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Battery decision

souls33k3r

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souls33k3r

souls33k3r

Posted
Posted

Hi guys,

Me again and this time it's with regards to battery decision.

I will be doing most of my viewing from home so have the main charger etc which is not an issue.

Now very occasionally I'll be going to Observing sessions which will last for around 4-5 hours

Since I live in a light polluted area, I might need to find myself a dark site near by or should I say "Less" light polluted.

Now I don't know what I'll be doing at these darker sites maybe purely for imaging which means running all the shebang (laptop, NEQ6 mount, dew heater etc).

Now to throw a spanner in the mix, I don't drive so portability is a big factor here. Currently I'll be throwing the tripod over my shoulder and wheel in the mount head and the scope in two separate trollies.

I don't want anything big in the size/weight (I know of Tracer batteries but they are darn expensive) then we have leisure batteries which are heavy as anything if I'm not mistaken.

What other choices do I have?

Cheers

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ronin

ronin

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I have just bought one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-Rechargeable-Protable-Li-ion-Battery-DC-12V-6800mAh-Lithium-ion-EU-Plug-/351353498255

Have not used it yet as I need a soldering iron then make an adaptor from the battery to the scope. That looks like todays job.

One will not do all the bits you seem to want, and not sure how many you may want, guessing one per item.

There are a couple that are rated higher, hope that one will suit an ETX-105 for say 2 to 3 hours use.

No instructions, and it takes more then said to get up to 12v, I had mine on charge for 8-9 hours and still at 11.88 volt, another 6 hours gave 12.6 volt. So they do not charge quick.

They seem to be about the only thing that I could find that is not a Tracer (have one) or a deep cycle.

Did look at "custom" ones but they also get into silly money.

If the idea is to run several items then I guess not really applicable however, as said my idea is a single ETX-105.

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Knighty2112

Knighty2112

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How about one of these?

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-sky-watcher-7ah-rechargable-power-tank/p1525822?mkwid=s4x8cyvja_dt&pcrid=89741499659&kword=&match=&plid=&gclid=ckfpxdwjkskcfujagwoddompqa

I have a Celestron one which I bought years ago when I had a GoTo 6inch scope, but never used it other than fora torch. Gets good reviews, and ha quite a few different ports to get power from.

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souls33k3r

souls33k3r

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Save up, save up then. But is 22Ah really going to be enough to power everything through the entire night of imaging and using all the equipment you reckon?

I was suggested 10Ah to begin with but that was only for observing, I then started to look at the Tracer 14Ah to bring laptop in to the mix but did a quick search here and people are actually using 75 - 110Ah...really?

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Knighty2112

Knighty2112

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For the price of one of those, you could get three of what I suggested, giving you 21AmpHours, and still have change left over! Hehe! A little more to hump around, but it'll keep you fit! ;)

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cjdawson

cjdawson

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From what I remember of batteries.  (I'll avoid the Tracers as I don't know them from practical purposes)

PowerTanks - SkyWatcher, Celetron etc.

These tend to be based on Sealed Lead Acid batteries, As you said, the SkyWatcher one is 7Ah, and would be ok for running a scope alone, with to also power other stuff - dew heaters laptop etc forget it. you'll run out of juice in no time.

You could always have more than one, but then you'll be adding builk.

Jump Starters

These tend to be based on 17Ah sealed Lead acid.

If it don't need to power the laptop, it should be ok to run the mount and heaters for the session, just make sure that it's fully charged.

Rather than using a jump starter you could always try using a stand alone battery  like this

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/sealed-lead-acid-deep-cycle-solar-12v-18ah-battery-1-pack-n71hf

you'll also need a charger for it, so something like this

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/12v-sealed-lead-acid-battery-charger-15ah-jc87u

(This is to illustrate, I don't know if it'll charge that 18AH battery completely)

The 18Ah battery would weigh in at 6Kg's and you'll have to make something to be able to wire up your system.

Another thought here is instead of having one huge battery, you could always opt for a couple of smaller batteries.

One for the mount alone, one for the dew heaters, and other bits of kit.

Whilst it does mean more batteries to charge, if might be that the total weight is lower and therefore easier to transport.

LI-Ion batteries.  These batteries are lightweight, but they also don't like heavy loads.  One might be ok for the mount alone, but I'd not attempt to use one to power dew heaters and other stuff like that.

You might also want to take a look at this post I did recently.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/256765-powering-it-all/?p=2805428

Whilst yes an 80Ah leisure battery is heavy, as you are talking using a trolley, it might not be to bad.  Would be a real struggle to get on and off a bus though.

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souls33k3r

souls33k3r

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Cheers cjdawson. I guess I'll have to splash out for the tracer 10Ah for now to keep me going for visual observations and then spend on the leisure battery once I start to travel using my own transport.

How do these Lead based batteries behave in UK weather? Are they worth the purchase for roughly 5hrs visual with only dew heater?

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Tinker1947

Tinker1947

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Cheers cjdawson. I guess I'll have to splash out for the tracer 10Ah for now to keep me going for visual observations and then spend on the leisure battery once I start to travel using my own transport.

How do these Lead based batteries behave in UK weather? Are they worth the purchase for roughly 5hrs visual with only dew heater?

When they get cold the voltage will drop even when fully charged.....if there looked after 5 years should be ok.......

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cjdawson

cjdawson

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A 17Ah should be ok for a 5 hour session with one dew heater.  I did that and had good results with it.    Every battery struggles when they get cold, so in the UK, that's a bit of a mute point when comparing one battery to another - unless you are going add a heater just to keep the battery warm.  Then you are upping the amount of juice pulled which then might have a knock on effect over all.  I don't think there's a clear answer to that one.    On my current battery box, I've wrapped the battery in foam insulation, and I'm thinking about making a heater for the battery.  Haven't decided if I really need to do that yet.

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