What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Odyssey pc680 replacment

Robin8er

Well Known Member
I've experienced my Odyssey 680 fail in under 2 years. I feel the battery was well taken care of and used appropriately, I don't feel I've abused it in anyway. I've seen several posts about this, as well as several people offer various replacement batteries.

Does anyone have any solid replacement solutions? Part of me wants to try a generic $50 lead acid battery. Not much to lose out on if it doesn't last. The other part of me wants to give Odyssey another chance, they aren't THAT expensive.

If anyone has any solid recommendations I'd love to hear it. I guess its just battery season because my car is also needing battery soon. That one lasted a lot longer though :rolleyes:
 
I use the powersonic brand of SLA batteries. They make a version with the same dimensions and capacity as the 680. I think it is the 12180. I have had good luck with them lasting several years and providing dependable service. It is not an off brand. They are a good size company with a good reputation. I get them for around $50-60 on amazon.

In case you don't know, traditional long term trickle charging will greatly shorten thei life of these batteries (SLA).

Larry
 
Last edited:
pc680

I have to say I have never had anything but perfect luck with the pc680. I have replaced it 2 over 9 years just as i figured it was a wise annual item for the $125 spend. The original two are still in use at one of my businesses..

I kind of assumed they were bullet proof. :confused:
 
Although, my batteries have not failed, it's been 4 years and I just did a conditional on the plane so I was thinking that it would be best to replace before they go bad. I bought 2 APEX batteries just about a months ago (my RV7 have 2 batteries), but I was not able to get it to fit properly, also the post terminal on the APEX are not flush like the Odyssey battery so it would have taken some moving of wires, and possibly cutting and re-crimping of the battery wire terminals to get it to fit properly. I decided my time was too valuable to fight with it in such a tight space and decided to try to recondition the batteries per Odyssey's instructions and leave it... hoping they both don't go out at the same time. So I used one of the APEX batteries in my experimental SuperCub and Wow! It just about spins the prop right off the plane :D. Only 1 very cold morning did it hesitate at all. So far the APEX has performed well, although it's only been about a month and around 10 starts, but for the money you can't beat it with a stick :p - plus it looks like its on sale. I paid $43 for mine and have a brand new one sitting on the shelf. I will use that in another plane I'm sure but dang they are cheap and perform unexpectedly well. If you can use it with the post terminals that they have have, I believe you will be very happy.
 
I have to say I have never had anything but perfect luck with the pc680. I have replaced it 2 over 9 years just as i figured it was a wise annual item for the $125 spend. The original two are still in use at one of my businesses..

I kind of assumed they were bullet proof. :confused:


I thought they were bullet proof too... but there seems to be so many failures posted just here on VAF. I can't imagine how many more there are. I will say that they new batteries are rated at 170 CCA and the 2 that I have in my RV now are 4 years old and are "labeled" to have 230 CCA. And the ones that replaced 4 years ago also said 230 CCA, I know this because I still use one of them at the shop as well ... I think it may be 9 years old. I'm not sure why the CCA was lowered but I thought I read somewhere where Odyssey said the 230 was never correct and that the 170 CCA is correct and nothing has changed on the battery. Well, something has obviously changed if so many batteries are failing in one to two years.
 
I thought they were bullet proof too... but there seems to be so many failures posted just here on VAF. I can't imagine how many more there are. I will say that they new batteries are rated at 170 CCA and the 2 that I have in my RV now are 4 years old and are "labeled" to have 230 CCA. And the ones that replaced 4 years ago also said 230 CCA, I know this because I still use one of them at the shop as well ... I think it may be 9 years old. I'm not sure why the CCA was lowered but I thought I read somewhere where Odyssey said the 230 was never correct and that the 170 CCA is correct and nothing has changed on the battery. Well, something has obviously changed if so many batteries are failing in one to two years.

Data is hard to come by - one thing that has changed is that there are 10,000+ RV's out there, so failure reports will surely go up with that number, not necessarily meaning rates have. I wonder what percentage of the RV fleet use Odyssey? I just swapped mine after 6 years in the plane just because it seemed like time to do so. It will be used in a small tractor next.

I did send one back some years ago - came back with test results ok. I went on to use it a long time, not sure why I thought it was failing.
 
I recently replaced a six-year-old PC680 that seemed to be slowing down a little (my first 680 was in service eight years). Having heard the anecdotal reports of declining 680 service I decided to try a cheap battery. If it doesn't work out it'll be fine for the tug or lawnmower.

Here is the one I purchased ($36) due to it having terminals that are similar to the 680, in the trade these are known as 'F' terminals:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TG7PJ41/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

61GfOdQhWrL._AC_UL115_.jpg


It spins the O-320 adequately so far, we'll see how it holds up.
 
Last edited:
I have to say I have never had anything but perfect luck with the pc680. I have replaced it 2 over 9 years just as i figured it was a wise annual item for the $125 spend. The original two are still in use at one of my businesses..

I kind of assumed they were bullet proof. :confused:

Ditto...twice in 9 years.
 
Earthx battery

Owned a ZENITH 750 with a Odyssey 680 battery.......had to replace two of them over a 2 year period. Installed a Earthx etx900 in it and loved it. When it was started, it'd spin the prop on a Jabiru 3300 engine.
Purchased a Rv7a recently and it has a Odyssey 680 in it, soon I'll install a earthx 900 in this one.
NEVER had a problem with the 900.......

Larry
N687VR
 
Good battery that PC680. I replace mine every two years the tough little thing takes insane amount of cycles and never sees an external charger. This year I plan to buy a B&C version of PC680. Anyone tried it?
 
680

I have had my 680 in my RV-8 for 12 years! It has been strong and very reliable, Well maybe not after this post!:)
 
My PC680 just keeps chugging alone even after several dozen times of fully discharging it when I was having hot start issues 3 years ago. I would need to check logbook but pretty sure it is at least 6 years old with over 300 hours and 300 starting cycles.

Sort of thread drift here but several mentions of cheaper batteries in this thread, I was wondering if there is any kind of rating on batteries for ruggedness? Don’t want to get into only batteries certified or qualified for aviation, but thinking some of these cheaper batteries may have thinner cases, or not be as fire resistant, or what ever and therefore maybe are a little less safe or carry a higher risk.
Anybody know of a “ruggedness” rating that applies to batteries?
 
Last edited:
Pc680

I'm into my 8th year now with original 680. Not a lot of time on it (350 hrs), but interestingly, Ive always used a smart trickle charger to keep it fresh. I didn't know about the decreased life issues with a trickle charger before reading this thread. It's still going strong for now....perhaps they are manufacturing differences with later models that have reduced their longevity. I dont know.
 
I'm into my 8th year now with original 680. Not a lot of time on it (350 hrs), but interestingly, Ive always used a smart trickle charger to keep it fresh. I didn't know about the decreased life issues with a trickle charger before reading this thread. It's still going strong for now....perhaps they are manufacturing differences with later models that have reduced their longevity. I dont know.

definitely different types of trickle chargers. Those that simply pump a constant 13.6 volts are the problem. The smart ones that turn off and wait for a voltage drop before starting the charging cycle again are usually safe.

Larry
 
I think the mixed results on battery life with cheap trickle chargers has to due with their inconcistent and sometimes crazy voltage variations seen during operation. Not all, but most cheap battery maintainers cause more harm than good. However, if you use a quality charger like the BatteryMINDer brand you can leave it connected indefinitely without the maintainer causing trouble. Unfortunately these are in the $240 range. I attended an IA seminar last weekend and we had a Concorde Battery factory rep give a presentation and he said their testing showed these BatteryMINDers had perfect voltage control across all charging scenarios with the added benefit of a desulfating feature to extend battery life and help bring back whacked batteries. None of the competition could compare.

aviation-calibrated.jpg


I have two of these high dollar units, 14V each, one labeled for Concorde batteries and one labeled for Odyssey/Hawker batteries. So the Concorde guy made me feel a lot better about the investment. Since each BaterryMINDer model is brand specific and voltage specific (14 or 28) and type specific (AGM/RG/Wet Cell) ot can hit it's specific manufacturer's charge recommendations exactly. The down side is that not only are each individually expensive, but if you deal with multiple aircraft with different batteries the cost of having one of each type is prohibitive.

On the bright side an Odyssey PC680 combined with one of these chargers is still less expensive than an EarthX set up. Not that I think EarthX batteries aren't worth it. I have an EarthX EXT900-VNT in my RV-8 and love it. But then it too requires a trick Optimate Lithium charger/maintainer.
 
I'm into my 8th year now with original 680. Not a lot of time on it (350 hrs), but interestingly, Ive always used a smart trickle charger to keep it fresh. I didn't know about the decreased life issues with a trickle charger before reading this thread. It's still going strong for now....perhaps they are manufacturing differences with later models that have reduced their longevity. I dont know.

Powersonic, which was mentioned earlier in this thread has a quite good battery manual at: https://www.power-sonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Technical-Manual.pdf .

It describes floating the battery at 13.5 to 13.8 volts. for the best standby longevity. Ref was per cell voltage 2.25v/cell to 2.3v/cell.

I believe the statement that a constant trickle charge is bad is far too broad. Maintaining the battery at about 13.6 volts is ideal for battery life. Only a few milliamps does it. So, the quality of the trickle charger is likely the issueand DJR has one that does it right.

Ron
 
No complaints here,

Just replaced my 680 after 7years. Still working but did notice less endurance so changed it out just before we start a trip to the Bahamas. Don't want battery issues away from home.
 
Back
Top