Battery pack

General astronomy-related discussion (publicly viewable)
User avatar
NGC7000
15+ Years Member
Posts: 2877
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:51 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by NGC7000 »

Bruce,

You can easily replace the battery in your existing unit. I did that with mine.

Got the battery from Amazon ( or was it Ebay?). :D

Just a lot of screws.

Tom
Tom H
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence." - Louis Pasteur
Bruce D
Life Member
Posts: 5624
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 6:10 am

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by Bruce D »

I did that about 6 months ago but the original battery Duracell used was no longer available, just a cheap foreign immitation that worked for 15 minutes here and there around the house but when it came to doing some real work- wah wah wah...
Bruce D
User avatar
bluemax
10+ Years Member
Posts: 817
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:00 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by bluemax »

IMG_5461.jpg
IMG_5461.jpg (1.91 MiB) Viewed 977 times
IMG_5460.jpg
IMG_5460.jpg (1.88 MiB) Viewed 977 times
I replaced the battery (AGM) in my Duracell pack three years ago and it works ok but recently, the AC portion crapped out. So, I now have two 79 amp deep cell group 24's (heavy as H...) in parallel and wired up four 12v cig lighter sockets and an 800 watt converter (with annoying fan) I tested this out one night and ran two Canon cameras with ac powered battery converters, two laptops with ac converters plugged in, dew heaters and two usb hubs. I got 3 hours of usage and then tested the charge of the battery bank and still had 12.4 volts left! This setup with the two deep cells is overkill for most of us but, I wanted to be darn sure I could get a couple nights imaging (Stellafane!)
Here is a link to some AGM battery “State of Charge” graphs showing how far you can safely discharge these batteries.

https://sunonbattery.com/agm-battery-voltage-capacity/
Frank N

Stellarvue 80mm APO, Skyguider Pro, Celestron AVX

"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be"

Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" 1968
Bruce D
Life Member
Posts: 5624
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 6:10 am

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by Bruce D »

Frank you're a manly man lugging those batteries around! But they sure get the job done
Bruce D
User avatar
bluemax
10+ Years Member
Posts: 817
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:00 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by bluemax »

I know Bruce, 50 lbs each! Mike came to my imaging site at Stellafane and was a bit dismayed that I had two batteries sitting on top of my flimsy aluminum camp table along with two laptops and a bunch of stuff. His reaction precipitated making this new power station with a two foot cord so the batteries can now be on the ground. Whew! Thanks Mike!
Frank N

Stellarvue 80mm APO, Skyguider Pro, Celestron AVX

"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be"

Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" 1968
User avatar
mrgizmo65
10+ Years Member
Posts: 2650
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:02 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by mrgizmo65 »

Hi Bruce and Frank, Bruce I didn't know Frank owned a "Voltswagen"!! Hi Frank, Jerry :mrgreen:
Orion ED80T CF #9534 Carbon Fiber
Ioptron IEQ 45 Pro mount
Ioptron tripier
Ioptron eq 25 mount
Ioptron tripod
Celestron #93709 next image solar system imager
Unitron 3 inch equatorial mount W/ tracking motor and tripod
Restored ED 102 Vixen ss Doublet


"Ilagitami non carborundum" Uncle Nick '49
User avatar
bluemax
10+ Years Member
Posts: 817
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:00 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by bluemax »

Yes Jerry, the VW has battery power!
Frank N

Stellarvue 80mm APO, Skyguider Pro, Celestron AVX

"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be"

Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" 1968
User avatar
Paul D
Equipment Manager
Posts: 2108
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 2:13 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by Paul D »

For those who are not mechanically inclined there is this option, https://www.bluettipower.com/collection ... t=Brand-PM

A friend of mine has one of these (BLUETTI EB3A) and I watched him run a refrigerator for 7 hours on it. I have also watched him put and excessive load on this thing with an extension cord and yes it drained quickly but it ran everything for almost two hours. He had two computers, router, three house lamps, a 60" LED TV, phone charger, portable AC and a refrigerator hooked up to it.

This unit can be recharged with either wall outlet, car battery or solar panels. It has three modes of charging from slow to turbo but turbo is only recommended for a subtle charge since it heats up the batteries very quickly. It is a closed system and battery cannot be changed but it is lithium ion which means with moderate use it will last for better than 5 years, possibly more if only used for astronomy since the battery will not be under constant usage.
Paul...

16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50

See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)
User avatar
mrgizmo65
10+ Years Member
Posts: 2650
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:02 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by mrgizmo65 »

Hi Paul that sounds like one neck of a power source!! Do you have any information about it?? Have you heard about the battery that Elion Musk had announced ? I think it' s called the Nuclear Diamond Battery.From what little I've read it involves nuclear waste that's just about where I got lostHe claims this battery will be a plentiful power source for a long time and at the same time,solve our nuclear waste problem Jerry :mrgreen:
Orion ED80T CF #9534 Carbon Fiber
Ioptron IEQ 45 Pro mount
Ioptron tripier
Ioptron eq 25 mount
Ioptron tripod
Celestron #93709 next image solar system imager
Unitron 3 inch equatorial mount W/ tracking motor and tripod
Restored ED 102 Vixen ss Doublet


"Ilagitami non carborundum" Uncle Nick '49
User avatar
Paul D
Equipment Manager
Posts: 2108
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 2:13 pm

Re: Battery pack

Unread post by Paul D »

Jerry,

As far as the battery pack my friend has, it is brand new and we just did a series of test on it to see how it would work. It did out preform the older lead acid battery packs. The lead acid one could barely run a refrigerator never mind numerous other items. The company is very reputable and has been making power stations for years and the price is hard to beat.

Elon Musk is the real life John Hammond from Jurassic Park in my opinion. He funds the projects hires a bunch of people a whole lot smarter than himself and then takes all the credit for their hard work. So when it comes to something made out of nuclear waste all I see is danger and the potential to weaponize this battery. I know personally if the battery last 100 years I would not want it in my house simply because of what it is made out of.
Paul...

16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50

See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)
Post Reply