How long does it take to charge-up the Maplin 5 in 1 power tank?

[Martin-Devon]

I've just purchased the Maplin 5 in 1 power tank to provide mains-free 12V power for my scope. It comes with the battery completely flat, and asks that you fully charge it first time.

So - I plugged the mains charger in overnight and 15 hours later (this morning), the red charging light is still on, and when I turn off the charger and check the battery level on the display system - absolutely nothing registers.

So, either on first ever charge-up it needs a lot longer than 15 hours, or I have a dud unit.

Several other members have this same power unit - what is your experience of the first-ever charge-up? Do you charge until the red charge light goes off (does it ever go off?). Did you need to charge using the mains charger for 2 continuous days?

[bcfcciderhead]

The one i have did take 15hrs to charge and the red charge light does not go off, it now only takes overnight to charge when flat, if it was me i would take it back and ask for a new one, dont sound right to me.

This is the one i have, also from Maplins.

[beamish]

Days n days n days !

Get a proper battery charger and charge it up via the croc clips

[Photosbykev]

take it apart, rip out the 17AHr battery and throw away all the useless bits i.e. everything else, then charge it with a proper charger.

The charger that came with it is probably a 500mA charger so that is a minimum of 34 hours flat to full assuming it is 100% effective, which it won't be.

[Questions]

Some of them recomend double the charge length on the 1st charge (according to pamphlets).

No idea why.

[MikeP]

I agree totally with what Photosbykev said.

Mike

[Beyond_Vision]

take it apart, rip out the 17AHr battery and throw away all the useless bits i.e. everything else, then charge it with a proper charger.

The charger that came with it is probably a 500mA charger so that is a minimum of 34 hours flat to full assuming it is 100% effective, which it won't be.

This is correct and you can easily end up with less and less charge if you use it on consecutive days. As there is not enough time to charge it fully before the next use.

As Karlo says get a better charger which will charge at a higher rate. For instance if you have used it for say 8 hours during the night then you would want to charge it fully within 16 hours so that is ready for the next day. So over an Amp of charge current would be required.

Regards

Kevin

[jonathan]

I bought the 5-in-1 from Maplins, the first one worked fine but had a cracked case (it went back for replacement - fast and free pickup and delivery), the second one came fully charged according to the charge-check button and LEDs on the front, after a couple of hour's use it still read full but I stuck it on charge using the provided mains charging block overnight anyway, when I check it in the morning the charging block was cold to the touch so I assume it was no longer pumping out any current (usually these type of mains chargers get hot when in use).

I would give it 30 hours on the mains charger, if no change then get a replacement.

[brantuk]

I gave mine an initial 16hrs charge. Now after every session I put it on overnight (5-6hrs) and it never let me down so far. If it stands unused for 2-3 months - I give it a good 8hr charge to keep it alive.

Ripping it to bits as suggested above is fine - but last time at Kelling I was about to leave and the car was flat as a pancake. The powerpack was fine for turning the car over and got me going again. I use the light sometimes and the compressors great for blowing up airbeds

[Celeste]

I am also toying with buying this battery, but the reviews are less than encouraging

[Martin-Devon]

Before this I purchased the Maplin mains 240V --> 12V/5A adaptor - completely unusable, it has a build in fan into the adaptor and makes a heck of a racket. On a quiet nights observing, would drive me nuts. I returned it to Maplins last night and switched to the 5 in 1 power unit instead.

Have now switched charging of this from the supplied 0.5A charger to the standard car battery charger unit I had in my garage - been on charge a further 6 hours so far, but the Maplin power unit still looks dead - when I stop the charging and check the power status - still nothing registers at all. I'll leave it on over night (will be 2nd continuous night of charging), but it's the same tomorrow - then it goes back

[beamish]

Get an optimate mate !

Optimate 3+ 12v Battery Charger

[brantuk]

If the Maplins powerpack has been in storage for too long it may well have lost it's charge and gone dead. The supplied chargers are only "trickle" chargers and not strong enough to revive a dead battery. For this, a deep cycle charger is needed - and even then it may be impossible if the battery is in a really bad state.

A new battery though should be fine - so if it ain't, I'd go back to the retailer for an exchange or refund. I have a Celestron 17ah battery that ran out cos I left it all winter without charging - can't revive it at all.

The moral is - make sure you have a good battery to start with and keep it regularly topped up - I learned my lesson, and have never been let down since