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Skywatcher PowerTank ??

drummerp

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arad85

arad85

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This is probably an Old question but I'm looking at purchasing one of these Power - Skywatcher PowerTank 17Ah

Is it correct that I would be able somehow to connect this to the motors of my CG-5 so I dont need to keep buying new batteries for it which can cost a small fortune ?

Cheers

Neil

Yes, you can power your CG-5 from it. However, you can buy a lot cheaper than that - I bought this one: POWER TANK jump start work light air compressor USB NEW on eBay, also Other Rechargeable Batteries, Rechargeable Batteries, Batteries Battery Chargers, Consumer Electronics (end time 31-May-09 17:08:22 BST)

which even has a 200W invertor included.

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FLO

FLO

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Yes, the Skywatcher Powertanks will run your CG-5 and they include the necessary lead. arad85 is right, there are cheaper power tanks and leads out there and you don't need to rersort to ebay either. Maplins, Lidls, Aldi and the like all run promos where power tanks can be found for as little as £20. Some of them might not have the same quality of cells and charger and you also need to check the polarity before connecting it, otherwise they are perfectly adequate (I have 3 myself!).

HTH

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brianb

brianb

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Maplins, Lidls, Aldi and the like all run promos where power tanks can be found for as little as £20.
Yeah .... just remember that these things have a low capacity charger (500mA) which means long recharging times, and they're not deep cycle so draining below 50% will kill the battery in fairly short order.

I'm using a 70Ah leisure (camping/marine) deep cycle battery which is heavy but runs a whole lot of kit for a full night, recharges fairly quickly & is likely to last for several years.

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arad85

arad85

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and you don't need to rersort to ebay either.
The reason I bought off ebay was that was the cheapest way of buying that particular power tank - the same people (the link goes to their ebay shop) sell it on their own website at £79.95 plus £6 P&P. I paid £59.99 delivered and the invertor powers my laptop too :cool: YMMV of course :)
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macipod

macipod

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Hi

I have a CG- 5 mount with dual motors,I think u will find that the hand contol only accepts 6v not 12v , I used mine with a celestron power tank and I purchased a cable with two male conectors from maplins for £3 hope this helps .

Luke

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FLO

FLO

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Things must have changed Luke, the current Skywatcher 17Ah power tank has 3, 6, 9 and 12v options. Two leads are supplied, a 12v lead with the necessary cigarette-lighter-type plug and another lead for use wuth the 3, 6 and 9v sockets. People often miss the latter lead as it tend to 'hide' in the corner of the rear compartment.

HTH

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Bigwings

Bigwings

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Things must have changed Luke, the current Skywatcher 17Ah power tank has 3, 6, 9 and 12v options. Two leads are supplied, a 12v lead with the necessary cigarette-lighter-type plug and another lead for use wuth the 3, 6 and 9v sockets. People often miss the latter lead as it tend to 'hide' in the corner of the rear compartment.

HTH

Which Rear compartment??? Must say I missed mine LOL

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blackgerby

blackgerby

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Maplins still have a deal running on these - I know they look naff but they seem to be popular so I guess they work ok. I just got one a few weeks back.

don't expect them to start your car though. I tried when I left my lights on and flattened the battery. Didn't work :cool:

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adamsp123

adamsp123

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Maplins still have a deal running on these - I know they look naff but they seem to be popular so I guess they work ok. I just got one a few weeks back.

There are many of the ones Astro baby has highlighted all the same just different labels on! I have 2, one secondhand for a fiver and both work fine just don't over deplete them and give them a good day to recharge.

Deep cycle (leisure) batteries cost a hell of a lot more!

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drummerp

drummerp

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Things must have changed Luke, the current Skywatcher 17Ah power tank has 3, 6, 9 and 12v options. Two leads are supplied, a 12v lead with the necessary cigarette-lighter-type plug and another lead for use wuth the 3, 6 and 9v sockets. People often miss the latter lead as it tend to 'hide' in the corner of the rear compartment.

HTH

Hi Steve, Does the 7hr power tank also come with 3,6,9 and 12v options ??

Cheer

Neil

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Jarndyce

Jarndyce

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Hi Steve, Does the 7hr power tank also come with 3,6,9 and 12v options ??

Cheer

Neil

Mine did, but just a 12v lead. I made one up to use for other outputs.

Power - Skywatcher PowerTank 7Ah

Like Luke, I use a 7Ah tank with a CG5 mount - it's 6V. And it just runs and runs. Works well with the 12v Nexstar SE too.

Some people have had issues with them, but mine seems to be really good. Two or Three 4 hour sessions - no probs.

Mind you, I've never had the "low battery" light come on, and the "fully charged" light never comes on either. Chargers are of dubious quality, I believe.

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Jarndyce

Jarndyce

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Sounds like you got a winnier there, do you want a sell it...........only jokin I think I might buy a 7hr one from FLO as long as I can get a 6v lead for it.

Cheers

Neil

I got mine from FLO.

Luke bought a lead at Maplin. I can't remember the tip size, but I'm sure someone on the forum can enlighten you.

I bought a couple of plugs and made my own. This can be used on any of the outputs (apart from the cigarette adaptor socket).

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drummerp

drummerp

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The CG-5 hand control is powered by 8 x 1.5v batteries which makes it 12v

Does this mean that the 7h power tank will work and I wont need to buy anything extra, just hook up and away ?????

I'm about to purchase so need some urgent advise on it.

Cheers

Neil

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Jarndyce

Jarndyce

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The CG-5 hand control is powered by 8 x 1.5v batteries which makes it 12v

Do you mean the CG-5GT? The goto version?

Mine is the twin axis non-goto version - the CG-5. It uses 4 x 1.5v cells. Hence 6V.

Either way, a Powertank will power it. :cool:

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  • 3 weeks later...
adamsp123

adamsp123

Posted
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I actually didn't realise that Celestron did a power tank.

Celestron | Power Tank (12-Volt, 7-Amp Power Supply) | 18774

Will this power tank be enough to power my CG5 non goto ?

& will I need to purchase any additional cables ?

cheers

Neil

I would personally go for a portable car starter power tank, cheaper and most seem to be 17amp hours so has much more charge.

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