N

N111BN

Member
I have been having battery issues for the past few months - the airplane has been hard to start and the battery hasn't held a charge very well. I had the battery out of the airplane about 4 months back. On Sunday the battery was dead so I plugged it into my charger - an automatic car charger. Today I went out to the hangar - the battery showed fully charged on the charger. When I went to start the airplane it would barely crank and I only had 11.2 volts. So I pulled the battery out and it had burst.
Did it burst because I overcharged it with the auto charger or the airplane is overcharging (though it shows about 14.2 or so when the engine is turning) or because it is a bad battery (about 3 years old).
Is there a fire hazard with these types of batteries?
Thanks in advance
Nigel
RV-6
KCCR
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Your car charger is what killed it. They are no more fire hazard than any other battery. It is a lead acid battery with the electrolyte stored in a glass mat rather than water sloshing around, but it is a lead-acid battery.

They do need special charging to keep from killing them, though.

Tim
 
The Odyssey battery site has some very specific instructions on charging them, including the chargers used..
 
I almost blew my first 680 with an AGM charger, so the box and instructions said. The charge voltage temporarily went over 16 volts. I now have the recommended 12A odyssey charger.
 
I got a PC680 from Aircraft Spruce that didn't last more than a couple of months. They covered it under warranty but to get a replacement I need to pop the top off the battery and send it, the top, to their Calif. facility. Does anyone know how to do this? Atlanta says just use screw drivers and pry the top off but it's not working for me. I've worked all around the case and it's not moving. What am I missing?
 
Odyssey batteries need a specific charger designed for them and the "vehicle" charging voltage must also be carefully regulated to ensure the battery does not get overcharged. High voltages will kill these batteries. They are great batteries, but must be properly regulated.

Roberta
 
I use a battery tender on mine.

robertahegy said:
They are great batteries, but must be properly regulated.
Click to expand...

Just a couple days ago I pulled the plane out of the hangar, hop in, and think mmmmm I don't remember turning the master on. Left it on from the night before - on for about 20 hours. Was able to crank one blade until it would stop. Did this 2-3 times and she caught. Definitely a stout battery if maintained.
 
1flyer said:
I got a PC680 from Aircraft Spruce that didn't last more than a couple of months. They covered it under warranty but to get a replacement I need to pop the top off the battery and send it, the top, to their Calif. facility. Does anyone know how to do this? Atlanta says just use screw drivers and pry the top off but it's not working for me. I've worked all around the case and it's not moving. What am I missing?
Click to expand...

I just had to do the same thing. The top comes off just just work on it with a screwdriver
Dan
 
AGM batteries are still lead acid batteries that charge at between 13.8 & a bit under 15V. I'll bet that the company advice to use a 'special' charger comes from many people using 'dumb' 12V chargers that have no voltage/current regulation. Those chargers will supply something under 14V if a battery is nearly dead, with charge voltage rising as the charge increases & current demand decreases. Almost any unregulated (dumb) charger, even a trickle charger, can supply *way* more than 14.5V if left on a fully charged battery.

Charlie
 
I used a charger that is very similar to the Oddessey - looks identical - in fact it might be an oddessey charger. I am going to go and check out at the hangar.
Trying to work out if I should stay with oddessey or go with another make of battery
 
N111BN said:
I used a charger that is very similar to the Oddessey - looks identical - in fact it might be an oddessey charger. I am going to go and check out at the hangar.
Trying to work out if I should stay with oddessey or go with another make of battery
Click to expand...
I don't think you'll find anything negative if you search the forums for experiences with the PC680. It sounds like either you simply improperly charged your Odyssey or experienced a complete fluke. My Odyssey took so much abuse during the build period that I can't believe it is still as strong as it is after a year in flight.
 
N111BN said:
I used a charger that is very similar to the Oddessey - looks identical - in fact it might be an oddessey charger. I am going to go and check out at the hangar.
Trying to work out if I should stay with oddessey or go with another make of battery
Click to expand...

I don't know what happened in your case but you probably won't find a battery with better weight/power, value/life and reputation/field history than the PC680. Best suggestion might be to thoroughly check the charging system on your plane and the charger you used. I really abused my PC680 one winter (master left on for 10 days....) and it recovered and is still going strong after nearly seven years in service.
 
PC680 in RV7A - going on six years with one 'master-on' rundown. Still going strong.

I wish I could put one in a Cherokee.

Dan
 
When you put your "new" battery on charge - hook up a good quality volt meter at the same time and check the charging voltage - Leave the meter connected until the charger indicate that the battery is fully charged and check the voltage periodically. Make sure it is not above the recommended voltage as per the battery manufactures instructions. You may find that the regulator in your charger is not working as it should.
 
Batt case

Could it be a mounting problem where to much pressure was used to tighten it down?
 
Our first 680 was replaced last fall after eight years. Thought it was going bad and it was old, but it turned out to be another problem, so--that battery is on its second career, starting my lawn tractor, and it has never started this well before. Love those batteries!

Bob
 
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