Battery care / tender question

[Maverick972]

Hello everyone, so I took delivery of my new to me RV-7 yesterday. The aircraft sat from November till yesterday and the Oddesy battery showed 11.6 volts and something told me it would it not start, it?s didn?t. So we threw it on a charge and off we went.

What do folks use to keep the battery in good shape when they cannot fly?

I am brand spanking new and did a couple of searches but lost the goose in the snow in regarding battery chargers, battery tender, battery minder.

What?s the best for an Oddesy battery. Thanks Sean

[bobnoffs]

I think you get into trouble with oddessey batteries with the wrong maintainer. these batteries hold their charge a long time and I think all you need to do is fly at least every month. if I go longer I put a charger on for an hour but even then it usually does not need any topping.
I used to keep it on a maintainer [not an oddessey] and I think that is what shortened the first batteries life. I live in COLD country and this works well without a maintainer.

[Mike S]

The continuous use of a charger or "maintainer" is not needed, and many folks (self included) think it is actually bad for the battery.

Odyssey batteries keep a charge very well, as long as there is no "keep alive" circuit they can hold a charge for a couple months or longer.

[Carl Froehlich]

Replace the battery and fly from time to time. An Odyssey battery will retain 90% of it?s charge after sitting on the shelf for six months. But - there is no free lunch. Replace the battery perhaps every three years or so.

Most ?battery tenders? kill more Odyssey batteries than maintain them. If you want, put a standard battery charger on the battery but monitor terminal voltage as you charge. Do not let it exceed 14.5vdc or so. DO NOT leave any charger on the battery unattended.

Carl

[snopercod]

Everybody has an opinion on this subject, and they usually conflict. I use a Deltran 1.25A Battery Tender which advertises a temperature compensated 4-step charging program (Initialization, Bulk Charge, Absorption Mode, Float Mode). The float mode compensates for the self-discharge and can be left connected indefinitely. I've used the Battery Tender for years with no problems, but YMMV. I connect it if I'm not going to fly for more than one week. My battery is a B&C 100-1 25 AH sealed RG lead acid battery.

[rv7charlie]

Odyssey has some very good and complete technical info on their website, that will tell you what self discharge rates to expect, proper charging techniques, etc. You don't necessarily need their charger, but following their instructions is a good idea.

If the battery discharged faster than they tell you to expect, look for 'vampire' loads that can drain the battery even with the master off.

[rv6ejguy]

I got 11 years out of my first Odyssey and it was still starting the engine ok. The plane often sits for 20-45 days between flights. I just charge the battery the first day of every month with a Powersonic charger. The initial charge is at about 800 milliamps and it usually takes less than 20 minutes for the green light to come on indicating it's fully up to charge.

The new battery is 5 years old and still cranking the engine just fine.

Most AGM batteries survive much better without any sort of keeper charger on them. I've got some other ones which are 10- 25 years old which we use around the shop and treat the same way. Still work well.

[RV7 To Go]

In the Ongoing Maintenance section there is a stickey on Odyssey maintenance...everything you need to know.

Al

[Northernliving]

There are different opinions, but if you want to use a tender/float state charger, use one from the approved list.
http://www.odysseybattery.com/docume...V_chargers.pdf

I seem to get around 4 years out of any led-acid type battery; absorbed glass mat (AGM), flooded lead acid batteries, etc regardless of what I do. I live in North and my hanger isn't heated. I think that matters. I have my plane plugged in to a tender all the time with the charger off with a wi-fi remote switch. I flip it on the night before I fly just to be sure I get a good start.

[Jermechanic]

Iam on my 7th or 8th year with my Interstate CYTX20HL-BS-PW. I try to fly at least every couple weeks year round. I have an inexpensive 1amp battery maintainer i put the battery on every few months to make sure the battery is charged up. 0-320 150HP Skytec Starter.