SSB Lithium Iron batteries

[spacesailor]

My Delica has been unused for 14 months, batteries disconnected, then charged a couple of times,just for good measure.

 

Reattached the terminals, and away it went. 

 

New hip, must find a COOL place to go.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Thats the brand I have  Delica  both have been flawless

 

 

[onetrack]

KC, I don't think you're on the same page as Spacey. I was under the impression he was talking about his Mitsubishi Delica van.

 

 

[spacesailor]

YES

 

A Mitsubishi Delica Wagon

 

Was a seven seater, now it's two with a double bed.

 

Ten year  ownership, 

 

New hip, must find a COOL place to go.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Sorry its a Deca battery

 

used in jet ski's etc

 

 

[Parry]

A few observations on EarthX batteries, specifically the ETX680

 

This was installed in an aircraft with a 912ULS and standard regulator mounted on the cockpit side of the firewall.

 

The fault line was connected to the EFIS so any fault condition was immediately apparent.

 

Not long after install a fault condition was reported which after consultation with the manufacturer it was decided that the fault was indicating that the cells were not quite balanced. The suggested solution was to charge the battery at a slightly higher voltage (14.2v) instead on the 13.8v which was output from the rotax regulator. The battery was removed and charged at the higher voltage and the fault disappeared.

 

I decided that because the charging voltage was on the bottom end of the spec (13.9v to 14.6v), that the charging voltage on the rotax regulator would be increased to 14.2 volts.

 

At this increased voltage there have still been 3 occaisons over 50hours of flying where a fault has been indicated, but the fault condition soon clears after 5 or 10min or so. Possibly a slightly higher charge voltage would stop this but I havent bothered. My suspicion is because of the cell balancing circuitry, a higher charge voltage is beneficial in helping the cell balancing operate. ( no higher than 14.6v of course)

 

Although the manual says “no jump starting from a car battery” the warranty section clarifiies no jump starting from a battery of significantly higher capacity. It does not rule out jump starting persay. This indicates to me that jump starting from a small lithium powercube would not be a problem.

 

The battery cranks the rotax so well I think more care needs to be taken in choke/throttle settings so that as the engine fires up excessive load is not placed on the sprag clutch.

 

As an aside, when the battery is partially flat, the battery charge current in the above environment is about 8amps. Under this condition with all the other loads the regulator temperature reaches about 70deg on a 25deg day. (regulator output approx 18amp under this condition)

 

Very happy with this battery, saves a few kgs, fantastic cranking regardless of ambient temperature; except of course for the price, although it is supposedly lasts a lot longer.

 

Franky

 

Franky,

 

Could you let me know how you changed the voltage to 14.2 volts as I am thinking of doing the same in my 912 ULS

 

Murray

 

 

[jetjr]

I bought a fairy expensive Deca for quad and was dead after just a few starts, pulled down to 9 v on start. - returned for a credit happily supplied by reseller

 

Also had some warranties on optima, seems every brand can have problems.

 

 

[spacesailor]

My worst batteries  (plural) are any brand of absorbed,glass,mat.

 

They seem to dry out & die just after the warranty period .

 

All my WET battery, s seen to last years.

 

Would like to try the new Lithium batteries, but not at those rediculess prices. Almost  $400 for a $90 battery. 

 

spacesailor

 

 

[skippydiesel]

My worst batteries  (plural) are any brand of absorbed,glass,mat.

 

They seem to dry out & die just after the warranty period .

 

..........................................................................................................................................................

 

spacesailor

 

My experience would seem to be diametrically the opposite - more than happy with my 6 year old "SSB Power Sport XR Series, High Performance AGM Battery"  Part No RB16CL-B" motorcycle battery.

 

 

[kgwilson]

My experience would seem to be diametrically the opposite - more than happy with my 6 year old "SSB Power Sport XR Series, High Performance AGM Battery"  Part No RB16CL-B" motorcycle battery.

 

I agree. New in 2012, still going strong. I was given a 19 Ah Lion AGM battery that I was told was stuffed. I took the seals off & it looked pretty dry so I used a syringe to refill the cells with distilled water & replaced the seals then put it on charge with my smart charger which starts slow & pulse charges & after a day I had 12.5 volts back. I now have it in my hangar & it is charged from my solar panels in parallel with another couple of car batteries & I run lights & have an inverter connected for 240 volt stuff. It is not as good as new but now when fully charged it shows 13.3 volts.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

My Deca have been great..all AGM type. I dint leave mine of a solar charger or anything and usually 3 to5 weeks between flights over the slack or bad weather period

 

 

[skippydiesel]

Always liked the look of the Mitsubishi Delica Wagon

 

 

[spacesailor]

It,s the old Pajero running gear under a Star wagon body.

 

A bit low with only 15 "  wheels,  good on Fraser Island, & can be moded  to 16" wheels & becomes a GREAT touring vehicle.

 

spacesailor 

 

 

[skippydiesel]

It,s the old Pajero running gear under a Star wagon body.

 

A bit low with only 15 "  wheels,  good on Fraser Island, & can be moded  to 16" wheels & becomes a GREAT touring vehicle.

 

spacesailor 

 

I have always had a bit of a thing for vans - owned several Bedford CF's and a Ford Transit in the distant past, so the Delica pretty well pressed all the right buttons, except these days I need  a fair bit of "grunt" to tow a heavy  (estimated 2.5 tonne) trailer long distances. Did look at  the Iveco Daily  but ended up with a Ford Ranger 3.2 turbo diesel, 6 speed manual.

 

 

[Franky]

Hi

 

Murray

 

Increasing the voltage on the Ducati regulator used on the 912 ULS is achieved by inserting the appropriate forward biased diode in series with the “C” terminal and the battery positive. The regulator senses the battery voltage via the “C” terminal and when it gets to its preset level it will begin to turn the regulator off so that the float voltage is kept constant. By inserting a diode, the voltage at which the regulator begins to turn off is increased by the forward drop of the diode.

 

The actual diode and type of diode to use is determined by the increase in voltage required. Diodes forward voltage drop at low currents can vary from 0.3 to 0.8 volts approximately. Schottky diodes provide lower forward voltage drops than silicon diodes. In my case I used a schottky rectifier diode MBR1100 from my local Jaycar, which has a forward voltage drop of 0.4volts at 20ma. This raised my voltage from 13.8 to 14.2 volts.

 

Before you choose a diode, accurately measure the cutoff voltage of the regulator by allowing the battery to fully charge with minimum other loads, measure the battery voltage preferably at the battery terminals then calculate how much you want to increase the voltage by.

 

Then you can look at the specs of common rectifier diodes (schottky and silicon) looking for a forward voltage at low current that is closest to what you require. The diodes are cheap - you might get a few different ones to try.

 

Ideally the diode is mounted in a position with the least temperature variation, although a variation of 75deg C will only change the voltage by about 100mv. In addition the temperature coefficient is negative which is desirable anyway.

 

Take care that the connections on the “c” line thru the diode to the battery positive sense point are secure, as an open circuit will cause the regulator voltage to rise uncontrollably.

 

Hope this helps

 

Franky

 

 

[Downunder]

Very very interesting Franky. 

 

With instruments on(lights off), my volts sit at about 13.9.

 

I'll try and find my cut off voltage.

 

My agm battery likes 14.7 fully charged.....

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Downunder thats a bit high..14.2 max usually for AGM and wet.....calcium etc are higher..float is 13.8 to 13.9 or even 14 but thats it tops.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

The battery spec sheet is a good idea or sometimes they are printed on the battery label...be wary of overcharging even the AGM even though they are gel/mat  they can vent

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

A few days ago I ruined a good LiFePO4  battery. This battery was about 3 years old and originally bought as one of a pair to start the Jabiru. Well the Jabiru only needed one battery, so this one was a spare and was used for the glider radio and an electric chainsaw. It was in good condition until...

 

I had just used the chainsaw and decided to give the battery a quick recharge before going to the club to fly the glider. I used the wrong setting on the charger ( the Nicad setting ) and overcharged the battery badly ( 20 volts instead of 14.4) . The cells puffed up and burst out of the plastic cover.

 

Bugger, those batteries have increased in price since 3 years ago, this has cost me about $150.