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  #11  
Old 11-14-2014, 10:50 AM
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Saville Saville is offline
 
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Location: KBVY Massachusetts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Clouddancer View Post
Battery in cowl cheek is an innovative solution, if the firewall is already too crowded. N999BT, would you have a picture of your installation?
.
+1 I'd love to see that installation. It would be a fabulous use of the unused space. What would the impact of acro G's be on that installation?
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  #12  
Old 11-14-2014, 04:17 PM
nauga nauga is offline
 
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I've got a Concorde RG25 in the tunnel. It would never fit FWF, and when I ran the W&B with a lighter /smaller PC680 on the firewall the CG moved forward approximately 0.1". It's a pain to service, but I prefer that to having to rework the battery mount and wiring, so I'm staying with the Concorde in the tunnel.
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  #13  
Old 11-14-2014, 07:53 PM
Yen Yen is offline
 
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Location: Benaraby Queensland. Australia
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I built as per plans with the Odyssey 680 between the rudder pedals. I have a radio and transponder above the battery, mounted to a frame of angle on the left side with a piano hinga and supported on the right from an angle between firewall and panel. To remove the battery, I just unlatch the raio and transponder and flip them up to about 60 deg angle and can get at the battery terminals and starter solenoid. the fuel pump is lower down on the left and difficult to get at.
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  #14  
Old 11-14-2014, 09:24 PM
94kb 94kb is offline
 
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Location: Waco, Texas
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I have my pc680 just forward of the spar. Sits on a uhmw pad above the floor and held down by a simple bracket. Covered by the stick boot cover. Helps move the cg aft for O360 constant speed RV-4. Its a tight fit but works.
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  #15  
Old 11-16-2014, 03:35 PM
Whitman Whitman is offline
 
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Location: Allentown PA
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http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...lickkey=119690

This battery bracket for the Odyssey P680 is pretty nice. I'm in the process of mounting this in the RV-4 tunnel between the rudder panels. This will still allow some space for storage/food/maintenance gear etc.

I would love to mount firewall forward but it looks nearly impossible with the Air-Oil Separator on the firewall.
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  #16  
Old 11-18-2014, 09:37 AM
N999BT N999BT is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Clouddancer View Post
Battery in cowl cheek is an innovative solution, if the firewall is already too crowded. N999BT, would you have a picture of your installation?

I see that the original location in the tunnel is difficult to access. If I have to go with that solution, I will have to pay attention to facilitate access as much as possible, altough I have a console down from the panel to the tunnel. A battery tender plug is planned.
I have looked for a picture and don't seem to have one. I will take a picture next time the cowl is off and post to this thread. Essentially I built the box out of aluminum, 0.032 if I remember correctly. I used 4 adel clamps to clamp the battery box to the two engine mount struts just behind the oil dip stick. It is pretty convenient because the positive terminal is right at the back end of the oil door, so you can charge the battery using any charger or even jumper cables from a car. I used a 3/4 x 3/4 x 0.063 angle for the hold down on top, and used AN3 bolts to hold that down. I do aerobatics, but I limit myself to about 4 g's, and it has held up well.

The only downside is that it is difficult to get to the mag, especially if you use one of the ports on the mag to hook up a sensor for your razu flat panel. You will have to take out the battery box to get to it.
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Last edited by N999BT : 11-18-2014 at 09:44 AM. Reason: added more info
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  #17  
Old 02-10-2015, 04:21 PM
N999BT N999BT is offline
 
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Default Pictures of Batter Box in Cheek

I was able to take some pictures of my box that I installed in the cheek. Here is a side view:


View from side showing construction. Box is from 0.032. I used a 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/16 angle for battery hold down. There is a nylon strap that I wrapped around the battery to give me something to hang on to when time to remove.



View from above:



Top view. Note that there is a flange on the back side that is immediately underneath the engine mount tube. The adel clamp on the right is one of the clamps that supports the box:



View from front looking up. Note two adel clamps holding box.



Back side. Sorry about the lighting. This view shows the location of the third adel clamp. The bolt for the clamp is down and to the right of the engine mount tube, so about a third of the way down the side of the box.

I have about 500 hours on this installation, no squawks.
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  #18  
Old 02-10-2015, 04:21 PM
N999BT N999BT is offline
 
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Default Pictures of Batter Box in Cheek

I was able to take some pictures of my box that I installed in the cheek. Here is a side view:


View from side showing construction. Box is from 0.032. I used a 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/16 angle for battery hold down. There is a nylon strap that I wrapped around the battery to give me something to hang on to when time to remove.



View from above:



Top view. Note that there is a flange on the back side that is immediately underneath the engine mount tube. The adel clamp on the right is one of the clamps that supports the box:



View from front looking up. Note two adel clamps holding box.



Back side. Sorry about the lighting. This view shows the location of the third adel clamp. The bolt for the clamp is down and to the right of the engine mount tube, so about a third of the way down the side of the box.

I have about 500 hours on this installation, no squawks.
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N999BT
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  #19  
Old 02-15-2015, 11:56 PM
Clouddancer Clouddancer is offline
 
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Thank you Brent for the detailed description and the pictures! In the meantime we decided to mount the battery in the original location in tunnel aft of the firewall - mostly because of the layout of our electrical system and space firewall forward: we have a inverted oil system as well that takes some space.

But I like your idea and might use some of it to attach some other equipment on the engine mount. On your pictures I see that you mounted some kind of heat shield or out-flowing air deflector in front of the lower firewall part. I thought about something similar. Would you have some details on that? How did you attach it? Do you have any experience about the difference it makes (airflow, temp behind engine baffles etc)?
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  #20  
Old 02-16-2015, 10:12 AM
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smokyray smokyray is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: TX32
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Default Forward thinking....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Clouddancer View Post
I want to put my battery (for instance Odyssey PC680 planned) in the originally foreseen location by Vans, i.e. behind the firewall, between the rudder pedals. For those who have that location for the battery: how have you attached the battery? Have you reinforced the floor, if the battery sits on it? The plans are not very specific on this.
Andreas,
I flew my RV4 for nearly 1500 hours. The original Concorde (heavy) Aircraft battery was mounted per the plans in the center "tunnel". I used a 2" thick rubber pad between the battery and the .040 floor doubler and aluminum strap around the battery to the sides of the tunnel. After 500 hours I disliked this location due to poor access, difficulty in charging and removal. I began re-engineering several things for my 2000' Conditional Inspection/re-fit.

1. Forward firewall mounted Odyssey Battery.
2. Forward and rear additional baggage area.
3. Rear passenger foot-wells.

First, like you I discarded the standard aircraft battery in lieu of an Odyssey battery, a fairly new device when I originally did this in 2000. There are smaller, lighter Lithium batteries available now. Re-locating the battery helped two things, it moved my CG forward and shortened the electrical wires to my new Lexus starter, less resistance, weight and cost. I built a battery box for the Odyssey (now available from Vans) and attached it to right side of the "shelf" (rudder pedal well) and the firewall. The empty space between your legs formerly occupied by the battery could now be a forward baggage area, or "glove box". Install a forward hinge on the cover and voila': forward baggage!

My "Bandit's" flight qualities would now be delightful and I could carry my items up front yielding the entire rear baggage compartment to my wife. Charging, easier cold starting and utilizing jumper cables through the oil door were now a reality. Win win! FYI: I would reconsider the full Christen inverted system unless you plan extended negative G acro to save weight and complexity. I used an Ellison TBI and Air/Oil separator for many fun hours of "sportsman" aerobatics, the RV's forte'.

Here are photos of the completed installation. Good luck!
V/R
Smokey


Battery on "shelf"



Why put battery on firewall? One reason is the forward "baggage" area!

Last edited by smokyray : 02-16-2015 at 04:30 PM.
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