Power Pack for the Celestron Nexstar 8SE

[Joannis]

I'm trying to get a Power Pack for my telescope and wanted to know If I can use a 12v car jumpstart battery which is about 30000 mah and discharges at 12v.  Given that the Celestron powertank is about 20000mah, I figure not only would this be cheaper but also probably last longer.  The jumpstart battery will discharge at a high ampage but this should not affect the telescope as long as it's 12v...  and it will draw as many amps as it needs.  

I have also been looking at th rapid charge battery packs where Ihave found one that has an output port for 12v 1.5amps and 12v 1.67amps but not sure if the limitation on the ampage being under 2.0 will slow the slewing and motors or will simply not be able to switch on.  I know that the mains adapter that I got with the telescope outputs at 12v 2.0a, so not sure if it will work with 1.67a.  

Does anyone have experience of this to advise me if I am on the right track or whether I'm heading for frying my telescope by not using a dedicated celestron powertank?  

[bosun21]

A 12v charger say 5 amps will only output what is required for the scope. So a 5 amp charger will output say 2 amps if the scope is designed to run at that rating. If I remember correctly it's the resistance of the load that determines the current drawn 

[Cosmic Geoff]

If you look at the user manual for the C8 SE it will tell you the required amperage, which IIRC is about 1.5 amps.  You can use anything to power the C8 SE, provided it delivers a regulated output between 12 and 14 volts, can deliver sufficient current, and has the correct polarity. 

The specifications of some of these power banks need to be read with a critical eye. 30000mAH sounds more impressive than 30 Ah, and does it mean 30 AH at 12v, or 30 AH at 5 volts (if it has any 5v output) which would represent much less energy? 

I mainly use a Celestron LiFePo power tank for my C8 SE.   Car engine starters (with a lead-acid battery) can be cheap, do the job, and are often multi-function so that they can also e.g. start your car, pump up the tyres, or provide light.

I also found that a 7 AH sealed lead-acid battery, when new, would provide enough energy for several evening's viewing with the C8 SE or 127 SLT.

[Carbon Brush]

Do you have a meter to verify voltage?

Links to the products you are considering?

[Neil H]

Hi I have 3 celestron power packs not cheap but work really well , one is now 4 years old and still powers well , I have never gone the lead acid route but to the weight and they can stop giving the 12volt 2 amps long before they go flat and this will mess up the tracking 

A little while back my wifi dongle went bang the the celestron power pack shut off before my mount  could get damaged so I am very glad I use them 

I have 2 of these https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/celestron-lithium-lifepo4-powertank.html

And one of these https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/celestron-lithium-lifepo4-powertank-pro.html

[Carbon Brush]

A new member asks a question.
Several established members offered advice, assistance and further questions.
Little realising the OP simply posted and went away.
Apparently his last and only visit to SGL was to post the question.
Why do we bother?