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Battery charger

I had good luck with the Battery Minder, but I never left it on long term. Once it reached full charge, disconnected it.

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I have a new in box aircraft BatteryMinder specifically for the PC680. Great charger! Switched to an EarthX so I only need one of the two I got as gifts.
 
Just use a real power supply

Charles in SC said:
Does anybody have opinions good or bad about what is the best charger for a 680 type battery?
TIA!
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Why not just have a real power supply that emulates the alternator. That way you can:
- Charge the battery if needed.
- Run your panel for an indefinite period of time (note - never run any avionics or electronic ignition with a battery charger connected).
- Run you panel on the bench as needed.

This is a light 30amp supply that has adjustable output voltage - so you can set buss voltage for whatever battery you are using: https://www.dxengineering.com/searc...wer supply&sortby=Default&sortorder=Ascending

Whatever your choice, disconnect it when not in use.

Carl
 
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RV7A Flyer said:
It seems plenty of people do this...why do you say not to?
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Because most battery chargers are for just charging a battery and do not have the filtering to keep out various spikes, ripples and other such noise. Look at the pMag install manual - it specifically states ?do not run with a battery charger connected?. Why risk a $10K GTN-650 or whatever on it?

Now considering a real power supply is about the same cost, does so much more, and puts out a nice regulated voltage why do anything else?

Carl
 
i have gotten away from running a continuous charger on an oddessey because it's not needed. agm batteries go for months and hold their charge. i fly the plane enough and most do [once a month] to keep battery up assuming you have no parasitic drain. i ran into more problems with a maintainer [probably not the right one] than with occasional charging.
 
Carl Froehlich said:
Why not just have a real power supply that emulates the alternator. That way you can:
- Charge the battery if needed.
- Run your panel for an indefinite period of time (note - never run any avionics or electronic ignition with a battery charger connected).
- Run you panel on the bench as needed.

Whatever your choice, disconnect it when not in use.

Carl
Click to expand...

Or you can buy one of these CTEC chargers https://smartercharger.com/ that has that "SUPPLY" setting built in. These chargers come OEM with very expensive cars. After frying a couple of batteries by using a regular car charger I switched and have been using the MULTI US 7002 on my planes for a few years and love them. I also use a CTEC on my cars and tractors with the desulphation function to restore practically dead batteries. I got both of mine on eBay for a lower price.
 
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Charles in SC said:
Does anybody have opinions good or bad about what is the best charger for a 680 type battery?
TIA!
Click to expand...

Any high quality charger with AGM setting. This is the one I have:

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200769237_200769237

This does all types and goes up to 10 amps. It is fairly small 3.63in. ? 10.5in. ? 7.75in and it is very light, under 4 lbs mostly from the cables..... It uses a switching power supply verses a transformer. I have been happy with it. A small dedicated charger may be better for your RV than a do it all charger.
 
Charles in SC said:
Does anybody have opinions good or bad about what is the best charger for a 680 type battery?
TIA!
Click to expand...
If you do even a quick VAF search, you'll find many threads that more or less confirm the following:
1. So long as you fly once every few weeks, Odysseys (at least the PC680) do not as a general rule require charging. This has been my experience. I'm only just into my second battery after flying for 8 years. (I only replaced the first one because I abused it during the build.)
2. Charging an Odyssey with a charger may well decrease its useful life.
3. Number 2 is absolutely true if you don't follow the very specific instructions from Odyssey about how to charge a battery and what type of chargers are appropriate.
Hope this helps.
 
Carl Froehlich said:
Because most battery chargers are for just charging a battery and do not have the filtering to keep out various spikes, ripples and other such noise. Look at the pMag install manual - it specifically states ?do not run with a battery charger connected?. Why risk a $10K GTN-650 or whatever on it?

Now considering a real power supply is about the same cost, does so much more, and puts out a nice regulated voltage why do anything else?

Carl
Click to expand...

So I don't have PMags, and thus don't know about them so can't comment, but isn't the *battery* the thing that absorbs any spikes, ripples, etc.? That, plus all modern electronics can handle pretty much anything thrown at it short of a huge spike (lightning-caused, perhaps).

This sounds like the same reasoning that erroneously tells us to leave all avionics off during engine start...the mysterious "spikes" that will destroy modern electronics (they're actually *sags*, and no they won't).

As for PMags...not being familiar with them, but how would you "run" them with a battery charger connected?
 
RV7A Flyer said:
So I don't have PMags, and thus don't know about them so can't comment, but isn't the *battery* the thing that absorbs any spikes, ripples, etc.? That, plus all modern electronics can handle pretty much anything thrown at it short of a huge spike (lightning-caused, perhaps).

This sounds like the same reasoning that erroneously tells us to leave all avionics off during engine start...the mysterious "spikes" that will destroy modern electronics (they're actually *sags*, and no they won't).

As for PMags...not being familiar with them, but how would you "run" them with a battery charger connected?
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I?ve seen a lot of harmonic noise coming out of a battery charger. Avionics do not typically add filters for such noise. Batteries will absorb over voltage DC spikes, but not RF noise. This RF will just float on the buss. While typically the noise is just a massive annoyance, it will not cause damage unless you really have a junk charger.

For the voltage sag issue when cranking, I know the Dynon SkyView will not be harmed (but may still get a restart) but I have never gotten the same assurance from Garmin on their expensive GTN-650. As such I keep that side of the avionics off during engine start.

On the pMag, power is on but control is off when you time them.

Again why bother with a battery charger when a real, regulated power supply does it all so much better at about the same cost? A bonus is that it is a great way to power the panel while it sits on the bench if needed.

And since you set the output voltage on these power supplies (just like your alternator) you eliminate the ?I fried my battery? when the old school charger you forgot to disconnect climbs to 16+vdc.

Carl
 
Carl Froehlich said:
Again why bother with a battery charger when a real, regulated power supply does it all so much better at about the same cost? A bonus is that it is a great way to power the panel while it sits on the...... Carl
Click to expand...

Yep, that?s why I bought a good charger with SUPPLY output so I didn?t have to buy an additional power supply.
 
Carl Froehlich said:
I?ve seen a lot of harmonic noise coming out of a battery charger. Avionics do not typically add filters for such noise. Batteries will absorb over voltage DC spikes, but not RF noise. This RF will just float on the buss. While typically the noise is just a massive annoyance, it will not cause damage unless you really have a junk charger.

For the voltage sag issue when cranking, I know the Dynon SkyView will not be harmed (but may still get a restart) but I have never gotten the same assurance from Garmin on their expensive GTN-650. As such I keep that side of the avionics off during engine start.

On the pMag, power is on but control is off when you time them.

Again why bother with a battery charger when a real, regulated power supply does it all so much better at about the same cost? A bonus is that it is a great way to power the panel while it sits on the bench if needed.

And since you set the output voltage on these power supplies (just like your alternator) you eliminate the ?I fried my battery? when the old school charger you forgot to disconnect climbs to 16+vdc.

Carl
Click to expand...

True, a regulated power supply may be *better*, but Dynon specifically allows their units to be operated while the battery is on a battery charger. I'm pretty sure Garmin equipment is equally tolerant.

It's not that using a regulated power supply isn't better, but that using a battery charger isn't really a problem (as likely thousands of users here have done many, many times), so why raise the red flag about a non-issue?

True, one should use the correct charger for the battery type (Odyssey AGM, in my case), but that's good advice for just about anything from screws and screwdrivers to engines and props.
 
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