Rechargeable or new batteries for motors

[Peco4321]

As xmas nears and I look forward to getting my motors for my eq3-2, the question of batteries is on my mind. Has anyone any experience of what's best, new batteries every time they run out or rechargeable ones, if so, what brand are the best. 

PS - I know santa will bring them as I ordered them and RVO have kindly sent them already. 

[faulksy]

power tank is the best way or leisure battery. if you go rechargeable batteries they are only 1.2v per cell instead of 1.5v for throw away. or go lithium ion which are 1.5v

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I use a power tank on a similar motor unit (EQ5 version mounted on my Vixen Great Polaris mount). I do use regular alkaline batteries on a simpler dual-axis controller for my EQ3-2, as Ni-Cd or NiMH may cause trouble, unless you create a battery pack that holds 5, rather than 6 of them.

[spillage]

+1 for a power tank.  Will last a lot longer than batteries and save you money and headaches in the long run. Allow more time and money for other kit.

[cjdawson]

Forget about rechargable batteries. the 1.2v means they never give the right voltage. And won't last as long - as in, you can only use a fraction of the battery.

Get hold of a power tank of some sort.   Either lead acid based, or lithium based (seems to be emerging as a viable option)  or even use a bench power supply.

[ronin]

Although a power tank seems the recommended item be aware that a power tank is 12v and I believe that the motors shown run off of 6v. So if you apply 12v you could have a dead set of motors - likely dead control box - in about 1 second.

Rechargeables are usually 1.2v in the battery sizes we are used to, so they will be under power.

If you are any good with a soldering iron and have the stuff - mainly a bit of coppered circuit board I would half suggest making a 6v regulator and putting that inline with the possible 12v power tank

Not overly aware of a 6v lithium battery, my budget lithium item is 12v but fortunately the 9v ETX runs happily at 12v, so when used a bit of cold and a slight drop in output it makes no difference.

[Alien 13]

I have found that the 6V skywatcher motors run happily off 5V or the 5.2V you get from cheap mobile phone/tablet power banks, my 4.8 Ah one cost £5 the 11 Ah £10 and they are small and light. You need to make a lead though by modding an old USB lead.

Alan

[Cosmic Geoff]

I got a 6v sealed lead-acid battery from Maplin. (see earlier thread). It works fine, and I have not even had to recharge it yet.

[Peco4321]

Does anyone use a 6v mains plug. 

[triton1]

Yes I use a 6 volt 2amp mains adapter a few quid on eBay for my Cg5.Had the same reasoning do I splash out on new new d cell batteries every time after a long session in one word no.I haven,t had any problems at all.The other option is a 6 volt motorcycle battery if your away from the mains.

[Peco4321]

I'm thinking something like this as I want to avoid any where you can change to 9v by mistake. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00IWWHUYW/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1481745227&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=6v+dc+plug+2a&dpPl=1&dpID=41ECS3YRiHL&ref=plSrch

 

[triton1]

That's somthing similar to what I use just make sure it's tip positive and after looking closely that one is.

[Stormbringer]

How about 6v Nihm packs from online model shops like Howes  they come in various milli amp hour outputs 

[Peco4321]

I have had two sessions of about 2-3 hours each and I think my Duracell batteries have had it. The DEC motor sticks and the red light flashes green. Think I'll be looking for an alternative sooner than I imagined. 

Probably going down the mains plug route as my observing spot is not far from conservatory doors where there is a socket. 

[BXRO]

Don't worry about nicads only having a TPV of 1.2 volts, they have a lower internal resistance when under load so the actual available voltage difference is negligible for the driving of motors

[Peco4321]

Looking at these in maplins now and the batteries are £24.99, the charger is another £17.99 then I have to get the cable and crimp attachments all adding to about £50. Does this sound right 

[Cosmic Geoff]

52 minutes ago, Peco4321 said:

Looking at these in maplins now and the batteries are £24.99, the charger is another £17.99 then I have to get the cable and crimp attachments all adding to about £50. Does this sound right 

It sounds expensive. The Maplin battery I got was on special offer for a fraction of that (£7.99), I didn't buy a charger (will figure that out when the battery needs charging) and made up the lead with some cheap bits. OTOH what do 4x Duracell 'D' cells cost?

[Peco4321]

24 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

OTOH what do 4x Duracell 'D' cells cost?

Exactly. 

[Peco4321]

I'm going to go down the route of a sealed acid battery but just need to clarify something as I am a numpty on this kind of stuff thing. If I got a 6v one do I get 1.3 or 2.3 ah?

 

Ignore bottom 2 pics  

 

 

 

 

[BXRO]

Hi

 

You really need something a bit bigger, a 3.2AH battery in ideal conditions would be able to supply 1 amp for 3.2 hours or 3.2 amps for 1 hour or any other derivative of 3.2. you need to consider what your load is and how long you want to run it for, I doubt 3.2 is what you need you probably want to be in the 20Ah range. For my skywatcher scope drive I just use 1600 mAh rechargable nicad D cells they last for at least 6 hours continuous use and are reasonably cheap

[Cosmic Geoff]

20 AH seems like overkill for powering EQ-5 motors. I use a 6v 4.5AH sealed lead-acid battery. I have used it for several nights since I bought it and not had to recharge it yet.  Somewhere on this forum is a post with the actual power consumption for these motors. 

The 1600 mAh Nicads presumably deliver 1600 mAh at around 5 volts. 

[Marci]

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

20 AH seems like overkill for powering EQ-5 motors.

*/me looks shiftily at the 110ah battery by my feet*  Ummmz - oops...!? (But it CAN run a small kettle, that’s my justification  !)

[BXRO]

Good for drowning tea bags ?

[Peco4321]

Well after all this advise think I'm about there and will be ordering one of these: 

 

Looks decent value for the lot. Just need to adapt the power cable from the battery pack the motors came with to fit this one. 

[Peco4321]

Received in really good time. Less that 24hrs from order and free delivery!!

Just need to make a connection cable and off I go.