Powering HEQ5 in the field-

[DarkKnight (Kev)]

I've been hijacking Johngwheelers thread (sorry John) about powering my HEQ5 so I thought I should start my own.

I'd appreciate any informed comments on my proposed set-up.

1: Battery 38AH Fusion Deep Cycle Gel - I figure it should give me about 9-10 hours and stay within the 50% discharge ratio
2: I already have the CTEK MXS 5.0 charger which should be fine to charge it
3: Battery Box with cigarette lighter socket which I'll retro fit a switched red light to (12v Trailer clearance light) This one seems to fit the bill http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/400353435...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
4: Ciggie plug with 2.1mm 'L' mount connector. This is the one I'm looking at with a 15A fuse http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-24V-1...item1c536251ef and this is where I'm confused. I'm a real dunce with electricity stuff and have absolutely no idea of what it all means. Will this be OK, or do I need to change the fuse to say a 5A or 7A type ?

I don't want to fry my new mount because I'm a dummy with power stuff and was too stupid to ask questions.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

[QUOTE=DarkKnight;1190273] ...
1: Battery 38Ah Fusion Deep Cycle Gel - I figure it should give me about 9-10 hours and stay within the 50% discharge ratio
2: I already have the CTEK MXS 5.0 charger which should be fine to charge it
....
All good

The GEL battery can safely go down to 15% discharge ( 5.7Ah)

SLA & AGM batteries are recommended to 50% discharge only

The fuse should be rated to just above the mount under load
I tried 2 amps on my mount and they popped under load now I run 3amps with no issues

[DarkKnight (Kev)]

Thanks for the info Rob.

[RobF (Rob)]

Good quality gel battery and charger is a great long term investment and should last many years. HEQ5Pro uses only around 1amp/hr tracking, so you should get many nights if just driving your mount.

Dew heaters are the big juice items, followed by laptops, etc. Might be worth having some sort of voltage/current monitoring if you start running extra items.

[DarkKnight (Kev)]

Cheers RobF.

The battery box I've bought has a built-in voltage indicator.

I've already had problems with my 14mm Samyang fogging up. Wouldn't suit a dew heater but I was thinking about a low powered 12v hair dryer type of gizmo.

Will try it out on an old lens in case it fogs up on the inside, not something I want with my good lens

[MattT]

I have no idea about electrics either so earlier this year I bought a 105amp AGM with battery box, that has all the bits I need built in.

http://www.aussiebatteries.com.au/ba...tery-box-combo

At the time the price was $299... couldn't go past that. Powers my G11 stepper motors and Kendrick 4 channel dew heaters going full blast.

[DarkKnight (Kev)]

Somebody on SGL checked the ex-factory ciggie plug that came with their HEQ5 and it has a 5amp fuse. That's good enough for me.

Thanks for the help.