Jump Starter Advice

[thesatanbug]

I've jumped in and bought a GO TO system for my EQ3-2.

I'm going to get the Maplins jump starter to power it. I just spoke to the guy from Astronomiser, but he can't take orders over the phone.

I botched setting up a Paypal account years ago and can't be bothered to retrieve my details, so will have to look elsewhere. Is there anyone else supplying the right connectors I can try to phone my order in?

Buy the sound of it they don't include one with the pack any more.

Thanks.

[Ant]

FLO do power tanks

Power - Skywatcher PowerTank 7Ah

But I think you can get them from Halfords, Maplins etc.

Cheers

Ant

[Armsoft]

The maplin power tank does still come with a lead, but its only a 1mtr one, so a longer one is needed to use it properly.

Mark

I've jumped in and bought a GO TO system for my EQ3-2.

I'm going to get the Maplins jump starter to power it. I just spoke to the guy from Astronomiser, but he can't take orders over the phone.

I botched setting up a Paypal account years ago and can't be bothered to retrieve my details, so will have to look elsewhere. Is there anyone else supplying the right connectors I can try to phone my order in?

Buy the sound of it they don't include one with the pack any more.

Thanks.

[thesatanbug]

^ Thanks both, just off to buy one. I'll get a two metre cable just to be on the safe side.

[Armsoft]

Given that I`ve brought the 17AH one from Maplins

Any thoughts on how often should I charge the unit?

Should I wait till it`s @ 75%? or 50%

Tonight will be its first outing (thankyou for the clear sky`s) and I`m expecting it to be a 2-3 hour session, so will I need to put it straight on charge after I`ve finished?

Thanks in advance

(still learning) Mark

[brantuk]

2-3 hours wont drain it much - but top up recharge every after every session for 4hrs or so and it'll allways be fine. If it ever drops below 50% give it a good 16hr recharge quick

[steve_bham]

Always put it on charge after each use to keep it in tip top condition. If you dont use it for some time give it a full charge every month.

[PhilD]

i bought and converted 1 of these...

3-in-1 Portable Jumpstarter : Caravan & Camping : Maplin £19.99 just removed the jump leads, cut the sides off and then some extra 12v terminals for banana plugs, has 12v cigerete socket already. I then used rear light repair tape red to cover the white light. Comes with inbuilt volt tester and charge pack..... pictures to come :-)

Any pictures yet?

[sn00p]

oh sorry forgot all about this thread lol... will post back tomoz witha few pics :-)

[Mogster]

I have the £19.99 Maplin 17ah battery, seems fine. An extra lighter socket would have been nice but for this price can't really complain. Powered my Mini tower all day for solar and my CPC all night without a re-charge.

My old one was an RAC 17ah, that lasted for 5 years but I always kept it well charged up. I think people over discharge these packs, let them run flat, they loose about 10% charge per month without use, and they're knackered.

[Armsoft]

Mogster

Been into Halfords today and brought a multi lighter socket, comes with a short cable with lighter plug on the end and then on the other end is a very well constructed unit with 3 lighter sockets built into it.

Sky very cloudy tonight, so will hopefully get a chance later in the week to try it out and see how well it copes powering my 4SE & 6SE at the same time.

I`m assuming that all I`ll lose out on is AH, the power output should be the same (I hope) from both sockets used.

I`ll keep you posted just incase you want to give it a try.

Mark

I have the £19.99 Maplin 17ah battery, seems fine. An extra lighter socket would have been nice but for this price can't really complain. Powered my Mini tower all day for solar and my CPC all night without a re-charge.

My old one was an RAC 17ah, that lasted for 5 years but I always kept it well charged up. I think people over discharge these packs, let them run flat, they loose about 10% charge per month without use, and they're knackered.

[sn00p]

well i finally got round to taking some pics of my hacked £19.99 17ah jump pack from Maplin http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=383992

Hacked the handles off and carefully removed the jump leads. Covered the light with rear light repair tape. I personally added a banana plug socket as i use this for other things too. Has a 12v cigar socket already with a 1meter 2.1m tip+ (SW synsan size) lead.

As you can see ^ i plugged the holes with thin plastic. I was going to cut some storage pockets for leads etc but havent got round to doing this yet... Theres also plenty of room to fit another cigar socket and i intend to hard wire a lead through one of the holes you can see on either side where the old jump leads one lived... this lead can be pocked back down the holefor storage just leaving the tip showing :-)

Plastic casing was a piece of pie to cut with a sharp stanley knife (be careful mind i have a severly damaged ligament from a previous task that has left me with a lazy foot for 3 years :-(

Simples

[Armsoft]

sn00p

Neat job, I think I`ll do a bit of DIY on mine and get rid of the compressor that it comes with, along with the jump start cables.

Mark

[sn00p]

i forgot to mention i also re-located the 12v cigar socket from the side handles when removed to the front panel... 25mm hole that i marked then carefully cut with a stanley knife... remove the tacky stickers and it all looks a little neater.