power tank

has anyone had any problems recharging their celestron power tank? i havent used mine in a while and it looks pretty flat but now when i try to recharge it, the circut keeps breaking. no light bulbs light up. i've been recharging via dc current.

If you let the battery go down and discharge you may have damaged it.

I have read somewhere else of someone with the same problem taking the battery out and recharging it using a car charger. You could try this and it might come back to life.


DB

If the ELCB on your socket circuit is tripping then there has to be a short somewhere in the system, by which I mean one of the following:

wall socket
mains adaptor
cable
powertank

That's the only way it can be happening. Practically speaking the only things you may be able to check safely are the wall socket and the cable unless you have electrical/electronics training. Plug something else into the wall socket and turn it on, does that trip the ELCB? Check the cable, is it frayed or damaged anywhere? Are there any sings of buring or melted wire?

Hi

The charger itself could also be faulty. Have you tried charging it using the car charge supplied or perhaps using another charger from another unit? Mine was supplied with the american charger and it was vitally important to swich to the right current.

I understand that the charger circuit trips when the charging current is too high as a result of the battery being discharged.

What you need to do is to get a deep cycle charger. Remove the battery from the unit if you can. It may be possible to charge via the clips or just enough so that you can then charge via the charger again.

Hope this helps.

cheers for all the help lads. i printed all your answers and brought it home to dad and he just used his trickle charger for his model aeroplane radios. worked a treat - he charged it overnight on tiny current and now the tank is using it's own charger without any problems. coool

Paul,

A bit of advice. The battery in the Power Tank will be a lead acid type, probably an AGM. You should never let these discharge fully. If you plan not to use it for some time, charge it before you put it away.
Always charge it immediately after use.
Take it off charge after you get the full charge light come on. AGMs do not like to be overcharged, whereas older lead acid batteries were fine.
If you follow this advice you will probably never have to replace the battery in the power tank.