Sky-Watcher Powertank dead

[Astroegg]

I managed to leave my Sky-Watcher 17Ah powertank switched in the ON position when I last used the unit (month or so ago) and although nothing was actually on (lamp, radio etc) the tank seems to be totally drained. Worse though, it does not appear to be charging at all when I plug in the DC input charger. Perhaps I have killed it.

I have a trickle charger which I needed for an errant car battery once - could I use it to recharge the powertank? Would I be able to hook up the trickle charger to the car charging clips on the powertank or do I need to somehow open up the power tank and get to the actual battery contacts?

I'll try and check the DC input charger and the fuses on the powertank before I do anything drastic but am I going to have to butcher the unit?

[Starlight 1]

Have you got any m8 that do R/C cars or flying . as the R/c chargers will start as low as 0.01 amp that may work.

[kirkster501]

Have you tried or got access to an Optimate charger? I swear by these - have used them to rescue car batteries many times.

The chargers that the powertanks get supplied with are rubbish.

[Steve Ward]

I did a similar thing once and when I put it on to charge the light just flashed rather than staying on.

I asked at the retailer and was told to leave it plugged into the charger and it will come back to life , it did and hasn't given me any trouble since .

Steve.

[Astroegg]

Left it plugged into the standard DC charger for a couple of hours and the charging light came back on. I left it to fully charge overnight and it is back working fully again now. Not sure if the capacity of a full charge has been affected but at least it is not dead thank goodness. Thanks for all suggestions.

[Steve Ward]

That's good to hear , exactly what mine did . . .

I now plug it in after every use to be sure , even though I just run the Synguider with it at night or the EQ3-2 for an hour on my Solar shooting.

Steve.

[cantharis]

Good to hear that it sorted itself.