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Battery Charging-Do I need to Disconnect Battery?


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I have never had to jump my plane (either of them)... but I do plug the plane into my charger about 50 or more times a year. Removing the top cowl is an option, however, the connectors come in pairs (red and black), I used the red on my charger and the plane pigtail. With one of the black I made a pigtail for jumping (connects to the plane and has an exposed lead for the jumper cable. I keep that in my on board kit with straps, tie downs, & basic hand tools.

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Adam,

 

I've had a notion to replace the cigaret lighter outlet with a Powerpole connector. I can make a converter if I really need the cigaret lighter available. Neater, safer, take any amount of power, smaller footprinit - you name it.

 

I've also been toying with the idea of putting a Yaesu 857D in my plane this winter. Thinking about antennas and what bands I could work. and what audio panel to use.

 

NO0B

 

 

 

 

 

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Adam,

 

I've had a notion to replace the cigaret lighter outlet with a Powerpole connector. I can make a converter if I really need the cigaret lighter available. Neater, safer, take any amount of power, smaller footprinit - you name it.

 

The lighter circuit breaker is just 3A rated so not really any amount of power.

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Hi Jim, nice to meet a fellow ham... Here's my HF Station ( I also just finished building an Elecraft KPA500 not pictured that I just love). It's been years since I tried HF aeronautical mobile. There are many "better" options available now for the project than there were in the 1980's to be sure! If I were going to try it today I think I'd (not that you asked) build a setup as follows: Think Portable Bag Phone from the 1980's - Buy a small flight bag from Sporty's... (or alternate). Power the 857D located inside the bag off a 12V Lithium Ion battery or Gel Cel aslo placed in the flight bag. I'd keep the rig off the electrical system because our little planes just don't have much extra capacity. Instead I would add a small trickle charger also in the flight bag (1A draw or less). The small trickle charger could be used with the cigarette lighter plug to recharge the battery (in the car, in the air when you are flying and not playing radio). I never tried single op aeronautical mobile. I always had a pilot friend / ham with me. We experimented with shortened wire antennas, usual focus was 10M-20M. We usually played CW instead of SSB and used separate headphones. Having a composite airframe you have tons of options for antennas! I could see even trying a compact mobile antenna horizontal inside the plane in the boom behind the baggage compartment with a metal tape groundplane! Audio and mic for a single op would require a little thinking! Easy enough to feed the sound through your aux input jack to the PS intercom (instead of music you'd hear HF). Mic I think would be a hand switch with a separate element for speaking (but I wouldn't be afraid of trying piggybacking off the headset mic via the headset jacks if the impedance is close). You'd then push one of two push to talks which in turn keys one of your two transmitters (plane or HF). Other than an antenna cable running through the baggage area and the mic / speaker jack cable that stay hardwired into the plane you'd have a completely removeable and portable system. Throw the bag in the plane on the passenger seat, plug in 2 cables and you have portable low power HF. Maybe that will help stimulate a little creative juice in your mind!

post-124-0-43292200-1344273983_thumb.jpg

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Your setup is very neat. Mine is a mess. I have a K3, KPA500 and send it out through a 3 element StepIR on a 51' Tasjian tower. I should use it more than I do. I don't do CW, sadly. I ahve an 857D in the pickup but only have the VHF antenna hooked up.

 

 

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AA0PT here, currently inactive, mainly due to antenna restrictions, and a need for flying time. ;-)

 

Nice to meet you Doug! (looked you up on QRZ.com)

 

I love overcoming antenna restrictions! Wires in the attic, wires under the eaves, flagpole antennas all very good options! The new 43' verticals with a tilt over are very light and easy too (fold down when not in use, fold up when in use)!

 

Time seems to be a problem for me too! I have too many hobbies, not enough hours!

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Took a while to get to the airport and get a good shot of my nose compartment:

 

7773283868_89c816bf7f_z.jpg

 

Circled is the little two-conductor plug that's common to a lot of chargers. Positive right to the battery, negative to a ground bus.

 

Here's what I carry in case I have to jump start:

 

7773283438_0b174dbd96.jpg

 

Back to the Old Wive's Tale, I always assumed the problem with sitting on cold cement was that a depleted battery could start to freeze from the bottom up, and then charging could cause major problems. Or that even the temperature difference could be a problem. It must be a persistent misconception - when I think back to charging areas at auto shops, nearly all are up on wood pallets or the equivalent.

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7773283438_0b174dbd96.jpg

 

Back to the Old Wive's Tale, I always assumed the problem with sitting on cold cement was that a depleted battery could start to freeze from the bottom up, and then charging could cause major problems. Or that even the temperature difference could be a problem. It must be a persistent misconception - when I think back to charging areas at auto shops, nearly all are up on wood pallets or the equivalent.

 

The persistence of OWT in many fields is sime times mind boggling. I see it in farming all the time. Auto maintenance is another. And aviation is as bad as any.

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Adam,

How would you jump your plane's battery now? Remove the cowl?

 

Here is the jumping pig tail... cost to build was $3

The connector on the plane was $2

The connector on the charger was $2

 

$7.00 = nice looking charging, jumping...

post-124-0-60219000-1346459828_thumb.jpg

post-124-0-27626400-1346459852_thumb.jpg

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I plug mine in all the time, using the exhaust pipe as ground and the supplied positive terminal that runs right from the battery's positive terminal to a spot you can reach under the CT. The first battery lasted five years and would have gone longer when I replaced it, probably before I needed to. Any time I leave the bird for a week or more I plug it in. WF

maybe you can help me,,,, i've gone through 3 batteries a little over 1yrs time,,, don't know why???? maybe you will have an answer for me,,,

thank you

mike g

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  • 4 years later...

That is fine, but I would put an inline fuse as close to the positive terminal as you can get. It will add a layer of protection against it doing damage if it shorts out. The amperage on the fuse only needs to be a little more than the maximum charge rate for the charger.

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