Battery Life

[jcruffle]

I am conscious that the Odessy battery fitted to my J230 is three and a half years old. It has been great so far. It is flown regularly and keep on full charge when not flying by a trickle charger.

 

I am interested to know what life other forum members are getting out of theirs with similar cirsumstances to me. Should I be getting out the cheque book anytime soon??

 

John

 

 

[Geoff]

4. 1/2 years same battery J160 "replaced with same"

 

 

[nong]

John

 

I have an Oddysey that did five years in a LSA55-3J commencing in 2002. Since then it has been on deep cycle work driving a FloJet pump on a Silvan spray rig.

 

These batteries have a notably low self discharge rate during periods of inactivity.

 

I use a switch mode type charger......CTEK XS3600.

 

A 300 litre spray job doesnt phase it. I have never managed to flatten it.

 

So, take it easy. I reckon you'll get ten years out of it.

 

Cheers

 

 

[facthunter]

Deciding on Battery condition.

 

Are these batteries "calcium" Or lead acid low maintanance or what. It is very difficult to test a battery and it would have to do a "high amperes" discharge test I would think, to be sure it meets the "cranking" amperage.

 

Aircraft application is a special case, ( not like just pulling over and "hollering for a Marshall" ).

 

Batteries often fail suddenly, so if you have any doubt as to its serviceability, there should be no doubt, so replace it. Cheaper in the long run. Getting caught outback with a DUD battery, not on really. Unfortunately not all new ones last as long as they should either. Nev

 

 

[frank marriott]

Geoff - at the 4 and a half years - did the battery get lazy or just collapse overnight like most modern car ones do these days.

 

Frank

 

 

[jetjr]

These are a AGM type, and a very good one, and they had want to be for the price. With the USD/AUD though might be OK now??

 

Mine was in a J200, 4 yr old and just became a bit lazy, was replaced as part of finding a solution to poor starting, New one did help but sorting earth leads from starter helped more.

 

 

[bushcaddy105]

Coming up on 5 years on my mine turning over an EA81 Subaru. Still performs the same as when new, and its the size smaller than what Jabiru use. In its favour, it is being charged by a 40 amp auto alternator with inbuilt regulator at 14.5 volts - just what Odyssey recommend. I've never put any external charger on it since new. Am I lucky, or just using it like the maker specifies?

 

 

[slartibartfast]

In contrast, my Odyssey lasted only 4-5 months. Then their support people ignored me when I called about warranty, so I won't touch them again.

 

Funny how we can all get different experiences.

 

The death of the battery may have been related to the cheap solenoid Jabiru supply. I was jump-starting it regularly.

 

Wasn't happy about the support though.

 

 

[mlpinaus]

Same experience.... J230C, 12 months old, poor starting , mostly fixed by altering the starter earth leads in the Jabiru AD.

 

Marcus

 

 

[Geoff]

Frank just got lazy till wouldn't start, didn't notice how slow it had got till put the new one in.:thumb_up:

 

 

[bones]

Well yesterday i noticed my odeysee was getting very lazy, down to like 6 volts after hitting the button, took it out, hooked up a 12v drain to it, when it was completely flat, hooked the charger up to it over night, today it was back up to about 11v, on the button, mind you this use is not the normal, it is a constant drain for like 20secs, so i was pleasantly surpised it picked back up.

 

For how long is the big question though, this battery is 4 years old too mind you.

 

 

[quentas]

Deka. No problems for 3 yrs

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I fitted a tiny Dekka (120ccA) and when I learned the technique, it actually starts my 2.2 Jab, even on winter mornings. After c.4 years it got cooked due to a crook regulator.

 

Since it only weighs 3kg and is adequate, I replaced it with the same item.

 

 

[Derby]

My Odyssey Coming up to 6 years it is as good as new in my j400

 

Rory

 

 

[Guest Nelson Smith]

Still on original Odyssey battery, , installed Aug. 2003 in Jabiru 2200. ("Starti".still using original Jab solenoid also) Our sistership Jab 19-3945 has identical record

 

Cheers Nelson

 

 

[Steve Donald]

My Odyssey Coming up to 6 years it is as good as new in my j400Rory

Just replaced 2 battery's Odyssey PC625 on 2 aircraft here 8 years and 9 years and they just got a bit slow, you cant complain about that is about $ 28bucks a year good solid units just make sure your charge system does not exceed 14.8v or damage will occur cheers

 

 

[Dieselten]

1st Odyssy PC625 in my J160C lasted a bit over a year, then began to have issues with hard-starting. Replaced it and problem solved. Didn't bother with warranty because batteries are consumable items and if you are fed up with one brand you can vote with your wallet and buy a different brand.

 

Still have the original PC625, we float-charge it and use it as an emergency standby for those who flatten their Jabiru batteries trying to start on cold winters's mornings. Quite useful for that actually.

 

 

[facthunter]

How much do you depend on your battery? If your aircraft will not start you can jump start it I suppose but if you rely on it for fuel pumps etc don't chance it. Your battery also performs another function and that is to prevent overvolting. A battery fed with voltage obove the 14.7 figure will have an ability to absorb high current flows for a while and "cap" the voltage (untill it goes dry or shorts out). batteries can short out internally and give out a lot of heat and gases and be dangerous. Battery temps are monitored in larger aircraft.

 

When new, your battery will have a rating of so many ampere hours at a certain discharge rate. Hypothetically it might have a rating of 60 ampere hours at a rate of 10 amps, which is a relatively low discharge rate. It will also have to perform at high current draw. ie when cranking the starter, so it might give 300 amps for a much shorter time.. Observing the voltage during starts can indicate condition but could also relate to the degree (state) of change, so to take much notice of it you would have to ensure that the battery is fully charged to make a comparison. If you put a 10 ampere load on it and it went for 6 hours ( in the example above) then it would have full CAPACITY, so that would be a valid test of battery condition. Some would argue that it's not enough without the high current draw test and they would be right but it would be very unlikely that a crook battery would pass the capacity test. Batteries don't like cold, being dropped, being left discharged for very long or charged /or discharged at a very high rate. Having a motor that has to be cranked for long periods when starting can seriously reduce battery life. Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

We have been asked by the owner of some flying school Jabs to fit larger capacity batteries to overcome the problem of winter morning starts. We are going to a 320 CCA (cold cranking amp) battery, but not an Odessey.

 

I can't see the bigger battery being the saviour. These planes are not hangared. If you leave a plane in the open overnight when the tempreature goes down to zero or a tad lower the engine is going to be as cold as a witch's tit. And the battery won't be as capable of punching out electrons as it would if the air temprature was better than 15. The only way these planes are going to start easily is if we stick a fan heater under the cowls and run it all night.

 

Still, the customer is never wrong. We'll fit the bigger batteries, after modifying the battery boxes and wait for the whinges come Winter.

 

OME

 

 

[jakej]

OME

 

That's what they do in Nth America & Canada etc ie use pre heaters, engine &/or battery. Maybe we're different here as freezing is only 32 degrees there, whereas we have it at zero

 

Jake J

 

 

[facthunter]

32 degrees Fahr is the same as 0 degrees celcius(centigrade). Nev

 

 

[jakej]

32 degrees Fahr is the same as 0 degrees celcius(centigrade). Nev

I knew that Nev !!

 

 

[old man emu]

No wonder it's so damned cold. Zero (Australian) is 32 degrees less than freezing in Canada.

 

OME

 

 

[old man emu]

OK. I dropped into work today to check out the battery mod. Firstly, the new, larger battery is 2Kg heavier than the original. It is also bigger, so we have to make new battery boxes. Then we will have to move a relay, which means drilling more holes in the firewall.

 

With the extra two kilos ahead of the C of G, teh Boss is thinking we may have to get an engineering certificate and a new weight and balance certificate (the one I looked at is VH Reg, but there are otehrs that are 24 Reg). When the dust has settled, we still think there will be problems starting these planes in the dead of Winter.

 

OME