Gerry Casa Christiana Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Hello guys Can some PLEASE clear this up for me. I want to buy a replacement battery which I will use to power the mount. I have found this but if you look at the picture it says minimum start amperage 5.6amps. I have read in the manual for the eq6 that it needs minimum 2amps. I just don't want to connect something to my mount and blow the circuitry! I know the AH makes no difference but I wasn't sure about this. Please can you clear this up for me http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=201674889046&globalID=EBAY-IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazza Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Your link appears to be dead to me. However, 'start amperage' is not that important. It's how many amps a battery can produce in a short timespan, or in other words, how much current a device (motor) draws as it first starts up. As for blowing the circuitry - as long as the voltage supply is correct the mount will always pull the required current. You can have a battery that doesn't provide enough current (amps) to power the mount but not one that has too many On the other hand AH is important, as it tells you how long the battery can power the mount for. So for example if the eq6 pulls 2 amps and you have a 10 AH battery then that battery can supply the eq6 with power for ~ 5 hours (in practice a bit less most likely, batteries lie). Hope that helps some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 A very clear and concise response to the question, Jazza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry Casa Christiana Posted October 10, 2016 Author Share Posted October 10, 2016 2 hours ago, jazza said: Your link appears to be dead to me. However, 'start amperage' is not that important. It's how many amps a battery can produce in a short timespan, or in other words, how much current a device (motor) draws as it first starts up. As for blowing the circuitry - as long as the voltage supply is correct the mount will always pull the required current. You can have a battery that doesn't provide enough current (amps) to power the mount but not one that has too many On the other hand AH is important, as it tells you how long the battery can power the mount for. So for example if the eq6 pulls 2 amps and you have a 10 AH battery then that battery can supply the eq6 with power for ~ 5 hours (in practice a bit less most likely, batteries lie). Hope that helps some. I have changed the link. So it doesn't matter about initial amperage? Do people put any kind of protection between batteries and the mount? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazza Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Yes the initial amperage does not matter/is fine in this case. I'm not an expert on the eq6 but the battery you linked looks like it should do the job fine. You will need to be careful to get the polarity correct (that + and - are correct) I do not know if the eq6 has any reverse polarity protection. If it were me I would consider adding some reverse polarity protection to the cable I use. There's a decent video explaining how this works here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrB-FPcv1Dc As well as a fuse of some kind. Again I don't know if the eq6 already has this inbuilt so it may not be necessary. Any eq6 owners here? I might also be slightly paranoid here. The alternative approach is to design your cabling in such a way that it is set up once carefully and then very difficult/impossible to get wrong. Clearly coloured wiring helps for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrofriend Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 That battery looks to be the same that is included in batterypacks that are sold to power astroequipment. If you plan to add more equipment in the future maybe you need a bigger capacity battery. From the beginning I had a battrypack with a battery similar to the one in your link, 17Amph. Then I added camera, and then a small computer, and then auto guiding, and then anti dew heater and so on. Now even with my 45Amph battery it will not last more than 5 hours. I have written down how I built my powerpack and you maybe can take parts or ideas from that: http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-astro-server-and-powerunit/project-astro-server-and-powerunit.html Now I'm rebuilding it to lower the powerdemands, I'm not sure how it will ends :-) /Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry Casa Christiana Posted October 15, 2016 Author Share Posted October 15, 2016 On October 12, 2016 at 22:56, Astrofriend said: That battery looks to be the same that is included in batterypacks that are sold to power astroequipment. If you plan to add more equipment in the future maybe you need a bigger capacity battery. From the beginning I had a battrypack with a battery similar to the one in your link, 17Amph. Then I added camera, and then a small computer, and then auto guiding, and then anti dew heater and so on. Now even with my 45Amph battery it will not last more than 5 hours. I have written down how I built my powerpack and you maybe can take parts or ideas from that: http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-astro-server-and-powerunit/project-astro-server-and-powerunit.html Now I'm rebuilding it to lower the powerdemands, I'm not sure how it will ends :-) /Lars Yes I bought in the end a 18ah so it's fine for the moment but I'm looking now at your design! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uplooker Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Jazza has given you some very good advice. The power lead on the EQ6 is tip +ve, so make sure ou wire it correctly. AFAIK it does not have reverse polarity protection. Always best to get a significantly bigger battery than you think you will ever need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrofriend Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 I found this information about the EQ6 power reqiuiremnets: Powerrequirements manual:http://www.astrovox.gr%2Fforum%2Fdownlo ... 5266,d.bGg • Output Voltage: DC 11V (minimum) to DC 16V (maximum). Voltage not in this range might cause permanent damage to the motor controller or the hand controller. • Output Current: 4A for power supply with 11V output voltage, 2.5A for power supply with 16V output voltage. • Do not use an un-regulated AC-to-DC adapter. Contact a Skywatcher product retailer for a recommended “AC-DC Adapter for SynScan Goto”, SKU#79024. • If the power voltage is too low, the motor controller will stop the motors automatically. As you can read the amper that EQ6 needs gous up if you power it from a lover voltage. LED indication: 1. Steady on : Power voltage is normal. 2. Slow flashing : Power voltage is low; continuing to operate the mount may damage the battery (if a 12V lead-acid battery is in use). 3. Fast flashing : Power voltage is extremely low; continuing to operate the mount may damage the battery and the motor controller in the mount. Maybe my new project can lower the total power needs for me: http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-kstars-indi-linux/project-kstars-indi-linux.html /Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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