Need power tank help!

[twelly27]

I've posted on the other forums and not had much help just one of those things I think can anyone suggest a power tank to use for my HEQ5pro which uses my skymax 127 with it, I have found this one http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=224871 but I don't know If it's good enough for hours of imaging and use for webcam, can anyone post links or websites for any others I should look into? I need one in time for astro camp in Wales

Thanks

Chris

[mallorcasaint]

That should do the job as its a 17Ah powertank but you may want to look at a leisure battery instead as they seem to be more reliable and pack more power. I had a cheaper version of the Maplins power tank and it worked ok on my old CG5-GT.

[twelly27]

That should do the job as its a 17Ah powertank but you may want to look at a leisure battery instead as they seem to be more reliable and pack more power. I had a cheaper version of the Maplins power tank and it worked ok on my old CG5-GT.

Brilliant I'm guessing it has a lighter port? So I'd need to find a suitable adaptor for it to connect to my mount?

Regards

Chris

[faulksy]

Brilliant I'm guessing it has a lighter port? So I'd need to find a suitable adaptor for it to connect to my mount?

Regards

Chris

easy to make, maplins sell everything

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I use this for my HEQ5 Pro mount

http://www.maplin.co.uk/5-in-1-jump-starter-with-portable-power-224871

Can even pump your bike or car tyres off it, and jump start your car. Has a normal plug on the back too although ive never used that.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Which i just realised is the same one you posted too. So go for it. They quite often have them on offer too, depending how urgent you want it.

[twelly27]

Which i just realised is the same one you posted too. So go for it. They quite often have them on offer too, depending how urgent you want it.

Haha! Well that's all the convincing I need really if someone else uses it and it does the job with the same mount as I have then it's all good! Thanks very much!

Regards

Chris

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Its £70 on the website, but im sure i got mine for £60. But like i said depends how long you want to wait. But if you have a goto mount with nothing to power it on, im guessing not very long.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

It also has a bright light on it too, which is handy for packing away and making sure youve not missed anything.

[twelly27]

Well I can wait a while I haven't booked my tickets yet, but is rather get one and get used to how to work it etc just to be on the safe side if I get it sorted now I won't have to rush round closer to the time I think it's somthing like 40-45 days until astrocamp so abit of time the power I have for my HEQ5pro now is supposed to be used inside only which I didn't see until I took it out the first time, so I don't wanna push my luck with that if I get a tank now I can use it whenever it's clear skies from now u til September

thanks

chris

[m37]

total +1 recommendation for the 5 in 1 from Maplin. Mine is awesome, never even touched the capacity. Most I've used so far was after a seriously long (for me) session of 7 hours it was just under 90%.

I believe the capacity drops over time but if you recharge in between uses and observe the initial long charge then I reckon you'll be fine. And I used it to inflate my lad's paddling pool.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Have you used the plug socket in the back? How much power can that handle. I have never used it but would be interested to know.

[m37]

Have you used the plug socket in the back? How much power can that handle. I have never used it but would be interested to know.

I did once briefly, just to try it out. Hit the Jumpsgtarter's battery very hard running my laptop and I reckon it would use all the juice pretty quickly, probably under an hour. Maybe less. I won't be using it and have now even covered it with one of those kiddie plug protector things.

[m37]

Oh, and the manual says the socket can only be used for devices requiring up to 200W of power.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I often wondered if i could run a phone charger or a laptop off it, but i also thought it would make the battery drain too fast. Always find myself low on phone battery by the end of the day.

[twelly27]

So how does a leisure battery work? Do I need to buy anything else of I get one, I'm guessing they won't have a cigaret charger kind of thing in them, tbh I'm not really confident enough to have to build my own or anything like that I'd rather not mess about with electrics and end up messing it up or doing somthing to my mount

Thanks

Chris

[Pyrodave]

As long as you charge the powertank asap after use it should last for years, if you let it go flat though that's when you'll start to have problems

[Pyrodave]

You can buy a lead with cigarette lighter socket one end and crocodile clips on the other to just clip onto the battery terminals, but make sure you connect up correctly as wrong way round can fry some mounts

[peroni]

My HEQ5 Pro came with a cig lighter cable which I've used to connect to my power tank.

The power tank I have came from Maplins, is 7Ah, and was about £20. Does the job for a few hours running only the mount.

The tank also came with a power cable.

You must make sure that the connector is 'tip positive' as you don't want to fry your mounts circuitry. The cables supplied were tip positive but best to check using a multimeter.