NexStar Evolution Mount Battery Questions and Answers

[ItsPhilD]

Before purchasing my Evolution 8 I downloaded the owner's manual and read through it. It's not very long and it's not very content rich let's say. One of the big areas of concern I had was about the battery. After receiving the setup earlier this week, and setting it up, I glanced through the enclosed owner's manual and there were no improvement or additions.

So this morning I called Celestron first thing and got a lot of answer about all of my questions. I have attached their response which I received only a few hours after my call.

Hello Sir, 

After talking to our Product Development team. They have informed me that they type of chemistry that is being used in the battery is Lithium Phosphate. The battery will hold a charge for very long periods of time and is designed to last 10 years before needing a replacement.

The engineer that I spoke to they will be making an amendment to the manual stating if you plant on not using your mount for long periods of time, that you should refresh the battery every 3 months. (He mentioned that this is overkill and you could get away with refreshing the battery every six months)

You do not need to fully charge the battery once you get the new scope unless the power level is low. You can view the power level on the app or on the hand controller. It will give you high, medium and low. The app will also display at what voltage the battery is discharging. for example it may read "Discharging - 9.91v (High)" Charging the battery once you get the scope wouldn't really hurt it. 

As for replacement batteries, We will be selling them in the future. A customer will be able to swap them out with a set of hand tools in about 30 minutes. We will likely have an instructional video on how to do it when around the time when the batteries are starting to die out. 

If there is anything else that I can support you with please let me know.

 

Jonathan Cheek

Technical Support Representative

2835 Columbia Street | Torrance, CA 90503

[NGC 1502]

Hi to you in AZ.

It's great when you get a proper thought out response.  Makes you feel you got a product from a manufacturer that wants to help, rather than "we have your money, good bye" 

You live in a great part of the US, Baringer crater, Lowell, AZ dark sky village, Grand Canyon, so much more.....it would be the holiday of a lifetime, if ever I get around to it........

Enjoy the new scope, Ed.

[ronin]

The response is good to get, at least they bothered and supplied information. My "question" is why do you need a tool set and 30 minutes to change a battery?

Both cameras I have have batteries, you remove a cover, take out the old  and slot in the new, every mount has a battery pack, again remove the plastic holder lever out the old put in the new, Mobile phone the same - open up the rear, lever out the old one and drop in a new one. All the astro torches are a simple unscrew the end dro pout the old, drop in the new. No battery change take more the a minute.

So why a set of tools and 30 minutes for what is a simple change of batteries ?

I use a Meade ETX 70 for grab and go, I buy a set of 12 AA's from Poundland and drop 6 in the holder and use the scope. If they run down I take out the "old" 6 and drop in the new 6 and off I go again.

If they cannot be swapped over quickly and easily then you cannot take a spare set with you, which to me limits the usefulness of the scope. In marketing term they have it wrong as the only time to buy a new/spare battery is when the present one fails in X years time. If they could be replaced in seconds then you buy the mount and a spare now, for use on over night observing sessions..

Edited July 25, 2014 by ronin

[Cornelius Varley]

The response is good to get, at least they bothered and supplied information. My "question" is why do you need a tool set and 30 minutes to change a battery?

Both cameras I have have batteries, you remove a cover, take out the old  and slot in the new, every mount has a battery pack, again remove the plastic holder lever out the old put in the new, Mobile phone the same - open up the rear, lever out the old one and drop in a new one. All the astro torches are a simple unscrew the end dro pout the old, drop in the new. No battery change take more the a minute.

So why a set of tools and 30 minutes for what is a simple change of batteries ?

I use a Meade ETX 70 for grab and go, I buy a set of 12 AA's from Poundland and drop 6 in the holder and use the scope. If they run down I take out the "old" 6 and drop in the new 6 and off I go again.

If they cannot be swapped over quickly and easily then you cannot take a spare set with you, which to me limits the usefulness of the scope. In marketing term they have it wrong as the only time to buy a new/spare battery is when the present one fails in X years time. If they could be replaced in seconds then you buy the mount and a spare now, for use on over night observing sessions..

The built in lithium phosphate battery will give you 10 hours viewing time so I doubt you will need to change the battery mid session. Also the battery has a life span of about 10 years apparently so changing the battery will probably not be a problem for the original owner, the telescope will have been sold on long before then.

[Spikey]

Is spending a few minutes changing the battery once every 10 years such a hardship? 

[FLO]

The response is good to get, at least they bothered and supplied information. 

Celestron are answering questions like these before the telescopes have even been launched 

My "question" is why do you need a tool set and 30 minutes to change a battery?

The long life lithium iron phosphate batteries used in the Celestron Evolution series are rated to sustain two thousand charge cycles and have a life expectancy of 10 years. So a few minutes spent changing it, if necessary, is not a hardship

HTH, 

Steve

[cmh_tenney]

all,

  does anyone know if there is a "battery life" indicator on the mount?

thanks

Dave

[Cornelius Varley]

all,

  does anyone know if there is a "battery life" indicator on the mount?

thanks

Dave

The power level can be read from the handset menus.

[szymon]

The response is good to get, at least they bothered and supplied information. My "question" is why do you need a tool set and 30 minutes to change a battery?

Both cameras I have have batteries, you remove a cover, take out the old  and slot in the new, every mount has a battery pack, again remove the plastic holder lever out the old put in the new, Mobile phone the same - open up the rear, lever out the old one and drop in a new one. All the astro torches are a simple unscrew the end dro pout the old, drop in the new. No battery change take more the a minute.

So why a set of tools and 30 minutes for what is a simple change of batteries ?

I use a Meade ETX 70 for grab and go, I buy a set of 12 AA's from Poundland and drop 6 in the holder and use the scope. If they run down I take out the "old" 6 and drop in the new 6 and off I go again.

If they cannot be swapped over quickly and easily then you cannot take a spare set with you, which to me limits the usefulness of the scope. In marketing term they have it wrong as the only time to buy a new/spare battery is when the present one fails in X years time. If they could be replaced in seconds then you buy the mount and a spare now, for use on over night observing sessions..

It seems that you can charge the battery in-situ.  If the 10 hours viewing time isn't enough (say you pull an all-nighter and then want to view the sun for some hours too, while away from mains electricity?), you could always run it while charging from an external power-pack...

[Theninjagecko]

How do you know when its fully charged? How long do you have to charge it up for ?

[JG777]

10 hours ago, Theninjagecko said:

How do you know when its fully charged? How long do you have to charge it up for ?

When the red logo light stops flashing its fully charged. Time depends on how much charge it starts off with. Mine from about half charge, not entirely sure maybe 2 hours.

[2STAR]

The battery will do over 4 hour easy outdoor cold evening.

[David Ettie]

All this would be great if they lasted 10 years, mine has been playing up for the lst 12 months and now only gives about 2 hours use, I have also found its not straight forward to use an eternal power supply, I wish the promised replacements and instruction video were available now, the response I got was £these items cannot be fitted by the customer and require fitting by a technician (for which the UK agent will charge a pretty penny!...

[FLO]

Was your mount purchased from us?  I ask because this discussion was started five years ago and I don’t recall anyone requesting a replacement battery for an Evolution mount? 🤔

How much did the ‘UK agent’ quote for fitting a new battery? 

Steve 

[JG777]

15 hours ago, David Ettie said:

All this would be great if they lasted 10 years, mine has been playing up for the lst 12 months and now only gives about 2 hours use, I have also found its not straight forward to use an eternal power supply, I wish the promised replacements and instruction video were available now, the response I got was £these items cannot be fitted by the customer and require fitting by a technician (for which the UK agent will charge a pretty penny!...

Have a look here https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/596500-evolution-with-a-celestron-power-tank/ in particular post 11 from Michael Swanson. Full articles here https://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsNEnds/EvolutionExternalPower.htm probably most people who had a battery issue had them replaced under warranty, but yes I also recall Celestron stating a battery replacement kit would be available in the future, how old is your mount? 

Edited November 3, 2019 by JG777