REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

Mark Magee edjonesbrady at gmail.com
Mon Dec 10 12:13:17 CST 2012


Hi Grover,
Fortunately, a few years back I bought one of those Battery Minder chargers
that has an AGM Mode and a temp sensor. Between this charger and even on
the old 'analog' charger, I've had few problems. In the early days of
Optima's, late 90's, I would buy them used over the web from distributors.
I had a 'used' Optima last 7 years when I sold it to a friend and left it
in. I did have one go bad, but I made the mistake of 'mis-matching' it in
that case with a lead acid in a diesel that had two batteries in parallel.
OTW no problems and they seem to outlast all the vehicles I put them in.
They seem to have had quite a price increase recently. You can get them at
Sam's though.
I like them for the Velo for they don't vent, are very vibration resistant
to cell breakdown and if left sitting under zero load they maintain well.
As I understand it they derived from a military contract specing out a
vibration resistant battery with a long life that did not vent and could
therefore be mounted even upside down.

Mark

On Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 10:37 AM, Grover McNair <
grover at mcnairperformance.com> wrote:

> **
>
> 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****
>
> ** **
>  ------------------------------
>
> *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...****
>  ------------------------------
>
> 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.
>
>
> ****
>  ------------------------------
>
> 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<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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