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Starter issue and recommendations

togaflyer

Well Known Member
I believe my starter has gone South. Last several starts the prop has spun slower than normal. Thought it was because of the cold we had in North Ga. The last start at Marco Island, Fl. the prop start was lethargic, and the battery was pulled down quickly to below 10 volts. Fortunately I had installed an electronic mag last inspection so enough was there to get it started. I just had the battery tested at two different shops and both said it’s good (and it’s only 5 months old).
Gonna pull the cowl, check power at the starter contact, then the power to the starter. Also will check grounding resistance at the starter. If that’s all good, then based on my talk with the Skytec folks, it the starter. I currently have the Skytec NL starter. Anyone running a different starter. Also, is the chain ring teeth 149, or 122. 5 years and 525 hours on the starter. All recommendations appreciated.
Fortunately at our home base at FD51 so at least I’m good with the repair work.
 
Also consider the starter solenoid - my PA28-235 with an O-540 and Skytec starter was having starting issues, slow one time, then fine the next, and finally wouldn't start. It was the solenoid. I opened the old one up after it was replaced, and the (very beefy) contacts were in pretty bad shape. Cheap and easy fix.

Mark
 
Any Suggestions?

I keep one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...ocphy=9030886&hvtargid=pla-491382281507&psc=1

You may be able to borrow something like it, they are not uncommon.

I would want to know the current being pulled. Going quickly below 10V if you are measuring at the battery seems like a lot of draw or a lack of capacity. If it is indeed a high current draw (skytech will tell you the averages for your starter) then that current has to be doing something. Is there a lot of heat buildup? Measuring that voltage downstream can tell you a lot about unintended resistance along the starter circuit.

Different kinds of tests on batteries yield different results, so if you could tie in a known good battery (say something that had the ability to crank your car?) you may be able to narrow things down a bit.
 
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Voltage drop

A fully charged 12V battery should have a pole voltage of 12.7 V.
The starter takes approximately >200 amps when running.
When the installation is without any fault, it´s normal to see a drop of upp to
2-3 V. This would imply 9.7-10.7 V at the starter.
As an example 10V x 200A = 2.000 W or 2.7 hp.
The battery should be capable of giving a current of at least 250A CCA,
this is cold cranking ampere at 0 F.
Because of the low voltage system, it´s very sensitive to any fault that carries additional voltage drops. A corroded cable connection, also ground wire, worn contacts in a starter solenoid will severely reduce the power output of the starter. A very old engine is more likely to have 122 teeth on the chain ring. It´s easy to check. Put a black mark on one of the teeth and
count them.
If you decide to install a lithium battery (LiPoFe) this will give more cranking
amps and a slightly higher voltage. A installation without fault should give more power to turn the prop.

https://earthxbatteries.com/product-category/vehicle/experimental-aircraft/

Good luck
 
Final results…… I went through my system, battery to starter. Check both master and starter solenoids. Inspected, cleaned, and reinstalled. From back to front had no volts lost when tested. Zero resistance on ground side. It was not the starter, it was the battery. A solid state load tester indicated the battery was good. But with three 8-10 second cranking, the battery was down to 7 volts. Unloaded it went back to 12.4 volts. Recharged the battery and put it on an old school (Harbor Freight) 100 amp load tester. By the 3rd 10 second test, the battery tester indicated it was bad. Did the same test on a PC 650 and not an issue at all. Got a new battery on order.
 
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Rich, thanks for reporting back.

Always helpful to know what turned out to be the issue-----might save someone time/$$$$ down the line.
 
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