Power tank and HEQ5/EQ6 Question

[Albireo380]

I use the very heavy Chinese cheapie power tank supplied with my HEQ5. It doesn't hold its charge and weighs half a ton. Strangely, the Celestron Powertank I use to run the LX90 doesn't work well on the HEQ5 (the power light on the HEQ5 keeps flickering, so I am a bit nervous about using it with that power tank. I can't see any difference in the power output, but the chinese (HEQ5) powertank has no details of the power output apart from stating "12v", 17Ah. So I am not sure what the output difference is between the 2 powertanks, but whatever it is, the HEQ5 doesn't like it.

Does anyone know what the difference is?

Also, if you have an HEQ5 / EQ6, what power supply do you use?

Thanks

Tom

[bern]

Tom,

I believe a lot of the Celestron power tanks are only 7ah ie less than half the capacity of the Skywatcher unit so no good for big mounts. To get the best out of lead/acid batteries it's necessary to charge them fully after every use and every month or so when not in use.

For home use I'd suggest a quality 12 to 14 volt power supply for reliability.

I sometimes use an adapted AT PC power supply but don't recommend this unless you know what you're doing!

bern

[Greg]

Tom,

I use a little power pack I got from lidles, cost about £14.00

It's called a power cube. It works fine.

Greg

[bern]

The smaller power packs are fine for the basic HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts but the Skyscan mounts need something with more body

bern

[Albireo380]

The smaller power packs are fine for the basic HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts but the Skyscan mounts need something with more body

bern

Any suggetsions Bern? Do I go to Halfords or Maplin and get the BIGGEST, most POWERFUL one I can buy - or do you know of a dedicated Astro power tank that will work?

Tom

[bern]

Tim, I don't know of any Astro power packs with significantly more capacity than 17AH unfortunately.

You could try a leisure battery, these are designed to be deep discharged and are used on boats, caravans etc, I've seen them in Halfords. Get the biggest one you can afford (and carry) and you'll be fine

bern

[Albireo380]

Thanks for the advice Bern, I will pop over to Halfords later this week.

Tom

[daz]

Tom

I use a 17Ah pack, and it lasts ages, several observing sessions. My mount is not Skyscan though.

Got mine from eBay, but the leisure batteries will be just as good

[Jamie]

Thanks for the advice Bern, I will pop over to Halfords later this week.

Tom

Tom i use a leisure battery and it will run my scope/camera/lappy and anything else i can think of (ALL WEEK LONG)

[russ]

Hi Tom,

I use a 17Ah Powertank I bought from Maplins. It was in their sale and cost £29.99. I checked Halfords but boy were they expensive.

I did also have the Lidl's jobby which worked fine for a standard HEQ5/EQ6 but not for Skyscan. I have the little Telescope House model too but that's only a 7Ah model and gives up the ghost pretty quickly. Really need the bigger 17Ah units for Skyscan.

Russ

[bern]

The thing about lead acid batteries is that they last much longer if only partially discharged between charges.

They also rarely give their full capacity specially if they've been on a slow boat from China more or less fully discharged for a month. Add to that the hunger of a fast slewing well laden Skyscan on a cold winters night and its easy to see that either a mains psu or a hefty battery are necessary for long duration. If you're using dew heaters, CCD camera & laptop then 17AH doesn't cut it for long in my experience. I think it's worth spending money on equipment if it works well and is reliable, the last thing you want is another source of frustration to add to the weather

bern

[CELESCOPE]

this is a question i now ask myself , i have 3 17ah power tanks , one for the camera ,as it need s a full charge , one for the scope and one for the dew heater , i had 4 hrs imaging the other night , only to find all the batts run out , frustrating, and these were fully charged at the start , so thinking of going to mains to 12 volt now , having said that its ok for just b/w and a couple of long exposures ,

Rog

[bern]

How about running your dog in a wheel to turn an alternator, save having to take it for a walk

bern

[CELESCOPE]

very true , then i can give him a kick when he slows down heheh

[Jamie]

Ha ha ha My wife just seen your last post Bern and she wants to put YOU in a wheel. :D

[bern]

Put me in a wheel? why not, I could stand to lose some weight and it's cheaper than a gym

bern

[Jamie]

Oh no! Bern you are ok now cos Rog said to kick the dog.

She is now asking for Rog's address.

Stop this NOW before she turns on me (these things always end up my fault) :whip2:

[Ambermile]

No need to kick the dog - put the cat in as well and go turbo...

[Jamie]

:shock: