Leisure battery setup...what else do I need?

[WayBig 24]

Hi, I've got my eye on a 12v, 22ah deep cycle battery (agm, not gel) but need some assistance on what else I'll need.

Battery: I'm thinking of something like this one. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuasa-Golf-trolley-battery-YPC22-12/dp/B00APFK4LU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1410902681&sr=8-10&keywords=yuasa+12v+battery

Charger: I already have a Halfords 'fully automatic' battery charger which is suitable for 'all lead acid and deep cycle leisure batteries and most gel' . It's one of these:

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/car-battery-chargers/halfords-fully-automatic-battery-charger

The curious thing is it also says 'not suitable for electric vehicles, gold carts or agm batteries' which seems a bit odd...if the battery mentioned above isn't an agm then why would the fact that it's a golf battery make the charger not suitable?.

If this charger wouldn't work could you recommend similar capacity batteries that would?

What else would I need

Bits of wire (you can tell I'm not too technical at this!). Like a battery terminal to cigarette lighter set, which would then plug into the dc cable that came with the scope. I'd probably get a fused one. I've seen these on eBay for not very many pounds

Any kind do volt meter / ammeter to monitor the remaining capacity of the battery?

Any gadget to regulate the voltage (or do these provide pretty steady voltages)?

Thanks in advance for any assistance given

[H22A 11]

Over 60 views and no replies is a bit sad, but hopefully this may assist you.

Take a look at this guy's build, I am using it as inspiration for my own.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/154685-power-tank-build-help/

He covers a lot of the issues that you may encounter.

Also, there are many other build threads on here, try a search for Power Tank across all forums and you should get a good few links.

If you don't mind something a fair bit heavier, for the same price you could get an 85Ah wet battery from Tayna.

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Leisure-Battery-Powerline-85-CaravanLeisureMarine-Battery-P7713.html

It may not be suitable for you requirements, but 22Ah isn't going to power too much for too long.

[Gina 14,884]

I'm afraid I can't really add anything because I only run mains operated gear at home - I don't do mobile.

[Blazar 1,212]

Just finished my one. 75Ah leisure battery in a tool chest base, with the upper box containing the circuits and XLR connectors. The thread is here is you are interested. just take your time and draw up the circuit diagram first and work out what components you need.....and plan ahead with what else you might power in the future (and then what your battery needs to cope with). Good luck!

[WayBig 24]

Thanks for the info guys and some much more industrial builds than I'm thinking of.

I like knobbys in Balazs threads, I now know that these batteries can be put on their side so that helps me conceal it on the dob base.

I think 22ah should be ok, I've been coping with a 7ah skywatcher tank for a few years and that was ok for my setup.

Now, I just need to work out which battery will work with my charger to hopefully save having to buy another one.

Thanks all for the inspiration

[Blazar 1,212]

Good luck Chris...

[Davey-T 15,498]

I'm afraid I can't really add anything because I only run mains operated gear at home - I don't do mobile.

I think you should come to SGL10 Gina, you'll need a mobile set up then, just another project.

Dave

[WayBig 24]

Wahey, I'm up and running now with my own home made power tanks set up. This consists of

- 14ah deep discharge battery

- fused cigarette lighter socket

- almost free voltmeter from eBay

- switch from maplin (sellotaped to the side of the voltmeter

I figured 14 ah would do since I've been copied nicely with a 7ah power tank quite nicely. It was important for me to be able to fit it onto the dob base under the tube so it's one less thing to carry out.

I might get some form of project box from maplin to tidy it up, but it all works nicely

Plus, I get 0.3 volts free - 12.3 for the price of 12 :-)

Thanks for the advice and inspiration. It's nice to have assembled something myself for less than a power tank (although I don't have the brighter than the sun floodlight and fm radio that a power tank has!)

[WayBig 24]

And here's the pic (hopefully)

[WayBig 24]

(Oops)

[christhebrit 38]

This is my battery box.

You might not want all the measuring devices, but I put them in as I was building it at the time.

I used around 4 metres of 1.5mm(2) wire and car fuzes along with other 12V connection.

Total cost was around €160, the battery is 12V/ 50aH.

I have a trickle feed charger which I can plug into the wall to top up the battery.

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll help where possible, I bought the parts on eBay.

[perfrej 1,045]

AGM rules

No deep-discharge battery comes close to the recovery of an AGM. I had one of my batteries in my boat accidentally connected to a small device that used up very little current - over the winter! Needless to say, the battery read 0.0V in the spring. I removed the drainer, turned on the solar charger (that should have been connected all the time) and the battery is fine still. It has been used for three years after that and never showed any sign what so ever of limited capacity. It starts the port engine fine and powers the refrigerator constantly when we're out.

A liquid lead-acid battery will take damage if discharged below 10.5V (or so). An AGM can be shorted for months.

/per

Edited October 3, 2014 by perfrej