REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

Mon Dec 10 11:35:53 CST 2012

Grover,

Charging a totally discharged Optima is a problem but can be done.  I talked my brother into buying an Optima for his boat based on my experience with the one in my airplane.  He left the master on for two weeks on his sailboat and completely killed his 6 month old Optima.  He had one of those new fangled automatic charges that told him the battery was bad and couldn't be charged.  I hooked it up on a 40 year old Sears charger and recharged it and it is still in use 4 years later and working fine.  When I first put it on the charger it only took about 1 amp.  Several hours later the current went to 10 amps and the battery charged normally.  I think you are right in that totally discharging an AGM type battery is really bad for them and is certainly not good for any battery.

Larry Coen
N136LC

From: Grover McNair 
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2012 10:37 AM
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list' 
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

Rich & Mark,

Being in the automotive business for 30+ years, I have seen a number of problems with gel cell batteries like the Optima. Most of the problems originate from the batteries being run down completely. They can be very hard to recharge when drained, even when relatively new. This is a link for proper charging of Optima batteries: http://www.optimabatteries.com/us/en/support/battery-care/charging/

I chose to use a standard Group 31 battery in my 173FG.

Grover McNair

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From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Mark Magee
Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2012 9:25 PM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

Optima's have gone up in price recently. The used to be less expensive than any certificated battery. I love them for they have such a long shelf life. I have one out in the garage that's probably 6 or 7 years old I use to jump off any dead battery. Still kickin' strong.

Mark

On Sun, Dec 9, 2012 at 8:09 PM, Rich Ervin <rich_ervin at hotmail.com> wrote:

I've been hearing talk about the optima. Right now I'm in "triage" mode - nowhere close to gold-plating the system.

I will look into the Optima's and if the price is not unreasonable I'll buy that instead - I'm sure it's not more than $100 or more...

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CC: reflector at tvbf.org
From: edjonesbrady at gmail.com
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2012 20:01:03 -0600
To: reflector at tvbf.org

Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

Hi Rich,

I thought I'd throw this over to you and the group: is anyone using Optima or similar AGM batteries. When my Odessey goes I will consider an Optima or Johnson Control AGM battery. I've fairly good results with the Optimas, when properly sized.

Mark B. Magee

N34XL

Sent from IPhone 4S

On Dec 9, 2012, at 7:44 PM, Rich Ervin <rich_ervin at hotmail.com> wrote:

  That's very generous, but I am not someplace warm, and I will need to replace this battery anyway so I think I'll need to just get the order turned in - maybe this week.

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  From: wjwilbeck at gmail.com
  To: reflector at tvbf.org
  Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2012 15:20:51 -0600
  Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

  Hello Rich,

  I have a 4 year old Odyssey Battery that I replaced in my Velocity.

  It tests fine but I will not fly with it.

  If you live somewhere warm, I would consider flying it down to you sometime. 

  wj

  From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Rich Ervin
  Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2012 9:49 PM
  To: reflector at tvbf.org
  Subject: REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

  I have an airplane battery which was dead for 10 years, but had very little usage prior to that (only a month or so).

  I want to use this battery just for starting and possibly some slow-speed taxi work. I plan to order a new battery, but I'd like to continue working on this plane using the old battery until I'm ready to permanently install (and properly maintain) a new one.

  I've already tried charging it, and it didn't seem to take a lick. I only charged for about 15 or 20 minutes though - once on a medium speed charger, then connected to a car battery with the engine running.

  Does anyone have a tip for reconditioning the battery for temporary use?

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