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A reminder about charging your PowerTanks


James

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The thing about vehicle batteries is that they are not intended to be heavily discharged (they start the vehicle, then get recharged by the alternator). For this reason, the lead plates are thinner. For the sort of thing we use batteries for, you really need what is called a "deep cycle" battery; it has thicker plates and is designed to tolerate heavy discharging. They are often sold as "marine" batteries.

That said, your transit van battery will not fry your kit (as long as you connect it correctly!); it may, however, not survive a winter or two of deep discharges.

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Hi All im new. Thanks for the advice on the thread. I have just had to deep charge my tank and luckily all seems well. This is something I will not forget to do again but to be honest it was bought on ebay and I didnt actually know that I should be doing this.

great site,

regards,

andy

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I think my skywatcher 7ah power tank is having issues as it seems to be taking longer to charge it and at the moment its still charging with the RED charging light on but also the GREEN fully charged light seem to be coming on and even though its not bright green now it seem to be getting brighter.

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I think my Maplins 5-in-1 starter tank has bit the dust, might try the Optimates charger on it but am trying to get hold of a deep cycle AGM battery to replace the one inside (along with a suitable deep cycle charger). It just happens that when I enquired about it this week the supplier were just in the process of bringing out a new range of batteries which were not available yet, hopefully it won't be too long before I can buy one off the shelf at my local auto-parts trade counter. Should be no more than about £60 for the battery and charger, but definitely worth it over the cheap car batteries.

If anyone tries to recommend you a 'Leisure' battery, these are very large and typically used in caravans to run TVs and such, about 60Ah and above. Heavy and bulky, and probably far more Ah than could be used on one telescope in a typical night's observing. Gel batteries were also mentioned during my enquiries, but not recommended by the battery supplier / manufacturer for a 12v 2A deep cycle application such as a telescope mount. I am going to trust their advice on an AGM battery as the most suitable type, about 20Ah should be well within budget and more than enough to cover the mount, dew heaters, etc.

Edited by jonathan
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  • 1 month later...

Cold also has a big effect on the battery. If the battery is fully charged and then kept indoors in the warm it can be stored for a year before it needs charging again. The worst thing you can do is to store the battery on a concrete floor in an unheated shed or garage, as even a fully charged battery can loose enough charge to permanently damage it in just a month or two.

John

Good to know. Thanks for that. Thats exactly how and where i planned on storing mine. I know better now and will bring it inside.

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  • 6 months later...

Thinking about getting one of these while they're on offer - 5in1 Jumpstarter with Digital Air Compressor : InCar Battery Chargers and Compressors : Maplin

Maybe useful for people with dead powertanks :)

I bought one of these it wouldn't even charge properly from new - never more than the 'low charge' light showing (sadly I lost the receipt so they wouldn't change it :mad: )

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I`m just wondering whether to ditch the powertank for home observing and buy a regulated power supply.I recall reading somewhere the mains power supplies are not as stable in delivering a constant supply to your mount can anyone eloborate on that cheers

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  • 2 months later...

I have two Maplin Jump Starter Batteries for over two years now and they are both going brilliantly still. I have had zero problems with both of them. I charge after EVERY use religiously. If I don't use for a week - often the case in our bad weather - I charge them anyway.

May I suggest you consign the piece of junk called a charger supplied with these Jump Starters to the bin and buy one of these instead?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/OptiMate-4-Battery-charger-conditioner/dp/B000R5936U/ref=sr_1_23?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1350589944&sr=1-23

Absolutely superb investment and worth every penny. Will keep batteries in top notch condition and I have used it to resurrect friends batteries as well.

Steve

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Hi,iv gone totally over to mains supply for my scope.

The Due Heater really knocks the charge out of the

battery.When your out most of the night,the last thing

you want is a misted up scope.Mine is the C11,which

really seems to be a dew magnet.I have got the

Celestron 7amp Power Pack , which i use on the

4" refractor .Great, grab & go scope.

Steve.

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