· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Mounts Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 Raldo member Reged: 03/24/11 Loc: PR Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank       #5505021 - 11/05/12 07:28 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   How much estimate operating time I can get out of celestron 12v 7amps powetank on my cg5. Is the cg5 a power hungry mount? Thanks in advance for the replies. Post Extras:       rmollise Postmaster Reged: 07/06/07 Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: Raldo]       #5505033 - 11/05/12 07:38 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yes it is. Moreso than my NexStar 11 GPS. As for how long a 7ah battery will last, that depends on how much slewing you do. Once in a while and you should be able to do all night. Do much zipping around the sky, and it won't go more than a few hours. Do yourself a favor and get a 17ah jumpstarter. Post Extras:       Raldo member Reged: 03/24/11 Loc: PR Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: rmollise]       #5506107 - 11/05/12 10:37 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks uncle Rod, I will follow your advise. Post Extras:       Phil Wheeler Carpal Tunnel Reged: 12/31/05 Loc: 3 miles WNW of Celestron Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: Raldo]       #5506162 - 11/05/12 11:19 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Another approach might be some number of smaller units. I use three 14 A-h devices. Easier to handle and one is in use while the others can be on charge -- and for field trips all three go. Post Extras:       Raldo member Reged: 03/24/11 Loc: PR Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: Phil Wheeler]       #5506218 - 11/06/12 12:39 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks for the reply. Can you please elaborate more on that. Post Extras:       TopherTheME sage Reged: 02/11/11 Loc: Rochester, MI Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: Raldo]       #5506800 - 11/06/12 12:24 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I use a 18.5V 5Ah Lipoly pack (and a 12V regulator) and it powers my mount for about 3 nights or about 9 hours of operation. Although this is mostly tracking, not slewing. You can estimate your mounts run time rather easily. The average current draw from my CG-5 is about 1.5 Amps, although this numbers a bit high but I'm assuming you're doing a good amount of slewing. So a 7Ah battery will operate around 4.5 hours roughly. Taking into account battery life and you never want to completely discharge a lead acid battery you're looking at around 3.5 hours. Post Extras:       rmollise Postmaster Reged: 07/06/07 Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: TopherTheME]       #5507070 - 11/06/12 03:22 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yep..."roughly" is the watch word. A 7ah battery won't come close to supplying 7ah. BUT...as you say, if you're mostly tracking, you are good. Again, IMHO the perfect battery for this mount is a 17ah jumpstart battery (from Wal-Mart or Pepboys or Harbor Freight). Reasonably light and inexpensive, built in or included charger, cool stuff like a light. Can't go wrong. If you don't observer long or don't slew much, abotu 17ah is still desirable, since it will allow you to power dew heaters, etc. from one battery. Post Extras:       Raldo member Reged: 03/24/11 Loc: PR Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: rmollise]       #5508804 - 11/07/12 06:14 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks a lot for all the replays. Post Extras:       andysea sage Reged: 09/03/10 Loc: Seattle, WA Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: Raldo]       #5509293 - 11/08/12 01:15 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   If you are a crafty person you can buy two 12Ah UPS replacement batteries on Amazon for a grand total od about $30 and then connect them in parallel. That would give you a total capacity of 24Ah. You can add a voltage regulator that can be had on ebay for about $7 including shipping from across the world I recommend always supplying through a regulator for all critical components i.e. mount, CCD etc. If you use a dew heater, that should be on its own battery. I use two 105 Ah deep cycle batteries in the field and will probably add a third one dedicated to the mount alone. Just a thought. Edit: I found a 18Ah 12V Battery for about $35 on Amazon. Should work fine for most smaller mounts and for my Mach1. Andy Edited by andysea (11/08/12 08:17 PM) Post Extras:       Raldo member Reged: 03/24/11 Loc: PR Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: andysea]       #5510623 - 11/08/12 09:43 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks a lot to all the ideas. Clear sky's for all of you. Post Extras:       Starhawk Post Laureate Reged: 09/16/08 Loc: Tucson, Arizona Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: Raldo]       #5511517 - 11/09/12 12:11 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   My problem is Astro Physics indicates I need to get to 12V 40Ah to run a Mach 1 GTO all night- so there are levels of power demand. -Rich Post Extras:       rmollise Postmaster Reged: 07/06/07 Re: Cg5 and celestron 7amps powertank [Re: Starhawk]       #5511816 - 11/09/12 03:01 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   40 ah to run the Mach 1 one night? Never heard that. Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 10 registered and 20 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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