Celestron Lithium Powertank

[John]

Has anyone got one of these ?:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/celestron-lithium-lifepo4-powertank.html

I wonder what you think of it ?

I'm looking for a power supply for a Celestron AVX mount.

Thanks

[nightfisher]

Not used one, when i had to get power for the HEQ5 i got a sealed 12v battery from a breakers yard, it is the sort of battery you would get in a golf buggy or mobility scoot, paid £20 for it and still going strong

[Pig]

Hiya John,

The unit certainly looks great my only reservation would be the 7.2Ah capacity. ( ok for one session but not two should you travel away without the ability to charge it)
The image on the page showing it attached to the tripod leg and the cable connecting it to the mount, looks very short .IE very little slewing movement before it pulls out / gets snagged. So I would check this out before I purchased one (it may be just a representation image) This could also be a limiting factor for dew control as a longer lead might be required.

Environmentally it sounds pretty heroic :-)
 

[John]

I've seen one and played around with one but I've not seen it in "action" as it were. It seems a neat and light weight unit but I just wonder if it has any "quirks" that the Celestron dealer might not have mentioned

[SonnyE]

I took a different tack...

I got an automotive sized AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery. At 54 pounds in weight, it needs a hand truck for me to cart it around. I have it in a plastic case, which also holds my inverter and wiring during transport.

But it can power my AVX for days on end....

I had fits with my mount trying to run it on a Celestron AC adapter "designed" for the AVX. Since the second time it went in for motor drive repair (circuit board replacement) I have ONLY fed it 12 volt DC battery power. And it has performed stellar. I don't even charge the big battery with the mount connected.

When out on a weekend, it has run my mount, USB hub, CCD camera cooling, and a 350 watt inverter for my laptop for nights.

I've been very happy with this choice.

[Carbon Brush]

Marginally off topic. But here goes.

In my work, I have designed in, and used lead acid, NiCd, NiMH, lithium both rechargeable and primary.
The lithium work has ranged very low discharge primary with several years life. Through to equipment running at 150C. Yes oven temperature.

The big benefits of lithium are....

Very good power to weight ration. Easily 3x lead acid.
Very good power to volume ration. similar gains.
Very good performance when cold. Lead acid and NiCd/NiMH bother suffer the cold.
Very good life expectancy.

The disadvantages are.....

Cost.
Perceived risk from self destruction.
Don't trust this new fangled technology.

So what does this mean to us?

Compared to lead acid,

If your battery pack is light, you can keep the hand cart for your scope and more.

If you don't keep your lead acid topped up regulalry, it will fail in a non-recoverable manner.
Lithium self discharges at only a few percent annually.

If you want to deep discharge a lead acid to the point of damage, that is your choice.
Again if you want to boil it dry with the wrong charger, you can.
If you want to wreck it by short circuit, you can.
Additional circuits (rarely implemented) are necessary to protect against the above.
Why fit them? It is an extra burden on a cost conscious item.
If you have to pay someone to do this, then you start to approach NiMH and lithium costings.

Lithium packs usually have internal circuits to prevent over discharge, or over heating, and short circuit protection.
They are therefore self protecting.

A lead acid battery degrades daily, even if not used, stored well charged and not subject to temperature extremes.
Lithium is much less susceptible to degradation in storage.

If you want a bettery that performs well and looks after itself in a dark cold field, choose lithium.
If you want the battery to look after itself between clear nights, choose lithium.
If you want minimum cost, protection circuit construction difficulties, degraded performance on a cold night, regular top up between uses, choose lead acid.

I have an infrequently used  'Sunday' car that uses an AGM battery. It needs more attention (trickle charge etc) than conventional lead acid.

To me, if you have the budget for the inital outlay. The choice is obvious.

Hope this helps.

David.

 

 

 

 

 

[nightfisher]

This has me thinking a 3S 12 v lipo battery as used in my multi rotor flying ( quads) would work on a mount and given that you can get up to 6000 man for about £35 quite cost effective

[mitchelln]

I do like the way it can strap onto the leg of the mount to keep things tidy. Someone at Celestron has clearly thought about it! I have a Deben Tracer which sits nice and safe in the base of my 12" Dobo, but when using my HEQ5 Pro it sits on the (possibly damp and grassy) ground susceptible to being kicked in the dark. The Celestron might be a better bet for such a mount.

[Apharov]

I got one recently, mostly for powering a SW AltAz GoTo. Seems to be a solid unit, can be strapped to tripod leg (a bit awkward with thin legs) or hung from the tripod. LiFePo should be relatively safe and the construction appears sturdy. Also fits nicely into same size carrying case as eyepieces etc.

[iapa]

There is the Tracer 12v 7Ah LiFePO4 Battery Pack which is  tenner cheaper.

If you don't need the torch...?

I do not have one of these, but toying with the idea.

[mitchelln]

Thanks for the info. I understand that it doesn't have a standard cigar type socket for the telescope cable? So it will only really fit Celestron mounts as the 6mm tip is not long enough for a secure connection for SW mounts?

[Apharov]

20 hours ago, mitchelln said:

Thanks for the info. I understand that it doesn't have a standard cigar type socket for the telescope cable? So it will only really fit Celestron mounts as the 6mm tip is not long enough for a secure connection for SW mounts?

You're correct in that there is no cigar socket. I'm using the supplied power cable with an added 90deg adapter (for avoiding "tripped on wire" PCB breaks) which seems to get a solid connection at least on my SW AZ GoTo mount, so I don't know if the cable on its own would have issues.

In any case most of my past power issues have been caused by a dislodged cigar socket connector, so I would say anything is an improvement on that ;-)

[mitchelln]

Thanks for the info Apharov. You do have a point about cigar sockets. The quality of the plugs varies enormously!

So what socket does the Celestron have? It is just a 6mm socket and tip the same as the end that goes into the scope?

Thanks.

[Carbon Brush]

If you have half decent soldering skills, then you can easily enough make your own leads.

That way you get to choose the type and quality of connectors. And of course cable length/type.

A deliberate weak point in a trailing cable can prevent equipment connector damage. Or even pulling over the mount.

On power pack choice for holidays. Airlines are getting understandably fussy. The Tracer packs have 'UN38' approval for air transport. You can wave this at security/baggage people in the event of argument. Looking on the FLO site, there is no mention of UN38 for the Celestron power unit.

Hope this helps.

David.

[Apharov]

7 hours ago, mitchelln said:

So what socket does the Celestron have? It is just a 6mm socket and tip the same as the end that goes into the scope?

I just checked the Celestron cable plug. The contact part is about 12-13mm long and the plug fits also directly into my AZ Goto mount.

[RayD]

1 minute ago, Apharov said:

So what socket does the Celestron have

I believe they are fairly standard which is 5.5mm outside and 2.1mm inside diameter.  

[BlueAstra]

I got one of these a couple of weeks ago at IAS with a view to creating a mobile SLR rig. The lamp on the side can be selected as red or white, and at two brightness level. There is a 12V power socket on the side under a cover and on the top are the on/off/power status button, lamp button and two USB power sockets (2A & 1A). I think on the Tracer there is only a 12V power socket. One aspect to note if you are travelling abroad, I was told that the maximum power rating that can be carried on a plane is 8A/hr so anything greater may not be allowed onboard.

[Mick J]

On 10/18/2016 at 12:33, nightfisher said:

This has me thinking a 3S 12 v lipo battery as used in my multi rotor flying ( quads) would work on a mount and given that you can get up to 6000 man for about £35 quite cost effective

You may enjoy parallaxerr's thread  here, rc stuff eh !

[happy-kat]

Old thread but love mine, Celstron lifePO4, bought last November I've used it at least 7 times for around 1.5 hours at a time powering a Virtuoso mount, it came into use with a recent power cut the LED light was very useful. I've never charged the battery and it currently reports half full. Did I mention how light it is.