Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Which Power tank

loakessg

Recommended Posts

loakessg

loakessg

Posted
Posted

Hi Folks

Needing some advice on power tanks. I have eq3 set up with skywatcher dual axis drives which runs from 6v battery pack

I've looked at tanks and bought myself a Skywatcher 7mah power tank having 3/6/9 v outputs

I've had 2 of these delivered and both gone back as not working. They wont charge, well the charge led doesn't come on. If I turn them on the "Needs charging" led comes on so its kinda working.

Is this a known issue? Is there a better alternative?

TIA

Sean

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 27
  • Created
  • Last Reply
ronin

ronin

Posted
Posted

Are you any good at soldering and following a simple electrical diagram?

I bought a 12v Li battery (rechargeable) for my scope, now the one I bought it for a a bit odd, it is 9v but will happily run at 12v. Sp basically anything in the range of 9-12 volts runs it. That is the background.

I also have a mount like yours with just the dual motors at 6v, and I intend to build a small 6v regulator on a bit of prototype board to power that from the 12v Li battery. Thoughts are that that could be an option. Quick google for v regulator circuits shows a lot, if I recall the basic is 2 (or 4) capacitors, a small IC and best to add a diode for reverse spikes at power off.

The battery I bought is on ebay and they are inexpensive, nothing great, but so far it has done the job and done it well. I have a tracer and you can plug in a car DC regulator thing from Maplins that is switchable to 6v. Trouble is the Tracers are good but fairly costly and then you need the Maplins item, costs add up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
newbie alert

newbie alert

Posted
Posted

I use a 17ah one from Halfords for £40 although they sell the same on eBay for £25...far better than my celestron one which lasted less than a year..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/152615027532?chn=ps&dispItem=1&adgroupid=42825902799&rlsatarget=pla-327950629184&abcId=1129006&adtype=pla&merchantid=113706827&poi=&googleloc=1006483&device=m&campaignid=861899693&crdt=0&ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-134428-41853-0%2F2%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fp%252FPhaze-4-in-1-Jump-Starter-12v-17ah-Portable-Power-USB-Jumpstart%252F1239712225%253Fiid%253D152615027532%2526chn%253Dps%2526dispItem%253D1%26itemid%3D152615027532%26targetid%3D327950629184%26device%3Dm%26adtype%3Dpla%26googleloc%3D1006483%26poi%3D%26campaignid%3D861899693%26adgroupid%3D42825902799%26rlsatarget%3Dpla-327950629184%26abcId%3D1129006%26merchantid%3D113706827%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMI25m32IrP1QIVBpUbCh3tyw0-EAQYBCABEgJWyfD_BwE%26srcrot%3D710-134428-41853-0%26rvr_id%3D1281060471553

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SilverAstro

SilverAstro

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

 they sell the same on eBay for £25...far better

That is interesting. Do you mean 'they' Halfords on ebay,, or the same battery as Halfords by other sellers ?  Do you have a typical link ?  I'm searching :thumbsup:

,,,,, thanks for the links :icon_biggrin: that all looks very good and will banish the hazzards of my mains extn :thumbsup: (did you update that or did they fail to show in my browser first time round ??)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

Posted
Posted

I was thinking about these Li-power sources. But they keep ending up on the news here. Yesterday was no exception, and the TV-news had a film ofone that was powering a young woman's cell-phone in her handbag as she sat in the audience of some town-meeting or other. And then there was a loud 'BOOOOOM!!' and the woman was standing on her feet - and being engulfed in fire! Yes - it had exploded in her purse! People rushed-in the help her and put out the fire - but she did need to go to a hospital for burns.

And that was for one big enough to power a cell-phone. I'd hate to think of what would have happened with a large one.

As a result of this, and all the other stories as of late - I think I'll wait awhile for the things to work without exploding. As stands, I won't let them in my house.

Be Aware -

Dave

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
loakessg

loakessg

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, newbie alert said:

I use a 17ah one from Halfords for £40 although they sell the same on eBay for £25...far better than my celestron one which lasted less than a year..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/152615027532?chn=ps&dispItem=1&adgroupid=42825902799&rlsatarget=pla-327950629184&abcId=1129006&adtype=pla&merchantid=113706827&poi=&googleloc=1006483&device=m&campaignid=861899693&crdt=0&ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-134428-41853-0%2F2%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fp%252FPhaze-4-in-1-Jump-Starter-12v-17ah-Portable-Power-USB-Jumpstart%252F1239712225%253Fiid%253D152615027532%2526chn%253Dps%2526dispItem%253D1%26itemid%3D152615027532%26targetid%3D327950629184%26device%3Dm%26adtype%3Dpla%26googleloc%3D1006483%26poi%3D%26campaignid%3D861899693%26adgroupid%3D42825902799%26rlsatarget%3Dpla-327950629184%26abcId%3D1129006%26merchantid%3D113706827%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMI25m32IrP1QIVBpUbCh3tyw0-EAQYBCABEgJWyfD_BwE%26srcrot%3D710-134428-41853-0%26rvr_id%3D1281060471553

Hi.. I like the idea of this, however it looks to be 12v output. I need 6v.

or is 6v an option on this model?

Sean

Link to comment
Share on other sites
loakessg

loakessg

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, ronin said:

Are you any good at soldering and following a simple electrical diagram?

I bought a 12v Li battery (rechargeable) for my scope, now the one I bought it for a a bit odd, it is 9v but will happily run at 12v. Sp basically anything in the range of 9-12 volts runs it. That is the background.

I also have a mount like yours with just the dual motors at 6v, and I intend to build a small 6v regulator on a bit of prototype board to power that from the 12v Li battery. Thoughts are that that could be an option. Quick google for v regulator circuits shows a lot, if I recall the basic is 2 (or 4) capacitors, a small IC and best to add a diode for reverse spikes at power off.

The battery I bought is on ebay and they are inexpensive, nothing great, but so far it has done the job and done it well. I have a tracer and you can plug in a car DC regulator thing from Maplins that is switchable to 6v. Trouble is the Tracers are good but fairly costly and then you need the Maplins item, costs add up.

I  can solder, but not sure I fancy going down this line. Knowing my luck i'd blow something up :(

Thanks for the thought

Sean

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SilverAstro

SilverAstro

Posted
Posted
32 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

The EQ3-2 or 5 with 6V motors will happily run off a 5V 

4400mAH one.

So the 17Ah of the Halford types (17000mAh) via their USBs would give him a while longer maybe , , though given our usual MTBC I dont suppose that is significant.

what's that you say ,,, ah MTBC = mean time between clouds, (son of MTBF)

dont mind me, just idling over coffee break :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Alien 13

Alien 13

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, SilverAstro said:

So the 17Ah of the Halford types (17000mAh) via their USBs would give him a while longer maybe , , though given our usual MTBC I dont suppose that is significant.

what's that you say ,,, ah MTBC = mean time between clouds, (son of MTBF)

dont mind me, just idling over coffee break :)

 

I doubt I could carry the halfords power tank very far, the battery banks are very light in fact I bought a 11000mAh one for £9 and it fits in a small pocket :icon_biggrin:

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spengler

Spengler

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Dave In Vermont said:

I was thinking about these Li-power sources. But they keep ending up on the news here. Yesterday was no exception, and the TV-news had a film ofone that was powering a young woman's cell-phone in her handbag as she sat in the audience of some town-meeting or other. And then there was a loud 'BOOOOOM!!' and the woman was standing on her feet - and being engulfed in fire! Yes - it had exploded in her purse! People rushed-in the help her and put out the fire - but she did need to go to a hospital for burns.

And that was for one big enough to power a cell-phone. I'd hate to think of what would have happened with a large one.

As a result of this, and all the other stories as of late - I think I'll wait awhile for the things to work without exploding. As stands, I won't let them in my house.

Be Aware -

Dave

 

Most mobile battery's are supplied with an in-built power management system inside the battery, some phones, e-cigs, drones, skateboards....etc, use very cheap Chinese knock-offs. Called Naked Batteries. They don't contain the safety features, hence prone to exploding.

Buy decent or buy twice.

I use a lot of Li batteries at work, never had any issues, but never use naked battery supplies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SilverAstro

SilverAstro

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

I doubt I could carry the halfords power tank very far, the battery banks are very light in fact I bought a 11000mAh one for £9 and it fits in a small pocket :icon_biggrin:

Good point, no weight given on the couple of the halfords-type I looked at, though my usual plot is just outside my front door - hence the ext.cable hazard, if I forgot to top up the mount's internal one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
loakessg

loakessg

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 minute ago, SilverAstro said:

Thanks for the loan of your topic @loakessg ! Carry on and good luck :thumbsup::D

No worries, has been interesting reading :)

Still totally confused but hey ho, this topic isn't straight forward. Think i'll get a couple more Duracells ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Erla

Erla

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, loakessg said:

Hi.. I like the idea of this, however it looks to be 12v output. I need 6v.

or is 6v an option on this model?

Sean

I have this power unit, got it from Halfords, I use it for EQ6. It is indeed 12v and having looked at it I can't see 6 or 9V options. However, check if your mount isn't 12V. Some threads here discussing power supply for Eq3 suggests it's 12V. 

I know jump starters as the one I'm using are frowned upon by some, but it works for me. And if it dies - it's cheap, who cares.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.