Comments on: Celestron Power Tank

By: Baby Astronomer

Baby Astronomer — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:08:28 +0000

I use this with my NexStar 6SE. I don’t know how one can use the telescope without this. Simply ‘a must’.

Rating: 5 / 5

By: John A. Steidl

John A. Steidl — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:38:52 +0000

Bought the 7AH version a couple of years ago. The floodlight never worked due to a broken switch, but I didn’t bother to ship it back since I only wanted the battery to power my mount. (First thumb down if you actually want a working flood.) I probably got 20-30 observing sessions out of it with no apparent problem. It will certainly run the drive for several hours if you don’t also have your CCD or dew heater plugged in.

Unfortunately, it’s been in the closet for over a year and will no longer charge. Could be the typical problem of a cheap battery not being cycled for an extended period of time. Or could be the fact that the charging unit is putting out 2.5A at 22V when it’s rated for 500ma/15V. Lol… (Second thumb down.)
Rating: 1 / 5

By: Matthew K. Weideman

Matthew K. Weideman — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:17:07 +0000

I read some reviews on this from Amazon after I had ordered it and I got worried. However, after using it for a week now, I can say it’s fine. It’s a decent tank. If you can find it for around $50 like I did, jump on it. Most of the reviews talk about receiving bad units that failed right out of the box or after a single charge. Mine worked flawlessly and has taken two charges. It still can last several hours off a single charge. All in all, a decent pickup for not a lot of cash. It sure beats buying 50 batteries. Although, I would recommend you keep some batteries in your scope in case you are a klutz (like me!) and accidentally pull the cord out. The batteries saved myself from having to realign the scope.

To sum that up, it’s a pretty good deal. It’s priced similarly to other power tanks and works just fine. I’d recommend this to anyone who is in need of an external power supply for their scope.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: James W. Crooker

James W. Crooker — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:25:23 +0000

I got a telescope and several accessories including the celestron power tank (my telescope is a celestron). There is no way to connect the power tank to the telescope. The slot for the power into the telescope requires a special connector that looks like a phone jack. The power tank has a 4″ cable with that connector, but the other end does not connect to any part of the power tank. There is no way to bridge the connection.

I had to go to radio shack to buy the parts to make my own cable to connect the power tank to the telescope.

Rating: 2 / 5

By: Publius

Publius — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:40:03 +0000

The item arrived loosely packed, one of the adapters was bent and power chord was missing. It's almost like this item was used by someone else, returned and then resold. who knows.

The instructions did not even mention how to use it with the Celestron telescope that part you have to figure out on your own. I've bought the NexStar 8, the set of extra filters and lenses and this power pack. I don't know why but Celstron documentation on all three products is erroneous or just lacking. The telescope info was inaccurate and had outdated info from an older manual and the filters and tank had minimal info. It's almost like they were too cheap to spend the money on hiring someone to create useful documentation.

They are very slow to respond to repsond to phone or email requests for support. Do yourself a favor and do not buy Celestron products there are plenty of other qualified makers of this type of product. Rating: 2 / 5