The battery in my SkyFi3 self-discharges completely in 14 days. I had noticed this happening for some months and finally got around to measuring it. On October 21, 2018, I fully charged the battery, checked that it was 100% using Sky Safari, and left it disconnected until now. The only use was to quickly check the level of charge using Sky Safari. I did that twice, so maybe 2 minutes of powered use in 2 weeks. This morning the battery was totally discharged. I also have an Orion StarSeek, which I charged at the same time. It was also left unconnected and unused, and now has a charge level of 80%. So I doubt my SkyFi battery is behaving normally. What can I do about it?
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Votes
7 comments
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Keiron Smith Hi Roy,
If you haven't already, try reinstalling the firmware.
http://www.skysafariastronomy.com/skyfi-3-professional-astronomy-telescope-control.html (look halfway down the page for instructions).
Thanks!
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Roy Keiron,
I have reinstalled the firmware as requested. The SkyFi is again 100% charged, unpowered and unconnected. I'll get back in a few days -- previously the battery discharged very noticeably that fast. Also, please note, the title above should say "2 weeks", not "48 hours". Thanks for the quick reply.
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Keiron Smith Corrected, Roy! Thanks and fingers crossed!
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Roy After 3 days my unused, unconnected SkyFi battery level has gone from 100% to 89%. That is an improvement -- before I reloaded the firmware I think it went from 100% to 64% in 3 days. Looks like it will still need recharging every few weeks, or at least every new moon, especially if I'm lucky enough to get to use it. Is this normal?
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Keiron Smith Hi Roy,
How does this compare to the Orion StarSeek? Please also let me know how much it discharge over the next 3 days. I will check with the developers about (unused, unconnected) expected discharge % over time.
Thanks!
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Roy Keiron,
Ok, the Orion StarSeek battery has not been charged since October 21, and now shows 63%. The SkyFi battery is now (Saturday 11/17 at 2:20 PM) at 55%. As reported above it was recharged on November 6. Both have been unconnected and unused. So the StarSeek battery charge went down 37% in 27 days, and the SkyFi went down 45% in 11 days..
So did the developers have any discharge information? Is this normal behavior? Thanks -
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Roy Last night I checked both SkyFi and StarSeek batteries again, using Sky Safari as usual. The SkyFi showed a charge level of minus five percent (-5%), but it did turn on and stay powered for a minute or so until I turned it off, so it must not have been totally discharged. The StarSeek is still hanging in with 55%. So the SkyFi has taken 23 days to self-discharge. The StarSeek has gone down 45% in about 39 days. I have now recharged the SkyFi battery, which appeared normal and showed 100% capacity afterward. Still need answers to the questions above.
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