Show us your battery and charger setup

[Stevo69]

I picked up a sealed lead acid battery, charger and assorted cables today ahead of a scope arriving, so I thought I would build a nice box to put them in, with power outlet sockets and a switch on the top, and two carry handles etc etc.... but ...I wouldn't mind seeing some images of some setups and other designs from members.

How do you set up your charger and rechargeable battery when observing? Do you have a mix of cables, plugs and sockets wound up the leg of the tripod? or have you devised some fancy method or wiring and housing the battery?

Show us your setup....

hoo roo

[Kokatha man]

Hi Steve, mentioning "batteries" around me is like waffling mature cheese odours in front of mice: but you're lucky, I'm just about to shut down on my way to the city.....

I'm going to be fortunate re your question, my pier, possibly to be commissioned this weekend, has the draw-wire sticking out near the pier head with its other end dangling under the deck: being such an untidy yob the other half of my split personality is the compulsive-obsessive "neat-freak."

So, possibly tomorrow sometime (maybe not with all this annoyingly wellcome rain we're having) I'm going to secure my multi cored cable to the bottom end of my draw-wire and haul it up through the hollow centre of the pier and "presto" - wires to spare and an epitome of neatness!

The battery unit will be way offside out of the way (so I use heavy cables to not drop voltage) and it'll be very low trickled charged via a small solar panel.....

Cheers, Darryl.

[asterisk]

Hi Steve

The box is from Dick Smith, the batteries are deep-cycle from YHI, the rest is from Jaycar. The two RCA sockets at the side on the second photo are for recharging - I put a RCA plug on the end of the battery charger lead to make connecting more convenient.

The wiring is a bit messy as I originally had only one deep-cycle and one normal SLA battery in the box - I tried to keep each battery separate originally. The SLA died and got replaced with a second deep-cycle connected in parallel. The cigarette lighter sockets are fused and switched. The meters are more for reference (how much power am I using, how is the voltage) and not absolutely necessary.

Cheers

[Ian Robinson]

Mine is an 8 year old JumpStarter : looks like http://www.diytools.com.au/default.asp?page=productdetails&ID={39F6C2BB-2BEE-4BB0-BEEA-5B3561ECD25B}#imagegallery less the compressor (I have a heavy duty one for pumping up my tires after I leave the sand).

I have never needed to jump start myself with it , I have driven my Engal 39L carfridge for lots of hours with it, and run the occasional 12v bulge pump (as a live bait pump with it all night, more than enough power to run a GEM.

I also have a couple of my old 4x4 batteries that I keep charged up that I can use if I need some extra mWh but are not good enough to turn over the Pajero anymore.

[Lester]

I just use a car battery that is hooked to a solar panel to keep it charged. My observatory is about 1km away from any mains power.

[Ian Robinson]

With 2 x 4wd in it , that's a fair bit of ballast to cart around , a good trolley would save your shoulders, arms and back.

[asterisk]

I try not to carry it too far - the batteries are 2 x 30 amp in parallel - each by itself is not too bad - together is another story.:P

[Ian Robinson]

This is what I use : http://www.4x4store.com.au/Projecta-Jumpstarter-900A-12V-with-Power-Supply-pr-278001.html, it's pretty handy .

Got mine from Kmart.

[DaveGee]

I have two flavours of battery power when out observing... Light Duty and Heavy Duty. Both are Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) Batteries.

Light Duty is a 4.4Ah SLA that lives in my video observing box and it powers my 8" LX90, 6" B&W monitor, Video Camera, and KIWI OSD VTI. It's good for about an hour. Charging is via a small Wall Wart charger.

Heavy Duty is a 90Ah SLA that lives in my vehicle which is a Toyota High Ace van. It's connected to the alternator via a do-dad the Auto Electrician installed when he wired everything up. Power is fed from the battery to a 240volt 300 watt Sine Wave Inverter and then to a 6 way plug pack. I've powered my scope, dew shield and laptop for 3 nights at the SPSP as well as my fridge (on 12 volts) without having to start the engine.

Pictures attached.:D

[Ian Robinson]

Just checked out the http://www.battery-usa.com/Catalog/tel90.pdf , it's a beast.

I might hunt one up for my next long 4x4 trip just to power the Engal. How much did the 90Ah SLA set you back ?

One of these 120Ah batteries http://allpurposebatteries.com.au/shop/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=195&osCsid=6949420fafe9449ed5f9563da82b f5ff looks very interesting too.

[asterisk]

Hi Brent

Additional Pictures as requested:

[erick]

How do you charge the batteries, Geoff? Disconnect the wiring and connect the charger?

[asterisk]

The batteries are joined in parallel. I have one wire going from the positive of the first battery and another from the negative of the second battery to an RCA socket on the side of the battery box. To this, I connect a multi-stage charger:

http://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/shop/store.php?crn=387&rn=816&action=show_detail

which I leave permanently connected. I replaced the original connection going to the battery box with an RCA plug. This also gives me an additional 12v socket (albeit an RCA socket) if I need one.

I disconnect nothing - all wiring within the box stays in place.

[bmitchell82]

Very similar to what i have been thinking of doing, though in there i will be adding a 12-5V DC DC converter for the lappy, other than that everything is already in DC mode. now to get the 120 a-h SLA!

[BTS]

Geoff, the aluminium you added, is that a strip the whole length of the inside of the lid? Does it overlap the edge at all? How thick is the strip of aluminium? Do you think running 2-3 strips along the bottom would strengthen the bottom of the box?
This is my first electronics job EVER (lol) so I'd like to get it right. I'm sure I'll have more qstns re: wiring the meters etc later :D

Cheers!

[asterisk]

Yes - aluminium angle, not a flat piece



Flush with the edge



Each side is about 12mm - Bunnings - whatever thickness the 12mm angle is



You would need to run angle for increased stiffness - strips of flat aluminium will still tend to bend - I just use the original box bottom without any reinforcing and it still works (so far - touch wood).



Don't worry. This is not a challenging job electronically. As regards the meters, if you use them, the voltage meter is connected to the positive of the first battery(+ to +) and the negative of the second battery (- to -); the amp meter is connected in line with the positive feed. The connections on Amp meters usually are marked + and -. Ignore the - and don't connect that to the battery negative. Positive on battery to - of amp meter, positive cable to switch, fuse, sockets from the + side of the meter.

If this is too confusing, I will attempt another diagram.