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Battery Minder Recommendation

JimMac

Active Member
I am a new owner of an RV-12. I recently ran my battery down by doing Skyview software updates with the master switch on. can someone recommend a good battery Minder for me to purchase.
 
None.

Use a standard battery charger and attach a multimeter across the battery terminals. Charge the battery until the voltage reaches 14.1 or so. Do not leave the charger unattended on the battery. Never leave any kind of trickle charger on the battery.

Beg forgiveness from the battery for running it flat. That is the best way I know of for killing a nice Odyssey battery. If you really abused it, assume it will no longer provide the Amp-hours you think it will and replace it. Use the pulled battery in your lawn tractor.

We just replaced a PC-680 in a new RV-14 for this exact reason. It no longer held a charge.

Carl
 
I did not draw the battery all the way down. The Skyview display was indicating around 9.2 volts during an engine start attempt.
 
I'd contact Odyssey and see what they say. I don't think they recommend battery minders, they do have a process that will sometimes rejuvenate a battery and, the last time I looked, they identified chargers that charge the battery to their specs.
 
I have used the Battery Tender 021-0128
I keep it plugged in ALL the time. Have used this model for twelve years.
 
I have used the Battery Tender 021-0128
I keep it plugged in ALL the time. Have used this model for twelve years.


Jeff,

Looking for some clarification.

Was the Battery Tender described using over a twelve year period on the same battery? Was that battery an Odyssey PC680 by chance or something else?
 
Jeff,

Looking for some clarification.

Was the Battery Tender described using over a twelve year period on the same battery? Was that battery an Odyssey PC680 by chance or something else?

I used a $5 Harbor freight maintainer on a Concord battery in my Warrior for 10 years on the same battery..... it did great. But it was not controlled so I don't use them for AGM batteries AKA Odyssey.
 
I'd contact Odyssey and see what they say. I don't think they recommend battery minders, they do have a process that will sometimes rejuvenate a battery and, the last time I looked, they identified chargers that charge the battery to their specs.
This is what they recommend:

CTEK (56-864) MUS 4.3 12 Volt Fully Automatic 8 Step Battery Charger.

It is available on Amazon. Very reasonable.

They do not advise "rejuvination" by ANY chargers, due to issues with heat management. Therefore, they recommend using only the "snowflake" mode, when using this charger.
I've owned one for 3 years . . . a great (little) portable charger that goes with me on every cross country trip.
 
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This is what they recommend:

CTEK (56-864) MUS 4.3 12 Volt Fully Automatic 8 Step Battery Charger.

It is available on Amazon. Very reasonable.

They do not advise "rejuvination" by ANY chargers, due to issues with heat management. Therefore, they recommend using only the "snowflake" mode, when using this charger.
I've owned one for 3 years . . . a great (little) portable charger that goes with me on every cross country trip.
Sorry, shouldn't have used "rejuvinate". The procedure was to desulfate the battery: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=839509&postcount=1. Don't know if that's useful for you.

Also, approved chargers: http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/ODYSSEY_approved_12V_chargers.pdf
 
Sorry, shouldn't have used "rejuvinate". The procedure was to desulfate the battery: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=839509&postcount=1. Don't know if that's useful for you.

Also, approved chargers: http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/ODYSSEY_approved_12V_chargers.pdf
Thanks Tom.

When I talked to the Odyssey Rep, she told me they did not recommend desulfating the batteries. I ask why and she indicated there was an issue with internal overheating during the desulfating process. With the Genex charger, the only mode I have ever used (or needed) was the Snowflake mode, which is listed on the Odyssey charger list.
 
I purchased the Odyssey OBC-12A charger to charge the PC680 and one feature it has is a built in extended maintenance mode.

I don?t have the manual in front of me at the moment, so I will paraphrase from my not so fertile memory ? If memory serves me correctly, the manual says after the charger has stepped through its various phases of charging and the battery has obtained a full charge, if the charger is left on the battery, the charger automatically switches to a float/maintenance mode.

In addition, if the charger is left connected to the battery for an extended period of time, eventually the charger will turn itself totally off for a month ? then will turn itself back on and go through the charging phases once again. Apparently, this prevents damage to the battery from being kept on a constant trickle charge and keeps the battery conditioned properly.

Happy flying,
 
I purchased the Odyssey OBC-12A charger to charge the PC680 and one feature it has is a built in extended maintenance mode.

I don?t have the manual in front of me at the moment, so I will paraphrase from my not so fertile memory ? If memory serves me correctly, the manual says after the charger has stepped through its various phases of charging and the battery has obtained a full charge, if the charger is left on the battery, the charger automatically switches to a float/maintenance mode.

In addition, if the charger is left connected to the battery for an extended period of time, eventually the charger will turn itself totally off for a month ? then will turn itself back on and go through the charging phases once again. Apparently, this prevents damage to the battery from being kept on a constant trickle charge and keeps the battery conditioned properly.

Happy flying,

That's the one I use as well but I don't leave it connected all the time ...
 
This one has a setting for Odyssey and provides the amperage recommended by Odyssey (8 amps from another thread. Trying to confirm...).
 
Thanks, guys, for everyone's participation in this thread. This has been a very informative discussion. I think I will try the Odyssey OBC-12A for my Odyssey PC680 battery. If anyone has a reason why this is a bad choice, please respond and let me know before I order it. It's $148 or so at Amazon.com.
 
I learned the hard way with my Odessy battery that just "any old charger will do" is not wise, as my friend did. My advice is to get a charger specifically designed for and approved by Odessy!
I recently went to an EarthX, so had to scrap tha odessy charger and get one for the EarthX!
 
Jim-

Think you will be happy with the OBC-12A. It is on the recommended list for our PC680 batteries. One nice thing is there is enough amperage to leave the SkyView and avionics powered up for extended periods of time for software upgrades or while just digging through the menu settings for extended periods of time ... and still have enough reserve capacity to charge the battery.

After turning on the charger, I wait a few minutes until the charger switches from the test mode to charge mode before turning on the master switch.
 
Thanks, John-g. I received my OBC-12A yesterday and I will be trying it out today. I fly the RV-12 often enough that I doubt I will need it very often, but using it when I need to fiddle with the Skyview to give me a longer fiddle time will be very useful. There are cheaper solutions for this, I know, but I'm feeling pretty good about my selection of the OBC-12A charger with the battery protection features it has and the fact that it is sanctioned by Odyssey for my battery. If it does not work out well, I will certainly let everyone on this forum know about it.
 
cheap-o chargers

I would not use a cheapo charger, aka harbor freight, on an expensive AGM battery. It might work well for you or maybe not.

I bought several of these to use on my land toys in the garage and barn. 2 winters in a row I was gone for 3-4 months and upon returning home, after leaving everything on a charger, found one or two totally dead batteries. beyond resuscitation. I called the battery mfg and was told that when the charger fails, they sometimes turn into a load instead of a charger. I had to replace an AGM in the Wife's Miata and several 12v lead acid batteries that were fairly new.

All the cheap-o chargers went into the trash.

I use an Odyssey charger on my PC680. Works good. Last long time.
 
Jeff,

Looking for some clarification.

Was the Battery Tender described using over a twelve year period on the same battery? Was that battery an Odyssey PC680 by chance or something else?

I have used a different Battery Tender on the same battery for about 8 years and kept the charger plugged in any time I wasn't flying. The battery was in excellent shape when I removed it to replace with an EarthX.

I used this model https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-022-0150-DL-WH-800-Charger/dp/B000CITKCE
 
An implied issue in the OP's post is how to prevent wrecking your battery while uploading data/software and learning/practicing buttonolgy and sitting in your hangar.

The recommendation to me, from a RV guru, is to plug in an 8 amp Battery Minder during the session.

As for the care and feeding and resuscitation of an Odyssey batteries, check out this thread and the post #22: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=108220&highlight=odyssey+care&page=3
 
Battery Tender

I just talked to support, Bruce Essig at at Odyssey, he says there are approved battery tenders on their website, along with chargers, etc.
 
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