EarthX battery questions

[9GT]

Could very well be the Odyssey battery. The PC625 I have used in my commercial mower for 8 years started acting up last spring. After charging the battery back up, it would discharge over about a 7 day period and only have enough juice left to make the solenoid click. That slowly changed to overnight discharges. Took it out, charged it fully and took it to a local Batteries Plus location for testing. Had good voltage but the guy said "It's on the way out". They don't carry them any longer as the guy said Odyssey only uses a couple on-line distributors now. Ordered a new one from Battery Mart. In the meantime, I put the old battery back on the charger and left it overnight. It got really hot! Seems to be working great now and I have a new Odyssey sitting on the shelf. I am going to try the Earth-X in the -9A when I get to that point.

[spatsch]

Originally Posted by Rotorheadrob

Replaced my Odyssey with an EarthX Battery and have NO REGRETS!


2. No problem with footprint. Fit right in the same tray the old one was in. Also, it weights less and that's good.

Not quite. I just swapped and if you use a hold down bracket such as:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...?clickkey=7358

the EarthX is just a tinny bit taller. Now the difference is small enough that after bending the bracket a bit you can make it fit but it doesn't just "side in".

In terms of cranking power I really didn't need more -- the Odyssey did just fine -- I mainly changed to reduce weight in the front, however, it does seem that the EarthX gives me a higher RPM and holds it without slowing down at all.

Sometimes I actually wonder if it has to much cranking power and if the engine would start sooner with less. One of the Slick reps explained to me once that the retarder on the Mag will disengage at 400RPM or so making starting the engine actually more difficult. With the EarthX I am at that level ... .

Oliver

[Tankerpilot75]

Originally Posted by Kyle Boatright

Do you have a grounding strap from your crankcase to a common ground point with your battery?

Yes. Heavy duty ground strap from battery to fire wall.

While I appreciate everyone's efforts to point me into checking other problems besides a tired battery, I can honestly attest to the fact that those avenues have been explored.

[bret]

Can you load test the battery? easy test, Earth X 900 in my 7a. no problems.

[Tankerpilot75]

Originally Posted by Tankerpilot75

It seems Odyssey also make the SBS-J16 battery in the same foot print (size) as the PC680. However Aircraft Spruce lists the SBS-J16 CCAs as 300 and PHCA as 680 compared to CCA 170/PHCA 520 for the PC680. Those are significantly higher numbers for a few dollars more and keeps everything else the same (battery type, foot print, type of charger).

Does anyone know anything about the Odyssey SBS-J16? Spruce has it as an FAA PMA certified battery. Anyone's thoughts?

Sent an email to Odyssey last night. They responded this morning and I followed up their email with a phone call. It seems Aircraft Spruce has the CCA and PHCA data wrong on their Odyssey SBS J16 battery.

The Odyssey tech rep said: "Internally, the PC680 and the SBS J16 have the same TPPL, AGM, Non-Spillable design, so they have the same performance specs. Both batteries will have a minimum of 520CA for the first five seconds at 80F (PHCA). Higher than any other comparable conventional battery size or Ah. CCA ratings are out dated for most applications as they are based on CA for 30 seconds at 0F." My follow up conversation with the tech rep basically confirmed they are the same battery but with the SBS J16 being FAA PMA certified (and of course priced higher). She told me how to read the "manufacturing date" so I can confirm how old my current battery is. She also said, "the CCA of 170 on the PC680 is based on 0 degrees F and that at most temperatures and operating conditions the PC680 CA is around 220."

I ordered another Odyssey PC 680. Cheapest solution and allows me to use my current battery minder, which by the way, she said should be used when temperatures are above 70 degrees F and the aircraft is not being used frequently. I would have thought using a battery minder was more critical in colder temperatures but she said higher discharge rates occur at higher ambient temperatures. Interesting!

I was really tempted to try the EarthX battery but frankly running "another wire" through the firewall to feed a battery warning light just turned me off. I've ran too many wires this last year for various upgrades that I just want a simple, cheap fix this time. The lithium design of the battery is still a concern for me but only because of a lack of long term data. I believe that while the battery is still fresh it probably will be fine, however as any battery ages it's chemistry changes and a lack of reliable long term safety information just concerns me. I'll let others provide those LT studies.

And NO to those that think I may have a short due to these other wires. That also was tested before confirming the problem was the battery. However, I won't deny that a year of electrical/avionics mods didn't take a toll on my current battery. A number of serious discharges occurred while I was wiring various modifications up and testing their functionality. However, in my defense the battery was never fully discharged and was always immediately placed back on the battery minder. As a senior citizen I can affirm that age and heavy discharge wears you down and internal chemistry changes occur. Batteries due age!

[erich weaver]

"She told me how to read the "manufacturing date" so I can confirm how old my current battery is."

Care to share the secret?

Thanks
Erich

[Walt]

The original U.S.A. manufactured date can be determined by the 14 digit bar code date number
located on the top of the battery case. An example of this number is as follows:

06NCD40150152 and can be determined as follows.
06NCD… is the factory’s code number of that particular size of battery i.e. PC680
04 denotes the YEAR of manufacture i.e. 2004
015 denotes the DAY of the year that the battery is made i.e. during the month of January (15th day)
0152 is the actual number of that battery, in that production day, in that size of battery.

[Tankerpilot75]

That's basically what she said. SorryVAF folks, I should have posted it!

[springer]

Originally Posted by Tankerpilot75

Does anyone know anything about the Odyssey SBS-J16? Spruce has it as an FAA PMA certified battery. Anyone's thoughts?

Tankerpilot, when my 680 failed I switched to the SBS-J16 6 months ago. No issues. Interesting that it is the same as the 680. I purchased mine thru Battery Mart.

I am like you in wanting to keep the plane simple and not run another wire with the EarthX. The weight reduction is very tempting though.