REFLECTOR: Battery Advice

[David Rene Dugas]

I've not had as good result with Optima. Bought two- one for boat not run very often and GMC Sierra not run often ( q 10 days or so) now keep both on Battery Minders and are fine. 

Rene' Dugas
Sent from an Apple. 

On Dec 10, 2012, at 12:13 PM, Mark Magee <edjonesbrady at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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] 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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