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The 12V power packs of lies!

Breakintheclouds

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davew

davew

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Torberry is a type of plug. Ok if you have the other end. If not no matter, take it off.

Platinum batteries of this size are often AGM. I can't tell from the picture. It looks similar to the other one I suggested. Should last a while with the correct charger. It's certainly lighter that 21 KG !

Dave

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Deneb

Deneb

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21Kg, im no Wimp, I have 3 shredded wheat for breakfast :eek:. No - seriously got no problem lugging it out everytime at all. I also bought a battery box which I bought from the store as well, which comes with an external 12V socket, battery indicator, on & off switch & external connectors, but the strap which comes with it is ****. Mine broke while securing the lid, but the box has carry handles on it - so no problem.

Cheer

Nadeem.

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inapottingshed

inapottingshed

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21Kg, im no Wimp, I have 3 shredded wheat for breakfast :eek:. No - seriously got no problem lugging it out everytime at all. I also bought a battery box which I bought from the store as well, which comes with an external 12V socket, battery indicator, on & off switch & external connectors, but the strap which comes with it is ****. Mine broke while securing the lid, but the box has carry handles on it - so no problem.

Cheer

Nadeem.

Well, the upside is, there's enough power there to run a heated ski suit, boots, and gloves...

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alfingido

alfingido

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This whole subject of battery power for telescopes and accessories is a thorny one. I get the feeling that pretty well everyone who starts out as a newbie gets caught out - I certainly did. In many ways it's a rite of passage.

Buying a good mount is seen as the occasion to buy one of the 17AH clones from the likes of Celestron of Skywatcher. These things are wholly unsuited to the slow pull of current over very many hours, and the presence of those ludicouus 'car starter' 250Amp thick cables and clamps is the giveaway. I have been caught out twice by accidentally draining the battery and then having to pay £55 for a replacement. Inmates here are well advised to steer clear of them unless a flashing red light, a useless radio and the ability to kick start a tractor at 3am are observing essentials.

Look instead to the batteries used by motor home users and boats - these, like your mount and heaters are designed to give up current over a long period of very many hours. The conditioning chargers that come with them are the right tools for the job too. It may cost a few quid more, but it's the best deal in the long run. Say "no!" to the Celestron car crankers.

Wholeheartedly agree with the above, leisure batteries are the best, but, about 9 years ago I bought a jumpstart battery ( I think from halfords) I needed a hefty one to start a 2.5 litre diesel and went for a Portable Power Pack PS800i. It has 800W cold cranking power, so double the power of the OP's battery.

Its jumpstarted many cars, the last time was a few weeks ago when I needed to jumpstart my 2 litre van. I have used it on holiday, its powered 2 Meade mounts, a couple of Skywather mounts and now my Celestron, plus dew heaters. It spent a couple of years unused in the garage and charged perfectly when I needed it again.

So, what I am trying to say is that if you want a good jumpstart type battery that is at least as good as a leisure battery, you need to get a good high power one to start with.

I think the PS800i is still available from a couple of suppliers. It also has a 230v inverter and 2 x 12v outputs.

Of course, mine will now die the next time I use it!

Allan

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acharris77

acharris77

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Hey, I bought one of those maplins one about 5 weeks ago for £25, and I checked and the battery is an 17Ah one, and to be honest it has done a few sessions with my 130p syncscan and the gauge thing is still showing around 12.5v, though I am going to have to charge it to make sure the battery stays topped up.

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Glider

Glider

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Apparently 'normal' lead acid batterys aren't designed to be steadily discharged at several amps over several hours, especially at low temperatures. They expect a short, sharp shock starting a car and then a steady recharge for the rest of the journey. Leisure batterys are better for this steady drain type of 'duty'. They take a heavier steady discharge, to a lower level with less degradation to their life. It's not just a question of Ah capacity but also discharge rate, effects battery life.

I've seen this with battery powered electronics. Say product draws 200mA from 2000mA batterys, life is about 8 hours. If the product draws 400mA you might expect life to be 4 hours but it's more like 2. Further, that's at 5 to 45 centigrade. At below zero and above 55 centigrade you can half the figure to 1 hour.

Having said that, I use a Halford 40Ah Ring Professional Power Pack no problem so far.

That's my limited experience.

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arad85

arad85

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and to be honest it has done a few sessions with my 130p syncscan and the gauge thing is still showing around 12.5v, though I am going to have to charge it to make sure the battery stays topped up.
The 130p Synscan is a lot lower load than a HEQ5 (which the OP has). My battery pack died the first time I tried to run the EQ6 off it... It had been fine with the CG5 for quite a few sessions lasting some hours... When I used it on my Nexstar 6SE, it lasted ages between charges.
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tinvek

tinvek

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i've used one of these for a while now,

Halfords Power Pack 200 from Halfords Was £134.99 Save £45.00 Price £89.99

not just for astro use but for car startings and even when we had a power cut to run a few 240V lamps off a couple of extension leads which it managed for the whole evening.

one added advantage is the jump leads disconnect so it's a nice tidy unit to carry around.

obviously not as cheap as some other power packs and not as powerfull as a leasure battery solution but i find it a good compramise between the two

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arad85

arad85

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Tinvek, that looks just like the one I mention above ^^^^. As you say, very tidy to move about and includes a 240Vac 3 pin socket.
As is mine, which sadly died.... (the one above is 20Ah, mine was 17Ah which was £50 off ebay BTW).
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