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Battery Charger


Runtoeat

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Also, be aware that there's two ways to test a battery. Load testing and capacity testing. Load testing is throwing it on a tester and testing the cranking amps. It's great for the initial charge, but doesn't really give the whole picture. Then you have capacity testing, which is putting it on a machine which does a rated discharge over time until it drops below a certain voltage. You can have a battery pass the load test, but have a poor capacity test, which means it's fine for a couple days, but then just doesn't seem to hold the charge.

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Kurt, running the landing light for a couple minutes works well.  Thanks.  Corey, the graph on page 10 shows normal capacity loss over time vs. temperature.  The Odyssey seems to perform well with the graph showing a one year shelf life for a fully charged battery at 95 F and a possible 2 year capability at lower temps.  What I found interesting is the information regarding parasitic loss on page 11. It shouldn't be a surprise to see how a small mA drain will deplete a battery.  I have basically steam gages on my CT and should have zero external loss when the key is off but will measure this.  For those who have glass panels, and especially if they live in hot climates, this may be something to be aware of.

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How would the battery have parasitic drain if the master was off?  Doesn't that isolate the battery from the rest of the electrical system?

 

All batteries will slowly discharge overtime, however, you can have an internal short in a battery.  It's not uncommon. 

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i put a lithium-iron-phosphate battery in my Remos on Sep 8 2012 (almost since a/c new). weighs approx 2.4lbs and is very small. after startup does not get hot and recharges very quickly. left idle for 3 month period last year and could not measure a drop in voltage. mfr allows use of Battery-Tender Junior (cheap) altho hasn't been necessary. beauty build quality; mil-spec case.  under $200 (Shorei).   i left master on by accident and had to jumpstart -> battery recovered

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i put a lithium-iron-phosphate battery in my Remos on Sep 8 2012 (almost since a/c new). weighs approx 2.4lbs and is very small. after startup does not get hot and recharges very quickly. left idle for 3 month period last year and could not measure a drop in voltage. mfr allows use of Battery-Tender Junior (cheap) altho hasn't been necessary. beauty build quality; mil-spec case.  under $200 (Shorei).   i left master on by accident and had to jumpstart -> battery recovered

 

LiFePO4 batteries are top of the line!  The internal battery management controller will prevent damage most of the time. 

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All batteries will slowly discharge overtime, however, you can have an internal short in a battery.  It's not uncommon. 

 

Sure , but Dick was referring to his steam gauges not having EXTERNAL loss, I was referencing that.  He was talking about losses caused by devices in the airplane external to the battery.

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I had spoke to FD about retrofitting the lifepo batteries. Once I saw the price on one, I said NOOOOOOPE. 600 for a battery....

 

Good Lithium-Iron batteries can be had for a lot less than FD charges for them.  I was planning to put a Shorai in the Sonex I was building.  Not cheap, but not crazy, and will save a few pounds:

 

http://www.batterymart.com/c-shorai-batteries.html?gclid=CNmt9suVjcgCFY0jgQodTkgEWg

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The Aerovoltz lithium iron battery I installed in my Sky Arrow was about $175 with a "Show Special" at the Sebring Sport Aviation Expo.

 

About 13 lbs lighter than the lead acid it replaced, and much smaller.

 

This is before I fabricated spacers:

 

21651095375_85815eafcf_c.jpg

 

 

If not Experimental, I suppose that would need an LOA.

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Andy, for my particular situation, I was wondering if  there might be some unknown circuit that could be drawing power even with the key "off".   I have had equipment added/removed by the previous owner and when these mods were done, the mechanics clipped the wires and left them instead of taking the time to fully eliminate them.  Cleaning up this situation is on the "list" but I need to check to see if there is any battery drain even with the key off until this can be done.  

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Andy, for my particular situation, I was wondering if  there might be some unknown circuit that could be drawing power even with the key "off".   I have had equipment added/removed by the previous owner and when these mods were done, the mechanics clipped the wires and left them instead of taking the time to fully eliminate them.  Cleaning up this situation is on the "list" but I need to check to see if there is any battery drain even with the key off until this can be done.  

Ah.  Well, anything putting a drain on it would have to be in the wiring *before* the master.  You might have to start tracing wires to know for sure.  The only thing I could think of might be a backup battery for some avionics like a D100/D120 or a 396/496/696/796 GPS, but IIRC even those are off when the master is off an only charge when the master is on.  I could be wrong about that though. 

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Dynon units can have some small parasitic drain over steam gauges. I have it and I have seen a lot of other aircraft with it. It is millivolts, but it is there. I have always wondered about the digital instruments backup battery's need to keep charged and the clocks in the system?

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Dynon units can have some small parasitic drain over steam gauges. I have it and I have seen a lot of other aircraft with it. It is millivolts, but it is there. I have always wondered about the digital instruments backup battery's need to keep charged and the clocks in the system?

 

But does that wiring pass through the master switches?  I know the main wires do since my Dynon senses the power off when the master is open, not sure about the wires going to the backup battery and clock.  I'm guessing it doesn't, if you can measure a drain from them.

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Older installations with the updated dynon software and a gps unit need to remove the keep alive wire. This keep alive wire was being used for the clocks. The dynon units now read the GPS clock signals (the x96 series does output these signals).

 

The keep alive wire needs to remain if you don't have a GPS unit.

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