.

i want to do one for myself but will use a stanley rolling tool chest.

[jbk44]

Well i think mine came to about £150, the battery was the most expensive at £120. I went for the elecsol carbon type and I used my old fishing box from argos the battery fits a treat.

[pwalsh61]

About £22 for the box and £40-£50 for the bits (excluding battery). Would probably have been less if I'd sourced things like wire, fusebox, connectors from somewhere other than halfords

I had a 4hr session on Saturday and ran my EQ5, DSLR and laptop off the battery with no ill effect on the mount. Am contemplating modifying a uniross adapter to provide a bit more voltage to the mount just on case.

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[Epicyclus Dave]

Hi , i had my power box out for 5 hours in the borders countryside at -4 degC last night and all behaved well even the laptop which was covered in frost, brrr .

My box cost comprised of..

AGM 90ah battery £90.

Sockets & fuse bank & batt clamps £30.

Ply wood & insulation (bulding site workplace perks )

RING RSC512 7 stage smartcharger £70.

YC generic universal car power adapter for the Mount £12.

Dave.